From Kelly O. to Gaga, Silver Strands are In

Lady Gaga covers Vanity Fair. Nick Knight, exclusively for Vanity Fair

Take a glance at this month's issue of Vanity Fair and you'll see the trend that's got people talking. The whole cover is done in a wash of greys, which includes Lady Gaga's long, cool, silvery strands. Since Kate Moss added temporary grey strands to her hair back in January, the color has been cropping up on celeb trendsetters with one unifying factor: they're all young. Kelly Osbourne has been rocking the look, along with celebuspawn Pixie Geldof and 13-year-old fashion blogger, Tavi. We talked to celebrity stylist and salon owner Philip Pelusi to get his take on going grey.

“It’s interesting and somewhat cyclical,” says Pelusi. He likens it to other extreme colors that have had a heyday, like pink. “You see it on the street scene, then it works its way into fashion and music, art and entertainment.” The difference with this trend is that it’s on both ends of the spectrum. People in their 20s taking their strands to silver, as well as people going naturally grey and deciding to keep it that way. Here’s how you can recreate the trend on your own clients—young and old.

Kelly Osbourne Jordan Strauss/WireImage

For the Hipster
It depends on the natural base tone, says Pelusi. If your client is a natural dishwater blonde or lighter—levels 7, 8, 9 or 10—you can get great greys without the need to bleach. For darker haired clients—levels 4, 5, 6 and sometimes 7—you can either do a lot of highlighting to bring it up or bleach the hair and tone it to the perfect silvery shade.

For levels 1, 2 and sometimes 3, Pelusi says he doesn’t recommend taking a client that light, since it’s much harder to get rid of the underlying red pigment and take the hair grey. Overall, for clients with shorter hair, he says you could use either bleaching or highlighting to take your clients where they want to go, but for longer hair, stick with lots of highlights to better protect the hair.

Going Grey Naturally
For clients who are going grey and want to return to their natural roots—like Jamie Lee Curtis and Helen Mirren—a good looking color starts with the cut. Grey hair can look aging and dull because it’s lacking shine and moisture, so a shorter cut that is precise, flattering and kept up with frequent trims helps keep color looking good.

“Generally, even if someone if going grey and not covering it up with color, they still need help from you,” says Pelusi. “Start by highlighting selected areas of the dyed hair, lifting it to gray tones, while adding darker 'low-lights' to the incoming gray. That softens the line of demarcation and the process can be continued gradually, until the transformation is complete.”

Kate Moss with grey streaks. Dominique Charriau/WireImage

Even then you’re work is not done. You can continue to help your client with lowlights in selected areas to keep their greys from looking washed out. This grey blending, followed by a gloss, will help hair look shiny and healthy.

To care for color, for either client, Pelusi recommends a violet-based conditioner used daily. It cuts brassiness and keeps color looking fresh and shiny, by depositing just a tiny bit of stain onto the strands when it’s used. “It’s very effective,” he says.