Another going gray question

in Over 40
I have colored my hair red for many years. Now since the grays come back so soon, I'm thinking seriously about growing it out. Are there any of you out there who have gone from red to gray? Did you do anything in particular to help it not look so bad as it was growing? I'm just so afraid it'll look clownish. Thanks.
Cowash: Suave Aloe and Water Lily
Conditioner and Leave-in: GFTN
LA Looks Sport Gel
Coconut oil Or Olive oil at night
Conditioner and Leave-in: GFTN
LA Looks Sport Gel
Coconut oil Or Olive oil at night
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Comments
what i found most helpful has been headbands! stretchy ones and clip ones. i have a clip headband that is covered w/material and has tiny black flowers on one side. i have also gotten my hair cut several inches, to hasten getting rid of the black.
the white hair around my face shows up and looks good. i've gotten lots of compliments --mostly from 20, 30, 40 year olds -- about the way my hair is looking growing in. i've also gotten compliments on the way the white looks around my face from BOTH men & women.
it's a long process as it seems the front of my hair is growing much more slowly than the back. however, i am very glad i decided to do this. hated putting the time in coloring, hated the way it looked. love the way my hair is starting to look.
there is a great website, goinggraylookinggreat.com that has been very helpful.
3a, some 2c & 3b, medium texture, porosity normal, low elasticity :-(
washing/cowashing, conditioning, protein tx: curl junkie products
leave in:curl junkie conditioners and treatments as leave in
styling: curl junkie
sealants - jane carter nourish & shine
COs: Yes to Cucumbers
Stylers: Miss Jessies Coily Custard, KCCC
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Live Simply. Use Soap
www.TheLatheredLamb.com
www.EweniqueEssentials.artfire.com
Conditioner and Leave-in: GFTN
LA Looks Sport Gel
Coconut oil Or Olive oil at night
I used semi-permanent drugstore color for a while until I was coloring every 2 weeks(!) to cover the gray. (My natural color is blond-red, a little darker than strawberry blond.)
Then I finally got salon color (permanent). I get the roots done every 2 months at the same time I get a trim. It's a close match to my natural color, and I like it very much.
The site www.hennaforhair.com is a great place to research if this might be an option for your situation. I absolutely love it on my brown locks, which have quite alot of gray at this stage. Just wish I had known about it before YEARS of chemically damaging my hair through highlighting and coloring to camaflouge or cover up the gray.
Good luck!
still experimenting
co-wash: leftover Brocato Vibracolor conditioner
conditioner: Suave Naturals Strawberry
finishing: FOTE gel
Henna rocks!
fine, med porosity, normal elasticity
Currently using the following 2 - 3 x/week:
Living Proof Perfect Hair Day suphate-free Poo, cone-free CO and styling treatment, plus KCCC
Conditioner and Leave-in: GFTN
LA Looks Sport Gel
Coconut oil Or Olive oil at night
i think if a woman's hairstyle is 'old' before it is gray, it is old after. for a woman who has an attractive hairstyle, she will look younger. in my opinion, of course!! :happy3:
check out the photos on goinggraylookinggreat.com, you'll see what i mean.
i just hate the transition period -- if i could wake up and my hair all gray/white/silver, i'd be happy!!
3a, some 2c & 3b, medium texture, porosity normal, low elasticity :-(
washing/cowashing, conditioning, protein tx: curl junkie products
leave in:curl junkie conditioners and treatments as leave in
styling: curl junkie
sealants - jane carter nourish & shine
Conditioner and Leave-in: GFTN
LA Looks Sport Gel
Coconut oil Or Olive oil at night
I've been using it the past few weeks to keep myself from doing something rash, like cutting or coloring.
You do have to apply it after each washing. I put it in a spray bottle and applied it before putting on the gel. For me, this works, as I've been washing about twice a week.
Yeah, the ladies on that site look great, but some of them, IMHO, do look older. (sorry) With my luck, I'll be one of them! Oh well, you never know till you try I guess! as for the temporary color applied to the roots, I wash my hair daily, so that would be kind of a pain to do each day. But I've heard some great suggestions, and I do appreciate them all! Thanks for taking the time. You guys are great!
Conditioner and Leave-in: GFTN
LA Looks Sport Gel
Coconut oil Or Olive oil at night
IMO, people with darker hair and skin (as in not ghostly white like me) often look better going gray than really fair people do.
edited to add: Curlyinohio, I didn't want to say it, but I agree with you that some of the women looked older after they went gray. Some looked decades older. And it had nothing to do with the hairstyle.
Conditioner and Leave-in: GFTN
LA Looks Sport Gel
Coconut oil Or Olive oil at night
We've been programmed to think that any sign of aging, be it one grey hair or one wrinkle, means we are over the hill and we might as well just get in our rocking chairs and forget about ever having fun again. Bull. All it means is that our body is getting older as everything does on this earth.
People should simply do what makes them happy. For me that means no dying my hair, no spending a fortune on anti aging product, no botox or surgery, and yes I still go in the sun. But if for others that means dying their hair and getting botox and wearing lotions and potions and sunscreen 24/7, cool.
The growing out process isn't fun no matter what color your old hair is, but it goes by quickly especially if you do what many have stated - keep trimming your hair up a bit regularly to get rid of the old color. It will be gone in no time. And yes, the Roux Fancifull temp color was very helpful to me.
--My CG and grey hair progress -
http://www.naturallycurly.com/curltalk/going-gray/179328-jeepys-grey-hair-progress.html
--My article at NaturallyCurly about going grey -
https://www.naturallycurly.com/curlreading/color/how-i-went-completely-gray-and-loved-it
I totally agree with you. My hair is 80% gray, but it doesn't show in my pictures for some reason. Nothing on earth feels better than accepting yourself just exactly how nature intended IMHO. But, each to her own. If someone wants to bleach, color, botox, snip, pinch and stretch, more power to them.
What product are you using to henna? I've been considering this. I tried growing out my gray, but it was looking pretty bad and my hair just looked dull and drab. I'm about 25% gray, mostly around the hairline. I love copper highlights in my hair, so I think henna would work for me. I, also, have medium brown hair, so I need to know what color you are using. TIA
Every person has a unique connection to the Creator that can never be extinguished, and every person has a great soul that can manifest important things in our world. To make a person feel less than they are because of something inside themselves, be it faith, race, or sexual orientation, is the greatest sin of all."
I used pure henna, which does not actually come in colors. It's just powdered henna plant, which has the natural color from the plant come out when mixed with water. The henna products you may find in stores, or even beauty supply places, still have chemicals in them, which can be really bad for your hair. Pure body art henna is what should be used, and can be ordered from the www.hennaforhair.com site. Another website that sells the good powder is www.hennamuse.com.
As an option, you can mix the henna with indigo (another plant), but it adds darker coloring to the natural copperish tone from the henna. I loved the way just the henna alone blended with my own brown hair color. Perfect copper highlights, and the rest of the hair has an auburn cast in the sun.
still experimenting
co-wash: leftover Brocato Vibracolor conditioner
conditioner: Suave Naturals Strawberry
finishing: FOTE gel
Henna rocks!
Thanks for the compliment. My hair finally started growing again, thanks to Biotin.
--My CG and grey hair progress -
http://www.naturallycurly.com/curltalk/going-gray/179328-jeepys-grey-hair-progress.html
--My article at NaturallyCurly about going grey -
https://www.naturallycurly.com/curlreading/color/how-i-went-completely-gray-and-loved-it
Going gray was a fabulous decision. I cringe when I look at photos of myself with colored hair, it looks so harsh and ordinary. the photos below are around 5-6 months old. I'm grayer now.
My FOTKI - http://whatsnew.fotki.com/suburbanbushbabe/
Playing with my hair is a hobby. Fluffy, fine natural 4a. Goal= Healthy, beautiful hair that retains its length.
Got any pics??? I stopped coloring my hair a couple of years ago, but am only 30% gray. It's scattered fairly evenly through my hair - kinda like a smokey haze over my dark ash blonde hair. I wish it would hurry up and turn into the gorgeous white that both my dad and my grandmother had....
fine, med porosity, normal elasticity
Currently using the following 2 - 3 x/week:
Living Proof Perfect Hair Day suphate-free Poo, cone-free CO and styling treatment, plus KCCC
how long is your hair? i've been growing mine out since last march, and the back is done, the front has long tips of color. :-( and, i've cut about 7" off my hair, so it is now short. i am in the process of growing it in, but i do think it will be a year from now before it is where i want it to be.
and, i am very glad i did stop coloring for many reasons.
3a, some 2c & 3b, medium texture, porosity normal, low elasticity :-(
washing/cowashing, conditioning, protein tx: curl junkie products
leave in:curl junkie conditioners and treatments as leave in
styling: curl junkie
sealants - jane carter nourish & shine