going grey gracefully
I have always planned to be the kind of woman who ages with grace and grows in wisdom. And maybe I am that woman. But the grey hair –
It’s got to go.
I have a streak of grey hair growing only in one spot from my temple… which could be cool (a la Bonnie Raitt) or freaky (a la Bride of Frankenstein). Regardless. I’m just not as ready as I thought I was, for the whole long natural grey thing. So for now, I’m using my Christmas gift certificate to dye my hair back to plain old ordinary brown all the way around.
And hopefully next year I’ll be ready for the grey.
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Feb 11th 2009
I refuse to go gray at 35. RE.FUSE! I’ll stop being a blonde when they pry the color bottle out of my cold, dead fingers.
Feb 11th 2009
As someone who finds you both wise and beautiful, grey hair is not going to hurt you on either count. Especially a cool sorceress-like streak.
(Feel free to archive this statement and not process it until next year, or the one after. I’ve been going grey since before my 18th birthday, so I’ve had time to adjust.
Feb 11th 2009
Sorry about the mismatched punctuation. Ending parenthetical statements that contain emoticons becomes even more challenging when the software converts the emoticon to a graphic….
Feb 15th 2009
oh i know. i remember being in my 20’s and thinking, hell, i’m not going to dye my hair that’s just ridiculous, i’ll be proud to have it.
now i’m spending more and more and more time in front of the mirror plucking and thinking, is it time to buy the dye yet?
uggh, getting older sucks! do what you’ve gotta do!
Feb 26th 2009
I love gray hair. I hope you let it go and send me a big picture. That goes for the rest of you above. I’ve been wanting some of my own for a long time (I was always an old fogey), but so far it only really comes in on my arms or chest. Not quite as dignified. I’ll probably just go slowly bald (and still brown).
P.S. I can’t believe this is what I’m leaving a comment on.
P.P.S. Ignore everything I’ve just said.
P.P.P.S. The scribe who has written these comments has just been sacked.
Jan 21st 2010
I’ve switched to henna from commercial dyes as a way of transitioning to full grey. Since dyes actually change the color of the shaft, you have to either strip the hair or grow it out. Henna coats the shaft and then fades over time. So I’m using henna and getting my hair cut every 6 weeks or so. That way, all the new growth is henna-coated rather than permanently colored. Once the dyed portions have been completely grown out and scissored off, I can choose to let the henna fade and the greys show themselves (evenly instead of patchy), or I can chicken out and henna again.
Psychologcally, it feels better than just white-knuckling the change. Makes me feel more in control of the process. Oh, and the henna color is just gorgeous, not brassy like I was afraid it would be. Plus, the henna super-conditions my hair, so it feels really luxurious now.
Fun