Off-Topic OT ~ Going Gray (as gracefully as possible)

[Vintage VFer]

Originally Posted by Demeris

Frankly, my cut is adorable and looks polished.

Demeris, please PM me some photos! I'm on the lookout for cute haircuts.

I had a super short, spiky pixie cut for years and I loved it. I dyed it all kinds of colors. Then I grew it out into a regular pixie cut and dyed it more normal colors. I dyed it at home.

About three years ago, I decided to grow it out. AND stop coloring it. All at once!

It is a chin length bob at the moment. My hair is super straight and very fine. Some of my the hairs are as fine as spider's web! I went natural for a couple of years but got bored, so I added a few highlights. It is very gray around my ears and the back of my neck. The rest is not so much.

I think I had short hair for too long and I miss it. I tell my DH to be prepared for me to cut it all off again. I'm not sure if I would color it again. Maybe just highlights.

[JustSandra]

I had medium brown hair that began going gray in my late 20's. For a while it was fine (it looked like highlights) but then as it got more gray people started thinking my age was much older than it was. I therefore began coloring my hair blond in my early 30's.

In my early 40's I decided to stop coloring it because I was tired of the chemicals and the mess. By then it had turned completely silver/white (see my avatar). For the transition I just went to a very short haircut for a while, and luckily didn't have a real noticeable difference between the blond and the silver shades. After the transition I grew out my hair to shoulder length so I wouldn't have to get it cut so often.

My hair picks up color easily, whether from hair products or pool chlorine, so I have to watch that. I don't use any tinted shampoos, but I might if I noticed my hair taking on a yellow cast which it hasn't so far. It has a coarser texture than my brown hair. The gray hair certainly doesn't make me appear younger (I'll be 60 next year) but I like the color and all the money I save trying to fight nature.

I don't really have any tips other than what I mentioned above. It is a very individual decision, and I can understand if a woman prefers to ward off the gray for a while, especially if she works in a competitive industry that values a more youthful look.

[beyond.omega]

Alta...you look super cute in your photo.

[BunnyHop]

I've got really long dark hair, and have realized that I'm basically too low maintenance to cope with dying my hair just to try hiding the gray.

My first grays showed up when I was about thirty, and I got tired of trying to color. Doing it myself was a nuisance, and there was always the risk that the color would turn brassy if I picked up the wrong box, used the product incorrectly, or whatever else it was. Hated the look when things went wrong or the gray dropped the color while everything else looked funky, and loathed the messiness of at home hair color.

Getting it done in a salon was less trouble, more reliable color-wise, but dependent on finding someone skilled, available and affordable who was willing to listen to me, do what I wanted (just cover the gray, no dramatic highlights), etc.

A good many years after that, I grew my hair out long, and made the conscious decision to not color so I could gain length without also having to either maintain the color while protecting the ends from too much dye or cope with the roots growing out look.

I do occasionally use cassia obovata as a treatment. It doesn't dye the hair the way henna does, but seems to sorta soften the effect of the grays. The effect I notice might well be all in my imagination, but I do notice that after I do a treatment I tend to stop noticing my grays/thinking maybe I should color for a good while.

If my hair were shorter, I do think I'd dye it, but work with a good colorist who can help me cover the gray, and create a color that works well with my skin tones.

I've known a good many older women who went blonde beyond a certain point, as a kind of compromise. There's not as much of a roots growing out look, and the effect is softer. That color isn't for everyone, I realize, but it is an option. (Most of the women I've known who've done this are 65+, mostly silver/gray, with very fair skin.)

[Vintage VFer]

Originally Posted by beyond.omega

Alta...you look super cute in your photo.

Thanks!

[yogapam]

I started going grey in my late 30s and went from highlights every 3 months for a few years to permanent color every 6 weeks. Now I have a short cut and use an ammonia free semi-permanent color every 2 months. It doesn't give me a defined root line when my hair grows out and also has lots of variations in color rather than a solid dyed look. I also went to a light/medium blonde rather than my medium brown that I had when I was younger. I think going lighter gives a softer look. My hair is definitely coarser as it goes grey and the color makes it softer and silkier. Not sure when I will stop coloring completely, it's so little hassle doing it every 2 months and my hair holds the semi-permanent color pretty well. My mom had lovely silvery grey hair and I hope mine is as nice when I finally decide to let it go.

[BunnyHop]

Me again, sorry to ramble, but had the thought that thick, gorgeous hair is mostly about genetics and gentle handling than anything else.

I've spent the past fifteen years or so growing out my hair and pampering it to death in every way I could think of.

For my fine wavy hair, I get along best if I avoid doing ANYTHING that might cause physical damage to my hair.

This mostly seems to mean avoiding pony tail holders, barrettes, and any sort of clip that puts tension on the hair as it secures itself. Even tying off a braid over and over can cause damage for my hair. Those habits cause breakage in the same spots, over and over.
Not using a blow dryer, using good hair care products and practices and being gentle whenever I detangle or style my hair are also a big help.

My hair is mostly thicker at the scalp and the hemline because I don't have stylists cutting in layers over and over and over again. They cut in layers to give life/lift to hair that can benefit from that sort of thing. My hair? Not so impressed, but I never did find a stylist that understood what I was trying to say.

If I tried to blowdry and style my hair with a brush the way a stylist does in a salon on a regular basis, I'd have lots of breakage just from that, no matter how gentle I might be otherwise in my choice of products and other behavior.

Mostly I think it's about doing what seems right for you and your hair. Other people? Not wearing your hair or living your life, so their opinions are just that, opinions, which may or may not truly apply.

[Demeris]

Originally Posted by Vintage VFer

Demeris, please PM me some photos! I'm on the lookout for cute haircuts.

I had a super short, spiky pixie cut for years and I loved it. I dyed it all kinds of colors. Then I grew it out into a regular pixie cut and dyed it more normal colors. I dyed it at home.

About three years ago, I decided to grow it out. AND stop coloring it. All at once!

It is a chin length bob at the moment. My hair is super straight and very fine. Some of my the hairs are as fine as spider's web! I went natural for a couple of years but got bored, so I added a few highlights. It is very gray around my ears and the back of my neck. The rest is not so much.

I think I had short hair for too long and I miss it. I tell my DH to be prepared for me to cut it all off again. I'm not sure if I would color it again. Maybe just highlights.

I think your haircut is adorable.

I'm not documenting the transition phase, but here are the images I took in to the shop (and Great Clips charges 12$ a hair cut. Every stylist in the shop knows her stuff):

http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/beau...ver-50#slide-3

http://therighthairstyles.com/15-spe...esbenzfashion/

http://therighthairstyles.com/10-bes...ane-fonda-lgn/

I think I took in a total of 8 different shots, 3 or 4 of Rinna and the rest of Jane Fonda.

Right now (two weeks after my last cut) my haircut looks just like Jane Fonda's in those shots on the back of her newest walking workout. I use Aloe Vera gel in my hair to fluff up the top a bit.

This haircut grows out beautifully, and if I didn't have 3/4s of an inch of dark brown drawing attention to itself, I could make it to Christmas with this haircut.

[yogapam]

Demeris - My cut is quite similar but a bit shorter than this one of Jane's: http://therighthairstyles.com/10-bes...ane-fonda-lgn/
My color is a similar shade too, but it all looks soooo much better on her, lol.

[Demeris]

Originally Posted by yogapam

Demeris - My cut is quite similar but a bit shorter than this one of Jane's: http://therighthairstyles.com/10-bes...ane-fonda-lgn/
My color is a similar shade too, but it all looks soooo much better on her, lol.

I'm sure your hair looks lovely.

Remember that she's got a hairdresser with 30 different products and 10 different styling tools just off camera.

My hair is a bit shorter than this, right now, too, and a bit whispy-er because of all the texturizing. The woman who cuts my hair texturizes it above and beyond anything I've ever seen, and that's what makes my cut so easy to care for and so wonderful as it grows out.