Family Encyclopedia >> Beauty & Style

White hair:the coloring solution

1. Coloring:we go to the hairdresser…

“White hair dulls and hardens the face, explains Stéphanie Bonin, colorist at the Rossano Ferretti* salon. Unless they are 100% white, have a hyper structured cut and a fabulous look à la Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada , it is better to color them, otherwise it will age inexorably. The coloring also allows, via the pigments it brings, to restore shine and contrast to the hair. Its application is a bit technical because it does not take the same way on white hair and on natural fiber. It is therefore recommended to let a colorist do it. Small budget ? We think of hairdressing schools that often look for models.

2. …Or learn how to choose and apply your home color

If you do your own coloring, choose an anti-aging formula, specially dosed for a high percentage of gray hair (such as Kératine Color by Schwarzkopf, €9.90, and Exellence Age

Perfect, L'Oréal Paris, €12.10) or a shimmer-free formula (whose number ends in 00 on the pack). Why ? Because beyond 20% white hair, the highlights stand out more than the coloring base. If despite everything, you want to keep reflections, we choose an ashy color (the most natural reflection), which we apply on the lengths, and a formula without reflections for the roots (that's therefore 2 packs of colo to buy) . In both cases, the formula is first applied without reflections on the roots, for 20 min. After, either we lengthen on the lengths, or we apply the 2nd formula (with reflections) always on the lengths, and we leave on for 10 min more.

3. UV protection:essential anti-aging

On a daily basis, we think of protecting the hair from UV rays (white hair is more sensitive to it). But these are only harmful if the hair is damp (this is why it is useless to protect it when skiing, where the air is very dry). At the beach, don't forget your anti-UV spray.

4. Anti-yellowing operation

If you have little white hair and you choose not to color it, you think of countering the natural yellowing of the fiber which oxidizes, you use a repigmenting shampoo/care whose blue or purple formula deposits temporary pigments which are opposed to yellow (the De-Yellowing Cleansing Cream from Intermède, €14.20, or the Okara Doux Argent Shampoo from René Furterer, €10).

* 4, rue Cambon, Paris 2nd (2nd floor)