To be or not to be - gray

[wnyrider]

I started letting my grey take over last month. Had a monumental birthday come up when I was due to dye. Skipped the dye and downed a couple Tequila Rose shots in celebration. It is at an awkward stage right now. I just got it cut shorter, but the hairdresser wouldn't cut it as short as I dared, she was afraid I'd have remorse. So you can see the obvious color line. Ugh! With the age spots becoming more prominant and plentiful, plus finding some white hairs in my eyebrows, I gave up. I am an older mom, so the obvious signs of aging were not quite, how should I say, appreciated. The new growth actually looks more white than grey to me. I think it looks kind of neat. I am going to keep getting the ends cut shorter more frequently and see how it ends up looking.

[emily_in_nc]

The new growth actually looks more white than grey to me.

Actually, gray hair is not actually gray. It's white hairs mixed with darker hairs that just looks gray from a distance. I read this and surely found it to be true on my own head. And depending on the color(s) of the dark hairs, and the proportion of white to darker, gray hair has many "shades". Up close each hair is a different color. So you are mostly white, not really "gray".

The true salt-and-pepper steel gray look that many think of as "gray" hair is actually very dark brown or almost black hair mixed with white hairs. Because my own hair has blondes and various shades of brown plus white, it has a blonder gray look to it rather than that bluer steel gray. One of my co-workers is true steel gray, and I'd be willing to be that she had very dark hair when she was in her 20s, though I didn't know her then.

Have you considered a temporary or semi-permanent color as your hair grows out, if you don't like the "line"? That would give you a more consistent look until your hair is long enough to get all the permanently colored part cut off and just let the temporary color wash out.

[emily_in_nc]

Emily - I think the hair looks amazing! It suits you very well.

Here is a pic of me taken a couple of years ago. My hair is more gray now, and shorter. I LOVE having it so short - no dryer, no iron, still looks good after being in a helmet or ski hat...

SheFly

Thanks, SheFly! I actually like it better than my colored hair -- the color I was using was a bit darker (dark golden blonde, to be exact), and I think this is more flattering to my skin tone, even more so when I have a bit of a tan in the summer. Once I saw what color my hair was without haircolor, I wished I'd ditched the color 10 years ago. Just think of all the time and money I'd have saved!

I really like your short cut. I keep getting mine cut shorter and shorter as it's so much easier for cycling, running, getting ready for work, and I hate sweaty hair on the back of my neck. I sweat a LOT back there. So I make my stylist cut it really short and stacked in the back, and she even shaves my neck some b/c my hairline is a bit long back there. When we move to Belize, I'm going to cut it as short as yours, b/c with the heat and humidity there, I want even less hair than I have now! But where yours is straight, mine will curl like crazy at that length in that climate.

[emily_in_nc]

I read this book recently and enjoyed it, fwiw.
"Going Gray..." -Anne Kreamer
http://www.amazon.com/Going-Gray-Mot.../dp/0316166618

I read that book too -- it was great, and helped give me the courage to stop coloring. The author has the true "steel gray" hair I referred to in a post above, but with the great cut she has, it really does look nice! I loved reading about her emotional struggles with going gray. Interesting stuff.

[shootingstar]

A good friend visited me.... I had not seen her for past 12 months.

she is 55 yrs. or so. She has allowed her black hair to turn naturally grey--moderately. Not just a couple strands.

Also a long-time cyclist.

We didn't even notice/talk about her greyness. Be with some women who care about health but less about hair colour. Maybe it might help..abit??

[marni]

years ago I received a2:00 AM call from my sister who was still living at home, informing me that she was disobeying our mother and calling to let us know that Muz was having open heart surgery the next day. I got on the next flight from Atlanta to LA with my six week old, still at the breast baby daughter, and arrived about an hour before she was due to go into surgery. They had already started to ice her down, and she was pretty well sedated. I walked into the room and saw her there hooked up to all kinds of machines and all I could focus on was the gray hair. She had been a redhead all of her life and hadn't thought to tell me that she had stopped dying her hair 6 months before. There I stood alternately thinking "don't faint you'll drop the baby" and "omg she's going to die" "don't faint you'll drop the baby" "omg she's going to die."

That is one of the reasons I have not nor will I ever dye my hair to cover up my gray.

[Selkie]

Is this thread revival a sign from above? I have to go an extra week between appts (7 vs 6) because the stylist who does my cut/color is out of town. Yesterday, I noticed how much more sparkling white is in my hair, now that I can see more of the regrowth, and I thought it might time to let it go natural. I am very very lucky---both parents had gorgeous sparkling white grey, so genetics blessed me w/the same. I turned 48 in February. There's a woman in my office in her 70s who dyes her hair red (actually, she goes to a salon, I was shocked to learn). It's the most improbable color and when it fades, well, you get the picture. Since my chosen color is red, I get frightened that I might end up sportin' that look as I get even more white strands.

Unfortunately, I don't have the face for super short hair, so the growing out period is going to be very rough. Maybe I'll get a wig.

I also don't think the stylist will agree that it's time because I still have a good bit of my natural color left. Maybe we can do highlights as it grows out or something? I can't wait until it's 90-100% white.

I refuse to say GREY. It's not GREY, it's white.

[Dogmama]

There's a woman in my office in her 70s who dyes her hair red (actually, she goes to a salon, I was shocked to learn). It's the most improbable color and when it fades, well, you get the picture.

LOL - I know a woman who has orange/red hair & has it done in a salon. I call it "a color not found in nature."

[wnyrider]

...Have you considered a temporary or semi-permanent color as your hair grows out, if you don't like the "line"? That would give you a more consistent look until your hair is long enough to get all the permanently colored part cut off and just let the temporary color wash out.

Actually I hadn't considered that. Thanks! I'll check out the drug store later. What you've stated makes so much sense. Now, if only there was a solution for the age spots!

[Selkie]

LOL - I know a woman who has orange/red hair & has it done in a salon. I call it "a color not found in nature."

I thought my coworker's hair was a DIY job, it's that bad. Poor thing thinks it looks great and was boasting at how she pays a lot to have it done. Shame on the stylist! Of course, knowing my coworker, she probably insists, even if the stylist tried to talk her out of it.

This one is pure red. No copper tones. Bright red that fades to pink. Oy vey. I think the orange one probably looks better!

[emily_in_nc]

Actually I hadn't considered that. Thanks! I'll check out the drug store later. What you've stated makes so much sense. Now, if only there was a solution for the age spots!

I am with you on that!!! I thought about laser treatments, but they'd just come right back with summer riding and moving to Belize, no matter how much sunscreen I use, so it's not worth the cost or downtime. If I were an inside baby, I might do it (laser), but I'm not.

[malkin]

Gloves?

[wnyrider]

Gloves?

On my forehead?!

[Raindrop]

When I started going grey, it didn't happen gracefully but instead showed up in a big clump on the right side of my head.

So, I started getting it colored and was ok with that...then started to cut it shorter and shorter and added various colors to the palette, like fushia and purple for awhile. Got tired of that and now wear it shoulder length but still have it colored with highlights (my colorist uses three different shades), but I do this because I barter my hair care by training my hair stylist. I don't know if I'd go to the expense if I had to pay for it outright.

Going grey isn't in the cards for me right now. I'll never say "never", but it's one of the few things I indulge in. The other (also bartered for) is massages.

[GLC1968]

Actually I hadn't considered that. Thanks! I'll check out the drug store later. What you've stated makes so much sense. Now, if only there was a solution for the age spots!

Take care with this. I tried this when I went gray. I bought a 7 day temp color to just do the roots around my face as I was growing out my white/grey as a temporary hold over. The problem is that it never truly washes out completely. When I got the brown cut off, I was left with my salt and pepper hair but with purple tinges on my bangs (the temp color after it faded). It looked pretty stupid until I was able to get it cut a second time!

It may work better if your natural color is lighter than mine though...