If youʼre like most of us at Zotos Professional, youʼre not ready to embrace the salt and pepper look, and would rather camouflage gray hair than flaunt it. But effectively covering grays can be a challenge—so who better to dole out some tips than Mike Petrizzi, Artistic Director for our AGEbeautiful line? The color guru behind our recent ad campaigns, he also works with an elite clientele of celebrities, fashion editors, NYC insiders and models at Manhattanʼs ultra-chic De Berardinis Salon. Hereʼs what Petrizzi has to say about the best way to disguise grays. (His coloring advice is nothing short of coveted, so pay attention.)
Expert Tips From Mike Petrizzi
In my years as a professional colorist, Iʼve learned a lot about the unique challenges mature ….or 40+ women face when coloring their hair. They want to embrace and evolve with their age – they want to keep their look softer and find out whatʼs flattering on them. During the aging process, in addition to your skin tone and bone structure changing, your hair changes. Youʼre dealing with thinning and wiry grays, plus loss of shine and manageability..
If you have more than 50% gray, permanent color is a must. I recommend AGEbeautiful Anti-Aging Permanent Haircolor for maximum gray coverage. Grays donʼt stand a chance with AGEbeautiful Anti-Aging Permanent Haircolor! I love using it because it delivers solid, impermeable results—not a single silvery strand is going to sneak out of there. And it addresses all 5 signs of aging hair – it not only covers the gray but also adds volume, manageability, moisture and shine.
If you are not a color newbie, I recommend using a combination of permanent color on the new growth (your roots) and a non-ammonia, pH balanced color like AGEbeautiful Demi Permanent on the already colored hair. This will boost shine, seal the cuticle, make the hair more manageable and also maintain even color from roots to ends.
Iʼve also got a pre-treatment trick I always use to prep hair for gray coverage: After drying hair and applying color, put a moisturizing masque on the ends of your hair while the base color processes. AGEbeautiful Intense Strengthening Treatment is my top pick. Itʼs perfect for repairing dry, damaged hair.
My last piece of advice is to have fun coloring your hair, and donʼt be a slave to it. It shouldnʼt just be about covering your gray—it should inspire you and make you feel good.
Mike Petrizzi
Lois Lewis
December 5th, 2012
I started to gray very early (19-20), and have been fighting it ever since. I only gray about 2 inches at the roots, but I’m not ready to give in to the gray. My relaxed, color treated hair may have to give AgeBeautiful a try.
Beautiful Nicole
March 25th, 2013
I always wondered what was the best thing to get the dye off my face after I dyed my hair. I have tried baby oil,hydrogen peroxide,alcohol, and others. The stuff that got it off of my face BETTER than hydrogen peroxide was SHAVING CREAM!! Oh my gosh I just saw my husband’s shaving cream on the bathroom counter and said what the heck let my try this since it will take the paint off of a car lol. To my surprise it worked so well and the dye came right off. Anyhow you can get some for $1 at the dollar tree. Dab it on a paper towel and wet the towel. I roll the towel back because the shaving cream likes to expand all over the place. This way it gets rolled up in the paper towel. Then just dab the dyed spots until they come off. They usually come off with the first gentle swipe. Get the shaving gel that is for sensitive skin and see if there is some with aloe vera in it. This way you can be nice to your skin. Hope this helps people with getting hair dye on the skin!