Anyhow, I also like to wear my hair long, and have been growing it for several years. And I have been dying it red for the last couple of years because I couldn't bear seeing so much grey.

But now I'm thinking about embracing the grey and letting it grow in, since my hair, being long, is getting overprocessed on the ends. I feel like I can't wear my hair long and keep dying it.

But will long hair with grey all through it look weird?

You're about 4 months behind me. I started going grey at 21 and every major stressful event produced more, I am now greyer than my mother and pretty much grey all over.

I shaved my head in 2002 and planned on letting it grow in regardless of colour, but I got so much ageism thrown at me I bleached it white within 2 weeks of it growing back in. It was kinda cool!

But this past winter I got tired of the expense. My hair grows super fast and within 4 weeks of dying it, you could see roots, clearly.

My son's girlfriend, whom I adore, had been doing my hair for about 8 months and I had a few conversations about what to do with it.

So in March she highlighted it and we just started letting it grow in. Then a week ago friday I went down to see her again (she's in Scarbough) and she trimmed it up and lightened it some more, now you can't see the clear line, but about a quarter of my hair is now grey and I can grow it out without the dreaded line.

She's done this transition for a few women so she knew what to suggest.

I'll PM you her contact info (she's 21 and OWNES her own salon - I adore her!)

I was thinking about that too. Before I went nuts with the henna and dyed my hair red, I went a couple of times to get blonde highlights in my hair, which kind of mingled with the grey and didn't look too bad - and when it grew out, it wasn't so obvious either with the skunk stripe.

But it's the meantime of growing it out that is going to be painful now! Because I desperately don't want to cut my hair. It took SO LONG to grow it out. I'm not even sure it looks all that great long like this, but I like the feel of it.

P.S. Got your PM! Thanks for the info, I'll keep it. Can't go right now, as I'm strapped for cash and probably will be for the summer. But it sounds great!

[ 21 June 2008: Message edited by: Michelle ]

[ 21 June 2008: Message edited by: Michelle ]

She did an 'ash' wash with mine and it looks fantastic.

I know I can be bias, but I've only ever had 2 other hairdressers who 'got' my hair. It's really thick and there's a lot of it.

But it can be done.

I know I see the funds I spend on my hair, as one of the few minor things I actually do for myself.

I use to find when my life seemed out of control I changed my hair colour. It was the one thing I had control over.

quote:

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Originally posted by Michelle:
One thing I was thinking about doing for "transition purposes" was to put silver streaks through my hair, including a big silver streak at the front, since all my front hair is really grey and when it grows back in you can really see the silver at the scalp. That could be a solution! Is that what you mean when you say she "lightened" your hair? She put grey streaks in it?

[ 21 June 2008: Message edited by: Michelle ]

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Sorry had to run - Aboriginal celebratations

I think it depends on a lot of things, including your work environment (hell, where I work the most, the men colour their hair, even some of the straight ones).

quote:

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Originally posted by oldgoat:
All those times we've met, I had no idea!

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I won't say I'll never colour my hair. But I'm a small person with a baby-round face, and the grey gives me some much-needed gravitas.

You can trim the ends without cutting the length. That's what I do. I have long hair that I color, been going grey since I was a teen. I usually do it myself and its a hassle. I friend of mine has her husband dye her hair.

quote:

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Hairstyles and attitudes -- are they connected?
Are the styles we embrace a matter of taste, or of values rejected?
Hairstyles and attitudes -- how do they relate?
How well do we use our freedom to choose the illusions we create?
Blow dried, bouffant, basic training
Cops in drag dressed up like whores
Cowboys in pony tails, bankers in bangs,
Presidents in pompous pompadours
Mommas in mohawks, daddies in dreadlocks,
Heavy metal goldilocks trying to look tough
The wet look, the dry look, the FBI look
But can you judge a crook by his coverup?
Hairstyles and attitudes -- are they connected?
Are the styles we embrace a matter of taste, or of values rejected?
Hairstyles and attitudes -- how do they relate?
How well do we use the freedom to choose the illusions we create?
Razor cut, laser cut, chop-in-channel
Curled up, slicked back, hanging in the eyes
Parted left, parted right, straight down the middle
Scientists say your hair never lies
I've done lots of research
It may be just hype, but the latest findings cause me to tremble
They categorize us into three basic types
According to which of the three stooges we most closely resemble
Hairstyles and attitudes -- are they connected?
Are the styles we embrace a matter of taste, or of values rejected?
Hairstyles and attitudes -- how do they relate?
How well do we use the freedom to choose the illusions we create?
Hairstyles and attitudes
Hairstyles and attitudes

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quote:

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Originally posted by Dr.Who fan:
I have considered not coloring the grey, but my grey is a dirty looking grey. Maybe if it was white I would. Guess I'm just too vain.

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Well, I was doing that, letting it grow in and considering it to be "highlights". And my grey hair is also kind of "dirty" looking in some parts and streaky in others, but I thought, no, I'm going to grow old gracefully and not let myself in for the constant 2 month hair dye thing.

Then I had this sudden urge, leftover from high school, to dye my hair bright red when I was in the henna aisle at a natural foods store. It wasn't about covering the grey, it was about having bright red hair.

So I got some and dyed it, and did that for a while, then that wasn't enough and I wanted it unnaturally bright red, so I went to the hairdresser and got that done on a lark, and loved it. But that got me onto the cycle of having to keep dyeing it or getting the skunk stripe, so now it IS about the grey hair, or more correctly, the grey stripe.

And, as Sineed pointed out, it's the poorly-groomed folks who don't look their best no matter how much gray they have.

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Originally posted by rural - Francesca:
I shaved my head in 2002...

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No dye, at least not tonight, don't have time because I'm meeting a friend at 8. This is total impulse here.

I had wavy hair in my 20s by the 30s it had waved goodbye so my 'do consists of taking a razor right down to the wood.

The wife said the increasing gray in her hair made her want to cut it short. So I put the one inch attachment on the clippers and waled away. I took off the attachment to trim her hair in back and then forgot to put them back on, putting a small rut in her 'do on the side.

She was pretty good about it and didn't charge me $10 per mistake like the kids used to.

She said her business associates were taken aback at first but then volunteered that it took a very secure, self-confident woman to wear such short hair.

Next time, I want to try a Mohawk - 1 inch on the sides and 3 inches in the middle and if it doesn't work,trim the 3 inches down to 1