Gray Hair: Dye It or Keep It? Preview the Options on Your Photo First

Take a photo that shows your real hair

• Daylight from a window, even on both sides of your face. Avoid coloured or yellow light.
• Hair down and away from your face, so your hairline and parting are visible. Gray often shows most there.
• Look into the lens with your hair uncovered: no hat, scarf or hood.
• Take a second photo of your roots and the sides, to show your stylist.

How to preview covering gray hair

1. Choose your clearest front-facing photo

   Upload a JPG, PNG or WebP of at least 128 px on a side to the Hairstyle changer; larger photos are resized to 1600 px before upload.

2. Add it, using a photo of yourself or of someone who has agreed

3. Keep the hairstyle the same and change the colour

   The tool has 10 colours: natural, black, dark brown, light brown, blonde, platinum blonde, auburn, red, silver and pink.

4. Run three options

   For example natural, a shade darker, and silver. Seeing both ends makes the middle choice clearer.

5. Check the price, then preview the color

   Before the run you see the exact credit price, and the color preview usually takes 20 to 60 seconds. When a run fails, the held credits come back by themselves; if the outcome is not confirmed yet, they may remain held until the check is finished.

6. Compare in daylight on one screen

   The result is about 1 megapixel (around 1024×1024 for a square photo). Download within 24 hours.

7. Sleep on it

How to judge a shade

• Against your skin. Some shades make a pale or tired complexion look warmer, others make redness stand out. Your own reaction matters most.
• Against your eyebrows. Very dark hair with light eyebrows is a deliberate look; decide whether you like that contrast.
• Against your natural look. A shade close to your natural colour usually grows out more gently than a very different one. Ask your stylist.
• On more than one screen. Colours differ between devices and night modes. Treat the preview as a direction.

What a preview cannot tell you

• It does not know your hair's texture, condition or colour history, or how much gray you have in each area.
• A real colour may look different from the preview, and how it covers or blends gray depends on your hair. Only a stylist who sees your hair can judge.
• It cannot show how often you would need to touch up roots.
• It is generated by AI, and it may change details other than the hair, so judge the hair only.

What to ask your stylist

• What is realistic for your hair and how many appointments it takes.
• How the colour grows out and how often to touch up roots.
• The cost, including follow-up visits.
• Whether there are gentler options, such as highlights or a gloss, if you want to blend rather than cover.
• If you dye at home, follow the patch-test instructions on the product every time.

Frequently asked questions