There's no such thing as being able to "gracefully segue into a head full of grays." You bet I color. My inspiration for this post came from Cindy who declared that she "will not go gentle into that gray hair."I have an older cousin who stopped coloring her hair when she turned 70. She felt that was a good age to go gray. Bad decision, Marilyn! (She doesn't read blogs, no problem with using her name.) She looks so much younger with her light brown hair than she does now with her white hair.
I've had friends stop coloring their hair after retirement. Bad decisions, all. (I won't mention their names.) One had coal black hair and went stark white. After going white, whenever I saw her, I had to force my head to remain still. It wanted to jerk backward. Another friend aged a good ten years when she let her gray come out to play.
A little, old, gray-haired lady I will never be. (Maybe old, but neither little nor gray!) It's me and my Best Friend, L'Oreal Preference, Medium Ash Blonde, 7 1/2 forever! In addition, I'll keep on using lipstick!What about you? Do you color? If so, how long will you continue?
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Trixie from It's A Girl Thing gave me this beautiful award. I met her at Friday Fill-Ins. It comes with rules, but the most difficult part of awards is listing a limited number of people to share. I enjoy so many bloggers that I'm going to ask if you are reading this and do not yet have this award, to please accept it from me.
Please remember to answer my color question by commenting.
I won't be facing the grey issue for a while yet but I'm hoping it'll happen in distinguished streaks when it does! I want to keep it really long too.
ReplyDeleteI have colored my hair for the last 25 ??? years. I "think" I have dark brown hair (with it's share of gray) if I don't color. I've been happy with my red for all these years. Why stop now?
ReplyDeletetake care,
Dawn
I've been coloring my hair since I was 19, because that's when I started to go gray. I'm 37 now, and I plan to continue coloring until I die. :o)
ReplyDeleteThat's great information. I'm just on the brink of having to face the color issue. My mom was really white by the time she was my age and hasn't colored her hair. I will not follow in her footsteps. I have to color a few hairs just around the front right now but I know the whole head is soon to follow. I thought I would "go gray gracefully" at some point but you've convinced me to stay young forever.
ReplyDeleteI've colored my hair for years too...not even sure when I went gray or how much gray I have. I don't think I'll ever go gray! (although I am getting gray) LOL
ReplyDeleteHave a great day,
Diane
Oh Sally!!!! "only my hairdresser knows for sure"..*lol*.
ReplyDeleteWell I have red hair and along the way it began to turn a darker auburn...so about 10 years ago I started to add more of the red back in.
When I've found the perfect colour it would be discontinued etc. so I have now played around with colours so that I mix 4 different L'Oreal shades to get my perfect one.
Crazy? but it works.
How long will I do this? hmmmmm...until it just doesn't look good anymore I guess.
Have a lovely grayless day.
Judi
Sally, another reveal this morning. I think I am pretty gray but my public will never know and neither will I. I have colored my hair for years and then the bad thing happened. My color, ' light, light, auburn' was discontinued. For two years now my color changes every six weeks as I try to find what is right. I am beside myself over this. My sister went gray for a while and we finally talked her into coloring it again. She is a blond so that is easier. My oldest sister has very little gray and has never colored her hair. (dark brown). What is up with that? (she's 70) sigh.
ReplyDeleteGo color!
Hugs, Jeanne
Well, you know where I stand on that issue, Sally!
ReplyDeleteBy the way, my mom is 75 and still coloring her hair...and it's not blue or purple, like some elderly ladies used to do...
OH, DEAR...WHAT A QUESTION, SALLY GIRL....
ReplyDeleteOK, here's the truth of it...
I put the first color on my hair while in high school. Started graying very young...colored it until I had my first baby and developed an allergy to hair dye at that time. SEVERE allergy...burst blood vessels in my eyes, for one. SOOO..
NO, I don't color my hair anymore.
Pure gray or as I like to think of it....S.I.L.V.E.R. (sounds better than GRAY)
LOVE, bj
I dont want to color my hair but of course will have to eventually, you see my hair is fine and weak, and coloring (i've tried it before) really breaks it up. So I'll be seeking the advice from pros.
ReplyDeleteAs for now the greys are a few in the middle, so it's easy to hide!
Sally, You are to funny. I will never grow gray either. Why should we. It almost sounds like people feel obligated or forced to go gray. I highlite my hair and occasionally mix things up and go brown. Right now I am in bad need of a foil and cut. I can see the gray hairs along my face. I am 35 and I definately feel a lot older. Just waiting for the funds.
ReplyDeleteSorry for the run on comment. By the way, I would like to participate in this upcoming Blue Monday! I have some pics waiting. Have a great hair day! LOL
hugs, Ellen
Count me among those who do NOT color my hair. I decided that at age 19 when I started to gray, that I couldn't be bothered. I have never regretted it, as I have thick, wavy hair that is very easy. Sally
ReplyDeleteI started going gray at 22 (I'm 30 now) so I've had a few years to come to terms with it. I started dyeing my hair when I was 16, and got sick of it a couple of years ago.
ReplyDeleteToday I have lots of gray, mostly at my temples, streaking down the length of my hair - and yet people always think I'm younger than I am.
I think the choice to "go gray" also depends on what kind of gray you have. Mine is really silvery, rather than salt-and-peppery, and it's actually kind of pretty on me.
Of course, my hubby and my little sister are constantly teasing me about it - but I have a pretty thick skin :)
I'm really a very dark brunette, but I started highlighting last year and love it! I may never go back...but it is expensive to have it done at the salon. Certainly don't trust myself enough to do it on my own ;o)
ReplyDelete~Jill
My hair has been many colors, but gray isn't one of them....except the last few days before my hair appointment!! I echo your thoughts. No gray haired grandma here!!
ReplyDeleteStephanie
When I retired I let my gray grow out. It was okay, but my daughter just couldn't stand it. Now, I am a brunette, just like God made me. It just takes some help from a hair color bottle now. I even feel younger without the gray hair.
ReplyDeleteI have no idea what my natural color is anymore...I have someone else color it for me, I tried to do it myself ONCE and only once because I turned it cotton candy purple...and had to work like that and keep telling patients, it was just an accident...if only it had been Halloween, I could have gotten away with it too...but I HAVE to color my hair, otherwise, I have gray spots coming in every which way, and spriggly ones too...the gray doesn't come in gracefully and evenly either, it is radical in different spots...so yes...color is wonderful!!!
ReplyDeleteWell, my rainbow cows went for a contemporary look. ;)
ReplyDeleteAs for going gray. It's funny you post this because my Mom and I were just talking about color yesterday. I've got gray now, but I can't imagine finding time to color my hair. She said it didn't bother her until she was about 45 and then people starting commenting on her gray and she started to color this pretty auburn color. I figure I've got a few years to go yet before start asking me the same thing...well hopefully. :)
Oh, I color. But not myself. My hairdresser does it. I am SO AFRAID to buy a box of color and try it myself....it would save me a ton of money if I knew how to do that. I feel old enough most days without having the added gray hair to look at!
ReplyDeleteAaahh, that "lovely gray" that isn't there anymore. I've been back to the lighter shade of deep brown..with a few highlights. Gotta love all the cool shades and colors..
ReplyDeleteTake it from someone that knows. Everyone does not look goog gray.Go lighter , gradualy. If you had black hair ,after age 30 start going lighter. The wrinkles show less. skintone looks better.If you can't afford to go get your hair done, and you have dard hair start going lighter shade by shade, till you get where you like it. I do my own hair. I am tinder headed. Kathy
ReplyDeletegirl...
ReplyDeletesame color, same brand, same number...my hair is wirey in the front if i don't color...ever since i gave birth it changed the feel of my hair.
thank goodness i only have to color every 8 weeks or so...my hairdresser cuts and colors me...it hurts my arms to do it myself and i never seem to get it to the roots well enough
I have never colored it, but I am thinking about it. I don't have that much gray yet, but I have had fast-food people offer me a senior citizen's discount and other people think my teen son was my grandson!!
ReplyDeleteI even bought one of those kinds that washes out in 30 days just to experiment with color, but I haven't tried it yet.
One reason is that I have always wondered when to stop and whether it would be too dramatic a change then. I've known women 70 and up who color their hair in shades that are just obvious that it has to be dyed. One lady had jet-black hair so thin you could see white scalp through it. On the other hand, if that is what makes them happy and feel better about themselves, then that's fine.
I had to start coloring my hair in my late 30's and I don't want it to ever go totally gray....when my gray's start showing I feel old....don't need that. I'll stick with my brownish/reddish color and let me hairdresser keep giving me a color I "need".
ReplyDeleteI'm in the process of letting my color grow out. I really regret letting a stylist talk me into permanent color over the semi-permanent color which would fade with washing. I kept it up (technically I paid to keep it up as I make a mess on my own) for a few years, but now I am just tired of it.
ReplyDeleteMy natural color is very dark brown. In order for the dyed color not looking too severe, the color used has been much lighter than my own. It is ok, but the ends of my shoulder length hair are taking the brunt of all this, even with a stylist doing my roots.
I'll probably have to have highlights soon to balance the old color with the natural growth. If I hate being salt and pepper, I can always go back.
ummmm...I think I have awhile before I have to face this issue...can we bring this topic back up then?? ;-)
ReplyDeleteL'Oreal Medium Ash Blonde - 7 1/2 - that 's my color, Baby! ~ Robyn
ReplyDeleteI got tagged today and apparently I am supposed to pass the good fortune on to 7 other unsuspecting bloggers so I chose to choose people who have left me comments. Check out my page for details http://comeherelittlebug.wordpress.com hope you will play along :-)
ReplyDeleteI cannot imagine not coloring the hair! Love your blog I just found it!:)
ReplyDeletegray..NO WAY. I was a blonde at birth...and I plan on being a blonde when they carry me out! Although I notice I have to make more frequent trips to the hair dresser...it's getting harder and harder to tame that damn gray!
ReplyDeleteWell, Sally, I don't color mine. I have bad allergies and asthma, and when I used to highlight it, that bothered me. But I would not want to color it anyway. There is no way I could afford to. My neighbor in her 80's colors hers, and I'm sorry, I think it is ridiculous. Besides, God says Gray hair is a crown of glory. :o)
ReplyDeleteI've been dying my hair since I'm a young teenager, and I still like to dabble with strange color once in a while. But, nothing covers my grey anymore. It just pops right back out the next day. Waaaaaaaaaaaaa
ReplyDeleteJustine :o )
Yes, I color my hair. I am another that is willing to age gracefully, but am fighting it tooth and nail all the way. Is that a contradiction? lol
ReplyDeleteI will keep on getting my hair died until I go to my grave. Well, maybe if I hit 95 I'll let it go white.
Kady
Isn't it great that we are free to choose to color or not? To pick a "natural" shade or go with tiger stripes?
ReplyDeleteThere are many things difficult in our world right now, but we have more good than we sometimes recognize, especially in personal choices like this.
I get highlights and lowlights...my hair is blonde so, at this time, this covers the gray that is creeping in. I am almost 52 so they are creeping faster all the time! I will keep coloring it for a looooooong time to come. : )
ReplyDeleteI've been coloring my hair since I was 19 and will keep doing it forever! There are just too many fun colors out there and I always like the change. Its fun! :-)
ReplyDelete