Calling those who are letting their greys show...

[Sarahlabyrinth]

I'm umming and aaahing over whether to grow out my greys (actually they seem more silver), I am tired of dying my hair, love the thought of virgin hair, plus the last time I put colour in it made my scalp sting terribly and got me thinking about all these horrible chemicals they put in them. There are such beautiful manes of grey and silver hair on here that it is an inspiration too.

But how do you cope when you are just starting and your hair looks so 2-toned (silver and brown)? Do you just grit your teeth and bear it, or just keep thinking how good it's going to look? DH thinks my silvers are beautiful and would love me to stop colouring my hair. I don't want to chop any length off so it would mean years of having two tone hair.

So how did you get through that phase? Do you have any photos I could see?:(

[Mesmerise]

I think you've hit on a major problem for a lot of women! I have reached the conclusion that I will need to cut all my hair off when I decide to go gray, and I really, REALLY am not ready to do that. I henna my hair, so the demarcation is quite horrible and obvious, and my hair would look absolutely hideous if I went two toned! Some people's hair (like Rini's for example) looks fine, because she's transitioning from blonde to silver (although I believe she's had some negative comments from people :rolleyes:) but I don't think hers looks at all bad. I think it's a lot harder to go from darker and bolder colours to natural (particularly when there's a lot of graying and the base colour is quite different).

I think it probably depends a lot on how many grays you've got, and how obvious your regrowth is, as to how well you'll be able to handle the transition.

A few years back I had blonde foils in my hair, and this meant that my roots blended a lot better and I could honestly go for months without getting it redone because the grays were so much more similar to the blonde (not the same colour obviously, but the actual depth of colour was similar). Now that I'm a hennahead (because I wanted to stop chemical colouring), the difference is a lot more obvious. I'd have been much better going natural from my blonde foils, than I would now ;).

So yeah, it's led me to the conclusion that when I do it, I won't have regrowth, because I'm going to start from scratch. And I always figure this won't happen for a good 10 to 15 years or more!

[Miss Maisie]

This seems to be the struggle of the moment for me. My hair is very dark brown, and I have a bunch of white (and I do mean white- there's nothing silver about my greys!) in the front. My husband LOVES the contrast, and I do, too, but I miss my head of all dark hair. That said, the thought of growing out gray hair with a stark demarcation line between the new gray and dyed length is really holding me back from coloring. I think I'm just going to go all-natural.

[SerinaDaith]

I am starting to get more salt in my mousy brown, my last color was black so the brown is lighter but not hugely so and while there is some sparkle in my hair it's not heavy enough to make it look horrible right now. I've quit the dye and have about two and a half inches of dye free hair now. I am constantly debating if I want to keep my hair short until the dye is all gone or if I want to grow it out and let the trims take the dye (who knows maybe I'll get lucky and some of the black will wash out over time and I won't have to cut as much). I think if I wait I'll get a skunk stripe and have to chop short all the growth I will have worked so hard to get. I'm at the now or never point, I'm done with the dye!

[dulce]

I dyed my hair while growing out from a pixie,it was a brassy light brown.I decided to go gray when my hair was collarbone length,I had layers cut in,and had platinum highlights put in around the face and a few on the top layer where I had the most gray.Did my first highlights when my silver roots were about 3 inches long,and did another round of highlights [my last] 6 months later.It all grew in well together and I never needed to cut.You can see my past highlights in my midback length hair[highlights and hair now grown out a lot],and my present silver hair [still longer]in the thread"show me your hair when you first joined LHF" on page 2.I grew from shoulders to almost hip length while transitioning to silver from a brassy brown.So you don't have to cut ,if you're darker than me think about lowlights,or a wash out dye to cover the demarcation line.

[dulce]

I am now all white in the front/bangs and sides,some streaks on top and my back is still pretty much a natural non dyed light brown.I actually like the multi toned effect,it looks great in braids and half ups etc.so don't worry if you're not all silver yet.

[dulce]

And over time the highlights do soften and blend with your hair as you keep growng.I did a few trims while growing but probably have 4-5 inches of highlights/old dye on my ends but it's faded and blended so that most people don't realize my ends still have some dye on them.Once I get to my goal length will maintain and slowly cut it off over time.I prefer keeping my hair length,"ombre" is in now ,so doing it this way has many benefits.

[Jing]

You could use semi-permanent dye for a few months to get a more gradual/blended demarcation line.

[Bene]

Don't know if I can help since I've got a total of 4 grey hairs. I've been looking carefully since I discovered my first one last year, so 4 is what I can find. They look bright white in some light, silvery in others and I have to actually go looking for them (yes, I've got them mapped out).

So yeah, back to the coping. I'm too lazy to keep up with dye. And since it's just starting on virgin hair, the entire strands are grey. The longest is about 8 inches, the shortest is almost 2 (yes, I'm taking note of the length). There's no demarcation to speak of. I suppose I'm lucky to have decided to keep the grey before they started showing up. I think there's a post somewhere around here from years ago where I decided to embrace my greys as they come. Mind you, the night I found my first one, I shot back a few shots of Dewar's to celebrate (or mourn?) my aging. And posted a blog about finding virgins to sacrifice so I can bathe in their blood and stay young just a little bit longer (it was a bittersweet evening).


I'm totally keeping an eye on them to make sure nothing messes with the silver because really it's kind of cool in contrast with my black hair (or would be if I had a streak or something) and I'm looking forward to more popping up.


I suppose the best thing to do is to go through some complicated dying project that allows the grey to show up gradually.

[hellucy]

I have about a dozen silver/greys hiding in my hair & have decided to stop hennaing (I stopped using box dyes in january) I absolutely hate the obvious roots, 1st couple of inches, but only along my parting I can live with it anywhere else.
I'm hoping that once I get past 3 or 4 inches of re-growth I wont 'itch' to re-henna them.
For the last few touch ups I have just been putting henna on my parting roots then in about 9 months or so I will switch my parting to the other side & will have got past the annoying two tone roots, probably sounds strange but I'm hoping it works for me.

[newbeginning]

If your hair isn't entirely grey/white you could dye your hair closest to your natural colour and grow it out. This is what I did and while it's somewhat annoying growing out the dye at least it somewhat looks natural.

[Juanita]

It took me almost 5years to grow out my dye without chopping off my hair. The hardest part was until the grey/silver got to ear length. Headbands scarves and bandanas become very useful to cover the demarcation line. You will be so pleased that you did. Trimming the ends every now and then allows you to gain some length and get rid of dye and damage

[door72067]

the first few months are the most difficult


I suggest one last dye if your current dye color is a lot different than your natural color...dye as close to natural as you can...it helps ease the pain

there are different rinses (FanciFull..washes out each time you shampoo) and glazes (Clairol Jazzing, can be a wash out, or semi-perm depending on how you process it) that have helped me get past certain frustrating points or when having even-colored hair (like say for a wedding) is more desired


also, keeping it up as much as possible and double-braids help hide the differences in color as well

good luck!

[girlcat36]

I have naturally dark brown hair, which is now almost half silver. I have been using semi permanent dyes for the last five years. That, plus time spent working outdoors in the sun, has turned my hair a weird dark blond with red highlights. I have decided to grow out my silver, since I suspect my hair dye might be contributing to my hair loss problem. And also the fact that silver will be better with my coloring than the almost strawberry blond I have ended up with.
I have 2 boxes of dye left. My plan is to the color for only half the usual time, and for the second box I will apply it for only 1/4 of the time. And then I'm done! I hope that will make the denarcation line much less obvious.

[Madora]

I didn't turn a hair when my first sparklie arrived. I'm all for natural, virgin hair:

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w225/07Erzbet/7412Hairphotomelange.jpg

[ladyfey]

Best wishes for you, I very much recommend going natural. It is soooo much easier. I stopped dying at age 30 for this very reason, I didn't want to deal with growing out gray. I did end up chopping from knee to a "bob" once my natural color had grown out a bit (I dyed red and am naturally honey-blonde) Totally worth it in my opinion!

[jeanniet]

I'm just living with it, although most of my gray is around my hairline, so I think that's what people see and not so much anything else. I don't have enough gray that there's a huge demarcation line anyway--I'm growing out henna and some Elumen, but it somewhat blends in. I figure in another three years it'll all be gone.

[catamonica]

well I am one hundred percent grey. The dye's coming out slowly. If it looks to dark, when the dye is gone, I'll just spray on white vinegar & water. It lightens the
hair to silver.

[spidermom]

See Xandergrammy. She has an album that shows the progression of her natural colors after stopping the dyes.

I've seen people do the panel technique to make the grow-out look more gradual, less stark. Separate your hair into 6 or 8 horizontal panels, then only dye every other panel. That way, there won't be a clear line of two different colors; the differences will be more blurred.

[Sarahlabyrinth]

From what I can see I am probably 90 -95 percent silver, my father started going grey at age 16, and I must be taking after him, had my first grey hair at age 21. Does the permanent dye fade very much, I suppose it would over time if you weren't adding more to it.

[Sarahlabyrinth]

OK here we are with virgin roots about a month of growth - I am finding it quite interesting, though for some reason I do seem to worry about what others are going to think/say - it seems such a "taboo" thing to just let the greys show. I have found to my surprise that it does make my blue eyes look more blue - which is nice!

http://i1253.photobucket.com/albums/hh582/Sarahlabyrinth/th_myhairphotos027.jpg (http://s1253.photobucket.com/albums/hh582/Sarahlabyrinth/?action=view&current=myhairphotos027.jpg)

http://i1253.photobucket.com/albums/hh582/Sarahlabyrinth/th_myhairphotos026.jpg (http://s1253.photobucket.com/albums/hh582/Sarahlabyrinth/?action=view&current=myhairphotos026.jpg)

http://i1253.photobucket.com/albums/hh582/Sarahlabyrinth/th_myhairphotos028.jpg (http://s1253.photobucket.com/albums/hh582/Sarahlabyrinth/?action=view&current=myhairphotos028.jpg)

I went out this morning and wore a headband to cover the greys, still haven't entirely decided whether I like them or not. DH likes them, says they are beautiful.

[dulce]

You will love the silver,it's like a silvery ash blonde but no roots or upkeep!! I have dark eyes and a darker skin so thought I'd look awful.Once the roots have grown out to neck level was surprised to see I prefer it even over my younger natural brown hair.Nature does know best.Don't give up too soon,the first few months before you fully see what it'll be like,all you see are "roots" and you can't judge the end result by that.See an expert colorist to help you transition due to the henna..

[Sarahlabyrinth]

It's not henna, it's permanent hair dye :(

[Sarahlabyrinth]

It's not henna , it's permanent hair dye.

I do rather like the idea of not having to dye any more though, am still tiptoeing my way through the idea of having silver/grey hair. One day I think it's really pretty, the next I'm not sure I want to look at it. Guess that's normal.

Also in a funny kind of way I like the way my hair is doing this all by itself without any help from me, feels rather strange - probably sounds strange too, but I know what I mean even if nobody else does, lol.

[dulce]

It's always an adjustment,sometimes I catch a flash of myself in a store window outside and the sun makes me look much lighter,almost white especially in the front of my face and I sometimes think who is that??

[Sarahlabyrinth]

It's a bit of an adventure into the unknown, sometimes fun, sometimes scary... Can I keep it up? Maybe just keep applying the 2 week rule! I just know I'm going to get negative remarks soon, I will be needing encouragement...

Oh, and I call them my wisdom hairs, lol.

[Silverbrumby]

I think others have mentioned it but you could get some streaks to blend in the grey at first. If you have a great hairdresser you can then get less and less and closer to your own color. So long as you are not going for a long length that is.

I'm not sure what to do myself. I have silver hair finally coming it and I like what I'm seeing so far. I have a box of natural plant based hair dye sitting at home. I might not do streaks with it and see if I like the effect. Silver and natural.

[italianamama]

I think highlights are a great idea to help blend the demarcation line while you're growing out. I've had hilights professionally done pre-LCH and they make a BIG difference while minimizing damage.

I'm just glad I found LHC before my hair started to silver! I'm 27 and started to notice the sparklies about two years ago. I think greys and whites and silvers are really pretty. Quitting the due will be worth it! :grouphug:

[dulce]

There is a friendly facebook forum"gray and proud",they support going gray and give lots of support and advice and post pics of their own transitions and explain how they're doing it.

[jojo]

This is why I got rid of my hendigo as my natural colour is blondish, I figured with silvers coming through it would look less harsh next to my hair . I like to effect of highlight my silvers give me, not brilliant photos but hers the affect my hair looks a bit reddy on here it's the light
http://i1048.photobucket.com/albums/s366/joanna-eglin/e96b7e36.jpg
And the sides I quite like the look it gives, I think once you start seeing greys coming through its best to just have you natural colour than be a slave to the dye
http://i1048.photobucket.com/albums/s366/joanna-eglin/b666ddcd.jpg

[Sarahlabyrinth]

Thank you all for your good advice and thoughtful ideas. I think I need to just sit tight for a while and see what suggestion springs to mind as being one which might suit me. My sister is coming to stay with me at the end of this month and she was a hairdresser. She however is of the "cover greys and keep hair short" variety of stylist, so am not sure if her advice will be what I am after. However, doesn't hurt to ask.
Jojo, what on earth is hendigo, is it a dye?

[jojo]

Thank you all for your good advice and thoughtful ideas. I think I need to just sit tight for a while and see what suggestion springs to mind as being one which might suit me. My sister is coming to stay with me at the end of this month and she was a hairdresser. She however is of the "cover greys and keep hair short" variety of stylist, so am not sure if her advice will be what I am after. However, doesn't hurt to ask.
Jojo, what on earth is hendigo, is it a dye?

Hendigo is a mixture of henna and indigo, natural dyes that give reddy browns to black results and are not to be ventured into lightly as i did! There a beast to get out, I was lucky, lots on here have tried every possible means of removing it. I think as mine was a lush one it was easier to remove but it still took me over a year, my hair must have been stronger than I thought...lesson learnt!

Don't dye your hair it's a lovely colour, dye only ever looks nice at first and then it goes dull IMHO , salon dyes always seem to look better to my eye if you feel the real need to dye but why not join the salt and pepper thread for some inspiration, that's what I do , everybody is in the same boat and it really helps you to get to love those silvers, plus gets you through those moments when people ( unLHC) don't quite understand! Come and join us!

[Sarahlabyrinth]

That colour in my hair Is dye unfortunately - which I now have to put up with and grow out. Might just trot over to the salt and pepper thread and look around though :)

[Dragon Faery]

I was thinking about trying henna, but my silvers are suddenly multiplying faster than they were, so I think I'll just stay natural. That doesn't really help anyone who's transitioning from dye, but I suppose if I were I would probably try to blend with highlights and semi-permanent dyes. I don't mind the two-tone look, but I do kind of dread the muddy middle stage where I'm half one color and half another...as in, 50% of each color actively growing out of my head. But I guess I have time to get used to it.

[spirals]

I'd sooner grey-highlight the length than have the demarcation line.

[jojo]

That colour in my hair Is dye unfortunately - which I now have to put up with and grow out. Might just trot over to the salt and pepper thread and look around though :)

Really? Well you fooled me, it looks lovely is your natural colour very similar then? You could always try some vitamin c crystals in some shampoo to help fade it but seriously it looks very natural . Yes do trot over to the salt and pepper thread, you will be made very welcome, also have a look at xandergrammy's profile, she has grown her hair out from dye and got her silvers in lovely, you cannot see any dye line, her hair is very inspirational. I am 43 now and ready to bite the bullet and let them come through! Even though my mother already thinks " I'm letting myself go" by having hippy hair and heaven forbid greys! Lol ! I quite like being the none conformist, I will let the silvers come but I say no to joining the blue rinse brigade and poodle hair group:D

[Sarahlabyrinth]

Yes my natural colour is very similar to the dye - maybe slightly more "mousey"in tone though. I only began dying really when my first greys began to arrive at age 21. My father started going grey when he was 16.

Vitamin C crystals? Where would you get them and how do you use them, do they fade colour very much? Have never heard of those.

[Sarahlabyrinth]

Tried Vitamin C and shampoo on a strand - couldn't see any difference after having the mixture on for an hour. My hairdresser sister has just been staying and she says that there is no effective way to remove permanent dye from hair without causing at least some damage.
Anyway as my silvers grow in more I find to my surprise that I am liking them more and more, surprise surprise.

http://i1253.photobucket.com/albums/hh582/Sarahlabyrinth/th_myhairphotos112-1.jpg (http://s1253.photobucket.com/albums/hh582/Sarahlabyrinth/?action=view&current=myhairphotos112-1.jpg)

[Toadstool]

You could use semi-permanent dye for a few months to get a more gradual/blended demarcation line.
That's what I'm thinking of trying.:)

[PetuniaBlossom]

I have dark brown hair and an olive complexion. My wonderful hairdresser told me to just let the greys come, as they will "lighten and brighten" my face. She has always given me great advice, never took off too much, never tried to sell me on perms, or any particular products. I'm so lucky to have found her.
Now I've moved far away but luckily found the LHC.
Since I've never coloured my hair, this will be my first opportunity to see myself as something other than a dark brunette. I'm quite looking forward to it. Light and bright for me!

[Delila]

In my early thirties I colored for a while, since I wasn't that wild about the few gray strands I could see at the time. Also had some fun with subtle highlights.

After a while though, I got tired of the maintenance, especially since I wore my hair pretty short at the time.

IIRC I found a new/great stylist and went with a great pixie for a while. Loved the look, but that was WAY before LHC for me.

Funnily enough, I really don't have much more gray than I did back then, even though I'm now 50.

One of my nieces routinely asks me 'what color is your hair?', meaning, apparently 'what color/brand of hair dye do you use?'. LOL!! Finally figured out what she meant, and apparently she's not thrilled at the thought that she might go gray early the way her mom has, and had been considering dye in her future. She was thrilled to realize that I don't make any effort to color my hair, so maybe she won't need to either.

[Taenarian]

My stylist was kind enough to point out my first gray hairs more than a decade ago :( but I just left them be. Still (mostly) blonde to this day, with every indication that one day I'll just go flat out silver.

There's a wonderfully kind woman who spins wool I see each Saturday whose mane is completely gray and braided all the way down. "Keeps the hair out of my face," she says, when I pay her a compliment :) Very practical.

[earthnut]

A neighbor got bold highlights when she started growing out her dye. The streaks and multiple colors obscure the demarcation line and look quite good! If you find someone skilled in coloring, they may be able to create a seamless transition. Look for someone who knows Balayage.

[Cowgirl16]

Hi all :waving: I won't be coloring my hair; I'm too lazy :shrug: It is/can be challenging at times but, with so many lovely heads of silver/grey hair I'll be in great company :)

I hear grey is the new black :D

[OrganicJewel]

Hi. I'm going to be 31 this fall and I've just started noticing the odd silver hair, here and there, now that I've let my roots grow out for the first time ever. I have nearly 4 inches of regrowth, my hair is a medium/light brown. So far the sliver hairs are the same texture as the rest, silky and smooth. They aren't wiry. The women on my mother's side have a history of going prematurely grey. I like my silver hairs :D I'm definitely going to let my natural colour grow now. I mean, if grey hair makes men appear more scholarly and refined, I figure it can do the same for me :p

[OrganicJewel]

In my early thirties I colored for a while, since I wasn't that wild about the few gray strands I could see at the time. Also had some fun with subtle highlights.

Funnily enough, I really don't have much more gray than I did back then, even though I'm now 50.

.

that's interesting! So, it may not mean that I'll keep getting more and more grey hair, necessarily, then? It'll be fun to find out, either way.

[Delila]

that's interesting! So, it may not mean that I'll keep getting more and more grey hair, necessarily, then? It'll be fun to find out, either way.

I guess it's just a matter of genetics and whatever other factors contribute to graying. (Not sure I understand those very well).

[AutumnLocks]

It was so gradual that I didn't really mind at all. Gradually over several years I decided that I didn't want to be bothered with hair color any more. So, as it was growing out I was amazed at how pretty my silver hair really is. I really like the way it is coming in at my temples.