Yellowing Grey Hair

SunshineGrrl

So, I noticed the other day my mom has a patch of hair where it's starting to yellow. I mentioned to her that she might want to do an ACV rinse to get rid of it, since that's the part she routinely sprays with hair spray.

She has beautiful silvery salt-and-pepper hair. More salt than pepper, but it's still there. It's fine and straight (obviously didn't get my curls from her...), so she curls it every morning with a curling iron and uses hairspray before and after using the curling iron.

She's done 2 ACV rinses and has used a clarifying shampoo and it's still tingeing yellow. Any ideas on how to get it gone?

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

2poodles

She might want to try a violet-based shampoo. It will get rid of the yellow - and *won't* turn her hair violet! I like Artec White Violet Shampoo (from L'oreal). It's available at Ulta.

SunshineGrrl

She has some purple tinged shampoo, but it's still yellow. Anything else?

Riot Crrl

Some people on LHC reported that ACV actually stained their hair a little reddish, if they had light hair. I am not sure how much they were all using, or if they were leaving it in, or what. If she is going to continue with vinegar rinses, perhaps a clear vinegar would be better.

g-stringranny

It's probably the heat of the curling iron oxidizing the grey color in the hair leaving it yellow. This happens more with fine hair.

SunshineGrrl

g-stringranny wrote: »

It's probably the heat of the curling iron oxidizing the grey color in the hair leaving it yellow. This happens more with fine hair.

Yup, that would be her hair. Any idea how to get rid of it? Do you just have to cut it off?

g-stringranny

Unfortuantely she will have to stop using the hot iron on her hair. She can use a low setting on her blow dryer & use a rounded brush. There won't be as much direct heat. She then needs to use a product like Artec Colorist Shampoo in White Violet. This will help her get her color back. As long as she is using the hot iron on her hair, nothing will help. My Mom has beautiful silver hair. She had the same problem. She has very fine baby hair. Now she will either let her hair just air dry or will use low heat & style with a rounded brush. It took a while, but she got her beautiful hair back to normal. She stopped all heat for awhile, which I think helped her get her natural color back quicker. I hope this works for your Mom.

SunshineGrrl

g-stringranny wrote: »

Unfortuantely she will have to stop using the hot iron on her hair. She can use a low setting on her blow dryer & use a rounded brush. There won't be as much direct heat. She then needs to use a product like Artec Colorist Shampoo in White Violet. This will help her get her color back. As long as she is using the hot iron on her hair, nothing will help. My Mom has beautiful silver hair. She had the same problem. She has very fine baby hair. Now she will either let her hair just air dry or will use low heat & style with a rounded brush. It took a while, but she got her beautiful hair back to normal. She stopped all heat for awhile, which I think helped her get her natural color back quicker. I hope this works for your Mom.

Thank you so much! I'll broach the subject with her. It may not be well received. Why won't my family freaking listen to me with their hair? Okay, I overexaggerate. I mean, she listened to me with the ACV, right? I'll keep you posted on the reaction. She might whack it all off rather than give up her curling iron. Silly girl.

g-stringranny

You're welcome & I hope she will listen. It's just a different styling tool that can get her the same results with some practice. My Mom's hairstyle actually looks better now. It has a softer, more natural look. She also uses very little hairspray. I turned her onto mousse.

2poodles

You might also want to direct your mom to this website - it has lots of really helpful tips:

http://goinggraylookinggreat.com/

SunshineGrrl

2poodles wrote: »

You might also want to direct your mom to this website - it has lots of really helpful tips:

http://goinggraylookinggreat.com/

Thank you! But she can't use a computer. I'll have to "do some research for her" and relay it back to her. Yippee! I love to do research.

pigreyhound

I was having trouble keeping yellow out of my white/gray/blonde hair and the Deva stylist I saw actually called Lorraine Massey and asked for some advice!
(wasn't that nice?)
Ms Massey suggested I try using the NoPoo for Blondes (it is blue) on dry hair for awhile if using it on wet hair wasn't quite pulling out the yellow.

SunshineGrrl

pigreyhound wrote: »

I was having trouble keeping yellow out of my white/gray/blonde hair and the Deva stylist I saw actually called Lorraine Massey and asked for some advice!
(wasn't that nice?)
Ms Massey suggested I try using the NoPoo for Blondes (it is blue) on dry hair for awhile if using it on wet hair wasn't quite pulling out the yellow.

Wow, now THAT'S service! I'll definitely pass that one on. That might work. It's still yellow, but only on the ends. Maybe I'll make her sleep in it (they say to do that for roots if you don't want to go get your hair colored sooner) and wash it out in the morning. Maybe that would pull it out better? Eh, she'll try just about anything.

She did turn down the heat on her curling iron and only uses it on day 2 hair. It's a little frizzier, but I think my next step is talking her into using a light conditioner again. Her hair is so healthy that she only uses shampoo. She claims she doesn't use condish because it makes her hair flat. Maybe I'll go purchase something that won't weigh her down and tell her to try it. I love it when she listens to me! Hair is about the only thing she listens to me about.

Thanks for the idea!

pigreyhound

You may want to have her leave it on 15 minutes or so first. I am not sure what leaving the purple/blue on overnight would do.

Koukla72

Actually, gray hair has an absence of pigment; the reason hair goes gray is because pigment production has ceased in the follicle. That's why sometimes when hair is beginning to go gray, if the person looks at the individual hairs they can sometimes see parts of a hair that are gray and other parts of the same hair are still pigmented - in that hair follicle the melanocytes are sort of "sputtering" to a halt. I would think it's more likely that the heat of the iron is oxidizing the hairspray (if the ingredients in it aren't just coloring her hair outright) and really baking it into her hair. In addition to using a blue-based shampoo in the way already suggested, I'd say laying off the hairspray until after she's finished with the iron on a particular section of hair, and then not re-curling until after she's washed the spray out, would help a lot more than eliminating the curling iron.

SunshineGrrl

Hmm...good point. I'll have to pass that on to her.

Thanks!

Notty

Hate to tell you but as an auburn girl gone gray - my hair isn't nice and white - it's just more yellowy (is that a word). I think it's just the pigment in certain hair types. Thus I highlight and lowlight and get rid of the nasty yellow stuff.........I am so envious of beautiful white hair:argue:

Spiralli

pigreyhound, have you had good results using the Deva Blonde on your hair, with reducing the yellowing? I am thinking of trying Deva Blonde after I use up my Aveda Blue Malva and Silver Fox conditioners.