Fast forward to 2016 and, when my friends from home were over with me at uni one weekend, I spotted something in Superdrug that made me think "oooh!". The "something" in question was this:
Knight & Wilson Colour-Freedom Metallic Glory in Silver Grey
What? Permanent silver hair colour?!? I'd only ever seen silver achieved after toning white hair and, as such, I'd never attempted it after what I described in paragraph one happened. I was absolutely in love with silver hair that I'd seen scattered about the Internet but thought it was out my grasp. Would this change everything? Would I finally be able to achieve a silver hue??
My friends said I should go for it so I bought a pack. After the weekend, I decided to take the plunge and go for it. This was my hair prior to dyeing (except with some roots coming through):
So, it says for this particular shade that hair should be at least a level 9 blonde with no warm tones such as yellows or oranges. As you can see in the photo, I had some warm tones in my hair. My roots were also particularly warm. I wondered if the dye would tone these parts down and make the parts that had been highlighted previously silver. I should probably have toned before applying it but the warm parts were quite dark compared to the rest so it may not have made a difference. But anyway. This was the result after leaving it on for 35 mins (10 mins longer than the stated time to see if it could blast away the warmth):
Not bad, eh?? I really liked it in my bedroom light (it was dark at this point). Near my roots you can see some warmer parts but they didn't look too bad to me.
Well, until I looked at it in natural light. I don't have any photos of it in daylight at this stage but it was pretty obvious that it had worked beautifully on my highlighted parts and not marvellously on the rest. It had toned it down a bit but that was about it. However, I wasn't too surprised. The stubborn warm bits had been lingering for a while and the dye did explicitly state that any warm tones may clash with the dye and produce unwanted results. So I wasn't surprised in the slightest.
I decided to try a toner that I'd bought on a whim at the same time as the dye. This was a toner I'd never seen before and it was quite new to the market, made by the sister company of ColourB4 (thought I recognised the font/logo):
ColourOn Ice Cool Blonde Toner
It's pretty dark coming out of the tube and is a very indigo-shaded thick cream (apologies for the awkward hand picture, I couldn't get my camera to focus in any other position!):
So I had faith in it. The results were great, it really toned down the warmth and made the silvery parts even more silver:
I was happy, though I could still see some warmth. However, it wasn't nearly as bad as it had been. The toner also made my hair feel incredibly soft so I was a fan straight away.
A few days later, I curled my hair for a mad scientist-themed night out with friends. I noticed my roots, which were stubbornly staying warm and were beginning to irritate me:
The rest of it looked lovely, though I did notice some warmth stubbornly staying in throughout the rest of it, underneath, too.
This pic was what convinced me that I needed to do something about it:
Behold my amazing Photoshop skills! My roots looked brown. BROWN. I'm not even brown naturally, I'm a dark blonde. NOPE, thought I. That was it. I was going to have to suck it up and get some bleach on there if I wanted the whole thing to be silver.
For the past 18+ months I've been looking after my hair a lot more. I've reduced the amount of sulphates and silicones I've been using, slathering it in coconut oil fairly regularly, using argan oil on the ends, using far less heat, etc. So the condition of it has improved massively. I also invested in a boar brush, which makes it feel particularly silky. So I was less worried about bleaching it now, though still somewhat anxious so I made sure I knew what I was doing this time.
I refused to go over a 20 volume developer and was prepared to spend more time lightening it. I also invested in a colour remover (JoBaz, which I've used and raved about before on here) and Wella Color Charm toner (T14). I had also heard about a trick to try and reduce the impact of the damage a bit: using coconut oil before bleaching (leaving the oil on during the bleaching process). I had accepted that I would be damaging my hair (but absolutely REFUSED to let it get to the stage that it had been in 2013) and was prepared to trim off some of the length if necessary. I did do a strand test before proceeding to make sure I wasn't going to fry my hair. I was also prepared to look the heck after it following the processes.
So. I did this over the course of 2 days. Not recommended by many as it's so many processes and harsh on the hair. I had a slight deadline though as I was heading home from uni for Easter the day after the 2nd day. I would still advise resting though and conditioning and treating the hair in between. But anyway.
Stage one was the colour removal. I was sad to lose the fab colour from the previously highlighted parts of hair as they did look stunning. I was also curious about what the colour remover would do to a silver dye and whether it would completely remove it.
It removed it beautifully. It also caused the strange green ends (which had previously been coloured with LaRiche Directions in Neon Blue and Violet). That was fine, I was planning on putting the blue/purple back in at some stage, anyway.
Very brassy roots, as you can see. I then bleached it with Jerome Russell powder bleach and Wella Color Charm 20 volume developer after having had coconut oil sat on it for about an hour. This was the result:
Slightly less brassy roots, yay! The condition of it didn't feel too bad at all, a little dry but it was to be expected. I then caked it in coconut oil again and slept overnight in it.
The next morning, I noticed there was still a lot of brass and it was a pale orange rather than the required pale yellow. I guessed that I hadn't left the bleach on for long enough (due to my panic about a possible Great Bleach Disaster of 2016!), only around 25 minutes, and I didn't cover it or apply heat, either.
So, another bleach was necessary. Using the same products (and having covered it in coconut oil again), I bleached and left it on for around 40 minutes this time, covered it in cling film and applied heat via a hairdryer for around 2 minutes.
The result:
Muuuuch better! It was now at the required stage with very little brass. I also noticed that, once again, apart from some dryness throughout, it was otherwise intact and ok. It didn't feel like cotton wool, it wasn't snapping off and even the ends weren't too bad. Amazing. I honestly believe the coconut oil helped make it more manageable and less dry and will never bleach again without first covering it in coconut oil first.
Right, so, onto the silver dye! Finally! I had toned it after the first bleach with ColourOn (which didn't do a huge amount this time because there were a lot of orangey tones, but it again left my hair feeling super soft so huge points for that) and then Wella Color Charm T14 (which helped a lot but didn't touch the roots, unsurprising considering how brassy and warm they were). So this felt like such a process! Would it be worth it?
I had to get the Graphite Grey this time as all 3 Superdrugs I'd checked in the city had sold out of Silver Grey (this line is exclusive to Superdrug). I decided to leave the dye on for a very short amount of time as a) this one was darker and b) I knew my hair would be porous at this stage so would grab the colour and come out darker. I left it on for 10 minutes before rinsing and conditioning.
Did it work?
Well?
Yes. Yes, it did.
OH YEAH
YEAH IT WORKED
I AM SO HAPPY
NO MORE BRASSY ROOTS
I am so, so happy with the final result. There isn't an ounce of brass anywhere. The shade came out perfectly - a nice mix of grey and silver. The lighting isn't the best and I'll update with a daylight picture at some point. But WOW. I absolutely adore it. And I can't believe I managed it! AND I can't believe I managed it without destroying my hair!! Look at it! It honestly looks and feels like I haven't processed it several times over the weekend and I'm staggered.
I heartily recommend Knight & Wilson's silver dye range. I loved the Silver Grey (on the parts that were at the right level for silverising), I love the Graphite Grey. I need to rave about this dye for a bit because I loved everything about it.
The dye itself is quite thick so really easy to apply with a brush and bowl, which I did (I prefer that to using the bottle for boxed dyes). The smell is actually quite pleasant, hard to describe but much nicer than the usual whiff. I ADORE the colour (MY HAIR IS SILVER, GUYS). And a very pleasant surprise was the after-colour conditioner:
This conditioner was a very pleasant surprise and WOW, do they sell this separately?! If not, they seriously need to consider doing so. It made my processed hair feel amazing. It honestly, truly does not feel like I've bleached it at all and I'm staggered at the quality. BUT GUYS,
LOOK,
SILICONE-FREE. ARE YOU KIDDING ME. IT JUST GETS BETTER. I AM IN LOVE.
I need to store this stuff for the rest of my life.
AND YOU KNOW WHAT ELSE, FOLKS??
It tells you the strength of the developer on the bottle. I've never seen this on a box dye (and I've been dyeing my hair since I was 14 - have I just missed it all these times??) and for me it's a huge added bonus. Then I know exactly how much processing is going on and it's fabulous.
So there you go! This was by no means an easy process and I was quite tired after doing it all in the space of around 24 hours in total! Oh, the backache. But I am so, so chuffed with the result. And I absolutely love the Knight & Wilson permanent silver dye range. I haven't tried any of their other products but will likely do so in the future. If you're looking to go silver, this is the range I'd recommend by far.
BUT BE WARNED
As you can see, I did need to bleach my hair and I already had light hair. So, if your hair is dark or has brassy tones, be prepared for having to lighten it. As you can see from my results, it worked well on the previously highlighted parts and not so well on the warmer parts BUT it does say this on the box!! So I was prepared for this and not surprised at my initial results.
I highly, HIGHLY recommend spending some weeks/months getting your hair into a good condition before you do anything along these lines. I believe that, along with the coconut oil, is why my results were good. My hair feels fine (a little dry but I will be taking good care of it from now, conditioning it plenty and using as little heat as possible) because it was in a good place before I undertook this process. Don't say I didn't warn you!
And not forgetting! The traditional cat photo of my gorgeous Cleo being all snuggly:
And not forgetting! The traditional cat photo of my gorgeous Cleo being all snuggly:
