discovering how much grey hair we have in the pandemic

[kemilia]

I'm in the lucky hair camp, I guess. I had chestnut hair as a kid but in HS I noticed a couple of gray hairs, nothing happened for a long time. Now my hair is this odd mix of white, some dark and blonde, of all colors. Kinda platinum-ish, weird--I've even had hairs that have dark roots!. My BF says he has never seen anything like it.

Women have asked what I do to my hair, once I started to explain the brand of shampoo/conditioner and she said "no, I mean how do you get that color?" I was really embarrassed. It's getting whiter with age, my Mom was totally white when she died, really beautiful.

I have had friends that totally stopped coloring, but they were "bleach" blondes so not that noticible. My BF says I'm a trendsetter with the older set!

 

[JenJBS]

I'm in the lucky hair camp, I guess. I had chestnut hair as a kid but in HS I noticed a couple of gray hairs, nothing happened for a long time. Now my hair is this odd mix of white, some dark and blonde, of all colors. Kinda platinum-ish, weird--I've even had hairs that have dark roots!. My BF says he has never seen anything like it.

Women have asked what I do to my hair, once I started to explain the brand of shampoo/conditioner and she said "no, I mean how do you get that color?" I was really embarrassed. It's getting whiter with age, my Mom was totally white when she died, really beautiful.

I have had friends that totally stopped coloring, but they were "bleach" blondes so not that noticible. My BF says I'm a trendsetter with the older set!

Sounds beautiful!

 

[Love Of My Life]

I didn't love seeing the gray especially around my hairline.
So I purchased a ammonia free color, put on the gloves, put on the hairline cream & played "colorist'
for an hour or so & happily pleased with the results.
My DH said, you aren't going gray on my watch are you.. LOL.. Happily, not!!

 

[ccbaggirl89]

When I shortly fantasized about having natural hair, my stylist informed me that she could strip the color and it would take 6 hours, minimum. Kinda like Sharon Osborne did before the pandemic.
Would you consider that process?

I just posted in another thread. I am 33 and decided to go all gray about 1.5 years ago - I was 50% gray by age 30. It took 8+ hours to strip all the years of color out and I lost 15 inches in the process. So yes, it takes that long, but you can break it into multiple sessions. I did 1 session. And you will lose hair length b/c the condition after all those treatments take a major toll, even if other treatments are applied. Sharon O looks great - so much better imo than with the coloring.

 

[limom]

I just posted in another thread. I am 33 and decided to go all gray about 1.5 years ago - I was 50% gray by age 30. It took 8+ hours to strip all the years of color out and I lost 15 inches in the process. So yes, it takes that long, but you can break it into multiple sessions. I did 1 session. And you will lose hair length b/c the condition after all those treatments take a major toll, even if other treatments are applied. Sharon O looks great - so much better imo than with the coloring.

I applaud you. I think that Sharon looked great as well....
I followed the grombe people on insta. They look very happy.
Ok. You look young with grey hair.
Your hair are gorgeous and thick.

 

[ccbaggirl89]

I applaud you. I think that Sharon looked great as well....
I followed the grombe people on insta. They look very happy.
Ok. You look young with grey hair.
Your hair are gorgeous and thick.

Grombe (Instagram) is a great place for inspiration!!

 

[Love Of My Life]

When I shortly fantasized about having natural hair, my stylist informed me that she could strip the color and it would take 6 hours, minimum. Kinda like Sharon Osborne did before the pandemic.
Would you consider that process?

no, I wouldn't do anything that drastic.....and my DH is very much against my going grey. As much as I'm sick of coloring, I remember nora ephron saying how hair dye made more difference than anything in making women look younger.
This essay by Norah is amusing, I think
http://www.oprah.com/spirit/nora-ephron-on-maintenance-remembering-nora-ephron/all

No I would not.. I think hair becomes fragile with various processes & I like to keep all the remaining hair on my
head in the best condition I can so a 6 hour process would not interest me.
I thought Mrs O looked fabulous as a "red head"
The quote from Nora is priceless & I'm with her all the way...

 

[snibor]

I totally agree that gray hair never makes a woman look younger. But not every woman is trying to look younger.

Due to my (lack of) height and face shape I've always been mistaken for younger than I am. Might sound good, but gets annoying after a lifetime. Especially when it meant I wasn't taken seriously. That isn't happening so much as I let the gray show, and I like that.

My step-dad asked my mom to stop dying her hair. He was significantly older, and her dyed hair making her look even younger only emphasized the age difference, to the point of making him very uncomfortable. Even after he passed away she didn't go back to dying it.

I realize not trying to look younger is the exception, just pointing out there are exceptions. We all have to do what is right for us.

Ya I get it. I just think most women don’t look better with gray hair and I think it’s aging. I know not everyone wants to look younger. I’m in my 50s and women my age with gray hair look much older. The friends I have in their 50s don’t want to look older. Having said that, it’s my preference. To each his/her own. I just don’t like gray hair on most women. I’m not intending to insult anyone, it’s just my preference (like a handbag color is a preference, or a certain style of jeans, or nail length, etc). Nevertheless, I suppose there will be a lot of gray around given the current lockdown status with the virus. Lol.

 

[catsinthebag]

I totally agree that gray hair never makes a woman look younger. But not every woman is trying to look younger.

Due to my (lack of) height and face shape I've always been mistaken for younger than I am. Might sound good, but gets annoying after a lifetime. Especially when it meant I wasn't taken seriously. That isn't happening so much as I let the gray show, and I like that.

My step-dad asked my mom to stop dying her hair. He was significantly older, and her dyed hair making her look even younger only emphasized the age difference, to the point of making him very uncomfortable. Even after he passed away she didn't go back to dying it.

I realize not trying to look younger is the exception, just pointing out there are exceptions. We all have to do what is right for us.

I found your post so interesting because like you, I’ve always looked young for my age. It was really annoying in my 20s, when I was starting my career and trying to be taken seriously. I got carded until I was 40 (which was sometimes embarrassing and sometimes flattering, depending on the situation). Now that I’m 53, I’m realizing I don’t look totally young anymore, although I probably still look younger than many other women my age. My DH is 15 years older than me, so people have finally stopped wondering if I’m his daughter, or worse!

I stopped coloring my hair about a year ago. It wasn’t about looking older. I was just tired of dying all the time. The dye make my scalp itch and my eyes sting. I was starting to see gray hairs, and they were starting to show through the dye a week or two after a visit to the salon. I could see the salon visits getting more and more frequent, and I didn’t want to become a slave to the process. I also realized I had been dying my hair for so long, I wasn’t even sure what my natural color looked like anymore. So I decided to find out.

Like a few others here, I follow Grombre on Instagram. Which has led me to a lot of other gray hair accounts. Check out AnnikaVonHoldt for a stunning example of gray hair.

KatieGoesPlatinum is a really helpful website. She has lots of before and after photos of different women. Going through those, I realized that your face is going to look like your face, regardless of hair. Many middle aged or older women dye their hair the same color they had in their 20s, but it doesn’t look right because their skin tone has changed and the color is now too dark and looks harsh. The gray that comes in looks softer and their skin looks more luminous against it. Confidence matters too — if you are convinced you’re going to look horrible with gray hair, you will probably be right!

 

[lolakitten]

what I was thinking was to leave some streaks of grey and paint some of the grey auburn.....don't know if this would work

My grey won't hold any reddish tones, so cool blond highlights blend in best (my natural colour is dk brown)
I made the mistake of going darker while the salons were still open so every grey stands out more than ever. I should have just let the roots grow so going back to blonde will be easier... *sigh*

The annoying thing for me is that I only seem to have greys on my left side!

 

[JenJBS]

I found your post so interesting because like you, I’ve always looked young for my age. It was really annoying in my 20s, when I was starting my career and trying to be taken seriously. I got carded until I was 40 (which was sometimes embarrassing and sometimes flattering, depending on the situation). Now that I’m 53, I’m realizing I don’t look totally young anymore, although I probably still look younger than many other women my age. My DH is 15 years older than me, so people have finally stopped wondering if I’m his daughter, or worse!

I stopped coloring my hair about a year ago. It wasn’t about looking older. I was just tired of dying all the time. The dye make my scalp itch and my eyes sting. I was starting to see gray hairs, and they were starting to show through the dye a week or two after a visit to the salon. I could see the salon visits getting more and more frequent, and I didn’t want to become a slave to the process. I also realized I had been dying my hair for so long, I wasn’t even sure what my natural color looked like anymore. So I decided to find out.

Like a few others here, I follow Grombre on Instagram. Which has led me to a lot of other gray hair accounts. Check out AnnikaVonHoldt for a stunning example of gray hair.

KatieGoesPlatinum is a really helpful website. She has lots of before and after photos of different women. Going through those, I realized that your face is going to look like your face, regardless of hair. Many middle aged or older women dye their hair the same color they had in their 20s, but it doesn’t look right because their skin tone has changed and the color is now too dark and looks harsh. The gray that comes in looks softer and their skin looks more luminous against it. Confidence matters too — if you are convinced you’re going to look horrible with gray hair, you will probably be right!

Nice to know someone else understands. And you are so very right about dyed hair looking harsh and not right if it's too dark/bright. Yep, confidence matters! Gonna check out the accounts you mention. Thanks!

 

[PamK]

I found your post so interesting because like you, I’ve always looked young for my age. It was really annoying in my 20s, when I was starting my career and trying to be taken seriously. I got carded until I was 40 (which was sometimes embarrassing and sometimes flattering, depending on the situation). Now that I’m 53, I’m realizing I don’t look totally young anymore, although I probably still look younger than many other women my age. My DH is 15 years older than me, so people have finally stopped wondering if I’m his daughter, or worse!

I stopped coloring my hair about a year ago. It wasn’t about looking older. I was just tired of dying all the time. The dye make my scalp itch and my eyes sting. I was starting to see gray hairs, and they were starting to show through the dye a week or two after a visit to the salon. I could see the salon visits getting more and more frequent, and I didn’t want to become a slave to the process. I also realized I had been dying my hair for so long, I wasn’t even sure what my natural color looked like anymore. So I decided to find out.

Like a few others here, I follow Grombre on Instagram. Which has led me to a lot of other gray hair accounts. Check out AnnikaVonHoldt for a stunning example of gray hair.

KatieGoesPlatinum is a really helpful website. She has lots of before and after photos of different women. Going through those, I realized that your face is going to look like your face, regardless of hair. Many middle aged or older women dye their hair the same color they had in their 20s, but it doesn’t look right because their skin tone has changed and the color is now too dark and looks harsh. The gray that comes in looks softer and their skin looks more luminous against it. Confidence matters too — if you are convinced you’re going to look horrible with gray hair, you will probably be right!

Katie’s site has some amazing before and after pictures! I find shiny, groomed well cut and styled hair is as “anti-aging” as decades of dye, but you’re correct that if you’re not ready for the transition, it won’t work for you.

 

[zinacef]

I’m actually 51 and I’ve always dyed my hair —- professionally then I learned doing it on my own. COViD came and hadn’t had a hair cut, I just let hair coloring go also .Full Asian here so I’ve always looked so much younger and now that I’ve gone grey, my friends said it suits me just fine. Maybe by the end of the year, I’ll be completely grey. Still have the itch to color but at the same time, I don’t want to waste the time I’ve already put on to making it dye free. I believe the last time I colored my hair was early January. I have a short bob hair and my alternate hair stylist said my hair grows fast and if I keep on with the hair trim, it will not take me too long. I work full COViD ICU now and just so happy that we have a unit secretary who’s a hair stylist, too. She cuts all the nurses hair in the break room, mask and all.

 

[ccbaggirl89]

Ya I get it. I just think most women don’t look better with gray hair and I think it’s aging. I know not everyone wants to look younger. I’m in my 50s and women my age with gray hair look much older. The friends I have in their 50s don’t want to look older. Having said that, it’s my preference. To each his/her own. I just don’t like gray hair on most women. I’m not intending to insult anyone, it’s just my preference (like a handbag color is a preference, or a certain style of jeans, or nail length, etc). Nevertheless, I suppose there will be a lot of gray around given the current lockdown status with the virus. Lol.

I tend to agree that many women don't look good with gray. A lot of that (imo) stems from women not really knowing how to style their new color with a change of wardrobe and makeup. I've learned that gray requires even more effort in makeup and wardrobe to not look washed out. Lots of women just carry on wearing the same styles and colors they always did and don't make the adjustment for gray. When you see pics of women who look great with gray (even those on grombre) they tend to be younger women and those dressed in bolder colors. I get a lot of older women at work who ask me about my hair and I can see they want to lol... maybe I'll inspire an older woman at work to try. I'm trying to make it workplace cool to be gray

 

[JenJBS]

I tend to agree that many women don't look good with gray. A lot of that (imo) stems from women not really knowing how to style their new color with a change of wardrobe and makeup. I've learned that gray requires even more effort in makeup and wardrobe to not look washed out. Lots of women just carry on wearing the same styles and colors they always did and don't make the adjustment for gray. When you see pics of women who look great with gray (even those on grombre) they tend to be younger women and those dressed in bolder colors. I get a lot of older women at work who ask me about my hair and I can see they want to lol... maybe I'll inspire an older woman at work to try. I'm trying to make it workplace cool to be gray

Such a great point about grey hair needing different wardrobe and make up colors.