The Best Way to Hide Gray Hair, According to Stylists

Whether you shed one single, Lauren Conrad-esque tear when you found your first gray hair, or shrugged it off as no big deal, you may be curious as to how to hide those pesky little suckers. Whether it's because the texture is different from what you're used to, or the fact that they typically tend to stick straight out of your head, gray hair can be annoying and frustrating to deal with. Of course, you're under no obligation not to let your follicles do their natural thing. (You'd be in great company, as celebrities like the cast of "And Just Like That" and Chrissy Teigen are doing just that.) But should you want a little color maintenance, we reached out to two top NYC hairstylists about how to cover grays with professional salon color, as well as a few ways you can quickly cover grays with at-home products. Keep reading to get their honest opinions about the best ways to do the deed, like hybrid color and more.

If you only have a few grays coming through, celebrity hairstylist Rita Hazan recommends "camouflaging" the gray with some strategic highlights. "You can blend your grays into lighter highlights," Hazan tells POPSUGAR. "I would say those cover 10 to 15 percent of grays."

NYC master colorist Stephanie Brown swears by this method. "Most people don't know that I have gray hair because it blends in with my highlights," she says. "This works well because my gray ends end up looking like highlights, and the grayer I get the more blond I look."

"If you have dark hair, I'd suggest getting a semi-permanent color," Hazan says. "It works almost like a stain — it's temporary and washes out." This option can last from four to five washes and isn't as harsh on hair as bleach.

If those don't work, bring out the big guns: if you want "100 percent full gray coverage," according to Hazan, then you're going to have to dedicate a few hours to the cause. "Permanent color has peroxide, which lightens the hair," Hazan explained. "Expect your color to last around four to six weeks." So if you want a blissful month with zero shades of gray on your head, step right this way.

If you're looking for a temporary fix, there are quite a few different products on the market that can help. The Style Edit Root Touch-Up Powder is editor-approved, and will work if you're in a pinch. There are also spray options, like the Oribe Airbrush Root Touch-Up Spray. If you have light hair, you can also try using a lightening product like the Oribe Bright Blonde Sun Lightening Hair Mist, which could help mask the gray hairs instead of needing to add highlights.