All about: Goldwell's Grey Service and the amazing Olaplex

While many people try to hide their grey hair, spending hours eradicating the signs of advancing age, going grey may no longer mean reaching for the colour as "granny hair" is in vogue.
Fashion designers like the almighty Jean-Paul Gaultier, Chanel and Gareth Pugh have all styled their models with silver hair, and many have since followed suit. Spotted on celebrities including Lady Gaga, Pink, Rihanna, Nicole Ritchie and Kelly Osborne, the grey, white or lavender trend has been embraced by women worldwide with thousands posting pictures on social media sites under "#grannyhair".
Not everyone is feeling the grey as much as the high fashion mob however, and going grey is without a doubt the primary reason why many woman start having their hair coloured. But from clients that want to keep a more natural colour, to clients who want to embrace a fashion forward shade – grey is as diverse as salon clients can be.

Earlier this year haircare brand GOLDWELL started offering what they call Grey Service, supporting stylists to make a difference and convince their clients that there is only one destination to get individual and gorgeous grey – a salon. The brand new service works for natural to blonde and high fashion looks, and no matter how clients want to put their grey into the limelight Grey Service meets their needs whether they are male or female, young or old. They also offer a new Dualsenses Refining Silver Shampoo as the final step to maintain their beautiful, fresh and totally unique take on grey hair. Its SilverChromaComplex with lavender neutralises unwanted yellow tones and provides shine, making it a great home product for both grey and platinum blonde or white hair. 

Next up I’d like to introduce the product that will suit both the "#grannyhair" trend and blondes down to the ground, and which for many could be officially considered a beauty life changer.

Called Olaplex, it is an additive that eliminates the bad reaction oxygen has with broken sulfite bonds in chemically treated hair that leads to breakage. And like the Big Bang, penicillin, and other scientific things of significance, it was discovered almost by accident. Olaplex founder and US beauty industry veteran Dean Christal was in the process of developing a silicone-based alternative to Moroccan oil when he met with Dr. Craig Hawker - one of the world's leading chemistry Ph.D's - in hopes of completing the process. After solving Christal's first problem, Hawker asked as an aside "What is the holy grail of hair product development?" Reportedly he answered “if a beauty company could keep chemical treatments from hurting hair, that’d really be something…” and the rest as they say, is history.

Naturally, Olaplex had something of an immediate and addictive effect on the industry. Four months into its publicly available life, it was in 7,000 salons around the world. The company's main source of publicity? Instagram, the modern day word of mouth.

Locally, the brand’s main ambassador is Danny Pato of D&M hair design, who tells me that he and his team have been working with Olaplex since March. “We can do so much more now with colour than what's been possible before,” he tells me enthusiastically, “if someone wants to go from dark brown to platinum blonde in one sitting, we can now do it knowing that the hair will stay in healthy condition.”

He explains that Olaplex can be used “in so many ways, including in any colour or as part of a keratin smoothing service, as it cross-links the disulphide bonds in hair that break down with chemical services, heat styling, UV exposure and mechanical damage. But Olaplex is most impressive when bleaching - the hair actually feels better when you've finished bleaching it!”

It will naturally be a huge deal for people currently already going lighter, but I ask him if he has had clients deciding to take plunge after hearing about it? “Absolutely! Now people can go lighter without fear. We've also had clients who have wanted to go lighter for a long time, but were giving their hair a bit of a break to get it in better condition. Now they don't have to wait so they're taking the plunge.” I did exactly that myself at D&M not long after, and have to say that my newly lightened ends look and feel incredible – definitely a first!

Talk swings back to grey hair, and what Pato thinks is the best way to tackle the transition - lightening up with something like Olaplex to soften the blow, or going full colour? “Both can be a great option,” says the salon super star, “covering greys with a very dark block colour can look too severe or artificial on some people yet dramatically striking on others, so would recommend ensuring the tone and depth suit your natural colouring.”

Lastly, he says that if you're beating natural greys by going blonde, you'll need to make sure you're using professional products to nourish and protect the hair, and again ensure that the tone of blonde suits you. “Either way, talk to your colourist, and make sure there's Olaplex in the mix so that your colour lasts longer and your hair is healthier!”