anyone wear grey hair?

[kamikat]

I just wanted to share my progress. This is the first picture where the gray really shows up more than then dyed hair. I guess I'm about halfway through the process.

 

[crwritt]

I just wanted to share my progress. This is the first picture where the gray really shows up more than then dyed hair. I guess I'm about halfway through the process.

Thanks for sharing. I'm glad to see someone else who is about as far as I am in the process. Hang in there,it really takes patience. This week I was getting a little impatient with the transition, and
put in some Fancifull temporary color. I have two weeks until my hair appointment and didn't want to risk doing anything impulsive before that. We'll talk about a cut then, and do some highlight/lowlights.

 

[Inky]

Kamikat and crwritt, I wish I were as dedicated as you both are to going natural, because I love beautiful silvery gray hair, but i'm just not ready.

Do you think you'll be keeping it or are you "waiting to see." Either way, what a relief it must be to be free of the dye job - my appts have gone from every 8 weeks to 6 now.

Sigh.

 

[kamikat]

Kamikat and crwritt, I wish I were as dedicated as you both are to going natural, because I love beautiful silvery gray hair, but i'm just not ready.

Do you think you'll be keeping it or are you "waiting to see." Either way, what a relief it must be to be free of the dye job - my appts have gone from every 8 weeks to 6 now.

Sigh.

I think I'm "waiting to see", although my husband will be mad if I go back to dyeing it after all this effort. It was really long right before I made the decision to cut it to speed up the growing out process. He's putting up with the short hair because he knows that I plan to grow it out as soon as the color is gone. (and before anyone gets uptight about a man trying to tell me how to wear my hair, he hasn't said it, but I can tell that's what he's thinking) When I was in beauty school, they preached that we should always have the latest and greatest in haircolor styles to encourage our customers to follow suit. So far, none of my customers have followed my non-dyeing path. But most of them haven't been dyeing their hair since the 9th grade.

 

[zendy]

I definitely applaud all the ladies who are going grey and wearing it with pride. Every woman in my family goes grey by 31. I don't know if its going to happen to me since I only have a few strands at 26, but if it does i'll be on cloud9. It may sound silly, but when I was in high school I used to try and lighten my hair enough to use the silver coloring so I could have large grey streaks. It never really worked, but I did get some cool colors out of it.

 

[kamikat]

I definitely applaud all the ladies who are going grey and wearing it with pride. Every woman in my family goes grey by 31. I don't know if its going to happen to me since I only have a few strands at 26, but if it does i'll be on cloud9. It may sound silly, but when I was in high school I used to try and lighten my hair enough to use the silver coloring so I could have large grey streaks. It never really worked, but I did get some cool colors out of it.

I got my first gray in high school, but it seemed like I only got a couple each year for a long time. After my 30th birthday, it started changing very quickly. In my family, it's mixed. My mom and her twin, as well as grandma, had no gray hair until after 60. My other aunt and grandfather were totally white by 40. So far, my sister is 41 and has not a single gray (I'm her stylist, so I know). It looks like I might be completely silver by 40.

 

[crwritt]

Kamikat and crwritt, I wish I were as dedicated as you both are to going natural, because I love beautiful silvery gray hair, but i'm just not ready.

Do you think you'll be keeping it or are you "waiting to see." Either way, what a relief it must be to be free of the dye job - my appts have gone from every 8 weeks to 6 now.

Sigh.

I think its wait and see for me anyway, also kind of a cost cutting measure.
A dye job every 3 weeks adds up. I love how healthy my new growth is, and would just like to have it all feel like that.
The transition phase is frustrating, so I'm playing with temporary color.
As it turns out I don't have as much pure white as I thought, mostly pepper with some salt, and a central white streak. I want to see what it looks like
grown out before I make a big decision.

 

[Jezebel_Amazon]

I love the grey hair look on women. I'm in cosmo school and I think its becoming the thing because I've had 3 women come in asking for grey hair.. one of them was under 30 too. The other two had either 50% to 80% grey and where tired of retouching it. I love making grey hair as much as I love how it looks.

 

[crwritt]

I love the grey hair look on women. I'm in cosmo school and I think its becoming the thing because I've had 3 women come in asking for grey hair.. one of them was under 30 too. The other two had either 50% to 80% grey and where tired of retouching it. I love making grey hair as much as I love how it looks.

Are you coloring their hair gray or assisting with the grow out and transition?
I would love to know what you are doing for these ladies.

This morning at yoga class I had a nice compliment on my transitional hair from
an instructor I don't see very often. It seems she is also growing out color, in her case, henna, but she's only 32 and has only a little salt in her pepper.
It will be fun to see her next time our paths cross, maybe in a few months, to compare our progress.

 

[kamikat]

Are you coloring their hair gray or assisting with the grow out and transition?
I would love to know what you are doing for these ladies.

Tehcnically, you can't color hair gray. Gray hair is the absence of color pigment. When you bleach the hair super white, there are still blue, red and yellow pigments, they are just not as densely packed together. The closest you can come to dyeing hair gray, is to bleach out past the lemon yellow stage, then tone with a violet toner (I like Shade's EQ platinum ice). However, this will get you a platinum blond, not a true white or gray.

 

[crwritt]

Tehcnically, you can't color hair gray. Gray hair is the absence of color pigment. When you bleach the hair super white, there are still blue, red and yellow pigments, they are just not as densely packed together. The closest you can come to dyeing hair gray, is to bleach out past the lemon yellow stage, then tone with a violet toner (I like Shade's EQ platinum ice). However, this will get you a platinum blond, not a true white or gray.

This is pretty much what I thought. Since you are growing out color yourself, are you doing any highlighting or lowlighting? what i'd like to do, or have done (since i'd probably wreck it) is to do really pale highlights in the areas that are growing out white, along my front hairline and a central streak, so the old color is gone from those areas. Or maybe I should just be patient and let it grow out till its long enough to cut?

 

[kamikat]

This is pretty much what I thought. Since you are growing out color yourself, are you doing any highlighting or lowlighting? what i'd like to do, or have done (since i'd probably wreck it) is to do really pale highlights in the areas that are growing out white, along my front hairline and a central streak, so the old color is gone from those areas. Or maybe I should just be patient and let it grow out till its long enough to cut?

I did a highlight about 3 months into the process and I really regret it. If I hadn't done that, I would be finished growing out the old color. My natural is pretty dark, so it made a second demarkation line for a while and was really nasty looking. My hair was red, then light brown and blond streaks, then dark brown and grey. Right now, it's just light brown and blond, then dark brown and grey.

 

[crwritt]

I did a highlight about 3 months into the process and I really regret it. If I hadn't done that, I would be finished growing out the old color. My natural is pretty dark, so it made a second demarkation line for a while and was really nasty looking. My hair was red, then light brown and blond streaks, then dark brown and grey. Right now, it's just light brown and blond, then dark brown and grey.

I guess i'd have to be careful and only do the old color area or end up with plaid hair.
My colored hair was chestnut with some carmel highlights and dark brown lowlights. My natural is very dark brown with silver white coming in. When my stylist lowlighted the last time, she didn't touch the new growth. She put the dark brown lowlights in the old colored parts.

Earlier you said you would wear a wig during your transition. Did you wear one? Was it ay all comfortable? Sorry for the quiz.

 

[kamikat]

Earlier you said you would wear a wig during your transition. Did you wear one? Was it ay all comfortable? Sorry for the quiz.

I made the mistake of getting a long wig right before the start of summer. It was really hot. I wore it whenever we went out or if I knew there would be lots of picture-taking. Good ones are quite expensive, so if I can save up, I would like to buy a short one. I would love to have a bright red wig that I can throw on whenever I want the red back. I think that would help prevent me from going back to dyeing.

 

[Jezebel_Amazon]

Tehcnically, you can't color hair gray. Gray hair is the absence of color pigment. When you bleach the hair super white, there are still blue, red and yellow pigments, they are just not as densely packed together. The closest you can come to dyeing hair gray, is to bleach out past the lemon yellow stage, then tone with a violet toner (I like Shade's EQ platinum ice). However, this will get you a platinum blond, not a true white or gray.

Yes, it wasn't gray gray.. but it was more of a darker gray on the last woman I did it on.. she was growing out her gray hair which was about 80%.. I had to color cleanse it.. and got it to a pale yellow color.. then I used a blue-gray toner and it came out like a darker gray. in a few months that woman is coming in for super fine highlights and lowlights in gray also.. to get more of the salt and pepper look. It came out beautiful... when she comes back I'll photograph it.

 

[crwritt]

Yes, it wasn't gray gray.. but it was more of a darker gray on the last woman I did it on.. she was growing out her gray hair which was about 80%.. I had to color cleanse it.. and got it to a pale yellow color.. then I used a blue-gray toner and it came out like a darker gray. in a few months that woman is coming in for super fine highlights and lowlights in gray also.. to get more of the salt and pepper look. It came out beautiful... when she comes back I'll photograph it.

I'd love to see it!

 

[crwritt]

I just wanted to update how this process is going,
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=3644&id=1744062716&l=1acf58be15

 

[kamikat]

I just wanted to update how this process is going,
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=3644&id=1744062716&l=1acf58be15

Making good progress! Looks much softer on your skin tone.

 

[Inky]

I just wanted to update how this process is going,
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=3644&id=1744062716&l=1acf58be15

Your natural hair is looking beautiful on you crwritt! I do envy you.

 

[crwritt]

Thanks Ladies. I realize looking at the picture now my skin's looking a bit pink
from sitting under the dryer. No makeup either.
I've been working out the best routine to go along with my natural wave,
trying some different products. This time I washed it, did a Queen Helene hot oil treatment, scrunched in some homemade flax seed gel, and sat under the hair dryer.
I actually go in monday for another go at the lowlights, it might be the last time.
Kamikat, can you post a new picture? Are you still growing it out?