Going grey

[Winchester]

My hair now has three to four inches of grey/white roots with the rest of it auburn. It's down past my shoulders onto my back. Haven't been to the salon since February, so it's been a while. I'm thinking about letting it go. I'm retired now and, due to the pandemic, we rarely go anywhere and even then, it's basically to the grocery store and to Lowes with infrequent trips to Target for prescriptions meds. But I'm already tired of that line between colored and uncolored hair. I wear it down if we go anywhere, but mostly with the heat and humidity, I've been wearing it up in a clip. Interestingly, since I stopped coloring my roots, I've noticed little fine baby hairs growing back and I've noticed that my hair is becoming thicker.

I called my hair stylist and she got back to me yesterday. I have three options, although the third one is not something I'm even thinking about:

• I can get it all blended in. She said it will take two, probably more like three visits with highlights and such every visit to blend the grey/white into my colored hair. Six weeks between visits. And no, absolutely NO heat on my hair for the entire time. No blowing my hair dry, no heat styling. Lots of pampering, lots of conditioner, lots of hair masks, etc for the next 4-1/2 months. Why? Because of the stress the bleach will do to my hair. I don't blow dry my hair anymore; I may have done so twice, maybe, since I retired in December. I usually just let it air dry and let the waves take over. No more blowing it straight.
• Let it go naturally, in which case, it could take as long as two years for my hair to get completely grey and white, with regular hair trims to keep cutting off the bottom. I don't want to look like this for two years.
• Cut it really, REALLY short and keep it short until all the grey/white grows out. That is NOT an option. No way. The last time I had really short hair, it was because my mother forced me to get my hair cut and it really did a number on me. Never, ever again.

Rick said to do whatever I want. For something like this, I don't feel comfortable doing it on my own. I really need a professional.
Thoughts? Any advice?

 

[verna davies]

Why dont you ask your hairdresser about colouring it a silver/light grey colour then the roots won't be so obvious.

 

[Mia6]

I would go with a trim and get the auburn color wih highlights and see if you like it. If not
you can always let it get gray again. I loved your hair color in the pic of you and Clarence.

 

[rubysmama]

Maybe Google "going gray" as I've seen several articles recently about women deciding to stop colouring their hair since the lockdown.

There's also this book which you might find helpful: Amazon.com : going gray by anne kramer
My library has the e-book version, so yours might too.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

 

[artiemom]

I grew out my hair a few years ago. It was a bit traumatic for me. I did it for financial reasons.
Now, I am happy I did.

My hair has been short, so I guess it was easier for me. My hairdresser just kept cutting it, in a way that it would gradually blend in.

It did not take long for it to all grow out.. about 4 months or so...

My hairdresser keeps telling me that I am so lucky that it grew out in perfect coloring.
Recently, I had a couple of comments asking me who did the frosting!!! Wow...

I went from Strawberry Blonde to Grey..
Glad I did it.

I think if in your situation, I would opt for more frequent trims, and just let it grow out, naturally.. You can get it layered, or feathered, or textured a bit, so the line of demarcation is not as prominent.
I am sure you will look beautiful, no matter what you decide to do.

 

[Willowy]

I know several people who have decided to go gray during this time. But most of them have shortish hair so it's mostly grown out already.

If options #2 and #3 don't work for you, I guess #1 is the only one left. If you don't use heat anyway it sounds like it'll work out.

I know trying to get that popular silver look is hard, but is that an option? To color the bottom part silver to match?

 

[AbbysMom]

Someone I went to high school with recently opted for option one and it looks great! Maybe cut your hair a bit shorter like to shouler length so you can still pull it back?

Before -

After -

 

[Lari]

I'm getting more gray hairs and it's so depressing!

And yet somehow pregnant during a pandemic doesn't seem to lend itself well to the idea of getting a color treatment, so I'm stuck for the time being.

 

[neely]

I cared more about my hair color when I was working full-time. It's only been the last few years that I started coloring it. I haven't gone all gray so I have her do a single process that way it blends in with my natural color. I only do the full single process twice a year, otherwise she just touches it up in-between appointments.

 

[MoonstoneWolf]

I've been gray since 24 years old but stopped coloring when I was 45 years old. That's 20 years now. I'm lucky mine is the white gray color and not yellowish. I've also been very short hair for 15 years. I hated it at first but now I will never grow my hair back if you paid me a million dollars to do it. I like the simplicity of wash and let air dry.

 

[susanm9006]

I dyed my hair for years and when I decided to stop, I first switched to a temporary dye. It covers gray but it only lasts six weeks so you don’t need to mess it up by doing it at home. I used a shade a bit lighter than my natural color and it blended perfectly with highlights where I was more gray. I ended up doing this for about five years until all the permanent dye was gone.

 

[NY cat man]

Michele stopped going to a hairdresser even before the lockdown, deciding to just let nature take it's course. She is a little disappointed that her hair still retains much of the natural red color, with only a few traces of gray.
As for me? Hair? What's that?

 

[susanm9006]

I'm getting more gray hairs and it's so depressing!

And yet somehow pregnant during a pandemic doesn't seem to lend itself well to the idea of getting a color treatment, so I'm stuck for the time being.

I wouldn’t worry about a few. A lot of white haired older people in my family and so I started dying my hair after seeing just a few. When I finally quit at 50, the surprise was that my hair was still mostly brown. Now nearly 20 years later, it is still mostly brown but coming in very white at the temples. So, you might as well wait and see what happens. Once you start dying it, even if the new isn’t coming in gray it is still always noticeable.

 

[Lari]

I wouldn’t worry about a few. A lot of white haired older people in my family and so I started dying my hair after seeing just a few. When I finally quit at 50, the surprise was that my hair was still mostly brown. Now nearly 20 years later, it is still mostly brown but coming in very white at the temples. So, you might as well wait and see what happens. Once you start dying it, even if the new isn’t coming in gray it is still always noticeable.

They seem to be most prominent at the temples/where I normally part my hair though there are a few scattered throughout. Though I guess I could try to the mascara trick if I wanted to look extra nice for photos or something over the upcoming months.

 

[susanm9006]

They seem to be most prominent at the temples/where I normally part my hair though there are a few scattered throughout. Though I guess I could try to the mascara trick if I wanted to look extra nice for photos or something over the upcoming months.

Another good use for temporary color. It’s good coverage but it just gradually fades away over six weeks without changing your natural color.

 

[MoochNNoodles]

I've always wondered how people make that transition. My mother hasn't yet. She says when my Grandma went gray it came in beautifully starting over one side like she'd had a stylist put it in. I don't plan on dying mine. That's more upkeep than I like. I do have them scattered and one side of my head has more than the other. But I just ignore them. When DD was a little younger she noticed so I told her they were fairy sparkles. She wanted fairy sparkles too.

 

[DreamerRose]

I quit coloring my hair after a few months and just let it grow out. My natural color now is a dark grey, white at the temples, which means when I part it, there's a white streak framing my face. People used to think I dyed that, but I don't. The colored hair got lighter and lighter as time went on, and after it all grew very long, I had it cut to shoulder length, cutting off all the colored hair. As I wear it in a low ponytail, nobody seems to notice it.

The temporary dyes that others have mentioned might be the way for you. In any case, letting it go natural is much, much easier.

 

[Kieka]

My mom went grey after years of dying it black. She did it slowly over 12 months and let the stylist do her thing to make it happen. I have just a few grey hairs myself, talking finding one every few months. I do color my hair just slightly different from my natural. I bleached my hair and colored it back to natural but its slightly off. Been keeping it up to avoid root grow out and I like the slight red tone in sunlight. I think when I start to see a noticeable amount of grey I will just let it grow. Just easier and less dramatic.

 

[game misconduct]

i just shave my head bald plenty of gray already add in a growing forehead from loosing hair to its just better to be bald course that only works if your a man but a friend of mine his mom has long gray silvery hair its pretty cool looking i think

 

[jcat]

Why dont you ask your hairdresser about colouring it a silver/light grey colour then the roots won't be so obvious.

A formerly brownhaired friend decided to let her gray hair grow in about six months ago and switched to ash blond so the difference wouldn't be so noticeable. It looks good.