Review (4/5): The line of silver dye we've needed!
I want to start by saying that most of the poor reviews of the SilverWhite line are written by people who clearly don't know what they're doing. This is for light hair, as in WHITE or platinum blonde. If your hair is not light enough, you won't get the results you're looking for, and that isn't the product's fault. With that in mind, these colors are a wonderful alternative to custom silver formulas that require mixing many shades!
I've been dyeing my hair silver for years and I've tried just about every brand of "silver" dye out there with various amounts of success. My hair is naturally a cool dark blonde (ranging from level 7 to 8) and I have to bleach my roots twice to get them light enough for a proper, no brassiness silver. I currently use the Wella T18 toner + 050 for the length of my hair, and do my newly bleached roots with Schwartzkopf Slate Grey + E-1, which fades and blends nicely as new roots grow out. I use Fanola No Yellow shampoo to maintain it. This is a 1:1 dye, meaning you should use the same amount of developer as dye. The great thing about this line is that the dye truly doesn't have any warm undertones (with the exception of the dove grey, which is still cooler than most silvers). I like to add a little E-1 to the slate grey because as with every dye, no matter what brand you use, the cool pigment is the first to fade and adding this extra purple gives it a little more staying power.
I've found that the slate grey does fade more quickly than you would expect from a permanent dye, as it is meant for hair that is naturally grey and has a transparent quality that helps match new grow out; this transparency will also make it VERY obvious if you have any brassy areas or your hair isn't light enough to begin with. Using 20 vol. developer instead of 10 (as is recommended) helps with permanency. The lilac shade also seems to last longer than the other three.
As for being true to color, the slate grey tends to come out darker than shown, and you have to pay close attention to processing time with the silver, which does lean slightly blue and can really take over if you leave it on too long. The dye is relatively gentle since you're using 10 or 20 vol, but don't be tempted to let it process for more than twenty minutes. Both of these color issues will fade within a couple washes if you do though.
TLDR:
These are really great cool shades with little to no warmth and stay true to that as they fade, but
- You MUST have white or near white hair
- Most SilverWhite shades fade quickly, so use 20 vol. developer
- Slate grey is dark and silver leans blue; don't over-process unless you want that