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lemonmelon
May 3rd, 2010, 12:00 PM
So, my natural hair colour is an ashy dark blonde colour and I find it totally unflattering. Right now I have a semi-permanent colour fading out and I really do want to keep my hair natural and chemical free but I find ashy colours so depressing.

Does anyone here feel the same way? Know anyone who has really beautiful ashy brown or blonde hair? Why does this colour even exist? :confused:

lemonmelon
May 3rd, 2010, 12:04 PM
Just to clarify, I am not talking about salt and pepper/grey hair. Those, I think are beautiful colours :)

LittleOrca
May 3rd, 2010, 12:06 PM
My natural color is called Mousy. Now, not that I mind rodents (I think they are cute!) but I know the name is a big turn off for people. It's not as exciting as the name scarlet or platinum and when my roots first started to come out I was upset that my awesome red-dark brown hair would be going away. But in truth it already had and most of the dye had faded out into gold. Now that I have 8 or so inches of virgin hair grown out, I can see that it will be nice and screw the name. :) Maybe you just have to let it grow a little while longer to see how nice it will be. :flower:

spidermom
May 3rd, 2010, 12:12 PM
I know what you mean. I've seen a few shades of ash around that I know I would dye if they grew out of my head. Others, however, can be really beautiful when the health and shine are maximized. I have a niece with a light-to-mid shade of ash-brown hair, and hers is really nice. When I look closely at her hair, I can see tones of pink and lilac; it's really quite extraordinary. I would recommend trying to maximize your own color, and if that doesn't satisfy, maybe adding highlights or lowlights. Wash-out fantasy colors are fun, too.

tokidokichi
May 3rd, 2010, 12:21 PM
I think ashy hair colors are so pretty! I used to dye my hair ashy when I was tired of having strawberry blonde. I color my friends hair ashy brown with ashy blonde highlights, and I find it sooo pretty! Everyone wants what they cant have! I'd say embrace your ashyness =] your hair will love you for it!

here is my pic when i was ashy blonde
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=5358&pictureid=70144

teela1978
May 3rd, 2010, 12:25 PM
I consider mine to be an ashy brown... I think it rather compliments my skin tone better than any other color I've dyed it :shrug:

Calista
May 3rd, 2010, 12:27 PM
To me the difference between natural and dyed hair is like a plain yogurt with some strawberries thrown in and a storebought strawberry yogurt. The storebought yogurt has a very strong taste, but that taste is artificial. A plain yogurt with fresh fruit does not have as strong a taste; the flavour is much more subtle. People who are used to the storebought variety often find the homemade version a bit tasteless; but if you wean your taste buds off all that artificialness you´ll be surprised how good a plain and simple snack like fresh fruit and yogurt can be!

Same with hair: Artificial colours are all very vivid, and in comparison people often find natural colours a bit "wanting". But there´s so much beauty in natural well-cared hair, you´ve only got to look for it! And honestly, I see so many bad dye jobs daily (not here, but in real life)! Many people seem to prefer dead, dull, strawlike hair in a bright colour to healthy shiny hair in a subdued natural colour. :scared:

I think ashy hair can look very beautiful if it is healthy. It has a subtle beauty that not everyone appreciates, but it makes me sad to hear words like "mousy" or "dishwater" to describe a natural colour. Surely there are many other words one can use to describe that tone of hair that have a nicer connotation? :ponder: Those deprecating terms must be an invention of the so-called beauty industry to make women feel bad about their natural colour. And it makes sense to do that - at least from their point of view: Ashy hair is so common, so if I make all women with ashy hair feel bad about it the market for hairdyes will be big. The hairdye companies would go broke if only natural redheads dyed their hair. ;)

Tap Dancer
May 3rd, 2010, 12:46 PM
Doesn't "ashy" mean no red or gold tones? I think ashy shades can be beautiful! :)

Dreams_in_Pink
May 3rd, 2010, 12:52 PM
I have ashy dark brown hair (so ashy that when bleached, it goes dark blond rather than orange) and i find it very flattering on me :/ actually, it's golden colors that look awkward to me, they always make me think of bleached orange hair exposed after the tint faded/washed out. (no offense henna people, i'm talking about the chemical dyes :) )

You can do a henna gloss to bring a red tint to your hair. Personally, i hated having red undertones :shrug:

ETA: look at my signature pic. starting length pic is my natural ashy color.

ali beast
May 3rd, 2010, 12:53 PM
I have ashy brown hair myself, and I made the commitment after 10 or so years of bleaching/dying that I would grow out to BSL before I made any sort of change... But I feel your pain! I find myself thinking about dying and then researching the ways dye can damage hair to get rid of the itch. I don't really have any recommendations besides sitting in direct sunlight with a mirror and really getting to know and appreciate the natural variations that occur in ashy hair. Auburn, light gold, chocolaty brown...

In a similar vein, I've lamented having "boring" brown eyes my whole life (little brother got the blues!) but recently I was looking into my housemate's dog's eyes and realized that I'm in very good company- most of the people of the world and lots of animals I admire have brown eyes :)

So maybe having common colored, ashy hair isn't so bad after all :)

Altocumulus
May 3rd, 2010, 12:57 PM
Hmmm...I rather like my ash blonde. It is so delicate and ethereal. I tried henna, and while I liked the red, I prefer my natural color on me.

lapushka
May 3rd, 2010, 01:05 PM
I have ashy/mousy blond/brown hair. It's been all sorts of colors, until I had a major dye mishap and lost chunks of hair. No more dye for me! One advantage of this color is that it can easily be dyed any kind of color. The annoying thing is that it can look very different under different lighting conditions. Is it blond? Is it brown? I don't even know anymore. The middle picture in my sig is what it comes close to in natural daylight (it's even lighter in sunlight) and the darker ones are in not so great lighting conditions. I used to be light blond, then beige blond, and by the 3rd, 4th grade, I got an ash tone. It's very hard to capture right in pictures.

Idun
May 3rd, 2010, 01:08 PM
Is this marten ashy brown perhaps? Very pretty anyway.

http://naturalsciences.org/microsites/education/treks/yellowstone/2006/images/Pine%20marten.jpg

Clarisse
May 3rd, 2010, 01:13 PM
Cassia brings out the redness in my hair and conditions it. My hair is dark blonde with red undertones, but the sun had pretty much bleached all the redness out of the last 4 inches of my hair. Cassia solved my problem :)

I don't think artificial dye is a good way to combat a boring hair color. Henna, cassia and other plant stuff can be used for lots of things :)

melikai
May 3rd, 2010, 01:13 PM
I adore ash-toned hair! I love my natural colour more and more as it grows out. I think overall it is an ashy blonde, but has a multitude of tones in it, whereas my yellow blonde (nothing golden about it - it was yellow) bleached hair had only one colour to it, and looking back at pictures I can't get over how awful it looked! :p

Try to stick it out until your natural colour is at least at shoulder, and then decide, that would be my advice. Also, take pictures in outdoor lighting and see.

MsBubbles
May 3rd, 2010, 01:16 PM
To me the difference between natural and dyed hair is like a plain yogurt with some strawberries thrown in and a storebought strawberry yogurt. The storebought yogurt has a very strong taste, but that taste is artificial. A plain yogurt with fresh fruit does not have as strong a taste; the flavour is much more subtle. People who are used to the storebought variety often find the homemade version a bit tasteless; but if you wean your taste buds off all that artificialness you´ll be surprised how good a plain and simple snack like fresh fruit and yogurt can be!
Same with hair: Artificial colours are all very vivid, and in comparison people often find natural colours a bit "wanting". But there´s so much beauty in natural well-cared hair, you´ve only got to look for it! And honestly, I see so many bad dye jobs daily (not here, but in real life)! Many people seem to prefer dead, dull, strawlike hair in a bright colour to healthy shiny hair in a subdued natural colour. :scared:
I think ashy hair can look very beautiful if it is healthy. It has a subtle beauty that not everyone appreciates, but it makes me sad to hear words like "mousy" or "dishwater" to describe a natural colour. Surely there are many other words one can use to describe that tone of hair that have a nicer connotation? :ponder:

Sorry to quote so much but ah Calista! You took the words right out of my mouth! I am sitting here nodding at all these sentences. You put it so eloquently!:agree::applause Thank you!

Another thing I have come to realize after seeing beautiful heads of long, ashy-toned hair here on LHC: it looks stunning long. Nothing boring, meh, or drab about it!

Instead of looking at my 4" of dark ash blond roots and comparing them unfavorably with my monotone highlighted parts, I now look at my highlighted parts and compare them unfavorably with my natural ashy but shiny roots.

Other people might think it looks awful but I don't and I guess that's what counts. Beauty is certainly in the eye of the beholder!

teela1978
May 3rd, 2010, 01:18 PM
There's also a huge difference between what your natural color looks like right next to fading color versus what it looks like once its grown out a bit. Natural highlights from the sun start to bring out a lot of different colors as it grows out, it looks very different from what I expected.

Hair dye on me always fades to a reddish tone, and my roots always looked so blah next to the red. Once the dyed bits grew out and were chopped off though, my natural color really looked nice (in my opinion).

Calista
May 3rd, 2010, 01:22 PM
Is this marten ashy brown perhaps? Very pretty anyway.
Ah Idun, that reminds me of a game we had back on the old boards. "Find a beautiful name for your hair colour". So creative people were... If I remember correctly there was a large amount of references to the animal kingdom, and lots of food comparisons (like liquorice or caramel). But also some real gems like "moonlight on a dark quiet sea" or something to that extent.

ETA: Here (http://archive.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=31644&highlight=) it is.

JenniferNoel
May 3rd, 2010, 01:26 PM
My hair is naturally the weirdest, ashy green-ish blonde I've ever seen. Been covering it for years, it does not look good at all against my cool-toned pale skin. However, it seems that on everyone else, I absolutely love the color. There's nothing wrong with ashy tones, I guess for me it's just a preference to have more "bombastic" colors.

lemonmelon
May 3rd, 2010, 01:33 PM
There's also a huge difference between what your natural color looks like right next to fading color versus what it looks like once its grown out a bit. Natural highlights from the sun start to bring out a lot of different colors as it grows out, it looks very different from what I expected.

Hair dye on me always fades to a reddish tone, and my roots always looked so blah next to the red. Once the dyed bits grew out and were chopped off though, my natural color really looked nice (in my opinion).

Maybe this is true. This thread is so uplifting! :cheese: Maybe I just need to let it grow out to really see it. To be honest, I've always had some sort of hi-light to mask the real colour so I've never seen it all.

Calista that description was great! You are completely right that they need better names for it. It's fairly looked down upon. I've even had a hair dresser tell me I have a hair colour that "needs to be dyed". :rolleyes:

Idun
May 3rd, 2010, 01:39 PM
I've even had a hair dresser tell me I have a hair colour that "needs to be dyed". :rolleyes:

My hairdresser told me I had "kommune" colour. Not sure if that can be translated directly to "commune".

Idun
May 3rd, 2010, 01:41 PM
Ah Idun, that reminds me of a game we had back on the old boards. "Find a beautiful name for your hair colour". So creative people were... If I remember correctly there was a large amount of references to the animal kingdom, and lots of food comparisons (like liquorice or caramel). But also some real gems like "moonlight on a dark quiet sea" or something to that extent.

ETA: Here (http://archive.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=31644&highlight=) it is.

Inspiring thread Calista :)

MsBubbles
May 3rd, 2010, 01:41 PM
I've even had a hair dresser tell me I have a hair colour that "needs to be dyed". :rolleyes:

How sad! And rude. Just let somebody try to tell me that :slap:

teela1978
May 3rd, 2010, 01:51 PM
Maybe this is true. This thread is so uplifting! :cheese: Maybe I just need to let it grow out to really see it. To be honest, I've always had some sort of hi-light to mask the real colour so I've never seen it all.

Calista that description was great! You are completely right that they need better names for it. It's fairly looked down upon. I've even had a hair dresser tell me I have a hair colour that "needs to be dyed". :rolleyes:

blah color next to reddish fading dye
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e117/lchamber78/hair5-3-06roots.jpg

more blah roots next to reddish/brownish/blondish fading dye (and my dog's butt)
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e117/lchamber78/DSCF1140.jpg

Glossy, pretty hair. Flash makes it look more golden and shiny, but I like to pretend that it just always looks like that :)
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e117/lchamber78/20090601Ithink.jpg

lemonmelon
May 3rd, 2010, 02:03 PM
blah color next to reddish fading dye
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e117/lchamber78/hair5-3-06roots.jpg

more blah roots next to reddish/brownish/blondish fading dye (and my dog's butt)
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e117/lchamber78/DSCF1140.jpg

Glossy, pretty hair. Flash makes it look more golden and shiny, but I like to pretend that it just always looks like that :)
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e117/lchamber78/20090601Ithink.jpg

Wow! You can really see the difference there. Especially between the first picture (which is about where my hair is now) and the last picture. That's exciting!

Carolyn
May 3rd, 2010, 02:05 PM
To me "ashy" mean no or very little red or gold tones. I consider myself an ashy blonde. Since I want to cover up my silvers, I find it very hard to stay ashy. I love the cool tones of blonde hair especially on me. I rarely wear warm colors and I don't want my hair a warm color. Warm colors don't seem to be in my comfort zone. I've had warmer colored hair and it just isn't me.

It's always bothered me too that such a beautiful hair color would be called "mousy" or "dishwater". Where the heck did the term "dishwater blonde" come from? I don't think my dishwater has ever been that color :confused:

TrudieCat
May 3rd, 2010, 02:07 PM
I too have a naturally ashy blonde hair color, and I put in some highlights toward the front a little while back. I'm noticing the roots growing in a LOT since the color quality is so much different. At first I thought that I hated the roots and I would have to dye again, but then I realized that maybe what I really hated was the contrast between dyed/undyed hair color than with hating the hair color that was growing in. IMO, the dyed hair is like highlighted lines on paper - it's what I notice first because it's flashier. I like flashy stuff sometimes (nothing wrong with it! :)), but it's just different and hard to see all the subtle qualities of the natural color when it's next to something so insistently obvious as my flat, dyed highlights.

I just think it's easier to appreciate the subtlety of natural hair colors when they are not competing with dyed hair on the same head. I think dyed hair can be beautiful too, but it's just very different, and what I tend to appreciate about it is different.

misspriss
May 3rd, 2010, 02:08 PM
My hair is a mousey brown in the winter and reddish brown in the summer. I only noticed because I was growing out dye in the winter, and it looked way different than it does now (after only limited sun exposure).

I don't particularly care for the mousey color. I either like it cool blue black (which I am growing out) or more of a rich red/burgundy. I plan to henna soon. Since the red highlights I get are natural, I don't think I am going too far from my natural color, just enhancing it. A lot. :)

Juliannaissance
May 3rd, 2010, 02:12 PM
My natural hair color is also mousy as little orca said..it's like an ashy brown. The name does sound a little funny. But hey, I personally think ashy browns and blondes look really good with extra long hair. Reminds me of the renaissance or fairy tale stories, where the hair color was not only blonde, red, or black but also gorgeous ashy browns and blondes. :)

Blandine
May 3rd, 2010, 02:21 PM
Natural ash brown is the rarest hair colour of all and I am proud of it!!! It is the rarest colour because almost EVERYONE with this colour either dyes it or gets blonde highlights and they all look the same.

Juliannaissance
May 3rd, 2010, 02:28 PM
I've even had a hair dresser tell me I have a hair colour that "needs to be dyed". :rolleyes:OH heck no!!! I would get so pissed if somebody told me that. :mad:


Natural ash brown is the rarest hair colour of all and I am proud of it!!! It is the rarest colour because almost EVERYONE with this colour either dyes it or gets blonde highlights and they all look the same.Indeed it is. I was foolish to dye my hair dark brown because I was bored of my natural ashy brown hair. I'm letting it grow out now though.:cheese:

lundmir
May 3rd, 2010, 02:52 PM
I adore ash colors. They are definitely my favorite, my father has ash brown hair and my grandmother has beautiful ash blond curls. Myself, I have naturally bluish black just like my mom, but if I had it lighter, I'd dye it an ashy color.

MsBubbles
May 3rd, 2010, 03:02 PM
Natural ash brown is the rarest hair colour of all and I am proud of it!!! It is the rarest colour because almost EVERYONE with this colour either dyes it or gets blonde highlights and they all look the same.

Very good point! The same is true (where I live) of dark ash blonds.


blah color next to reddish fading dye
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e117/lchamber78/hair5-3-06roots.jpg



Well illustrated, Teela! Thanks for posting those links.

spidermom
May 3rd, 2010, 03:07 PM
I've always thought of ash blonde or brown as being like the natural agouti color of many wild animals - the mice, rabbits, weasels, many others. It has a gray aspect, a tawny aspect, and then brown or reddish or bluish. Agouti means 3 rings, and if you blow into the fur of an animal with that color, you will see 3 distinct rings of color.

jivete
May 3rd, 2010, 03:07 PM
I struggle to like my natural, ash brown hair. I go back and forth trying to figure out what to do with mine. If my length didn't get so brassy, or I could blend the colors, it wouldn't be so bad.

florenonite
May 3rd, 2010, 03:39 PM
I've got ashy hair and I love it. The colour looks really good with my eyes (which are dark blue), and I like it because, although it's common as mud here, it's rare for someone my age to have more than an inch or so of it :lol:

ETA: A couple pics of my hair:

This is probably the most representative of my hair (apologies for the oiliness):

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?pictureid=57177&albumid=1012&dl=1272837539&thumb=1 (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/album.php?albumid=1012&pictureid=57177)

This is it in darker light:

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?pictureid=42365&albumid=1012&dl=1272837539&thumb=1 (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/album.php?albumid=1012&pictureid=42365)

And this is the blonde highlights I get in the sun:

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?pictureid=20721&albumid=1012&dl=1272837539&thumb=1 (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/album.php?albumid=1012&pictureid=20721)

END ETA


My hairdresser told me I had "kommune" colour. Not sure if that can be translated directly to "commune".

I don't speak any Norwegian (though I used to know how to order boiled eggs :p), but given the context I'd imagine it's "common", not "commune". "Common" means ordinary, often with connotations of dull or bland. A commune (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commune) is a group of people living together, like a hippy commune :flower:

Maverick494
May 3rd, 2010, 07:30 PM
I've dyed my hair so many times it took a while for me to figure out what my real haircolor was after all those years.

Turned out I have an ashy brown haircolor, and I have put some caramel highlights in it, to complement it. It's barely noticeable, but it warms the color without committing me to monthly dye jobs. So if you're really unhappy with your hair, I would try this. Sure, not dyeing it is better, but a couple of strands don't really matter.

I did it myself btw. That way, you can decide exactly what you want to color and how much. I used foil to keep the dye in it's place.

Last note: always do a strand test!

Hope this helps.

Neddy
May 3rd, 2010, 07:41 PM
My people! I have found you at last....

I cassia a bit now so I get some golden/reddish tones, but naturally my hair is a cool dark, nearly brown ash blonde. In the summer I get golden highlights though. I sometimes moan about dying my hair, but my friends and family immediately shriek and tell me never to do it because my hair color is so pretty. So there are people out there who love the ashy colors, and I'm lucky enough to spend a good amount of time with them!

Arctic_Mama
May 3rd, 2010, 07:47 PM
I have ash brown hair that is just a shade darker than a dishwater blonde (it was golden blonde from the sun when I was little). I used to hate it but now I LOVE it. Nothing is more flatteri with my coloring than my natural hair tone, though I can wear many dyed tones and have them be striking I am growing more and more fond of my ashy hair. It is cool in tone and perfectly matches my neutral pale skin and green/hazel eyes.

It is also an incredibly versatile hair color with any outfit. Just perfect :)

little_acorn
May 3rd, 2010, 07:48 PM
I'm an ashy mousey brown too and I'm also growing out my dyed hair. I've now got about 5 or 6 inches of roots (or my natural hair colour) and its only just starting to get interesting. I have a blond streak at the front (with a few silvers in now) that I'd totally forgotten about. I also have some very dark strands too - it's an interesting journey seeing my natural hair colour emerge after all these years :)

Arctic_Mama
May 3rd, 2010, 07:53 PM
I've always thought of ash blonde or brown as being like the natural agouti color of many wild animals - the mice, rabbits, weasels, many others. It has a gray aspect, a tawny aspect, and then brown or reddish or bluish. Agouti means 3 rings, and if you blow into the fur of an animal with that color, you will see 3 distinct rings of color.

Yes, I consider my tone (and ashy blonde/brown mixes) to be the default agouti tone of northern Europeans. We tend to have cooler undertones and ash base tones in our hair, and I LOVE it. Most would describe my color as mousy but I think ash is a much more attractive descriptor. I have very little in the way if gold or red tones without the influence of the sun, which can pick up a few highlights (but even those are cooler tones of red and blonde, never warm!).

Arctic_Mama
May 3rd, 2010, 07:55 PM
I've got ashy hair and I love it. The colour looks really good with my eyes (which are dark blue), and I like it because, although it's common as mud here, it's rare for someone my age to have more than an inch or so of it :lol:

ETA: A couple pics of my hair:

This is probably the most representative of my hair (apologies for the oiliness):

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?pictureid=57177&albumid=1012&dl=1272837539&thumb=1 (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/album.php?albumid=1012&pictureid=57177)

This is it in darker light:

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?pictureid=42365&albumid=1012&dl=1272837539&thumb=1 (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/album.php?albumid=1012&pictureid=42365)

And this is the blonde highlights I get in the sun:

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?pictureid=20721&albumid=1012&dl=1272837539&thumb=1 (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/album.php?albumid=1012&pictureid=20721)

END ETA



I don't speak any Norwegian (though I used to know how to order boiled eggs :p), but given the context I'd imagine it's "common", not "commune". "Common" means ordinary, often with connotations of dull or bland. A commune (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commune) is a group of people living together, like a hippy commune :flower:

Oooh! Our colors are almost identical, it's so rare to find someone right in between blonde and brown like I am, without truly favoring one or the other in lieu of sun highlights.

I love your hair ;)

Oskimosa
May 3rd, 2010, 08:08 PM
Beautifully said, Calista. But I like mice! Field mice are the most adorable-est things ever!! Mousy shouldn't be a dirty word, if you think about it.

That being said, I henna because I find it suits and interests me. I got tired of walking around with a color people assumed was fake. I'm ash blonde, and it highlights well in the sun. People always asked where I got my hair done. :rolleyes: I felt ordinary for this reason. I don't want to be ordinary.

If the beauty industry is to blame for us wanting to change our hair color, they certainly attempt to appeal to the desire to be uncommon and unique. It's a pretty common color, which in an individualistic society is considered undesirable. I find that silly, but can't really speak for myself since I henna.

lemonmelon
May 3rd, 2010, 08:11 PM
florenonite your hair is beautiful! I'm glad so many of you love your ash hair. I'm getting more excited to see my grown out.

HildeMV
May 3rd, 2010, 08:33 PM
My natural hair color is a dark blonde that's very ashy. It reflects greyish in the sun. I have colored my hair the past years because I feel kind of boring with my natural color. I have superpale skin with cool undertones and I feel like it makes my face look dull. It fits with the cool skin + cool eyes though. Over the years of coloring I've developed more of a reddish tint(red doesn't fall out as easy as other colors) , but I've never tried copper.

skay
May 3rd, 2010, 08:47 PM
Aww, I don't see anything wrong with ashy-blonde hair. To me, it just seems like another variation of a light/medium hair color. In fact, it seems to me the sun naturally gives it different dimensions so it becomes in fact more unique to the individual.

As for a previous comment about this color being common:

Try black hair for common hair! ;)

I think the majority of people in the world have black hair (Asians, people from India, people of African descent,etc.).

That said, I do realize people were probably looking in their immediate community when they said ashy blonde was common.

Just wanted to give a different perspective.

Enjoy your dark golden hair. :)

Renbirde
May 3rd, 2010, 09:28 PM
If I may be so bold:

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=3262&pictureid=62986
It gets more golden in the sun, so it's not true ash, but it's pretty close.

:) And I rather like my hair.

lundmir
May 3rd, 2010, 11:05 PM
Aww, I don't see anything wrong with ashy-blonde hair. To me, it just seems like another variation of a light/medium hair color. In fact, it seems to me the sun naturally gives it different dimensions so it becomes in fact more unique to the individual.

As for a previous comment about this color being common:

Try black hair for common hair! ;)

I think the majority of people in the world have black hair (Asians, people from India, people of African descent,etc.).

That said, I do realize people were probably looking in their immediate community when they said ashy blonde was common.

Just wanted to give a different perspective.

Enjoy your dark golden hair. :)

You're absolutely right. Black is the most common color in the world, and although I do love my natural black hair, I'd be THRILLED to have an ash color.

Arctic_Mama
May 3rd, 2010, 11:40 PM
If I may be so bold:

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=3262&pictureid=62986
It gets more golden in the sun, so it's not true ash, but it's pretty close.

:) And I rather like my hair.


Oooh, that's just like my color as well - sooo pretty and long! You and florenonite are my hair color sisters!

Demetrue
May 4th, 2010, 12:09 AM
I think ashy colors look great long - they look very romantic and feminine. I think some people just don't always appreciate subtler forms of beauty, but I do.

ArienEllariel
May 4th, 2010, 12:13 AM
My hair is naturally an ashy dark blonde/light brown. I have a fading semipermanent that I'm growing out. Right now my roots look really dark.. It's odd seeing the difference in color. I really don't think I would have dyed my hair with anything had I known that the semi wouldn't fade entirely. It will be years before I get my hair how I want it to be. *sigh*

And to answer the OP's question, I have no idea. It always looks like dirty dishwater to me and seems to take on a greenish tinge in florescent lighting. (referring to my natural hair color)

Idun
May 4th, 2010, 12:33 AM
I don't speak any Norwegian (though I used to know how to order boiled eggs :p), but given the context I'd imagine it's "common", not "commune". "Common" means ordinary, often with connotations of dull or bland. A commune (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commune) is a group of people living together, like a hippy commune :flower:

No, I do actually mean "commune". But with your explanation it seems the word has a slightly different flavour in english. Here it most commonly refers to the districts democratic and buraucratic organisation. (The word communist derives from commune I believe :)). Maybe it can be translated into town hall colour or communist colour, or something like that? It still has the connotation of dull or bland though.

Konstifik
May 4th, 2010, 01:05 AM
I know how you feel!
I can't even define my ashy hair anymore. I don't know if I'm a blonde or brunette, since the unspecified ashy shade just makes it impossible to judge. :/
I can't get the shine of a blonde, neither the depth of a brunette. It's just plain dull. Not flattering at all.

I know some people look good in a little ashy hair, though I'm not one of them.

I'll someday try cassia, when I find a good mixture and provider.

florenonite
May 4th, 2010, 06:46 AM
No, I do actually mean "commune". But with your explanation it seems the word has a slightly different flavour in english. Here it most commonly refers to the districts democratic and buraucratic organisation. (The word communist derives from commune I believe :)). Maybe it can be translated into town hall colour or communist colour, or something like that? It still has the connotation of dull or bland though.

Ah, ok, I see what you mean. I'm not sure if we've got a similar expression in English, though. :shrug:

Calista
May 4th, 2010, 08:37 AM
Idun, in German it is also Kommune. Another word for that is Gemeinde (parish), but not in a religious meaning, but as an administrative partition. The English word "municipality" might come close. Or "district"? :ponder:

Clarisse
May 4th, 2010, 11:23 AM
Idun, Calista and Florenonite: in Danish the term "kommune colored" is also used about hair. I assumed it was a reference to the boring ladies working at the town hall, but I decided to look the etymology up. I had to find my "Ordbog over det Danske Sprog" (Dictionary of the Danish Language) from 1928. It is used to describe a boring hair color. In 1928, tap water was called "commune water" (kommunevand) - tap water is something very plain and boring. "Commune glasses" were the glasses you could get for free from the state if you needed them, but they usually were very plain and boring - nothing sexy about them. "Commune colored hair" is a way to compare boring hair to tap water and unsexy glasses. Weird :P

Calista
May 4th, 2010, 11:29 AM
Ah, now I imagine a sexy librarian with kommunehår and kommunebriller sipping kommunevann. :)

MonikaHa
May 4th, 2010, 11:36 AM
My hair also has that ashy color, lighter on top of the head, darker underneath, like ArienEllariel noted, it almost looks green in fluorescent light ( I have a picture in my album to prove it!).
It is a nice color, but I do not like it on me, makes me look washed out and angry.

Bianca
May 4th, 2010, 11:56 AM
I disagree. I have dark ash blonde hair, and it looked sooo boring when I only had a coulpe of inches. Now, I love it. Indoors it's ashy yes, and looks dark, (But most hair colors do in little light :rolleyes:) - in bright light and in the sun, it shines, and turns golden blonde and have beautiful natural highlights :)

My hair in the sun ( A little big, sorry ) :
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=2008&pictureid=69217

(My siggy show my hair indoors, but with flash, I have some pictures in my album, that really shows how ashy it can look :))

HildeMV
May 4th, 2010, 12:11 PM
Yes, my dad calls my hair color commune blonde which was his hair color when he was younger. It turned black and then white. I think it's what you call mousey or dirty or dishwater.

princessp
May 4th, 2010, 12:19 PM
I also have an ashy natural color (with natural blonde highlights). I hennaed my hair and I think it looks a million times better. I have seen some beautiful ashy haired people though.

lemonmelon
May 4th, 2010, 01:42 PM
Ah, now I imagine a sexy librarian with kommunehår and kommunebriller sipping kommunevann. :)

So it's a good thing I'm going to school to be a librarian then, hey? :D

TXbarbie
May 5th, 2010, 03:39 AM
I've been getting my hair highlighted since I was in 7th grade a natural-looking blonde color. Since my mom was only taking me twice a year to get my highlights, I would get quite a bit of growth. I remember that one of the times I went to my stylist, I said "I don't want my hair colored anymore. My hair looks dirty because of it." She asked me where it looked dirty - I told her that it looked dirty from my roots to my ears...which wasn't color at all. That was where my natural color had grown in.

My hair is a "mousy blonde" and it is a hideous color.

Mind you, any off-color will look a little odd when right next to to a golden blonde - which is probably why there was such a difference between my roots and my canopy - but still. I just remember my natural color looking very faded and awkward.

In2wishin
May 5th, 2010, 09:15 AM
I actually thank goodness for ashey colors. When I started coloring my hair I was trying to get a color that matched my "pre-grey" color and didn't find a good one until I started with the ash-blonde. That gave my hair a nice golden blonde; everything else really brought out the red in my hair which just doesn't look very good with my skin tone and wasn't real noticeable in my natural color.. I really love natural ashey colors too! They really do bring out the cool tones in the skin.

GlennaGirl
May 8th, 2010, 12:12 AM
Yes, my dad calls my hair color commune blonde which was his hair color when he was younger. It turned black and then white. I think it's what you call mousey or dirty or dishwater.

Could this be something like how we would say "regulation" in English? You know, "regulation glasses" would be an expression for very bland, "standard issue-style" glasses. Or "she has the regulation mommy haircut." And the like.

Is it something like that?

julliams
May 8th, 2010, 12:51 AM
Perhaps some pictures would help and then we can help to advise you on colouring. I'm a big fan of natural colours as I think they comliment people's skintones best. However, if it's not working for you, perhaps some kind of semi-permanant colour enhancer might help? I'm not really in the know on these as I don't dye my hair at all.

Do you want to bring out the brown or blonde in your hair?

julya
May 8th, 2010, 01:03 AM
My hair color is ashy, I think. I like it well enough, can be a little drab maybe, but I think it suits me pretty well.

GoddesJourney
May 8th, 2010, 01:15 AM
To me the difference between natural and dyed hair is like a plain yogurt with some strawberries thrown in and a storebought strawberry yogurt. The storebought yogurt has a very strong taste, but that taste is artificial. A plain yogurt with fresh fruit does not have as strong a taste; the flavour is much more subtle. People who are used to the storebought variety often find the homemade version a bit tasteless; but if you wean your taste buds off all that artificialness you´ll be surprised how good a plain and simple snack like fresh fruit and yogurt can be!

Same with hair: Artificial colours are all very vivid, and in comparison people often find natural colours a bit "wanting". But there´s so much beauty in natural well-cared hair, you´ve only got to look for it! And honestly, I see so many bad dye jobs daily (not here, but in real life)! Many people seem to prefer dead, dull, strawlike hair in a bright colour to healthy shiny hair in a subdued natural colour. :scared:

I think ashy hair can look very beautiful if it is healthy. It has a subtle beauty that not everyone appreciates, but it makes me sad to hear words like "mousy" or "dishwater" to describe a natural colour. Surely there are many other words one can use to describe that tone of hair that have a nicer connotation? :ponder: Those deprecating terms must be an invention of the so-called beauty industry to make women feel bad about their natural colour. And it makes sense to do that - at least from their point of view: Ashy hair is so common, so if I make all women with ashy hair feel bad about it the market for hairdyes will be big. The hairdye companies would go broke if only natural redheads dyed their hair. ;)

Great yogurt analogy! It really gets the point across.

Themis74
May 8th, 2010, 01:26 AM
I'm ashy. Blond at the front with a mixture of blonde, dark brown, red and black(!) throughout the rest of my hair. I like it, and I think it suits my colouring.

Heidi_234
May 8th, 2010, 01:30 AM
For all it worth, I think your hair color has some great pros - for example, it's light enough to be dyed with temp funky colors (like Manic Panic), minus the bleaching. If I had ashy fair hair, I'd treat it like a blank canvas to have fun with. Also - the brightest most awesome red color that was achieved by henna, usually done on light ashy hair!

I have very dark but very ashy hair, that looks downright gray near my hennaed hair, so I know how you feel. :agree:

HildeMV
May 8th, 2010, 11:52 AM
Could this be something like how we would say "regulation" in English? You know, "regulation glasses" would be an expression for very bland, "standard issue-style" glasses. Or "she has the regulation mommy haircut." And the like.

Is it something like that? I think it has something with people who work for the commune(and by proxy, the government) and how that's a really boring job for boring people with boring hair I guess. :p
So yes it would signify a bland hair color. My natural color is very grayish in the sun( I'm 20), and will look darker than it really is sometimes. When I was little I had very light blonde hair.

Charlotte:)
August 28th, 2011, 11:33 PM
Ashy-haired people are supposed to age more gracefully than others, because when we start getting gray hairs they don't show as much :)

Kyla
August 28th, 2011, 11:40 PM
DBF has lovely ashy blond/brownish hair-the color is so hard to describe, and I like that. :) I think the color can look lovely on some people.

Rosetta
August 29th, 2011, 12:26 AM
I also have an ashy natural color (with natural blonde highlights). I hennaed my hair and I think it looks a million times better. I have seen some beautiful ashy haired people though.
This+ !

Yeah, ashy colours must be the world's most underestimated colours ;) Especially dark ashy blonde, the notorious "dishwater" or "dirty" blonde...
Ashy colours can look very nice, just not on me. It doesn't suit me, it washes me out. Yeah, I was actually growing it out for almost 2 years, before going back to henna, so I know what I'm talking about. :)

(This thread http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=30733 was a kind of wake-up for me, colour-wise... If something else than your "natural colour" suits you much better, than why on earth not have that colour? Life's too short to live with a colour you don't like and that doesn't suit you...)

Oh, and LOL at the "boring ladies working at the town hall colour", thanks for that (and the lesson in Norwegian) :)

Cassie 123
August 29th, 2011, 12:12 PM
My hair has always been cool-toned, but it darkened gradually from typical Caucasian-baby blondette to the dark color I have today (minus the streak) by my late twenties. I'm happy now, but during my early twenties, the bright shades of Manic Panic suited me better than the transitional shade that nature gave me. There's nothing wrong with sprucing things up a bit now and then.

Signe
August 29th, 2011, 12:56 PM
I highlighted and dyed my hair in some way from the ages of 10-20 because it wasn't the blonde of my youth, and I thought I looked boring.

Then I stopped.

I wanted to see what my real hair colour looked like for once. It was kinda rough going for a while, but when I finally cut off the last of the bleach and got a real good look at my (then) apl, virgin hair, I fell in love. There was so much dimension to it, and that depth grows each summer as it lightens in the sun. I love that the top is cool and ashy and gradually gets warmer and more golden as it nears the bottom...also I love that the under layers are darker...it gives my braids a natural striped look that I really like. I like spidermom's agouti example...my hair and braids remind me of a wild animal.

It only irritates my when people think that I bleach the bottom of my hair, or that I am growing out bleach.

Rosetta
September 27th, 2014, 03:58 AM
This merits reviving! Found some very inspirational Pinterest boards for ashy hair:

http://www.pinterest.com/magalytt/ash-light-brown-hair/

http://www.pinterest.com/larzapan1/light-brown-to-dark-blonde-ash-hair-colour/

I've totally fallen in love with those hair colours now (especially light ash brown), and can't think of any natural colour more beautiful!


(And was that really me saying ashy colours don't suit me at all, a few years ago...? :o Oh well... ;))

divinedobbie
September 27th, 2014, 10:16 AM
I absolutely love ashy hair, especially ash blonde. I think it's the most beautiful colour ever. I myself naturally have medium-light ashy brown hair and I really really love it. It was such a hard decision for me to henna my hair because I liked my natural colour so much. I'm glad I did because I got the curiousity out of my system and henna does suit me as I'm very neutral skin tone but I think ashy hair suits me even more so I'm growing out my natural colour.

Here's another good board for the darker ash browns: http://www.pinterest.com/explore/ash-brown-hair/

Hedera
September 27th, 2014, 01:53 PM
Ooooh, nice links, thank you!

When I was young I dyed my hair for a while, because I wanted something more intense - but I really like the ash brown now, and I love the way my silvers interweave with it.

Besides, it suits my skin tone, my green eyes, etc.

divinedobbie
September 27th, 2014, 02:12 PM
Ooooh, nice links, thank you!

When I was young I dyed my hair for a while, because I wanted something more intense - but I really like the ash brown now, and I love the way my silvers interweave with it.

Besides, it suits my skin tone, my green eyes, etc.

A fellow green-eye with ash hair!! I've gotten so many comments how my warm eyes and cool hair contrast each other and it's unnatural and everyone gets so worked up about debating what skin tone I have.

Hedera
September 27th, 2014, 02:27 PM
I have such a difficult time figuring out my coloring...
I'm not even sure if I am pinkish or olive-ish skinned!

I think I tend to look better in jewel-tones, saturated colours, like plum, cobalt blue, turquoise etc.
But then when I wear a more yellowish, olive green, which I used to think made me look jaundiced and drab - it matches my eyes and that looks good too; and I have a pale, washed-out red sweater that is almost a pink/coral that looks pretty good (and seems to match the natural blush colour in my cheeks when I've just bicycled in).

I used to think I was a 'winter' in tone, and I mostly still do, but some colours in that pallette don't work for me at all, and colours from other seasons do.

I wear both gold and silver, sometimes even at the same time; I have a large gold ring that used to belong to my grandmother that I always wear (it has turqoise stones in it though, so it's sort of 'cool' as well).

Rosetta
September 28th, 2014, 02:18 AM
A fellow green-eye with ash hair!! I've gotten so many comments how my warm eyes and cool hair contrast each other and it's unnatural and everyone gets so worked up about debating what skin tone I have.
I have that too, green-grey eyes (with warm hazel flecks and ashy dark blonde/light brown hair ;) (Or at least I think so, not having seen a lot of my natural hair colour since teenage. It may also be that as my hair's been dyed red or golden most of the time, everything else will seem 'ashy' compared to that...)

Though it can never be "unnatural", if those are your natural colours :) This interesting article debated this very issue: http://www.12blueprints.com/can-eye-hair-and-skin-colours-conflict/

And Hedera, you sound like a Bright Winter to me, some warm tones mixed with cool ones.

divinedobbie
September 28th, 2014, 12:36 PM
I have that too, green-grey eyes (with warm hazel flecks and ashy dark blonde/light brown hair ;) (Or at least I think so, not having seen a lot of my natural hair colour since teenage. It may also be that as my hair's been dyed red or golden most of the time, everything else will seem 'ashy' compared to that...)

Though it can never be "unnatural", if those are your natural colours :) This interesting article debated this very issue: http://www.12blueprints.com/can-eye-hair-and-skin-colours-conflict/

And Hedera, you sound like a Bright Winter to me, some warm tones mixed with cool ones.

Yay the link worked this time, thank you so much :)