Pro Makeup Artist Tips: The Most Beautiful Makeup for Grey, Silver or White Hair
If you’ve already embraced the decision to let your hair go beautifully grey – or you’ve been thinking about it and are close to ditching the dye – you’ll most likely find that you’ll need to make some subtle changes to your makeup in order to make your grey, white or silver hair really pop and your skin glow. So in today’s article and accompanying video, I’ll share some makeup tips that will help you beautifully enhance your white, grey or silver strands.
Undertones Are Important
I think it’s generally thought that white, silver or grey hair is strictly cool toned, but actually, there are undertones to grey hair – some grey undertones can be warmer and some cooler. What this means is that there is no one way to change our makeup that works for all of us.
I wish there were, because it would be a whole lot easier, but to be very honest, each of us needs to do some experimenting to find out what flatters our grey, white or silver hair and skin tone the most. But the good news is that there are some general guidelines which are helpful and which we’ll cover today.
The Most Important Guideline
The first guideline in discovering our most beautiful makeup for grey, silver or white hair is crucial for all of us to know – no matter what our hair color is: and that step is to know the undertone of our skin. Although our outer layer of skin can change a bit over the years or at various times of the year, the undertone of our skin never changes.
We have either a warm, cool or neutral undertone. If you’re not sure of your undertone, please check out the video below which will give you nine questions to answer to help you determine the undertone of your skin.
Foundation Adjustments
If you have a warm undertone, your grey hair will definitely add more coolness around your face which will shift how your complexion appears. So, if your foundation is too warm, it can make the skin look too golden, so it would be helpful to get some foundation samples at a department store makeup counter that are slightly less warm or more neutral to see if that will help your makeup look more cohesive.
If you have a cool undertone, the added coolness of grey hair color against your skin may cause you to look too pale or washed out. So just a slight adjustment to a slightly less cool foundation if you have a cool undertone or a slightly less warm foundation if you have a warm undertone could end up being a far more flattering look with your new hair look. We want to bring our skin to life while complementing our hair color rather than clashing with it.
Brow Color Adjustments
Probably the question I get most often from women who are transitioning to grey hair is what color their eyebrows should be. Filling in our sparse or grey and white brows is absolutely critical to providing a beautiful frame for our eyes and our entire face, so this does become an important consideration.
It’s especially important when our hair is grey, white or silver, because our brows can suddenly seem way too dark, way too light or just somehow off. Brows that are too dark can look harsh and unnatural. And if they’re too light, they can start to disappear or look invisible. Sticking with the same brow color we’ve used for most of our life when we’ve had blonde, brown, red or black hair can look too warm, too cold or simply out of balance.
So, you may want to consider choosing a brow color that’s one or two shades lighter than your natural color. A cool toned taupe shade – which is a neutral color combo of brown and gray that creates a warm, muted shade – or a soft brown color or an ashy gray shade will usually look more natural.
An especially good brow product option is a tinted brow gel with fibers which can blend in the gray in a subtle manor without making our brows look too stark. And you may want to avoid a color that has too much red in it since that can look out of place with the cooler tones of grey hair.
It’s important to say that there are no right or wrong colors. Since a beautiful brow lifts and enhances our eyes and really transforms our face by providing a sense of balance, it’s really important to find a shade that feels right for you.
Be sure to check out Elise’s YouTube channel which specifically focuses on makeup tips, techniques, and product reviews for those of us 50+. Don’t forget to subscribe!
Research Results That Provide Some Answers
A fascinating research study that can most powerfully inform our makeup choices is one that was done to determine what makes us most attractive to other people. This was an extremely large study done with many subjects of all different ethnicities. The research concluded that what makes us most attractive to others is the amount of facial contrast we have.
When we go white, grey or silver, we lose some of that facial contrast. That’s why adding color back into our skin with blush and lipstick can be especially important when we go grey. Without that color we can look washed out and more invisible.
Blush Adjustments
It becomes even more important to choose a blush color that makes our skin glow and come alive. Even if we have a warm skin undertone and have looked beautiful before going grey when we wore deeper corals and deeper peach tones as lipstick and blush, those deeper warm tones may clash a bit with our cooler grey hair.
So, if you have a warm undertone, you may want to opt for more neutral peachy/pink colors which will add warmth without looking too strong or overpowering as deeper corals or orange tones might do. For those of us with cool toned skin, pinks, roses or berry tones that aren’t too cool will most likely work best.
In the video, I’ll apply some lighter and deeper shades of pink tones of blush so you can see the difference. On my right side I’ll apply Patrick Ta’s major Headlines Double Take Crème and powder Blush Duo in the shade “Just Enough” which is a soft blue pink. And on the left side I’ll apply Patrick Ta’s Major Headlines Double Take Crème and Powder Blush Duo in She’s Giving which is a much brighter and stronger vibrant blue pink. There’s no right or wrong here, but I’d love to know which you feel works best with my white hair.
Since for many of us our skin becomes drier as we get older, a combination of cream and powder blush can work really well. The cream adds some glow and a “lit from within” look, but being able to layer the cream over the powder means that our blush will be more long lasting. But if you have oily skin, you may want to just stick to powder blush or a blush with a cream to powder finish.
Lipstick Adjustments
Lipstick is so important in adding the contrast that grey hair needs and in pulling our whole makeup look together. The not quite right shade can leave us looking washed out so we definitely want to avoid nude lipsticks with a brown or beige base. These lipstick colors don’t create enough contrast and can make our face look washed out and lifeless since the colors will blend into our skin.
Soft pinks and mauves can be beautiful on cool toned skin and peachy pinks look gorgeous on warm toned skin. And even bolder bright berry shades or blue reds for cool toned skin or warm reds for warm undertones can look stunning. Bolder colors can definitely look chic and sophisticated. So in the video we’ll try a softer lip look as well as a bolder look so you can see the difference.
I think there’s a natural assumption that when we go grey, we need to tone down our makeup so it looks more natural and understated. But as I mentioned earlier, what we really need is more contrast rather than less since strategic color can enhance our features. However, this doesn’t mean that we necessarily need to go bright and bold. Just choosing the best colors for the undertone of our skin can make a world of difference.
Embracing our white, grey or silver hair can be a beautifully positive experience. And choosing makeup colors that enhance our skin tone and our new hair color can make a world of difference.
Please Join the Conversation:
Did you make some makeup adjustments when you went gray, white or silver? If so, what adjustments did you make? What products worked best for you?
so what do I do with thick WIRY, BLACK black & WHITE white brows? I certainly don’t need to fill them in, and although I do try to use clear brow taming gel, hairs in my brows often stick straight OUT. I do sometimes use a medium taupe to try to unify their color appearance, but it never looks quite right. My (head) hair is the same, albeit thinning and frizzy – off black with WHITE hairs, especially a solid white stripe in the front.
Hi, Terri–As far as keeping brow hairs in place, a brow gel that has quite good hold is Rare Beauty’s Eyebrow Gel. Another option is to actually use hair spray. Mist hairspray a good six to 10 inches away from the bristles of a brow brush (you want the bristles damp, not totally wet) and use the brush to sweep the hairs from the inner corners to the arch up toward your hairline. Then change the angle to smooth the hairs at the tail and toward the top of your ears. And if you don’t have a brow brush, a clean toothbrush will work. If you want to cover the white hairs, a brow gel that works pretty well is Maybelline’s Express Brow Fast Sculpt Mascara Gel. Hope this helps.
thanks! That is helpful. I do have a brow brush (my brows have been unruly for a long time), and I will look into the Maybelline. Any idea on the color to use? I have fair but not super fair, skin, and as I said above, a combo of off-black and white hair.
I’m glad the info was helpful! The Maybelline product comes in a deep brown and a brown/black. You can check out the colors here to see which might work best for you: https://www.maybelline.com/eye-makeup/eyebrow-makeup/brow-fast-sculpt-shapes-eyebrows-eyebrow-mascara-makeup?variant=Black+Brown
Interesting article- my eyebrows are still dark brown. But my hair is white naturally Occasionally people ask me if I dye my hair white, or do I dye my eyebrows brown. What do you recommend makeup wise?
Hi, Rebekah–If your eyebrows are still dark brown, I think you’d create some nice symmetry, harmony and balance by going a lttle darker with your makeup. However, what it all comes down to in the end is what you feel most comfortable with personally.
This is fascinating, especially about the study finding that facial contrast is the key factor in attractiveness. I am definitely pale and washed out. Will be working on it, and with thanks, Elise!
(PS: I actually prefer the paler blush with the very white wig. I know that’s not as much contrast, but it seems enough!)
Hi, Liz–I really found that study to be fascinating as well. The amount of contrast we decide to use is truly just personal preference. Have fun experimenting!
I am finding that a pink lip gloss looks really nice and is much better than lipstick.
Don’t choose the high-shine super-glossy brands and choose a pale pink, not a
bright day-glo pink. I am loving my silvery-white hair now. The brow look does
take some effort. If your hairdresser has someone in her salon who does wedding
make-up, they are usually good at giving advice on that. I top off my mascara
with a very light touch of blue mascara to bring out my blue eyes. Do a google search
of favorite silver or gray-haired celebrities and study their faces. I happen to think Shirley
Jones is gorgeous (yes, the Partridge Family mom).
Hi, Catherine–Thanks so much for sharing what’s been working so well for you and some great tips.