I'd like to stop coloring my hair...yet wonder about (and loathe) 'frompiness' and maybe worse as nature takes its course...any suggestions for the transition? thank you
goldieot On 06/03/2012 wrote:
I stopped "hitting the bottle" about a year ago..and I love the freedom! I wear my hair short on the sides, so just a few days after coloring it I already had roots. I am about 75% gray, so covering it was just becoming very difficult. I had recently lost my mother to Pancreatic Cancer, and had a career altering injury to my wrist...this all lead me to realize there are much more important things in life than the color of my hair. I would recommend a super haircut, current, stylish and anything but frumpy. THere are also a bunch of shampoos and conditioners on the market that keep the gray shiny and prevent yellowing. Good Luck
For economic reasons, I stopped coloring my hair several years ago. I had my stylist cut my hair ultra short so I wouldn't have a hard time with it growing out. He cut my hair a la Jaime Lee Curtis and it's now all gray, mostly white. Each time I go to his salon, I get compliments on my hair from other clients. I keep hearing the same thing: I want to stop coloring my hair but I just know it won't look like yours! That's rubbish! Go for it! There are several products that can be used to whiten your hair as it grows out and lessen the look of the old and the new. They are just rinses so it's no big deal. The main thing is cutting it short. As we all know, hair grows out quickly so your adjustment period should be very short. You will love not coloring!
So I took a different approach than the previous posters. I had "platinum" highlights put in my hair, and kept it shoulder length. I spend money on keratin treatments to keep it from frizzing and put shine back in. I get compliments all the time. Haven't had to re-hilight or color my hair in 12 years, still wear it shoulder length with side swept bangs. I do think there are many great products that keep the shine and texture nice.
I love the idea of platinum highlights. Could you tell me more? What is your natural hair colour and if you haven't re-done the highlights, what happened as they grew out? Did they just blend into the ones growing in? Thank you.
PLEASE don't forget to color your hair! You might want to change the color a little from time to time, which I do regularly, but "going grey" is NOT the way to look like you care. I have one friend who has totally natural, gorgeous white hair and she's the ONLY one I know who looks good au naturale.
I absolutely agree. I'd eat rice and beans before I'd skip my bi-monthly color appointments. Most naturally grey hair is mousy, yellowish and just plain O-L-D. Not going there.
Cubie131 On 06/21/2012 replied to WLONGMAN saying:
I'm with you. I've seen a few people who look good with grey hair-actually I think they had white or silver. Most people just look like they just gave up. I'm not going there either-not negotiable.
BlueBear On 12/20/2012 replied to WLONGMAN saying:
You could not be more wrong! My ultra short grey hair is a brilliant white with zero yellow. There are countless products to make it shine too. The real trick to not looking old with it is to change your makeup! You can have much more vibrant makeup. You also have to pay attention to what you wear. Jewel box colors are fantastic, as are silvers and blacks to play up your hair color. I find I have many more choices now than I did when I was blonde. btw: Just changing your hair color doesn't change your age. It helps to learn how to grow old gracefully!
My suggestion is to make sure that you have a stylish cut, appropriate for your hair type. I don't think my gray hair is particularly dramatic, but last year in a chic Beverly Hills salon a young male in his late 20's came up to me and told me "your hair is fabulous -- don't ever let anyone tell you to color your hair". You CAN look well groomed, and stylish with gray hair. In fact, it can actually look 'softer' and prettier than the all-in-one color of so many women I see. You choose what is right for you, color or not. After all, if you decide to try gray hair, you can always color it if you decide to change it again.
You might want to go online to one of those sites where you post a picture of yourself and try different hairstyles. You will find out whether the grey hair will work for you. I think that it makes most women look old and frumpy, but there are some MAJOR exceptions to the rule. I think it depends on your skin coloring, hairstyle, and a lot of other factors. I know that, for me, I will never allow myself to go gray.
I stopped dying my hair dark brown about 2 1/2 years ago. It was a nightmare growing it out. I coped by having dark low lights (demi not permanent) every 6 to eight weeks which helped to break up the dreaded skunk look! It is now completely grown out and I have continued to have low lights put in which has stopped me looking so old as I did completely grey. Good luck :)
I had a friend who stopped coloring her hair and she went the highlights route and kept doing that . Her hair looks very nice with the grey showing in among the high lights.
I had to stop coloring my hair 4 years ago due to an allergy to hair dye. I was extremely sad that I couldn't color my hair anymore, and reluctantly decided to grow it out. I couldn't bear to cut it too, and add insult to injury. It took two years to fully grow out. Now I love my grey hair. I would never go back to coloring again. I was afraid that grey hair would "age" me, or clash with my skin tone, but none of that happened. I still enjoy a rich dating and social life (being divorced), and I've found that I can wear bolder, darker colors now, which can stand up to the dramatic effect of my grey hair. It's not frompy at all. It's all what you do with it. Come to the grey side. :)
Debzella On 12/10/2012 replied to avonlady saying:
Hi Avonlady,
The allergic reaction actually started a few years before it got so bad that I had to stop dying. At first it was just a chronic itchy spot behind my left ear, but gradually it spread all around the back of my head. I was so determined to keep dying my hair that I kept doing it anyway. I was so afraid to go gray! lol. But then it got worse, and everytime I dyed it, it would burn and blister for a week or two. Believe it or not, I kept going with the hair dye. Until the day that my entire scalp was swollen, and felt like it was on fire. I happened to have a doctor's appointment for something else, and I showed him what was going on with my scalp. He said I had a severe allergy and what looked like chemical burns. He basically told me that it was the end of the road for hair dye. At that point, I agreed with him. It was scary, and painful. I was silly to keep dying for so long. I was so worried that I would look old, and that the grey would be ugly, but I was worried for nothing. Now I love that I don't have to keep up my "roots" and I've made peace with the fact that I am grey-haired and I have embraced the real me. i wouldn't recommend to anyone to continue dying their hair when they're having allergic symptoms. I was lucky that it didn't get worse.
Debzella, I'm with you. I colored my hair just once, in my early 40s, when I started going grey. I thought to myself, do I REALLY want to do this for the next 40 years? Nah. I've never looked back - I really love my hair, and get compliments on it regularly, from men and women, young and old. I think (as others have said) the secret is getting a great cut, using products made for silver/white hair that keep out the yellow, and staying healthy so that your hair is healthy and strong, too. I also love my 'wash and go' lifestyle....I wash my hair, blow it dry, smoosh in a little product, and that's it.
Well here;s how it worked for me....I lost all my hair due to Chemotherapy. When it began to grow back, what had previously been my "white", a pale pale blonde at the temples with the remainder a dark strawberry blonde, was now snow white and the rest a light pale brown. Where the pre chemo hair did not look good with my coloring , I have gotten nothing but complements on my new color. So my advise would be to cut it short and trim til colored sections are gone. Good luck ..I hope you like it.
I have considered not having my hair colored anymore, but..............I just cannot do it ! I was 60 last June, & have strived to maintain a healthy weight, & I adore clothes which are youthful, but modest. I am the G'ma. of 6 and Mother 4 adult sons. I have used the same hair stylist for about 25 years. We shortened my middle of the back hair to my shoulders last July. She suggested putting carmel highlighlights into my dark brown hair. It looks great and the gray roots are less conspicuous. I am just not ready to let go and go all gray. One day, but not today !
I like the highlighting ideas. And good for you! My much younger boyfriend while saying it is completely up to me, does not want me to dye my hair, he likes the gray and after 6 months is finally getting his chance to (his words) show me off to his friends!
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