What Colours To Wear With Grey Hair
Whether you’re going grey and wondering if you want the upkeep of dying it, or you’re ready to embrace the change - I’m here to help you find what colours look best with grey and why having grey hair doesn’t have to drain your appearance!
I get so many clients who book a Personal Colour Analysis to help them work out which colours flatter grey hair - but picking gorgeous colours to flatter your grey isn’t just about the hair - it’s about your skin too and that’s why thinking of grey as just one colour, without considering undertones is a mistake.
As hair turns grey, it's important to choose the right colours to complement the intensity and undertone of it. It’s so easy to feel like going grey has completely changed and drained your complexion, especially for those who had dark hair in their youth, or have very warm features otherwise.
In this post, I’m covering:
What Colours Look Good With White Grey Hair?
What Colours Look Good With Salt & Pepper Hair?
What Colours Look Good With Grey Blonde Hair?
What Colours Look Good With Grey Brown Hair?
Colours That Suit Your Undertone When You Have Grey Hair
What colours look good with white grey hair?
Rich jewel tones such as emerald green, ruby red, and sapphire blue are great options to bring out the silver tones in bright grey, white grey, or silver grey hair and if you have a cool undertone, you’ll look fabulous in these colours. Your skin will look vibrant, your eyes will stand out and most importantly your clothes won’t be wearing you. Let’s look at someone who often wears great colours for her greys, Jamie Lee Curtis:
Is your colouring like Jamie-Lee Curtis’s? Get your colour guide!
What makes white grey hair look so good on Jamie is the fact that she also has a very cool undertone. Throughout her whole life, she’s looked great in cool colours, her skin has popped in silver and white has always looked crisp on her. If you have bright grey or white grey hair and you think you have a cool undertone, check you’re wearing cool colours in your clothing close to your face. Don’t forget about makeup! If you have a cool undertone and you’re wearing terracotta lipstick (which is a very warm colour), you’ll find yourself looking sallow. When a person with a cool complexion is wearing too much warm makeup or clothing close to their face, they’ll look flat and sometimes a little yellow in their skin.
If you have this complexion, here are some quick colour changes to make that will improve your appearance:
Wear more shining silver jewellery and ditch the gold. Silver enhances cool tones and you have cool features.
Avoid camel browns, orange tones and khaki. Soft autumnal colours will drain your features.
Switch the blush, foundation, eyeshadow and lipstick to cool tones. Ie: instead of orange/brown based makeups with brick coloured lipstick, try raspberry pinks, purply pink blushes and grey/charcoal smokey eye makeup instead of golden brown smokey eye makeup.
“If you have vibrant grey hair, you’ll look best in bright colours that have the same undertone as your skin.”
Alarna Hope, Stylist & Image Consultant
What about if you have bright grey hair and you have a warm undertone?
Let’s look at Cynthia Nixon with her hair grey in And Just Like That. Cynthia is a natural red-head, transitioning to grey, who, for this role, went fully-grey and bold, which matches her bright eyes but—if she doesn’t keep wearing warm colours, it will clash with her warm glow skin. If you are a natural red-head, you’ll find this adjustment quite hard because your hair is now much cooler in undertone and red-hair is the warmest hair you can have. It’s as drastic as a blonde dying her hair black!
If you have warm skin and bright grey hair or white grey hair, you’ll look best in vibrant oranges, teals, light warm-purples and rich corals. Wearing grey near your face will look best if you pair it with warm colours. Don’t forget, there are warm and cool greys, so when you’re stocking up on basics pick the greys that look a touch more brown than blue-based.
Is your colouring like Cynthia Nixon’s? Get your colour guide below.
What makes bright white grey hair work on women with a warm undertone, is adding more warmth to your look. Where your hair, skin and eyes used to all be warm, one has now changed, and previously, you could probably get away with wearing more neutral-neutral-cool colours. But now is the time to go harder on the warmth with makeup, jewellery and clothing.
If you have warm skin and bright grey white hair, make these colour changes:
Ditch the silver. Whether it’s jewellery, or shimmery makeup, or a silver sequin dress, opt instead for gold near your face, this will enhance your warmth.
Avoid stormy cool colours, particularly grey-blues, mushroom purples and other muted cool tones. These will not only make your skin look flat, but will steal the vibrancy from your hair- which is bright for it’s colour.
If you aren’t already, switch the makeup you’re wearing to all warm colours. This means more brick, brown and orange based colours. Your blush should be rich and warm, your lipstick needs to have a hint of coral or orange to it and remember to keep your lip colours brighter as opposed to muted. Think shiny and glossy versus matte and velvety.
What colours look good with salt and pepper hair?
Salt and pepper hair, a unique blend of dark grey and white hair, or black hair transitioning to grey, or brown hair transitioning to grey, and can look great with a variety of colours. If you have other naturally dark features, like dark eyebrows and dark eyes, then wearing darker colours near your face will look best. It will pick up the contrast you still have in your features. If you have a cool undertone, dark and bold colours such as black, royal blue, wine and plum can enhance the contrast of the hair and create a striking look. Most likley, you’ll be a Dark Winter or Cool Winter colour season.
If you have salt and pepper grey hair and have a warm undertone, wearing dark warm colours like chocolate brown, burgundy and olive will enhance your features.
If your eyes are lighter, and the grey is more white, while your natural hair colour is still warm, try soft warm colours like terracotta, camel, beige, khaki and dusty teal.
If your eyes are lighter, and the grey is more white, while your natural hair is ashy, wear pastel shades like lavender, light blue, and baby pink as these can also complement salt and pepper hair without competing with the natural grey tones. Earthy and neutral shades like beige, olive green, and camel don’t often pair as nicely if you have salt and pepper hair and a cooler undertone as they can really wash you out.
Let’s look at someone who is transitioning to grey well and embracing the salt and pepper hair look: Andie MacDowell.
Is your colouring like Andie MacDowell’s? Get your colour guide below!
What colours look good with grey blonde hair?
If you’re blonde and your greys aren’t bright and appear more ashy, soft colours will look best on you - provided you wear the right undertone. Where those with bright grey, shock white, or salt and pepper hair need bright tones to pick up the brightness in their hair, you need soft tones to compliment your softness.
What do I mean by soft colours?
These are colours that aren’t as bold, they have a touch of grey in them and don’t look too saturated. The best colours to avoid in this case are neons, super bright, vibrant warm tones and super dark rich warm tones. Let’s look at an example of someone who is an ash blonde, blending into grey: Sarah-Jessica Parker!
Is your colouring like Sarah Jessica Parker’s? Get the Colour Guide!
What colours to wear with brown grey hair?
If you were a natural brunette and your greys aren’t bright, trying some soft, warm colours that aren’t too dark could work on you. Think denim blues, soft teals, rosey pinks, olive, latte browns and desaturated autumn tones. The example I’m using is Diane Keaton, because I think she really nails her hair colour. She goes for a warm grey to match her complexion, in the photos below you can see where she’s transitioned into grey and where she’s gone for a lighter, warm grey as her hair has gotten lighter over time. If you have a warm undertone, and were a brunette, try some of the colours below!
Is your colouring like Diane Keaton’s? Get your Colour Guide!
How do you find colours that suit your undertone, when you have grey hair?
Some people have it easy when trying to work out their undertone, because much of what they wear and know looks good on them leans either warm or cool. Some people very obviously look cool, with cool eyes, cool skin and cool hair, same for warm.
A few ways to determine your undertone is to:
If you have light eyes, test coral vs cool light pink clothing on yourself. Cool like pink looks a bit more purple, coral leans more orange. If you look best in coral, you probably have warm skin, if you look best in cool light pink, you’ll likely have cool skin.
Do the same test above with lipstick and blush. Try a coral lippy and blush, then a cool pink lippy and blush.
Test wether white lifts your features (cool) or cream does (warm).
Test whether silver makes your skin look brighter, or if gold does.
If you’re finding yourself stuck - book a Colour Analysis with a trained consultant who has experience with grey hair. Grey comes in so many variations, and so does a persons natural colouring in their skin and eyes. A trained consultant will help you pick out colours to suit your individual needs and give you advice on how to transition into loving your greys.
“Don’t think of having grey hair as a bad thing for your style or complexion - you can now wear colours you weren’t able to before!”
Alarna Hope, Fashion Stylist & Image Consultant