Seriously considering going gray

[Anonymous]

I am 45 with dark brown hair. I'm allergic to all forms of traditional hair dye. I've been doing henna and indigo with good results. But I'm starting to have that stripe. I'm guessing I'm like 50% gray?

But I'm allergic to makeup too and really pale and without color in my hair think I'll look really unwell. So I'll keep doing the henna and indigo for now. Trying to figure when I could go gray without it just looking dingy. Maybe at 50?

[Anonymous]

Lol, I want gross old people hair but I don't want to look older.

Let us know how it goes!

[Anonymous]

I was at the salon this week and a woman in her 50’s came in with half gray on top, half blonde on the bottom hair. She said she was there for her first hair appt in over a year. I heard her tell the stylist she wanted to stop dying her hair for good and was looking for a good cut and strategy for blending out the transition.

My point is, the woman looked beautiful!!! Honestly I didn’t even realize the bottom half of her hair was blonde until she started talking about blending strategies. I suddenly realized just how wonderful her real grey hair was. It reflected her and she was very pretty! And it occurred to me that the blonde wouldn’t look better (I realize this is subjective). But I honestly feel like natural hair is just gorgeous on someone who wears it with confidence.

Go for it!

[Anonymous]

At 33 I have so much grey hair than I thought I would. Of course it's mostly in the front. I have always done my hair at home since I'm natural and usually it is in a bun. I occasionally dye it but now I'm on the fence about whether or not to just say f it.

I have found that I have to go with a dark neutral brown or else the Grey's turn red/orange but it can wash me out a bit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

What salon do you go to? Can they do highlights to cover grey or blend in?
Or do you do single process color.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was at the salon this week and a woman in her 50’s came in with half gray on top, half blonde on the bottom hair. She said she was there for her first hair appt in over a year. I heard her tell the stylist she wanted to stop dying her hair for good and was looking for a good cut and strategy for blending out the transition.

My point is, the woman looked beautiful!!! Honestly I didn’t even realize the bottom half of her hair was blonde until she started talking about blending strategies. I suddenly realized just how wonderful her real grey hair was. It reflected her and she was very pretty! And it occurred to me that the blonde wouldn’t look better (I realize this is subjective). But I honestly feel like natural hair is just gorgeous on someone who wears it with confidence.

Go for it!

It can be really stunning. I disagree that it's uniformly aging - on many women it's not. The ageism is just SO engrained in our society, gonna take awhile to break loose from that. I think the younger generations are going to more and more allow their hair to be gray. I'm 39 and letting it happen. My mother grayed naturally and was always so beautifull. It can be hard to tune out the haters and fearmongerers but if you're thinking about it, go for it! You can always dye it if you decide you're not feeling the gray. But you might love it!

[Anonymous]

wear head band, or root cover up make up. change part every day and put makeup there. 2 minutes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lol, I want gross old people hair but I don't want to look older.

Let us know how it goes!

Don’t be an a-hole. “Gross old people hair”? I fully support people doing whatever they want to feel good about themselves - hair color, injectables, surgery, etc. but your attitude is what’s “gross” and so ageist. I hope you don’t have daughters.

[Anonymous]

Gray looks great on 20-somethings and 70+ somethings. But 40s-60s it will definitely make you look older. Maybe you can just do it every 3+ weeks and as PP mentioned, wear a headband or hats.

[Anonymous]

It is ageing to let hair go grey but if that doesn’t worry you then do it. More women do seem to be doing it.

[Anonymous]

You will look older. Was just on a girls trip with four 40somethings. The one who has gone gray stands out as looking much older.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

What salon do you go to? Can they do highlights to cover grey or blend in?
Or do you do single process color.

I am cheap. Cost Cutters. Single process. The stylist used a brown base (my hair is a medium brown) and added a very subtle red color. My hair only has a slight red tint in sun. It looks nice. I used to get it lifted and went blonde and it took forever and was expensive and upkeep was hell. I can go 3 months between color, as I wear it up a lot for work. Or wear headbands or hats when exercising. As I mentioned before, the grey is so frizzy and coarse; the texture is just as aging as the color. If a woman wants to go grey and is comfortable, she will have it much easier in terms of paying for color and maintenance, but dealing with the grey itself is no picnic. Imho, I look like an out of control witch with frizzy hair if I have grey and don’t “do it” everyday. Even the stray hair that escapes from my hat is frizzy and crazy and looks out of control. I have straight hair and the grey is still rough and frizzy. I don’t know about highlights to blend. I’d go in and ask what they can do. An honest stylist will tell you what they can and can’t do. The woman who did my hair said they have alot of clients who have very unreasonable expectations and bring in a picture of a celebrity and say give me this, and don’t understand it often takes multiple processes to achieve what looks so simple in a photo.

[Anonymous]

Anyone know of a DC area salon with experience doing highlights to blend the gray?
With things opening up I would like my hair to be a little more presentable, but not lose all the progress I've made in growing out the gray.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was at the salon this week and a woman in her 50’s came in with half gray on top, half blonde on the bottom hair. She said she was there for her first hair appt in over a year. I heard her tell the stylist she wanted to stop dying her hair for good and was looking for a good cut and strategy for blending out the transition.

My point is, the woman looked beautiful!!! Honestly I didn’t even realize the bottom half of her hair was blonde until she started talking about blending strategies. I suddenly realized just how wonderful her real grey hair was. It reflected her and she was very pretty! And it occurred to me that the blonde wouldn’t look better (I realize this is subjective). But I honestly feel like natural hair is just gorgeous on someone who wears it with confidence.

Go for it!

That woman was probably 35. Anyways, I would love to go gray because at 46, I’m likely 100%. I’m so pale and died my hair blonde which makes me washed out now. It also makes my face look much wider which I hate. I will likely go back to brunette. I think gray looks fab if you have dark eyes or dark skin.

[Anonymous]

I’m 53 and about 50% gray. I stopped coloring five years ago. My stylist helped me grow out the color with long layers that hid that awful color line. My hair is so much healthier now. I focus on staying in great shape. Taking care of my health. Eating a (mostly) healthy diet. I have no desire to look younger than I am. I’ve earned every gray hair and every wrinkle.