Grey · 6 minute read
Grey coverage or grey blending: which one do I want?
Two different services, two different schedules, two different prices. How to tell which one suits your grey, and what each costs in Utah.
Most people searching this do not know these are two separate services. That is the whole reason it goes wrong.
Coverage makes grey disappear. Blending makes grey stop being the thing you notice. One is a solid result on a four week schedule, the other is a softer result you can stretch for months.
The sequence
The sequence is the whole problem
Grey hair has no pigment, which means it takes colour differently to the hair beside it and it shows a regrowth line faster than anything else on the head.
So the real question is not which shade. It is how often you are willing to be in the chair, because that decides everything else.
- 01
Under 25 percent grey
Blending. Highlights, lowlights or a gloss, and the grey reads as dimension.
- 02
25 to 50 percent grey
Either works. This is where the conversation matters most.
- 03
Over 50 percent grey
Coverage if you want it gone, or a deliberate transition to silver if you are ready.
- 04
Grey at the parting and temples only
A targeted root application, not a full head, and a lot cheaper than most people assume.
Potential solutions
What actually works.
Grey coverage
Permanent colour, opaque, on a four to six week schedule. All over colour, $140 to $185 by level.
Grey blending
Demi permanent and woven light, so the line is soft. Booked as custom colour or highlights, $175 to $250.
The transition to silver
Staged over several visits so you are never in a two tone phase. Priced as colour transformation time.
Root shadow with coverage
Coverage at the scalp with depth left through the lengths, so week five still looks intentional.
What to avoid
The things that make it worse.
- Choosing a shade darker than your old natural colour to cover grey. It ages the result and makes the regrowth line harsher.
- Blending when you actually want it gone. If seeing grey bothers you, blending will bother you every day.
- Permanent coverage every four weeks pulled through the ends. That is what turns a soft brunette flat and opaque over two years.
- Starting a silver transition without a plan and a date for each stage.
How we recreate it
Step by step, in the salon.
- 01
Free consultation in daylight
We estimate the percentage of grey and where it sits, which changes the recommendation completely.
- 02
Decide the schedule first
Four weeks or twelve weeks. Everything else follows that.
- 03
Pick the technique
Coverage, blending or a staged transition, with the price for each.
- 04
Colour and gloss
Keune Tinta at the root, Semi Color through the lengths to keep depth from going flat.
- 05
Book the interval
Same slot, forward booked, so the line never gets ahead of you.
Laila's pro tip
Ask for your grey percentage and where it sits, and write it down. Grey almost never arrives evenly, it comes at the parting and temples first, and knowing that is what lets you pay for a targeted application rather than a whole head.
Laila Grigley, Creative Director
Book with the Creative Colour teamCommon questions
Straight answers.
- How much does grey coverage cost?
- All over coverage is $140 to $185 depending on your stylist's level. A root only refresh is $70 to $115.
- Can I blend grey without committing to colour every month?
- Yes. Blending is designed exactly for that, and most blending clients are in every ten to sixteen weeks.