Ok hoping they come through. My natural color was medium brown. I will be 63 this year and there are just so many things I don’t have patience fo anymore and sitting in the chair for double process is one of them. These may or may not be helpful or show you anything but here goes...
My Going Grey Gracefully Journey.
- Thread starter Narnanz
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At 53, I’m a decade behind you but am starting to get the same feeling — I just don’t have the patience to sit in the chair for color anymore. Every 3-4 months is OK, but I’m no longer willing to do it every 4-5 weeks.
Your hair color looks beautiful, and from what I can see, goes perfectly with your skin tone.
Thank you! People who have known me for years say they like me in this color more than in my natural!
We are the same age. I threw in the towel last November, and I love it! About half and half at this point. Getting impatient, but powering through it. Most people are very positive too. I think your color is beautiful!!
Thanks PamK! Good luck with your transition. Are you going from dark coloring to grey? That would be a hard one!
Thank you, chessmont! Yes, my natural color is dark brown, and I’ve been single process coloring for 20+ years. I loved it, but it was starting to look grown out in 2-3 weeks - UGH! I’m about 8 months out now, and I actually don’t mind it much anymore. I still go once a month for a trim, and I love seeing all the whites popping out! Tried some highlights, which were a mistake, as dark doesn’t lift too well. It’s certainly not a process for weaklings! I’m glad we have this thread on TPF to cheer each other on!!
Today was my first appointment with my stylist since I decided to let the gray come in. I went in with some trepidation because I thought she’d hate the idea, but to my surprise and delight, she embraced it. We talked about a couple of different approaches and decided to do a highlight/lowlight combination. The biggest issue is that my natural color is cool, but the single process color we’ve been using is warm, so she needs to balance that out so the hair coming in will blend better. The lowlight color she used is closer to my natural color. She did warn me it will take a few times of doing this to get to the point where it blends better with my naturally cool tone, but she said to wait at least 10-12 weeks before we highlight again, because it will get easier to blend if I let more grow in. This will be a nice change from going in every 5 weeks!
The interesting thing is, when I first brought it up, she took a couple of photos of my hair before she started putting in the foils. I asked if she was documenting the progress, and she said, “The number one question I’m getting right now is how to grow out gray hair.” So I think I’m going to be an example for her to show other clients!
Here’s the result after today’s appointment. I’ll try to remember to have her take photos as we go along over the next several months and post them here so everyone can see.
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Quoting myself here to provide a link back to the last time I highlighted in April. I went back for another round of highlights last week. Below is the before and after (Photo 1 is Before, showing a couple months of regrowth with bits of gray, Photos 2 and 3 are post highlights). The big change for me is I haven’t had any single process color since March 21, so the tone of the highlighted hair is a little different. It’s not easy to see in these photos, but the hair that doesn’t have single process color is cooler in tone than the hair that has highlights on top of the single process. My stylist also put in a few lowlights to blend things more smoothly.
My goal is to grow out all the single process color and just get highlights every few months. Eventually, as the gray takes over my head, I figure I’ll have less need for the highlights. It’s going to be a very gradual process, but I never was one for drastic action or sudden change.
I admire the women who can do the “big chop” and grow their hair out with minimal residual color, but I’d feel naked if I chopped off that much hair! My next appointment isn’t until September. Will check back again after that one!
Looks fabulous.Quoting myself here to provide a link back to the last time I highlighted in April. I went back for another round of highlights last week. Below is the before and after (Photo 1 is Before, showing a couple months of regrowth with bits of gray, Photos 2 and 3 are post highlights). The big change for me is I haven’t had any single process color since March 21, so the tone of the highlighted hair is a little different. It’s not easy to see in these photos, but the hair that doesn’t have single process color is cooler in tone than the hair that has highlights on top of the single process. My stylist also put in a few lowlights to blend things more smoothly.
My goal is to grow out all the single process color and just get highlights every few months. Eventually, as the gray takes over my head, I figure I’ll have less need for the highlights. It’s going to be a very gradual process, but I never was one for drastic action or sudden change.
My next appointment isn’t until September. Will check back again after that one!
View attachment 4477869 View attachment 4477870 View attachment 4477871
Quoting myself here to provide a link back to the last time I highlighted in April. I went back for another round of highlights last week. Below is the before and after (Photo 1 is Before, showing a couple months of regrowth with bits of gray, Photos 2 and 3 are post highlights). The big change for me is I haven’t had any single process color since March 21, so the tone of the highlighted hair is a little different. It’s not easy to see in these photos, but the hair that doesn’t have single process color is cooler in tone than the hair that has highlights on top of the single process. My stylist also put in a few lowlights to blend things more smoothly.
My goal is to grow out all the single process color and just get highlights every few months. Eventually, as the gray takes over my head, I figure I’ll have less need for the highlights. It’s going to be a very gradual process, but I never was one for drastic action or sudden change.
My next appointment isn’t until September. Will check back again after that one!
View attachment 4477869 View attachment 4477870 View attachment 4477871
It looks just great!!! And that is the way to do it if it is in your budget- double process lighter so the demarcation line won't be so obvious. Good luck on the Gray Journey!
Thank you! Funny, I hadn’t thought of this as double-process, since it was all done with foils (as opposed to my old double-process, in which my base color was essentially painted on, and then I got foil highlights on top of that). In any case, yes, that is my goal, to stop the single process or “base” color while hopefully avoiding a hard demarcation line.
Oh I am mistaken, mine is double process because the foils, some are painted light, some are painted darker...
You’re not mistaken, just different terminology is all ... you made me realize I need to be specific in how I describe this!
hey it's only hair colorYou’re not mistaken, just different terminology is all ... you made me realize I need to be specific in how I describe this!
Have decided to stop highlighting my hair. It's got to the stage that I'm happy with where I am going with it.
If at a later I want get a few highlights then I will.
But this has been one of the best things I could have done for my hair and for me.
If at a later I want get a few highlights then I will.
But this has been one of the best things I could have done for my hair and for me.