Opinion needed on hair

susiestar

Roll With It
I have the bottom of my hair dyed the color it used to be. The top is the gray it has turned. I can no longer use chemical processes or much in the way of hair products. :sad: I have a strange skin problem where I always itch, everywhere.

I am wondering if I should go in and have all the dyed hair cut off, and just have the grey. This is the ultimate goal. I just have worked for over a year to get my hair this long (to my shoulder blades for the first time since I was 11 :smile:). husband likes it long. If it is short I have to style it every day cause it will stand up all over. Long I can just pull it back into a pony tail.

Of course, if I cut it really short I can put some gel in it and turn myself upside down while I blow dry it. Then I can get it to stand out perpendicular to my head - all of it!!! :surprise: I can actually get about 6 inches of hair to stand straight out!!! EEEEEK!!

Any opinions? I have very straight hair, thick and coarse. And over 90% grey.

Thanks,

Susie
 

AllStressedOut

New Member
6 inches off your head huh? Thats some potent gel!

How much of your hair is left colored? If its only an inch or two left, I'd say cut it off. The gray will grow in and you can have it down to your shoulders again.
 

Abbey

Spork Queen
Gosh...hair is SUCH a big deal for women.

I'm on my...ummm... 5th or 6th try at having longer hair. I have very thin hair, which is probably 90% grey, and has been since I was 20. Coloring is a HUGE issue. It's very destructive to your hair.

I finally conceded a year or so ago to having it professionally done. Well, ...not exactly. We have a major salon here that has a teaching college so instead of $200, it costs me $40. I was willing to take the chance. He's been wonderful and knows the woes of aging hair. I don't have 'pretty grey' hair, either. It's pretty nasty.

My hair is finally at my shoulders, yet I put it up every day because of the heat. When it reaches 90 degrees, I'll let it down.

Abbey
 

susiestar

Roll With It
I have about 4-5 inches of colored hair. If I cut it off, my hair will problem be just above my shoulders. And not reslly long enough to pull back well.

Yes, 6" of hair standing straight out. Did it for fun a few times in college, and once to make difficult child realize that I really could do crazy things with my hair. And, really, all my hair needs is some pretty basix suave or other grocery store gel to do this.

I turned gray early too. At my Sweet 16 party I was just about to blow out the candles when a friend cried out, "You have gray hair!!" For years it looked like a very good pro highlighting job. Even salon people would think that at first.

Now I use shampoo for gray hair to brighten it up and keep it looking not too nasty. The line between the colored and the gray is noticeable to me, but not very drastic.

I think I will wait a month or two. It will still be there.

Susie
 

hearts and roses

Mind Reader
Have you considered speaking with a really great stylist about some short styles with gray hair? I get MORE magazine and they frequently have gray haired models in there and I have to say, having the hair styled nicely makes the gray look really attractive and sexy. I've seen it long, but I really like it shorter better. If it was short you could add that gel to give it some spunk. I'd go see a stylist at an upscale salon if you can - it might be expensive, but as they say in the commercials, "you're worth it". After that, it may just be a matter of you having it cut and then styling it yourself at home, you know?

On the other hand, if it's only an inch or two on the bottom, then just have it trimmed if you prefer the longer hair and ponytails.

Good luck.
 

busywend

Well-Known Member
Can you dye the colored section closer to grey? It probably would not even touch your scalp.

Abbey - I am trying once again to get longer hair, too. It is such a pain!
 
Well, I have really long hair, and am wondering the same thing myself. I was a redhead, and never had to think twice about hair color. When I started going grey, it went from the temples back ~ still not too bad. Then, all the pretty red or blond hairs turned gray and I was left with these colorless kind of dark ones mixed with grey.

Eeewwhhh!

I began to dye it. That worked out okay too until the last time. For whatever reason, the dye went on in clumps and my hair began to break off and fall out.

I had alot of hair? So you really cannot tell how much I have lost ~ I can tell, of course. I don't have any bald patches or scalp damage or anything like that is what I mean.

I have about six to eight inches of new growth, now. I have been cutting the damaged hair off as the new (ugly grey and colorless brownish) hair has grown in. There is so much gray in it that I look very tired out unless I tie the hair up.

Then, it looks alright.

My hair is still waist length. I think it is easier to take care of than shoulder length or shorter because I can tie it, braid it, French braid it, whatever.

So I am debating having it streaked.

Or having the three colors interlaced through it.

Or just leaving it and aging gracefully.

I am leaning toward leaving it and aging gracefully.

I have a friend who simply stopped dyeing her hair. She just refuses to do it anymore. (She also refuses to wear a bra anymore.)

She looks just fine to me, but husband thinks she looks terrible, and that she should not have "let herself go".

husband would like me to dye my hair again.

So, I don't know what to do, either.

Barbara
 
K

Kjs

Guest
I color mine(long also). have a couple different colors foiled in so the grey isn't so noticable. But if chemicals cause you to react have you tried the types of color that are considered washable?

I know Loving Care washes out after so many washes. Maybe try a little spot near your neck and see if you react.

I would be hesitant to cut it. I too have been growing mine for a while. I always had waste long hair until about 6 years ago I had it cut a little past my shoulders. I have since been trying to get it long again. At this point it is mid back. But I like to beable to put it up, and braid it in little braids. With short hair I can't do to much.

But..if you decide to stand on your head and blow dry it...you can read BBK's post.
 

Star*

call 911........call 911
What would make YOU happy? Why don't you go to a wig shop (no I'm not kidding) and try on some styles and colors to see if you DID get it cut and um...spikey, ohhhhhh dear..if you would like it. Take a camera along and have someone take a picture so you could show DF OR a hair stylist if you liked it...that's what you'd like to look like.

If you dont' like the short grays....I'm with Witz...get it stripped out, but leave it long.
 

donna723

Well-Known Member
I've been going back and forth with the same thing lately. I've been coloring mine for the last 8 or 9 years - long enough that I have no idea now how gray it would be now if I DIDN'T color it! Mine didn't start turning gray at the temples or at the front, which wouldn't have looked too bad. Mine started graying right on the TOP, where it hung down and looked like a skunk stripe down the back of my head! Lovely! And it wasn't a "pretty" silver gray - it was coming in this ugly steel gray, colorless, lifeless shade. So, all this time, I've been coloring it the same dark brown shade that it always was before, which looks OK, I guess. I DO have "good" hair - it's very thick and shiny, and really straight. It's blunt cut, supposed to be right above my shoulders but I don't get in as often as I should so it's almost always longer. And people usually are surprised to find out how old I am - most think I'm about ten years younger.

But lately I've been toying with the idea ... just "toying" mind you ... of seeing what it would look like if I let it go back to the gray! I know it's gotten a lot lighter than when I first started coloring it. But how do you do that?? I just can't go in to work "two-toned"! And there's no way I could let it grow out a little bit and then have it cut very short! I look awful with very short hair! And I still have jet-black eyebrows! That would look "funny" ... right??? If I left work on a Friday with dark brown hair and came back in Monday totally gray, would everything think I've aged twenty years over the weekend?? And is going from dark brown to gray like admitting ... "OK! SO I'M <u>OLD</u>! DEAL WITH IT!"

OK, so I probably just talked myself out of it. But I'm still thinking about it. It's just such a pain to have to color those gray roots every few weeks!
 

susiestar

Roll With It
My hair is really really thick and heavy and coarse. The problem with short hair is that my hair grows STRAIGHT UP. All of it. If you watch how it comes out of the scalp it is in a totally unnatural pattern. It is truly strange. And so short hair has to be washed and messed with much more than longer hair. With the long hair I can just shove it in a ponytail if I have no time. I can be very sure that I am not walking out of hte house with my hair looking like I stuck a finger in a light socket.
I am afraid to try ANY chemicals other than gentle shampoo and conditioner. I am reacting to some of the more perfumed shampoos, have had very bad reactions to the skin test on the washes out type hair color, even the ones that wash out in ONE shampoo (I have a wide assortment of the colored hair gels because it was something I used to motivate difficult child a while back! Pink is kinda pretty..LOL)

What's the deal about bra wearing? I quit wearing one a few years ago. Anything snug around my middle leads to back spasms, and I can swell up 4 sizes in an afternoon. Makes bras real torture. But maybe I could wear different colored bras on my head instead of dying my hair?? I bet no one would notice hte 2 toned look then!!!

WOW!

Susie
 

donna723

Well-Known Member
If you had it cut to just shoulder length, that's not really "short". That's the length mine usually is and it's still long enough to pull back if I want to get it off my neck on the hot days. Have you ever had it blunt cut - all one length? That way there's still enough weight to it to pull it downward instead of it sticking up. My hair is super-straight but if it's cut in layers, the layers stick out ... like spikey wings! NOT attractive! But with it all one length, I don't have to worry about that.

Maybe you could find a good stylist and go in once and get some expert advise on how to work with the kind of hair you have. Sometimes a REALLY good haircut can make all the difference in the world! And she might be able to recommend some kind of good "product" to tame it down somewhat.
 
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