Shades and Shapes Hair Studio

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What if gray blending didn't look like an entire day in the salon?

This client started with dark permanent color on her ends, demi blending in the middle, and about 2 months of new grays at her roots. We did a partial foil, toner, and haircut and in about 3 hours she was transformed.

I believe less is more when it comes to gray blending and gray transitions. Small incremental steps help preserve your hair health and keep you looking professional and put together

Here's a gray blending client before her root retouch. This is almost 6 weeks grown out

We use a demo permanent color on her roots, and we to be her ends to unify the old and new color

Here's the difference between demi blending and putting highlights over your gray coverage.

The first picture shows 6 months of gray blending with a demi permanent color. There are no new highlights added to this section and we use a toner every appointment to neutralize old warmth.

At the top: the natural pepper pieces stay cool and dark. The grays have subtle pigment that camouflages them while maintaining the natural pattern of dimension

On the ends: permanent color shifted her natural pepper pieces causing them to fade warm. Previous highlights lighten the overall color, creating contrast with the natural dark hairs as they grow in

Swipe to see how we melt the two sections together on the surface of the hair

FAQ: "I've been coloring my hair with permanent color. What will gray blending look like for me?"

Here's an example of a client's first session of gray blending. She wants to continue coloring her hair with lower maintenance. Her starting point is solid color with very little dimension. We highlighted to mimic her natural gray pattern, then applied demi permanent color to the roots. After processing we toned to unify the old color with the new

Them: Don't grow out your grays! They're unflattering! You'll look old!

Us: Oh, sure. Yeah. Uh-huh.

Let's check in with this client growing out her grays!

6 weeks ago we started with dark red ends. A color remover and toner got her to a medium brown with a blurred line of demarcation.

After fading, her ends were coppery so we toned aggressively before highlighting where her natural gray pattern was. A second toner neutralized the yellow from the highlights and left her with a blended white finish

I always warn my Gray transition clients:
• We might get stuck in yellow or orange
• you might leave more as a blonde than a gray
• I don't do one day transitions, it's going to be a process

And then sometimes the hair over delivers and she's gray in one appointment. 🤷‍♀️😅

If you've got gray hair then I know you remember how this works. Choose the prompt that best applies to you and swipe to the page it indicates. Your end result will give you an idea of how best to deal with your gray hair. And if you end up on page 13, don't panic.

When you've got your result I'm here to help walk you through what to do next