I went grey - what do you think?

[GLC1968]

This is my shocker for the weekend...I went from a brunette to grey in one foul swoop!

Before (sort of...this is an older photo):



Now:





Yes, the front is slightly discolored (kind of purple!) due to my use of temporary color to cover the front grey while I grew it out underneath. That purple part is actually faded already in just the past few days of shampooing a lot (something I don't normally do).

So...what do you think? Is 41 too young to be this grey?

[indigoiis]

I think it looks cool, especially with the "rose".

I am also 41 and letting my gray out. I call it "highlights."

[Eden]

wow - with your new hairdo you are the spitting image of one of my teammates! Have any sisters up here in Seattle?

[GLC1968]

Eden - HA! Nope, I have no sisters. Did she happen to be a bartender in the Tampa area about a decade ago? Back then, I used to have customers come in when I was bartending asking why I'd changed employers - people honestly thought I was some other bartender - apparently we were spitting images of each other. Odd!

[five one]

I think you look great ! Are you going to keep it this short or grow it out a bit? With your curly hair, I think the gray would look wonderful if it were a bit longer.
You have a young face. The gray is a nice contrast. Get some Clairol Shimmer Lights shampoo to keep it shiny and prevent yellowing.

I'm 57 now, and began getting gray in my mid-30s. I've never colored my hair which is now about 30% gray in front and a bit less in back, according to my stylist. It's very straight and I keep it short with bangs (easier to resurrect after hours in a bike helmet). I've gotten lots of compliments on it from both men and women.

[runningteach]

It looks great.

[Zen]

Go white and lets see what that looks like

I wish I had enough gray to let mine go all the way

[tulip]

Fabulous! And so much easier, too.

[GLC1968]

Ok, I work with all men. Not a single one has said anything yet! How is that possible?!?!

All the women who I've run into (other departments) have been very complementary. I have gotten a lot of "you are very brave" or "I wish I had the guts that you have" type comments. Should I read into those, or just accept that they must have hang-ups that I don't?

Thanks guys. Yeah, the plan is to grow it out a little, but I'll definitely stay with short. I look better with short hair in general and since I now no longer have to pay for hair color, I can afford to keep getting it cut!

What causes grey/white hair to yellow, anyway?

[arielmoon]

You are beautiful! It looks lovely!

[Cataboo]

I wouldn't read anything into it - and I actually think you look younger with the short haired grey look. It looks great.

[BikeDutchess]

Love it! I have short hair too and never covered up the grey. It's about as grey as yours, I think (although it always looks greyer in photos than in the mirror - why is that, I wonder?)

Yeah, some other people have hang-ups, I guess. I was in a restaurant last month and a total stranger came up to me and said "I'll bet you & I are the only women in here with our natural hair color!"

[Biciclista]

put me on the "you are very brave, i wish i had the nerve to do that" list.
I am a lot older than you and my face, well, looks a lot older than you.
one might argue that this is a good reason to let me go grey
but I am concerned about my job and i know that looking younger helps in this world.
You look very nice either way.

[GLC1968]

but I am concerned about my job and i know that looking younger helps in this world.

Mimi - you make a very good point. 10 years ago, my life and my ambitions were VERY different and I would not have been able to do this. As much as I always admired beautiful silvery grey hair, I just couldn't even consider it on myself. Now, I figure that people will see me and either think "wow, she looks really good for 50-something" or "balsy girl - I couldn't go grey that young". I'm sure I'd feel differently if I was 50-something.


Two things have occurred to me today about this though:

1) In my mind, I'm still a brunette. Short hair is one thing (i've had it before) but the grey is not something I can feel or see unless I look in a mirror, so my own self-image hasn't changed yet.

2) I don't want to update my facebook page with a new photo. I don't want people whom I used to know and who don't see me day to day to see me grey. Why is that? Why do I care about them?

[five one]

I'm not sure of the "why" gray hair sometimes yellows. A quick Google seems to give only solutions to the problem.

My DH's grandmother had beautiful white hair. Her hairdresser put some sort of purple rinse on it to keep it white. Her son, my FIL, also had white hair, but with a yellow tinge. It made him look older than he was and sort of haggard. Obviously his mother didn't let him in on the secret of shiny white hair! DH's hair is probably 90% white. We both use Shimmer Lights. I probably don't need to at 30%, but what the heck... My natural color is very dark brown. I like the contrast of the brown and white.

Funny, my gray shows up in the mirror, but not so much in photos.

My role model for going gray gracefully is folksinger Joan Baez.