Want to go gray but don’t want to walk around with half your hair dyed and the other half not? We’ve got a solution and it’s called The Dye Strip Method. I know this sounds crazy but this method actually has you DYE your hair to help you STOP DYEING your hair. Keep scrolling for first hand accounts from 5 women who tried the dye strip method plus before + after pics and all the tips and tricks!
By: Lisa Fennessy
Sure it takes a while for gray hair to grow out but you don’t just have to sit and wait it out. There actually ARE ways to aid the gray hair grow out process. We’ve rounded up 10 ways to go gray but there are so many more options like gray blending or “The Dye Strip Method.”
IN THIS POST:
- What is the Dye Strip Method?
- Who should do the Dye Strip Method?
- Can you DIY the Dye Strip Method?
- 5 Women try the Dye Strip Method With Before + After Pics!
What is the Dye Strip Method?
As far as we can tell, what’s now known as The Dye Strip Method was created by a woman named Suzan Barnes. Back in 2017 she posted a video entitled “How to Grow Out Your Gray Hair Secretly” and shared a way to color a section of your hair so if you part your hair one way, it looks dyed and if you part your hair the other way, it looks undyed.
The idea behind this approach being that you would wear your hair parted to expose the dyed section essentially “hiding” the gray growth until your growout was complete or looked intentional. Then you would flip your part to the opposite side of your head exposing your natural gray hair all grown out. This would then allow the dyed strip to grow out (appearing like lowlights) underneath your natural gray hair.
To this day, Suzan still only has three videos posted (in total) on her Youtube channel. One video explains this method, one video demonstrates this method and video one answers FAQs a few years later.
We ended up getting in touch with Suzan via email and it turns out, she is a hairdresser! (Of course she is!). She says, “It’s great to hear that my method is working for others. As far as I am aware, I am the originator of the method, though I imagine that someone somewhere in the world has also thought of it. Though I am a licensed hairstylist, when it came to growing out my gray hair, I didn’t have a solution. After many weeks of frustration from not being able to find anything online, the idea came to me while driving in my car. I thought it was so easy that many women might appreciate the idea, so I made a video.”
I love that Suzan just came into the world, dropped a gray-hair-gem and peaced out. Yassss Suzan.
Since then this method has exploded in popularity as women give it a try. Diana, one of these pioneering women explains, “I coined the name [The Dye Strip and Flip Technique] because it didn’t have a name and in order to spread the word about the technique it had to have a name, right? [This method] was a game changer and I instantly KNEW this was how I was going to embrace my gray. As soon as I saw how well it worked for me, I had to share it so others knew there was another technique out there to consider.”
Diana reports that some Facebook groups may have been sharing the technique a few years earlier than Suzan so the origins are a little fuzzy. But now you can find The Dye Strip Method via an easy search as it’s being used by gray hair bloggers, Youtubers and women who are sharing their gray hair story publicly.
The Dye Strip Method
Step 1: Section off the hair that surrounds your side part (1/2 inch to 1 inch on both sides) and dye that section of hair as close to your natural shade as possible.
Step 2: Part your hair on that side to expose dyed hair so that over time, you’ll secretly grow out your gray hair underneath.
Step 3: When your grow-out is complete, part your hair on the other side and go from dyed hair to gray hair in one flip!
RELATED: What is gray hair blending?
Who should do the Dye Strip Method?
Listen, anyone can try The Dye Strip Method but it’s specifically a good fit for women who are looking for a way around sporting that stark demarcation line that happens when you stop dying your hair and start growing in your natural color.
But if we want to break it down a bit, The Dye Strip Method seems ideal for people with longer hair that have a straight-to-wavy texture.
We’ve rounded up first hand experiences from 5 different women who have tried The Dye Strip Method and they all have this hair type in common. Not to say people with other types of hair can’t give this method a whirl but it may not work for short or very curly hair. It also probably won’t work if you can’t “flip” your part from side to side.
RELATED: Overtone for Gray Hair. Plus, Before and After Pics!
Can you DIY the Dye Strip Method?
This is totally up to you. If you feel comfortable trying The Dye Strip Method on your own then go for it! I personally would be sh*tting a brick if I tried this myself so if this were me, I would prefer to go to a professional hairstylist.
That being said, this is a relatively straightforward and small dye job—most (but not all) of the women we interviewed below did it themselves at home. So, this one is your call.
5 Women try the Dye Strip Method with before + after pics!
Diana tried the Dye Strip Method
Meet Diana! Diana decided to stop dying her hair and go gray in 2020. As she mentioned, she came across The Dye Strip Method and instantly knew it was for her. She used this method to support her full gray hair growout and says, “It helped with the demarcation line, my silver looked more like peek-a-boo highlights as it was growing out, and I never had an awkward stage in the grow out process.”
Diana’s Dye Strip Method tips and tricks:
- Use Vaseline on your natural gray growth to protect it from the hair dye along the part line.
- If you choose, use a temporary root cover up product around your face/temples until your natural growth looks more intentional.
- I also recommend starting with a VERY small section of hair on either side of your part to begin with because you can always dye more hair if you feel you need more coverage but you can’t undye your hair if you want less.
- You can go to the salon to do this technique but it can also be done at home at very little cost. Just make sure you have a trusted friend or loved one who can assist you to ensure you only pick up the same section of hair each month. You don’t want to accidentally dye your hard earned natural growth.
Diana also recommends taking progress photos every week and sharing your progress / results online to help others. See hers below. 👇
If you want to learn more from Diana, check out this interview she did with Katie Goes Platinum and give her a follow on Instagram!
Charity tried the Dye Strip Method
Meet Charity! Charity tried to go gray a few times prior to finding The Dye Strip Method. The first time was in 2014 when she attempted to go “cold turkey” (the wait it out method) but when her sister commented on her new gray growth, she stopped. The second time was in 2019 when, with the help of her hairdresser, she went ash blonde but she ended up hating what the bleach did to the condition of her hair so again, she stopped.
In 2022, she tried again. This time via The Dye Strip Method.
She says, “It didn’t go as planned, but it got me through (I am still silver!). Diana (see above) was my total inspo.”
Charity’s Dye Strip Method advice:
- Try to use your last all over dye to “reset” as close as possible to your natural/original color. My base color at the end was far from my natural brunette. There were so many colors going on there. I am not a colorist, but I believe if my original base had been closer to my natural brunette, the grow out would have been less painful. I was not prepared for how much I disliked my hair months 9 to 12.
- If you use a stylist, be sure to agree on the size and placement of the strip! Once or twice my colorist colored a strip of hair far wider than necessary, like nearly half my head.
- Agree on the price in advance. In my opinion, the effort and processing time is the same so I assumed it would be the same price but my colorist felt guilty charging for a full color when she was only doing a narrow strip. This caused her some angst.
Ultimately, Charity abandoned the dye strip method after 9 months but was so invested in the process at that time that there was no going back. She says, “For the record, I love my hair now. Even though it was a long messy journey to get here.”
If she had it to do over, she would’ve tried dying the strip herself rather than going to a professional salon. Want to learn more from Charity? Check out her going gray experience!
Leslie tried the Dye Strip Method
Meet Leslie! Leslie is 53 and decided to stop dying her hair in December of 2022. After dying her hair for about 20 years, she was getting to the point where her roots were showing within a week and she was getting root touch ups every 3 weeks.
Describing that time she says, “I was never happy. I hated seeing my roots so quickly after a touchup and felt like I planned my life around my hair appointments. I decided, if I am always unhappy with my hair, maybe it’s time for a change… maybe it’s time to let it go natural.”
Leslie wasn’t ready to go “cold turkey” so when she came across a video on The Dye Strip Method, she knew instantly that this would be her path.
As for a plan, Leslie explains, “I talked to my stylist about it and she had never heard of it before and didn’t fully understand. But after talking in more detail and sharing videos/photos with her, she understood and we started the journey together. She is very supportive and takes photos at all of my appointments to document the journey for me, as well as for future clients of hers who may want to do the same.”
Leslie’s Dye Strip Method advice:
- Make sure you can rock a side part! If you don’t have a side part, The Dye Strip Method might not be a good option for you.
- Make sure you have a stylist who is on board and supportive and who doesn’t try to convince you to do otherwise.
- Pair back your strip! Start with a thicker strip (an inch on each side of your part = 2 inches in width total) and then pair back as time goes on to ½ inch on each side. It’s an option!
- Schedule ahead! I scheduled an appointment every 4 weeks to get the “strip” colored. My appointments are super quick and easy (and far less expensive). While you could do this at home, I still enjoy the salon experience.
- Don’t be afraid of a haircut! I have gotten a couple of significant haircuts over the 15 months, slowly but surely chopping off the old colored ends while maintaining length.
Leslie is smitten with The Dye Strip Method and says this may be her new look indefinitely. “I am so enjoying the dye strip method look that I currently want to keep it. I get more compliments on my hair now with the mix of dark and silver than I ever did on my all-over dark dyed hair. I play around with it sometimes, pulling it partially up and showing off all the silver, and other times wearing it down with the silver only peeking through.”
On going gray, Leslie adds, “Be patient; there will be moments when you want to cave in, there will be bad hair days, there will be plenty of naysayers. Trust yourself and keep your end goal in mind at all times.”
Irene Claire tried the Dye Strip Method
Meet Irene Claire! Irene Claire is in her early 40s and stopped dying her hair in 2022. She says what she likes most about The Dye Strip Method is that you can use creativity to apply it. She muses, “Since we all have unique gray growout patterns, you decide the size, shape and location of where you want your strip to be.”
Irene shares her “how to’s” plus tips and tricks on how to best apply The Dry Strip Method on her Youtube Channel.
On going gray she says, “I’ve realized that I’m in a new chapter of life. Beyond the physical transformation, embracing the natural process of aging has ignited a thirst for personal growth. It prompted me to seek new experiences, take on challenges, and explore interests that I may have overlooked before.”
Suzan Barnes tried the Dye Strip Method
Suzan Barnes is a licensed hairdresser and (who we believe to be) the original creator of The Dye Strip Method. She shares her method, demonstrates how to do it and answers frequently asked questions on her Youtube channel.
Would you try the dye strip method for going gray?
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March 21, 2024You have such a beautiful and youthful face. I think you should dye your hair. You’re too young to be gray. There’s no shame in dying your hair.