Why Does Gray Hair Turn Yellow? How to Fix Yellow or Blue Gray 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... today on the Blog we're tackling why that is!
Why does gray hair turn yellow?
The reason why your gray hair is turning yellow might surprise you: hard water.
Hard water 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 gray or white hair is left yellow in a few spots, and too blue in others leaving you with an awkward blue gray hair.
How to remove yellow from gray hair
1. Apply a pre-shampoo mineral remover
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. 
Our go-to is Color Wow Dream Filter (the reviews speak for themselves!), which removes 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 or white hair, wait 1-3 minutes, then wash with the best shampoo for gray hair, Color Security Shampoo. Then condition and style as usual.
2. Colour correct with a toning foam
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 purple Color Control Foam. Unlike purple shampoo, 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.)
Not sure where to start on your Color Wow hair journey? Take our 60-second hair quiz to discover the perfect personalized routine for your hair type.
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Read more about color care on the Color Wow Blog:
