Ways to Cover Gray Hair

You can cover gray hair in seven main ways: permanent dye, demi-permanent dye, semi-permanent dye, gradual color (also called progressive color), blending with lowlights or highlights, temporary root touch-ups, or letting the gray grow in. Permanent dye hides the most gray and lasts until the hair grows out. Most of the other options cover less or fade sooner, and in return they soften the line where new gray growth meets colored hair.

This guide compares the seven options and links to a deeper page on each. The facts come from dermatology reviews, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the NHS and the other sources listed at the end of the page.

The options side by side

In the table, "regrowth" means the band of new, uncolored hair that appears at the roots as your hair grows. "Commitment" means how much ongoing work the option asks of you.

Option	How it works	How long it lasts	How visible regrowth is	Commitment
Permanent dye	Dye chemicals react with hydrogen peroxide and form new color inside the hair	Until the hair grows out	A clear line between colored hair and new gray	High: roots every few weeks
Demi-permanent dye	The same kind of reaction, with weaker peroxide (2 percent) and little or no ammonia	Fades after 10 to 15 shampoos	Softer, because the color fades over time	Medium
Semi-permanent dye	Small, ready-made dye molecules enter the outer layers of the hair, usually with no peroxide	4 to 8 shampoos, depending on the source	Soft	Low to medium
Gradual (progressive) color	A small amount of color builds up with each use	Needs repeated use to keep the shade	Depends on how often you reapply	Frequent small steps
Blending, lowlights, highlights	A colorist colors or lightens selected strands, so gray mixes with other shades	Depends on the product used	Softer, because gray is part of the look	Salon visits
Root touch-up products	Temporary color sits on the surface of the hair	Until the next shampoo	Hidden until you wash	Each time you wash
Going natural	You stop coloring and let the gray grow in	No color to keep up	A line during grow-out, gone once the colored ends are cut off	Patience during grow-out

The numbers come from published reviews. Your own results depend on your hair, the product and how you use it.

Permanent dye: the most coverage and the most maintenance

Permanent dye is the most widely used type of hair color. The European Commission says permanent oxidative dyes make up 70 to 80 percent of the hair coloring market in Europe.

A box of permanent dye has two parts. The tint holds small dye molecules and an alkaline agent, usually ammonia. The developer is hydrogen peroxide. According to a 2014 review in the journal Actas Dermo-Sifiliográficas, the ammonia raises the pH of the mixture to between 9 and 10.5, which helps it pass into the cortex, the inner part of the hair strand. There, the peroxide makes the small dye molecules react and join into larger color molecules. These are too large to wash back out, so the color stays until the hair grows out.

The same review says permanent dye gives the highest gray coverage of any dye type, up to 100 percent, even on hair that is hard to color. It can also make hair lighter or darker than its natural shade.

The downside is maintenance. Hair keeps growing, so a band of gray appears at the roots. A 2015 review in the International Journal of Trichology notes that the white hair you see 10 to 15 days after dyeing is new growth, not dye that washed out. It suggests touching up the roots after 15 to 30 days and putting the product only on the new growth. The 2014 review gives a longer interval of 4 to 6 weeks.

Many permanent dyes also contain PPD (paraphenylenediamine), the chemical most often linked to hair dye allergy, and a 2018 review notes a risk of damage to the hair shaft from oxidation. Our page on permanent, demi-permanent and semi-permanent dye explains each type in more detail.

Demi-permanent and semi-permanent dye: blend rather than cover

Demi-permanent dye works in a similar way to permanent dye, but it is milder. It uses 2 percent hydrogen peroxide, compared with up to 6 percent in permanent dye, and little or no ammonia. It reaches less deeply into the hair. The 2014 review says it can cover up to 50 percent of gray hair, and the 2015 review says it fades after 10 to 15 shampoos, or sooner. It still contains the same family of dye chemicals as permanent dye, so the allergy steps are the same.

Semi-permanent dye is different. The most common kind uses small, ready-made dye molecules and no peroxide at all. The 2014 review says these molecules pass into the outer layers of the hair without the peroxide reaction that permanent dye uses, then leave a little with each wash. They cannot lighten hair, and they soften gray rather than hide it. Reviews give different numbers for how long semi-permanent color lasts: four to five shampoos in a 2009 review, up to six washes in a 2025 review, and six to eight shampoos in the 2014 review.

These two options suit people who have some gray and want it less obvious, or who do not want a sharp root line every few weeks.

Gradual color

Gradual color, also called progressive color, darkens gray hair a little with each application. You repeat it until you like the shade, then use it less often to keep it. The FDA lists henna and bismuth citrate as color additives approved for hair, and says they are used in hair dyes that may darken hair gradually with repeated applications.

The classic products in this group used metal salts. A 2009 review in the Journal of Emergencies, Trauma and Shock describes how these dyes change hair from a light straw color to almost black. They do this by reacting with the sulfur in hair keratin, a protein in the hair shaft, and by oxidizing on the hair surface. The same review names lead acetate as the main active ingredient in progressive dyes at that time, with bismuth citrate used much less.

That changed in the United States. The FDA approved lead acetate for coloring scalp hair in 1980. In a final rule published on October 31, 2018, it repealed that approval because there was no longer a reasonable certainty of no harm. Objections from a manufacturer put the rule on hold, and the repeal took effect on January 6, 2022. Bismuth citrate is still approved for coloring scalp hair at up to 2.0 percent.

Gradual hair color explained covers how these products work and what to check on the label. Our post on what happened to progressive hair dyes tells the lead acetate story step by step.

Blending, lowlights and highlights

Blending is a salon approach. The goal is to make gray less noticeable, not to hide every gray strand. A colorist colors selected strands instead of the whole head. Lowlights are strands dyed darker. Highlights are strands made lighter with bleach. A sheer demi-permanent or semi-permanent color over all the hair is another way to blend.

The American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) suggests choosing a color within three shades of your natural color. It also says that dyeing hair darker is usually better than going lighter, because lightening by more than three shades needs stronger peroxide, which damages hair more. According to the 2014 review, bleach contains hydrogen peroxide, ammonia and persulfates, and it breaks some of the chemical bonds that hold the hair protein together. That makes hair more porous and more brittle.

Because gray stays part of the look, new growth at the roots shows less contrast than it would against a solid, dark color. Gray blending and lowlights explains the techniques and what to ask before you book.

Root touch-ups between sessions

Root touch-up products hide regrowth for a short time. Many are temporary colors: sprays, powders, sticks and mascara-style wands. The 2014 review explains that temporary dyes are large molecules that stay on the surface of the hair. They are only weakly bonded to it, so shampoo removes them easily. The review also warns that these products easily stain the hair and scalp.

Some products sold for roots are small kits of permanent dye. They last until the hair grows out, and they need the same allergy test as a full box of dye. Root touch-up products compares the main types, and our post on how often to touch up gray roots explains what sets the timing.

Going natural

Going natural means you stop coloring and let the gray grow in. The main cost is time. In a 2004 study of 3,343 scalp hairs from women, white hairs grew 0.38 mm a day and pigmented hairs grew 0.35 mm a day. At those rates, 30 days adds 10.5 to 11.4 mm of new hair. The colored part moves further down the strand each month until it is cut off.

Blending with lowlights, or a shorter cut, can make the change less sharp. Our guide to growing out gray hair covers the stages, and the post on how long growing out gray hair takes looks at timing. A 2018 review in the International Journal of Trichology adds that hair dye helps protect gray hair from damage by sunlight. If you stop coloring, read our page on gray hair and the sun.

Why gray hair can be harder to color

Gray and white hair lack melanin, the pigment that gives hair its color. The 2014 review explains that hair with no melanin looks white because it scatters light. Gray strands also tend to differ in structure. In the 2004 study, white hairs were thicker than pigmented hairs, with an average width of 67.68 micrometers against 57.41, and they had a larger medulla, the soft core in the center of the strand. A micrometer is one thousandth of a millimeter.

A 2009 review in the International Journal of Trichology says gray hair is often said to be more resistant to taking up artificial color, but it describes that evidence as anecdotal. It also reports measured changes: gray hair is more sensitive to weathering and reacts more strongly to oxidizing and reducing chemicals. Our post on why gray hair resists dye looks at what this means in practice.

Safety comes first

Any product that uses dye can cause an allergic reaction in some people. The NHS says PPD is found in many permanent and some semi-permanent hair dyes, and that symptoms of a reaction can take up to 72 hours to appear. The FDA says people can develop sensitivities with repeated exposure, and it advises a skin patch test every time before you dye your hair. It also warns that temporary tattoos sold as "black henna" contain PPD and may raise your risk of allergy to hair dye.

Never use hair dye on eyebrows or eyelashes. The FDA says hair dyes have caused eye injuries, including blindness, when used in the eye area.

Rules differ by country. In the European Union, 181 substances are banned from hair dye products and 114 more are allowed only with restrictions, according to the European Commission. Hair dye allergies and patch tests explains the symptoms, the tests and who is most at risk. If you plan to dye at home, read covering gray at home for the first time before you start.

Cost and time

The yearly cost of covering gray depends mostly on how often you repeat it. Redoing roots every 4 weeks means 13 sessions a year. Every 6 weeks means 8 or 9. Salon color adds the colorist's time and skill to the cost of the product, while home color adds your own time and the risk of mistakes. How much covering gray costs goes through the factors. We do not quote prices, because they differ by city and salon and we did not find an independent, current source for them.

How to choose

A few questions can narrow the list:

• Do you want every gray strand hidden? Permanent dye does this best, with root work every few weeks.
• Do you want gray softened, not hidden? Try demi-permanent or semi-permanent dye, or blending with lowlights or highlights.
• Do you want a slow change you control? Gradual color, used on a regular schedule, builds the shade in small steps.
• Do you need a quick fix before an event? A temporary root product covers regrowth until you wash.
• Are you tired of the cycle? Going natural ends it, and blending can soften the grow-out.
• Have you reacted to hair dye before? Talk to a doctor or dermatologist before you try any dye.

When to see a doctor first

Hair color changes how hair looks. It does not treat the cause of graying. If your hair turned gray suddenly, in patches, or together with other symptoms, see a doctor before you choose a product. A 2018 review of premature graying says people who gray early should be checked for related syndromes and metabolic diseases. Our guide on why hair turns gray explains the causes.

LIUMIQ is developing a gradual color product for gray hair. It is not on sale, and there is nothing to buy yet. You can join the waitlist if you want to follow the work.