10 Things to Know About Men’s Hair Color

Can you believe the first permanent hair colour—jet black—is attributed to Ancient Rome? Although it took a few hundred years for Greeks and Romans to come up with more colour choices beyond black.

Most people face gray hair when they turn 50. As we age, hair pigments produced in hair follicles drop. Although some people embark on going gray, others choose to keep it the way it was, thanks to the Romans. On the other hand, colouring techniques are different for men since they have shorter hair and can’t hide their roots by flipping their hair.

Sadly. Rigid masculinity standards may pressure men not to dye their hair, but we shouldn’t let such toxic expectations control our lives.

This article provides excessive information to solve men’s challenges on this matter.

1. DIY or Professional

The fact is that a professional colorist always delivers better and more professional coverage than any dye kit. If you still can’t decide, follow our tips:

Tips for Dying at Home

Your hair might be starting to go gray and look salt and peppery, so you may want to dye it at home. Although dyeing at home sounds tricky, you can achieve great results by following some tips:

• Before using any new hair dye, do a patch test.
• Read the instructions precisely and if the instructions say to leave the colour for 20 minutes, leave it no more than 20 minutes.
• Semi-permanent hair dye usually creates a natural look and can hide your gray.
• Choose a hair dye a shade lighter than your natural hair colour to maintain a natural look.
• Use Vaseline around your hairline to prevent staining the skin.
• If your skin gets staining, gently rub the skin with a toner to remove it.
• Note that the gray hair has less porous and oil than the rest of your hair, so it may be less receptive to dye. For this reason, the best option would be gray-hair targeting products than standard dyes.

Dyeing Your Hair Professionally in a Salon

No doubt that a professional hair colorist can easily reduce your gray, and if you find gray all over, dyeing in-salon may be the best option. A professional hair colorist decreases the risk of colour blocking, and you don’t need to worry about choosing the right hair tone, balancing colours and dyeing technics.

2. Permanent Men’s Hair Color

Permanent hair colours are products that can change the pigment colour in your hair. They can penetrate the inner layer of hair, where the pigments are located, break down natural colour pigments and provide free rooms for new colour pigments. It is noteworthy that there is no difference between men’s and women’s permanent hair colour. Both have the same main chemical composition. However, women’s dyes come in more variety of shades than men’s. Note that these kinds of dyes may damage your hair.

There are also semi-permanent hair colours that fade faster than permanent ones. This type is the best option for masking your gray hair and creating a more natural finish.

3. Temporary Men’s Hair Color

As the name suggests, temporary men’s hair colour lasts for a short time. Contrary to permanent hair colours, temporary hair colours don’t penetrate the inner hair layer (coticule); instead, they stick to the outer layer of the hair. This kind of hair dyes can’t lighten your natural shade and easily fade with shampoo, exposure to air, water and time. However, these have less harmful to your hair.

4. How to Look Natural?

Most men who dye their hair wish to look more natural; to do so, you should choose a colour close to your original shade. Then, it would be best if you progressively blended it to get the most unnoticeable and natural look.

5. How to Keep Grays Away?

The best way to keep grays away while having a natural look is by combining the colour through the hair rather than applying it all over with a brush. This technique allows some gray to shine through while keeping the rest of your hair untreated.

6. How to Choose the Right Colour?

To choose the best colour, consider your skin tone. A suitable colour should be something close to your eyebrow colour, complementing your skin tone. Some hairstylists prefer to choose hair dye based on your complexion, while others believe that cooler or ashier tones are more flattering on men. You can select one or two shades lighter than your hair colour with an ash tone, for example, light ash brown.

7. How to Protect Your Hair Dye?

The best thing to prolong your hair colour is using a shampoo, conditioner, and hair mask professionally formulated for dyed hair. If you swim, it is better to follow some tips to maintain your hair dye:

• Wetting your hair with clean water before going into the pool helps your hair absorb less chlorine (or salt when you swim in the sea). Consider raising again right after you finish swimming.
• Coat your hair with coconut or olive oil before swimming can create a barrier against water.
• After swimming, use a deep conditioner to protect your hair against the sun or extra damage.

Our hair, just like skin, can be damaged due to exposure to external factors. So, just like skincare tips for seniors, there are some hair care tips to protect dyed hair. The most important thing you should know is to avoid direct exposure to sunlight since it can damage hair and scalp and bleach your hair. You can wear a cap or use a leave-in conditioner with SPF. Look for Hair products that contain UVA and UVB filters to protect your hair from chlorine and sun.

8. How to Maintain Hair Dye?

To increase maintenance of dye right after colouring, you should wait at least 24 hours to wash your hair; this time is essential to fix the colour on your hair.

Although several reasons suggest hot bath therapy for seniors, you should know that daily baths, especially with hot water, may fade hair dye and natural oil hair and harm hair health. Using a hair mask may be a great help for maintaining hair colour and quality.

9. How Long Does Your Hair Colour Last?

It depends on your hair dye type and how to treat your hair. In general, semi-permanent dyes, the best options for gray hairs, usually last around 28 shampoos. On the other hand, permanent dyes last longer.

10. What Should You Do Before Dying Your Hair?

Before dying, you should not use hair gel, hair straighter, hair chemically relaxers, and hairdryer. These products may double the damage caused by dye chemical ingredients or even make the effect of dye chemical ingredients slower.

Conclusion

One of the prominent signs of ageing is going gray. Some men embark on their gray hair; others choose to keep it the way it was. Several hair dyes are specifically produced to cover gray hair. This article guides you to choose the right colour based on your priorities and offers tips and tricks to feel confident and happy with your appearance.