We’ve seen it everywhere but now experts have confirmed that 2016 was the year of the silver hue.

Not only did salons see an increased number of patrons looking for the colour, sales of home dye versions soared. Megan Potter, the head of beauty at Superdrug, says "younger customers are going for metallic grey, recognising that it's a very graceful, sophisticated, look." Byrdie estimates that its popularity comes down to the fact that it works well with any skin tone. It has been advised that if you do decide to attempt the colour, you should go to a professional.

A photo posted by Hair Makeup Nails Beauty (@hotonbeauty) on Dec 9, 2016 at 1:26pm PST

Hair colourist Sydniiee Oliveira explained to Hello Giggles: “Pastel colours just can’t be achieved from a box. I’m afraid all these young girls that can’t afford to make it into a salon will think this is an easy (cheap) way to get these high maintenance shades, and completely ruin their hair.” Another colourist Christine Silverman also advised against using box colours. “The pastel colours that we use professionally usually don’t have any kind of developer or ammonia in them. It’s a double process — the hair is lifted and then whatever color the client desires is overlaid on top of it, and it’s pretty temporary. Whereas, I looked at the ingredients on that product, and it has ammonia,” she said.

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“People going into the store, they might not understand that, if they have dark hair and they put something like that onto it, it’s going to lift it up to kind of an orange-y color. They’re not gonna get the results that they want or that they see on the box.” Oliveira explains: “Most box dyes contain cheaper, more volatile chemicals that do not react well to our professional products we use in the salon. They are made in a ‘one size fits most’ kind of way, and that just isn’t the way you can approach hair color.”