WHY IS MY GRAY HAIR TURNING YELLOW? HOW TO FIX YELLOW OR BLUE GREY HAIR

We already know that as we age our hair begins to turn gray. This is because as we age, the pigment cells in our hair follicles slowly die, and eventually the hair strand will no longer contain enough melanin to maintain our hair color. It instead becomes transparent – usually gray, silver, or white. But it often seems like our gray hair is getting discolored. Why does gray hair turn yellow?

The answer might surprise you: hardwater. Hardwater and hair don’t usually get along, and after enough exposure to minerals and metals (like calcium, magnesium, aluminum, copper, manganese, and iron) it can turn yellow. For years, in order to counteract that dreaded yellowing, stylists have recommended blue shampoo.

But this can be problematic. Usually a blue shampoo for silver hair is made with a water-soluble violet dye (similar to the one used in purple shampoos for gray hair or blonde hair) that is super intense.

These dyes can temporarily stain skin and if overused even stain your hair (if you’ve ever had blue white hair, this is likely why!). Aside from that, just like the purple shampoo that’s prescribed to blondes, a blue shampoo gets diluted with water in the shower.

In order to have any visible color-correcting impact, your dye needs to be intense – and is usually an inky, dark dye. It stains your hair to reverse the yellow effect, but when in use it’s super messy on your skin and shower.

It’s also hard to predict the right distribution of blue dye – and often hair is left yellow in a few spots, and too blue in others leaving you with an awkward blue grey hair.

Discover The Best Treatment and The Best Shampoo for Gray Hair

Thankfully there is an alternative. Instead of combatting yellow hair with a messy blue dye that just masks the problem, you can use a pre-shampoo mineral remover, like Color Wow Dream Filter, to remove the minerals and metals from your hair, restoring your gorgeous shade of gray.



Dream Filter combines 2 molecular filters with 2 polymeric filters – together, they work like a magnet to extract minerals and metals from the hair. The process is gentle, safe, and fast (it only takes 1-3 minutes!).

To use, spray Dream Filter onto dry hair, spray evenly to saturate your gray hair, wait 1-3 minutes, then wash with the best shampoo for gray hair, Color Security Shampoo. Then condition and style as usual.

If your hair still has a tinge of yellow, it may be getting stained by other ingredients found in styling products like essential oils or certain preservatives.

You can opt to color correct with our teal Color Control Foam. Unlike blue shampoo or a blue rinse for gray hair, Color Wow's Foam uses a much less intense dye, because it isn’t being rinsed away in the shower.



This means less mess during the application process. Plus, because it’s a styler and not a shampoo, it doesn’t get massaged into your scalp, which avoids unwanted follicle blockage.

To ensure an even application squirt onto a brush and comb through hair. (Bonus: you don’t need to worry about turning hair stiff – our foam formula uses flexible rosins, instead of the hard resins found in old school mousses.)

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Read more about color care on the Color Wow Blog:

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