I have been coloring my hair for years. I'm sick and tired of it. Plus it's money not well-spent. Within 2 weeks I can start to see the roots. By 3 weeks I'm embarrassed by the roots. I've started going every 4 weeks and it's so expensive. Not worth it any more. So, here's my plan. I'm going one more time. I have an events in May and June, so it will look decent for those. Then I'm going to let it go gray all summer. At the end of the summer, I will get it cut really really short (think pixie). My question is, during my next hairdresser visit, should I ask her to put gray or ash blonde highlights in my hair? My hair is dyed a dark blonde color. Will highlights help make the transition to all gray easier, or will it just look stupid? Anyone here have experience or advice for going gray? TIA BTW, I'm 51 and expect that I will be completely gray when the transition is complete.
I've just gone through this....of course, when I started, my hair was very short....it was a little odd the first few months...but I got it cut short again after it was about 1 1/2" all around....I'm now not coloring and not worrying about it!!! It really isn't as gray as I thought it was going to be, I look like i have silvery frosted highlights! (okay, maybe I'm kidding myself)...but I AM glad I did it. My hair's pretty dark, so I didn't try to transition at all....but I would definitely let the hairdresser know your plan....
I'll be watching this with interest. I'd love to see pics of your going-gray journey. I started coloring my hair a few years ago at home. I spend under $4 for a box that last me a couple months. I started to gray in high school. By 30 my crown was almost entirely silver, but blending with the rest of my brown hair just made it all look mousy. I looked about 20 years older than I was. Now I'm 37 and wondering just how long I am going to keep up the charade.
I'm also watching this! I've been thinking about dropping the color for a year now, but I haven't had the courage to do it yet. :lol:
haha, so far I've been picking out the stray strand here and there with a tweezer. But cool that you're planning this. Let us know how this turns out. I want to go gray eventually, and not bother with coloring, but it depends on my graying pattern.
Former hairdresser here! If your hair is a dark blonde, high lighting with a much lighter color will help ease the transition, you wont have the dreaded line of demarcation. Getting it cut short to remove old color is a good idea too. But even gray hair is not completely maintenence free. To keep it from being dingy looking, there are things you can do to keep it bright and silvery. Once you have "virgin hair" (hair that is completely chemical free) again, I would suggest a good shampoo specifically for gray hair that has a slight purple tinge to it. This will keep it from yellowing and make it softer and more managable, since gray hair tends to be coarser. I love that celebs like Jamie Lee Curtis are going natural, her hair is so cute!
My hair is naturally almost black. I've been dying it shades of brown for about 10 years (and even blonde at one point!). It looks terrible IMHO, because I used boxed dye every 6-8 weeks ($10 vs. $125!). I can't afford to go to a salon, even once a year, let alone every 6-8 weeks! How do I make it look more natural as the gray comes in?
I'm going gray. I'm just turned 30. I tried coloring it but the color just plain won't stick to the gray/white/silver hairs. Sticks great to the other hairs but just completely won't stick. So I've acquiesced to letting nature take it's course. I've been going gray since I was pregnant with my 2nd son 5yrs ago.
