Ugh! What to do?!

**Mesmerise** · January 5th, 2013, 04:51 AM

So, quite randomly the other day, I decided to grow out my henna... this is odd because I really, REALLY thought that I wouldn't show my gray hairs for at least another 10-15 years! But... I don't know... I just thought "what the heck... I'll let it grow out and show my gray hairs!". As it is, anyone up close to me can see that my hair is graying within a couple of weeks of colouring, and I'm not about to start hennaing every two weeks (as it is it's a 4-5 hour process lol). And I sort of have a hankering to know what my hair ACTUALLY looks like.

The thing is... the regrowth is going to look HORRIBLE! Part of me thinks I should just cut it all off and start again (when I've got enough regrowth to actually make it worthwhile... I don't see the point of cutting now when the amount of regrowth is only about 1/2" if that) or if I should persevere. The thing is... persevering will take YEARS. That is YEARS of having weird looking hair! I have seen some ladies grow theirs out, and it looks okay... especially if it's sort of a blonde to gray transition. But mine wouldn't be. It'd be henna red to brownish with silver strands.

But I don't want to go short again!! Even though my hair is horribly thin from shedding (which I'm hoping will get under control soon) I STILL don't want to cut it off! BUT I don't think I want to leave it grow out for five years either...

Gah!

Okay, this isn't something I have to worry about right now... as I've said, there's no way I'd cut it off yet anyway, as I'd need long enough roots to actually give me SOME hair (I'm about to start looking for work again very soon, when the maternity leave position I'm in runs out) and I'm pretty sure shaved all over isn't going to help my chances of gaining employment!! (Besides which, I'm pretty sure I don't have the looks to pull it off

). So as it is, I've got a few months to decide, because it really won't be long enough for a little while.

So... what would you all do in my position? I know it's a hard question

. We're all different and we do different things. A couple of weeks ago I wouldn't even have considered growing out my natural hair!

**MegaMystery** · January 5th, 2013, 05:25 AM

I personally find the pictures of the people with two(or more) colors of hair in a french/dutch braid or a bun look really cool and unique, so I'm just going to go ahead and say that I think you should grow it out and not cut it.. but that's just me

Maybe you could start doing henna glosses instead of a full henna treatment? It takes less time and maybe your regrowth will blend a little better with your hennaed hair? Obviously if you want to grow out your natural hair color you'd have to stop doing even that, but it might help with the transition a little bit

**sarelis** · January 5th, 2013, 05:26 AM

Maybe try a semi permanent dye to blend the demarcation line that will wash out? Adore do some that approximate henna colours

**Lauram** · January 5th, 2013, 05:28 AM

I'd try lifting some of the henna ( honey, vit c , color fix) then re color as close to your natural color as you can.

Get comfortable with scarves and headbands as they will hide the regrowth.

I had hennaed only a few times but was able to lift it enough to grow it out without too much of a line of demarkation. I'm 27 and have a few Greys that im trying to embrace and would like to grow my hair without coloring as I like my natural color.( but getting bored here and there has always made me change/cut)

I hope you find a perfect new job!

**Mishka_84** · January 5th, 2013, 05:55 AM

I've hennaed my hair off and on for the last 7 years. My natural color is a medium dark brown, kind of a flat, mousy brown really. When I don't henna for a few months, you can see my roots at first, but the henna does start to fade naturally on its own. So by three or four months with no henna, the faded color just looks like a slightly richer brown and my roots are not nearly as noticeable.

**metricfuture** · January 5th, 2013, 06:01 AM

When I was growing out old dye (it was dark brown, my natural color is red, so the demarcation line was super noticeable) I continued to dye it for a few more months, each time using a color that was closer to what was growing out of my head. I had multicolored hair (still do on the lower layers), but it looked more intentional, if that makes any sense. Maybe you could keep using henna for a few months, but use a progressively weaker gloss each time to "blend" the colors a bit?

**WaitingSoLong** · January 5th, 2013, 06:10 AM

Your sig says you are trimming to thicken your hemline. I would just keep doing that until the virgin color reaches your current length or whatever length you are comfortable cutting back to. How long is your hair now? My demarcation line is much more subtle than what you would have and I could barely stand it until recently (its been over 2 years, I have about 12" of "roots"). For me, personally, I would not be able to endure the color contrast and would cut back as soon as I was at an acceptable length.

**goldloli** · January 5th, 2013, 07:38 AM

I kinda agree with everything here. don't cut it, try to fade the henna, find a colour that matches your natural hair and dye/gloss it, then grow it out. in your avatar, the henna doesnt even look that deep and red so i think you'll have a lot of success with fading and dying.

**KittyBird** · January 5th, 2013, 07:55 AM

I saw a few blog entries a while ago about using ivory soap to make henna fade and make the demarcation line between henna and virgin growth less prominent. It could be worth a try. I did a search and found a thread about it too.
I personally think that two-tone hair can look very pretty, especially in updos and braids. I've seen lots of gorgeous two-tone buns and braids here, and I get many compliments on my own two-tone hair as well. One particularly striking braid I can remember was on a girl with blonnette roots and henndigo length.