Seriously considering going gray

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I tried going gray over pandemic but didn't like it. Now I am blond. I wasn't sure about it at first but after some months now I like it. My hairdersser bleached the dyed brown ends of my hair and dyed the gray part with permanent toner. Now the bleached part is almost grown out and I can do my own roots at home with the permanent toner plus developer.

Since my natural hair is a mix of mostly white with gray and brown streaks, the blond color comes out mulidimensional. It lifts the darker parts one level.

When I was brunette, I had to do my white roots every 3 weeks and I was totally sick of it and it didn't even look good anymore. Now with blond, my roots don't show up as stark, and I can go longer between coloring.

What percent gray/white are you? Would this work for someone who is nearly 100% gray? I’ve let my gray grow out and if I do color it again, I’ll need to go blind to avoid the line of demarcation. And what I do like that the gray looks frosted, which isn’t that different from blond.

[Anonymous]

^^i’ll have to go *blond*, not blind!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I tried going gray over pandemic but didn't like it. Now I am blond. I wasn't sure about it at first but after some months now I like it. My hairdersser bleached the dyed brown ends of my hair and dyed the gray part with permanent toner. Now the bleached part is almost grown out and I can do my own roots at home with the permanent toner plus developer.

Since my natural hair is a mix of mostly white with gray and brown streaks, the blond color comes out mulidimensional. It lifts the darker parts one level.

When I was brunette, I had to do my white roots every 3 weeks and I was totally sick of it and it didn't even look good anymore. Now with blond, my roots don't show up as stark, and I can go longer between coloring.

What percent gray/white are you? Would this work for someone who is nearly 100% gray? I’ve let my gray grow out and if I do color it again, I’ll need to go blind to avoid the line of demarcation. And what I do like that the gray looks frosted, which isn’t that different from blond.

I would say I am 90 percent gray (a mix of whte and gray) and 10 percent brown, mostly underneath. Yes, it will work for 100% gray.

Also, if you kinda like your gray but wish it were somehow prettier, there are gray/silver/platinum toners that will do that too. A good hairdresser would be able to figure out what would be flattering for skin tone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I tried going gray over pandemic but didn't like it. Now I am blond. I wasn't sure about it at first but after some months now I like it. My hairdersser bleached the dyed brown ends of my hair and dyed the gray part with permanent toner. Now the bleached part is almost grown out and I can do my own roots at home with the permanent toner plus developer.

Since my natural hair is a mix of mostly white with gray and brown streaks, the blond color comes out mulidimensional. It lifts the darker parts one level.

When I was brunette, I had to do my white roots every 3 weeks and I was totally sick of it and it didn't even look good anymore. Now with blond, my roots don't show up as stark, and I can go longer between coloring.

Do this. Blonde is easier to look after than dark brown. I can’t believe what a difference it has made to my hair maintenance. When I was brunette I was coloring my hair every 2 weeks. Now the grey blends in better when it starts growing out.

[Anonymous]

What about people with darker skin coloring? Im Indian with black hair. I keep coloring at home with dark brown black (switched from black hair color). Blonde wont work on me!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I tried going gray over pandemic but didn't like it. Now I am blond. I wasn't sure about it at first but after some months now I like it. My hairdersser bleached the dyed brown ends of my hair and dyed the gray part with permanent toner. Now the bleached part is almost grown out and I can do my own roots at home with the permanent toner plus developer.

Since my natural hair is a mix of mostly white with gray and brown streaks, the blond color comes out mulidimensional. It lifts the darker parts one level.

When I was brunette, I had to do my white roots every 3 weeks and I was totally sick of it and it didn't even look good anymore. Now with blond, my roots don't show up as stark, and I can go longer between coloring.

What percent gray/white are you? Would this work for someone who is nearly 100% gray? I’ve let my gray grow out and if I do color it again, I’ll need to go blind to avoid the line of demarcation. And what I do like that the gray looks frosted, which isn’t that different from blond.

I would say I am 90 percent gray (a mix of whte and gray) and 10 percent brown, mostly underneath. Yes, it will work for 100% gray.

Also, if you kinda like your gray but wish it were somehow prettier, there are gray/silver/platinum toners that will do that too. A good hairdresser would be able to figure out what would be flattering for skin tone.

Where do you go for color?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What about people with darker skin coloring? Im Indian with black hair. I keep coloring at home with dark brown black (switched from black hair color). Blonde wont work on me!

I am white and I cant imagine how it would work for me either! I’d look like Gwen Stefani, because for blonde to mesh with the grey it almost has to be white blonde which is so unnatural looking on an adult.

[Anonymous]

My mom started getting gray hair in her late 50s but she had been dying it even before that. She stopped dying it at 69, and now, one year later, she has a super nice dark brown bob with maybe 10 percent grey. I don't think she looks older with grey hair (she always looked 10 years younger) but she definitely looks more sophisticated and well-groomed.

I myself don't have a single grey hair yet at 42 and I am not sure what I will do once I start going grey but I tried dying my hair a few years ago (I used to be light blond but became dark blond after having my second child) and after a couple of years I realized that I really actively hated it. So I assume I'll just go grey eventually )

[Anonymous]

No hate, do as you wish, but grey hair is just so aging. I get my hair dyed at a local salon, it’s so much better than box color. Like leaps and bounds better. Like unbelievably better. Box color is full of heavy metals and ammonia and so bad for your hair and the environment. I actually just went in yesterday and it’s a great way to look more put together and youthful. It smooths the hair cuticle and my hair is shiny afterward. My hair is probably 30-40% grey and as it grows in it’s wildly frizzy and coarse. The dye also makes my hair thicker. If the grey and brown hair didn’t look bad enough, the coarse and rough nature of the grey hair just sends me into fits. Ugh.

[Anonymous]

So after dying my hair for a decade, I let my hair go natural gray during the pandemic. I have a short pixie cut so it was easy to do. My hair is probably 80% silver in the front, salt and pepper everywhere else. I'm 46. This is what I have learned -

- getting a haircut frequently is important. I can't let it go "shaggy" like I used to when it was dyed because then it all just looks unkempt. This might only be the case for short-hair styles, but it makes a difference in how 'old' I look. Gray hair definitely does make me look older. But a good haircut makes it look intentional and more stylish.
- I am realizing that some of the clothes I have from my dyed hair days don't look good anymore, especially browns, pale colors, my herringbone glasses.
- I use a purple shampoo for blond/gray hair, and it has completely softened the gray hair, which used to be coarse and wiry. I also frequently use a gloss on my hair, and it makes the silver pop. I figure that if I am going to go for this, I should embrace it and make it bright and vibrant, and not just gray.
- if I were leaving the house for work, I would probably pay more attention to makeup now that my hair is a different color.

I'm still weighing whether or not I want to stay natural gray for the long-term or go back to coloring it, but I have to admit that I like not spending the money for the dye, I like not having to spend hours getting it dyed (and with short hair, I would have to get it dyed a a lot), and I like avoiding the chemicals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My mom started getting gray hair in her late 50s but she had been dying it even before that. She stopped dying it at 69, and now, one year later, she has a super nice dark brown bob with maybe 10 percent grey. I don't think she looks older with grey hair (she always looked 10 years younger) but she definitely looks more sophisticated and well-groomed.

I myself don't have a single grey hair yet at 42 and I am not sure what I will do once I start going grey but I tried dying my hair a few years ago (I used to be light blond but became dark blond after having my second child) and after a couple of years I realized that I really actively hated it. So I assume I'll just go grey eventually )

I think letting your hair go gray at late 60s/70s is a totally different animal that getting it go gray in your 30s,40s

[Anonymous]

"I wish I had the guts". I hear this a lot. Went grey in my 40's.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My mom started getting gray hair in her late 50s but she had been dying it even before that. She stopped dying it at 69, and now, one year later, she has a super nice dark brown bob with maybe 10 percent grey. I don't think she looks older with grey hair (she always looked 10 years younger) but she definitely looks more sophisticated and well-groomed.

I myself don't have a single grey hair yet at 42 and I am not sure what I will do once I start going grey but I tried dying my hair a few years ago (I used to be light blond but became dark blond after having my second child) and after a couple of years I realized that I really actively hated it. So I assume I'll just go grey eventually )

I think letting your hair go gray at late 60s/70s is a totally different animal that getting it go gray in your 30s,40s

What about 50s? 😄. I just turned 50 and let me grey hair grow in over past year - I am probably 80% grey. I can’t decide if I am too young to keep it grey!

[Anonymous]

My neighbor went gray and looks so much better! She was previously dying her hair black (probably close to her natural color) and her hair looked frizzy and fried and she just looked frumpy overall. Now her gray hair is shiny and has movement, and it just livens her up, I think. She really looks so much better.

[Anonymous]

I'm 44 and stopped coloring my brunette hair at the beginning of the pandemic. Finally went to the hair dresser again in January and I'm now 100% gray and not turning back. I have young kids and a corporate job and feel perfectly comfortable with the decision. A good haircut is key, and I have it in a pixie.