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View Full Version : Spotted a halo of sparkles today! (how to decide to go grey)



Beckstar
October 27th, 2014, 05:07 PM
I'm about 2 weeks away from going back to salon to have my roots touched up. I was walking outside today and passed a window and the sun was shining on my head...I noticed how all my grey roots 'sparkled' in the sun. It is starting to renew my interest in going natural. I'm about 50% grey and last October I cut off all the dyed bits and rocked a pixie in an attempt to grow long sliver and brown hair. It ended shortly with a misunderstanding of wanting to brighten my greys = ended up with bleach instead of a brightener. I had bright yellow hair instead of pretty silver. So I hennaed and then dyed it brown and I've been sticking with brown....

How did you decide to go grey and how did you deal with the line of demarcation? I'm not going short again.

butterflybutton
October 27th, 2014, 05:22 PM
I went through this with my mum :)

We started by giving her lots of foils and toning to a nice silver colour, as the natural started to come in more we added some foils in her natural dark colour as well to help ease her into going grey.

From memory we only did the foils three or four times, and it blended very nicely.

swearnsue
October 27th, 2014, 08:19 PM
I'm growing in my silvers. My hair grows at different rates on different places on my scalp, also I have more silver in some areas than others. This means that after the first month or so there isn't a distinct demarcation line anymore. At least that was my experience.

My silvers (roots) are anywhere from 3 to 6 inches long now and if I can braid or twist my hair up in some fashion, then it hides the demarcation line even more and looks kinda nice instead of like you're growing out roots.

Chiaroscuro
October 27th, 2014, 08:52 PM
Hi Beckstar! I think this will be an easier transition for you because you talk positively about your gray ("sparkles"). I agree with foil if your hair is strong enough. Otherwise, trim and chignons. Have you found a more natural way to enhance the sparkles?

Stormynights
October 27th, 2014, 09:43 PM
There was a time when being seen with roots was as much of a no no as walking around town in curlers. It is very common anymore, even on TV.

Stormynights
October 27th, 2014, 09:46 PM
Maybe a semi permanent dark color will work for you just so it can grow out and fade. It might help.

Sarahlabyrinth
October 27th, 2014, 10:28 PM
I am just beginning the transition. I started by changing my hair dye from a brown to a blond (see the brown in my avatar pic). My current blond seems to mingle fairly well with my greys and, though I am still using the blonde dye for the moment, I am only allowing it to develop for 10 minutes on my hair instead of the 30 minutes as per the instructions. This is allowing the greys to begin showing through and I am not getting a sharp demarcation line. So far, so good, I think :)

Hotrox
October 28th, 2014, 12:40 AM
I went with highlights, with some is an ashy blonde that tone in with my greys. I plan on maintaining like this for a while as I'm not quite ready to embrace the greys fully at 36 but eventually I'll just let less and less highlights and let the sparkles take their place.

I only need to get them done twice a year as the greys also stop a harsh demarcation line at the roots, I'm happy with this plan and it's working out well for me.

Mustang Suzy
October 28th, 2014, 06:13 AM
I use honey to give my hair natural, gentle highlights as I transition. I especially focus on my canopy. There are threads on honey lightening throughout the forum. Best of luck to you!

CopperSilver
October 28th, 2014, 09:19 AM
I grew out henna and indigo the hard way by going cold turkey. I was sick of having to go over my orange roots every friday night. I was at BSL and loved the colour in the length, but not the root maintenance. I stopped henna in november 2011 (had a minor detour for a couple of months with elumen) and finally chopped the last of the colour off in January this year. I'm now concentrating on growing the length out again. Its been a long long process but very worthwhile.

door72067
October 28th, 2014, 09:27 AM
I did tea rinses to help blend in the roots area, but I am only at maybe 10-15% grey


I decided to do it (well, 3 years ago I decided...I've since cut off the dyed hair and am about 97% virgin...I know some bits of my ends still have a bit of color) when I did so that I wouldn't have that "skunk line" of demarcation...I did have a line, and it bugged me, but I wore my hair up most of the time and ignored it (when I would try to wear it down, the line would just scream at me and I'd put it up in the end)

headbands also help as well as narrow scarves worn like a headband

swearnsue
October 28th, 2014, 11:48 AM
I just noticed that you are only 39. I wasn't comfortable with my grays until I was retired and 60. I don't think I would want to be gray at such a young age, but that is just me.

Redvelvetdragon
October 28th, 2014, 12:18 PM
I'm lucky in that my white hair is starting to slip in at my temples and mixes well with my dark hair. I have a feeling I'll never ben fully white (like my grandpa) but white stripes, which is fine with me.

Beckstar
October 28th, 2014, 05:26 PM
I just noticed that you are only 39. I wasn't comfortable with my grays until I was retired and 60. I don't think I would want to be gray at such a young age, but that is just me.

I'm ok with the grey hair. I learned to make peace with it many years ago. I don't equate grey hair with being old. I started getting them when I was 21 years old. I did henna a few years ago and loved it but I'm at the point now where I want hair that I can just let go. The only reason I've been coloring is because the difference between my roots and the length is a stark contrast. My natural color is medium ash brown and 50% silver. The rest of my hair is dark/medium brown.

Thank you for all the good advice. I'm going to look into highlights and foils. My husband advice makes the most sense - he says just stop coloring and let it grow out...yeah, practical but I dread the thought of the two-tone look.

Allie_snowflake
October 28th, 2014, 06:45 PM
I have probably 70% gray on top and I'm starting to cut back on my henna with a lower percentage in my mix. My last application was still too dense (my grays are very red!) but I want to ease them back to a strawberry blond before switching types of henna. I'm hoping to gradually decrease the amount over about a year so that I'll lessen the demarcation line. Right now I've got 1/4" roots and since most of my fringe is white, it looks like my bangs are hovering above my scalp! Looks weird....

Hopeful65
October 28th, 2014, 07:43 PM
My hair is gray, but not as gray as I originally thought. When you color your hair, and then your roots start showing, they look very gray compared to the colored hair.

What happened in my case was, I had been bleach highlighting my hair for around 18 years. I would unintentionally overlap, and there was damage just because that's what bleach does. It got to a point where there was just so much bleached parts, so I thought I would try dying it a light blonde instead. Well that absolutely did not work for me. It made my hair that orange strawberry blonde that simply does not agree with me. I tried to fix it by bleaching more highlights in.
That's when the disaster struck. I totally fried my hair.

From that day forward I decided I'd had enough and decided to grow out my virgin hair. And yes, it looked gray compared to the warm colored parts. I needed a non damaging solution to blend my roots, and that's when I discovered Fancifull temporary hair color. It saved my sanity.

End result; it's been 3 years now. My hair is virgin almost to my waist. Almost every time I go to town I have a compliment on my hair from a total stranger. I never got compliments when my hair was bleached.

So, being what I have been through, I am happy that I discovered the Fancifull. You have to apply it after each wash, while your hair is damp. It does not lift the cuticle, or damage in any way. And it washes out completely in one wash. I am happy that I went this route.

Just telling my story for yet another option for you to explore.