The silver hair trend is skyrocketing this year because so many women are finally moving away from ‘traditional’ hair colors towards something more playful and exciting. Silver hair is not just for older ladies. In fact, it’s a great color for women of all ages because it’s chic, sexy, and fun.
If you’ve ever attempted the silver hair trend, you know that it’s hard to get it right, especially if you’re doing it at home. The biggest risk is that you go full white without the beautiful shimmery silver pigments. Since there are so many tones of silver, picking the right one is tricky. You need to use the best dye kits on the market to ensure you get the right color.
In this guide, we’ll share the best silver hair dyes you can find on Amazon.
How to Dye Your Hair Silver
Before you start applying the silver dye, you need to lighten and bleach your hair. If your natural color is a light blonde, it’s an easy process, but you might need to bleach several times if you have dark hair. So, going silver is not as easy as you’d think. Your hair will face some damage, so make sure you’ve got a good conditioner and a color-safe hair mask handy.
Next, you need to apply a toner that removes the yellow undertones in your hair. This ensures the silver looks just like the color on the box. If you don’t tone, you can end up with a green tint, brassy tints, or a very patchy looking color.
After you’re finished with the dye, make sure to apply a color-protecting conditioner. It helps the silver look glossy and shiny and also protects the color against fading and early washout.
Table of Contents
Best Silver Hair Dye To Use At Home
Best Overall: Pravana ChromaSilk Vivids (Silver)
The ChromaSilk Silver is the best overall hair dye because it gives salon level results at a fraction of the cost. It’s the perfect silver shade without being too purple. The results are quite impressive when you consider this is an at-home dye you can use without a developer. It is very long-lasting and fade-proof, especially when you use purple shampoo and top up regularly.
If your hair isn’t light enough just yet, you can use the Pravana pre-lightener to prep for the silver color. This ensures the dye goes on evenly and gives you a bright and shimmery color. The formula is safe to use because it doesn’t contain any parabens, phthalates, and MEA. Therefore, it doesn’t strip your hair of its moisture and keep it healthy-looking and soft.
Pros
- This is a pure silver color without having too many purple or beige tones.
- It doesn’t contain parabens and phthalates
- It gives a vibrant and shiny color that glistens in the light.
- This dye doesn’t require a developer.
- It’s a long-lasting color that doesn’t fade out quickly.
- You can dilute the formula.
Cons
- If your hair is not pre-lightened and bleached, you can end up with patchy or greenish color.
Best Metallic Silver: Got2b Metallic Permanent Hair Color M72 Dusty Silver
This is one of the coolest grungy silvers out there because it gives your hair added dimension and so many shimmery pigments. If you’ve always wanted to try a metallic color, this is the perfect chance to try it because this dye is also one of the most affordable ones. As long you have bleached hair, you’ll get a beautiful deep silver color without any green tint.
The formula works on all hair textures and offers very long-lasting radiance because it doesn’t fade for at least eight weeks. Since this product has a cream formula, it is easy to apply because it doesn’t drip, so you don’t end up making a big mess in your bathroom. If you are concerned about grey coverage, just know that this dye blends into grey nicely so you get great looking highlights.
Pros
- Affordable.
- The metallic color is very shimmery and shiny.
- This is a bright and vibrant color.
- It is a permanent color, so it lasts for about six to eight weeks.
- It tones out brassiness, so hair actually turns out silver on bleached hair.
- The cream formula is easy to use and doesn’t drip.
Cons
- This formula contains ammonia.
- Some people complain that the color turns out brown if the hair is not prepped correctly.
Best Semi-Permanent Formula: Adore Semi-Permanent Haircolor #150 Platinum
There’s no better way to experiment with the silver hair trend than with this affordable dye from Adore. Since it’s a semi-permanent color, you can see how it looks for about four weeks, then decide if you want to top up. As the name suggests, it’s that beautiful platinum cool-toned light silver shade. It looks soft, shiny, and multi-dimensional, but it doesn’t cause damage, like most other hair dyes.
This formula is free of harsh chemicals, which means there is no ammonia, peroxide, or alcohol. It means your hair doesn’t feel dry and brittle after coloring. One of the biggest pros of this dye is that it has good lasting power and doesn’t fade or wash out when you shampoo. As well, it doesn’t bleed, and it’s easy to apply straight out of the bottle onto dry hair.
Pros
- Extremely affordable product.
- It is a beautiful cool-toned platinum silver color.
- The formula is fade-proof for four weeks.
- It doesn’t damage or dry out your hair.
- This is an ammonia and peroxide-free formula, so it’s gentle on the hair.
- It washes off your skin quickly, so it doesn’t stain the skin harshly.
- The product doesn’t have that typical harsh chemical scent.
Cons
- You have to leave it on the hair for a bit longer than it states on the box if you want the most vibrant silver color.
Best Shimmery Color: L’Oreal Paris Feria Multi-Faceted Shimmering Permanent Hair Color Smokey Silver
Are you not feeling the dull silver look? If you’re going for that bold smokey ashy type of silver, this Feria color is the best pick. It is full of shimmery highlights to give you multi-dimensional hair that glistens in the light. Therefore, it’s our top pick for those of you looking for a trendy shimmery hue that looks way more intense than your basic one-tone silver.
This permanent formula gives you up to eight weeks of bold and vibrant color. The kit also contains a nourishing conditioner, which makes your hair look and feel silky smooth. The formula has a liquid gel consistency, so it’s easy to apply evenly because it doesn’t drip all over the place. This means less mess and less clean-up time, so bonus points for convenience!
Pros
- Easy to use because it has a gel consistency.
- This vibrant smokey silver is full of highlights for multi-dimensional hair.
- The kit includes a nourishing conditioner and serum.
- Affordable.
- The color is long-lasting for up to eight weeks.
- Feria is a trendy range by L’Oreal, and many customers trust the brand.
Cons
- This product contains quite a lot of chemicals.
- It has a powerful chemical scent.
Best Ammonia-Free Formula: Ion Semi-Permanent Hair Color Titanium
The titanium shade is one of three intense silver shades made by Ion. They are all gorgeous and highly pigmented, but this specific one is very vivid and bold, so it’s perfect if you want a cool-toned medium silver. It’s a great formula because it doesn’t contain ammonia and peroxide, and it’s gentle on the hair. Therefore, it’s a bit less damaging during the coloring process.
This dye is known for the intense color pigment, which makes the hair shine and shimmer. The color also lasts long, even though it’s a semi-permanent dye. It applies very evenly, and you don’t end up with different colored streaks. If you have a hard time dyeing your own hair, you don’t need to worry because this formula is easy to use. As long as you have a light color or bleached hair, you can just apply, and it’s done.
Pros
- This color is very vivid and bold.
- The dye is made in Italy of high-quality ingredients.
- The formula is free from ammonia and peroxide.
- Affordable.
- This is a long-lasting dye and doesn’t start to fade for about three weeks.
Cons
- There is not much product in the tube, so if your hair is longer than shoulder length, you’ll need more than one tube.
Best Vegan Dye: Lunar Tides Hair Dye Silver Lining Semi-Permanent Vegan Hair Color
When you want to dye your hair without a lot of hassle, you can try the Lunar Tides formula because it doesn’t require a developer. Therefore, it’s simple to use and colors in about half an hour. The kit includes a small brush that you can use to divide your hair into strands. This helps you apply the dye evenly, so there is no patchiness.
The color is a trendy dark shimmery grey, which is definitely much cooler than the average grey. I like this formula because it’s vegan and cruelty-free, plus it contains natural ingredients like safflower seed oil, oat protein, and rice protein. These ingredients help minimize damage and promote healthy-looking hair.
Pros
- This doesn’t require any developer.
- The color is vibrant and bold.
- The formula is vegan and cruelty-free.
- There is a brush in the kit, which makes application much easier.
- It is gentle on the hair and doesn’t cause damage.
Cons
- Some people say the color washes out too fast.
Best Color Depositing Product: Keracolor Clenditioner Hair Dye Silver Blue
When your hair is already silver, all you need to do is maintain the color. But, if you select dyes, they will damage your hair. So, your best damage-free option is a color depositing conditioner. This product cleanses and adds color simultaneously. Unlike harsh dyes, this is very gentle on your hair and adds more of a tint than an intense, vibrant color. The more often you use the formula, the more color it deposits. Therefore, you have to build it up gradually.
You should keep depositing color until you achieve your ideal shade of silver. Then, you can stop using the product until the color starts to fade again. Keep in mind that this product doesn’t lighten the hair at all, so your base color must be bleached or lightened already before you can deposit color.
Pros
- Very convenient to use because it’s just like using shampoo and conditioner.
- This formula cleanses your hair.
- The color is a pretty shiny silver with blue tones.
- The formula is very gentle on the hair, so it doesn’t cause dryness.
- You can control the level of color and use as much or as little as you want.
- Paraben-free.
Cons
- Not a proper ‘dye’ so the color is not as long-lasting or intense.
Buyer Guide
How To Get The Best Results with Silver Hair Dye
The downside to silver hair is that it’s pretty hard to maintain. Even hairstylists have a lot of work to do when it comes to keeping silver looking its best. If you want to make sure the color doesn’t wash out soon after dyeing, you need to follow some simple color maintenance rules.
First, you need to use purple shampoo to keep the silver tones looking great. A purple shampoo’s role is to correct your hair’s silvery tone and remove any type of warm tones. The last thing you want is brassy streaks running through your hair. The purple shampoo is infused with violet tones, which color correct and prevent your color from going dull.
Second, you need to use lots of high-quality conditioners to protect your hair. The problem with going silver is that you need to bleach first, which causes lots of damage to your hair. Unfortunately, there is no magic cure for this damage, and once it’s done, it’s hard to reverse. Luckily, there are many nourishing conditioners which strengthen and hydrate your hair to help it look healthy again. Make sure you condition every time you wash your hair.
Third, you need to use toners to maintain silver hair every so often. Toning is the easiest way to keep the silver from fading. Use a white or platinum toner and apply it all over the hair to make dull hair look vibrant again.
Lastly, did you know there’s an easy way to maintain the silver color without actually re-applying the dye? A color depositing shampoo is a quick way to add more silver pigments to your hair. These shampoos don’t penetrate the hair shaft, but they add some silver color to the hair’s surface so that you can go longer between coloring sessions.
Conclusion
Not too long ago, getting silver hair required expensive trips to the hairstylist. Luckily, major brands are quickly adapting and coming out with many new beautiful silver hair dyes that people can use at home. This allows you to experiment with this playful shade from the comfort of your home.