Grey Hair Systems: Blends and Real Grey (HG)
How grey is matched in a hair system — synthetic blends by percentage versus real human grey hair — and how to choose the mix that reads as yours.
6 min read · By the Follic specialists
Why grey is the hardest thing to match
Grey is rarely uniform. Most men grey first at the temples and through the sides, with the percentage rising over the years, and real grey hair reflects light differently to pigmented hair. A system that's a shade too dark reads young and flat against greying sides; too much grey and it ages you past your own hair. Getting the percentage and the type of grey right is what makes the difference between 'good hairpiece' and 'that's just his hair'.
Grey blends: matched by percentage
The most common approach mixes a small proportion of grey fibre into your base color, specified as a percentage — a code like #1B20 means your base shade with 20% grey through it. Blends are consistent, predictable and carry no surcharge, which makes them the sensible default for lighter greying (10–30%) and for men who want to control exactly how much silver shows. You can order lower now and step the percentage up on future systems as you naturally grey.
Real grey hair (HG): the premium match
For heavier or more distinctive grey, real human grey hair (marked HG) is the most convincing option. Because it's genuine grey hair rather than blended fibre, it catches light exactly like the grey growing at your sides — the difference is most visible in bright daylight and on camera. Real grey hair is scarcer to source, so HG builds carry a surcharge; every product page shows the HG price beside the standard one so there are no surprises.
Choosing your percentage
Match to the greyest area people see, not the average across your head — usually the temples and sides. If you're unsure between two percentages, the lower one is the safer first order: adding grey on a future system is easy, and starting subtle keeps the result believable while you learn your match. Wearers who rotate two systems often keep one blend and one HG to compare in real conditions.
Matching from a photo
You don't have to guess. Our free color match reads your shade and grey pattern from two photos in natural light and recommends the exact code — blend percentage or HG — to order. Send a temple-level close-up and a full-head shot, and we'll confirm the grey before anything is crafted.