Make Your Gray Hair Look Soft and Silky With This Super Simple Styling Trick
Your haircare routine should always leave your mane looking shiny and healthy. The thing is, once you go gray, this becomes a little harder to achieve because silver strands are, by nature, more brittle. Stylists and haircare experts agree that our routines need to change once we decide to embrace the silver, and if we do things right, we can still rock a silky, gorgeous mane.
Gray Hair Changes Texture
As we get older, our hair loses pigment because our follicles produce less melanin — a type of amino acid that gives our skin and hair its pigment. Along with these changes, our scalp also produces less sebum, or oil, which is what infuses our hair with moisture and sheen. The result? Course, dry strands.
Even if you’ve never had dry or course hair in your life, going gray can make this an unavoidable nuisance. Luckily, we stumbled upon a simple styling tip — and some key products — that can make all the difference.
This tip comes from the folks over at MindBodyGreen, who spoke to hairstylist Danielle Malary of Lumiere Vive Salon about how to care for gray hair that’s lacking luster. “Use a mist spray bottle during product application,” she suggests. “Then apply a layer of protection like a keratin-infused sealer.”
Misting with water before applying a layer of your favorite styling product will help to rehydrate your hair and lock in that moisture. According to Malary, misting the hair with water before styling is a crucial styling step for those with gray hair, even if you’re styling just after you get out of the shower. The reason is that water evaporates from dry strands faster than it does from normal hair.
Finally, Malary’s last step is using a keratin sealer (we like this one from Davines, Buy on Amazon, $32). Keratin is a type of protein that’s naturally found in our hair and skin. Since our follicles produce less sebum and melanin as we get older, our strands require this type of extra layer of protection, which provides a smoothing effect and prevents breakage. She emphasizes, however, that we should be using a “less is more” approach when applying a keratin sealer. In fact, you should be using about a dime-size amount (or a little less, depending on how much hair you have), applying with your hands from root to tip, then styling as usual. Easy, right?
We think you’ll be happy with the results of this simple-yet-genius gray hair hack. Now you’re definitely ready to look and feel your best at all your summer gatherings. Cheers to embracing the silver!
