Okay ladies, give me the scoop on dealing with gray/silver hair.

[Crankyshank]

I've had a stark white patch of hair in the front of my head since I was 18 years old, thankfully it's on the underside of my hair. Now at 37 I have a few more white hairs popping up on the top of my head. So I've been coloring my hair for many years now and have no plans to stop.

.

I have a stark white patch in the back of my head since I was oh about 10 or 11. Fortunately it's in the underside as well, or it would look weird.

 

[mickeyboat]

I am one of the lucky ones - at 38 I don't have one grey. However, I do have pretty blah mousy brown hair, so I have it highlighted. The last couple of times I have gone for a more "streaky" look, and I really like it. I don't knos what my stylist uses, but my hair always feels wonderful after I have it done.

Denae

 

[claudia]

If you went to Sally's - all professional hair color is numbered the same.

Levels (1-10)
N - Neutral
G - Gold
R - Red
etc, etc...

You'd find the level and tone you want - and go from there.

A level 5G - at Sally's is going to be a Level 5G Matrix.

Got it, Thanks!

 

[NotUrsula]

My wife would take exception to that statement. She has a full head of silver/gray hair since she was about 35. People come up to her at work (she is in a retail situation) to complement her on hair color.

My opinion, let it go silver.

Which is great, if it *is* silver. Some of us are not that lucky. I'm a natural redhead, and my grey is a sort of taupe color, with a pink cast to it. It looks like dirty dishwater, a truly ugly color.

I've been grey since I was 16, and at 46 I still color it back to pale red. I figure I may as well, because if I let it go grey I'd still have to color it to get rid of that ugly color. When I get to be over 55 I'll change over gradually to coloring it a nicer grey.

 

[PatsMom]

I didn't start to see any gray until I was over 40 so I decided to just go gracefully gray. My mother is 71 and still isn't fully gray - we both have black hair with silver in it. My sister on the other hand was pretty much fully silver by the time she was 40. Not sure where she gets it from since my father wasn't fully gray when he died at age 69.

 

[undercovermom]

Thank you, Buckalew, for your sensible and sensitive remarks about home dying products. At various times I've used color out of a box (with acceptable results), a high-priced salon (great results) and currently a midpriced salon, and people say my hair looks good.

Last year I treated my daughter to highlights at an expensive salon. The girl who did the highlights did a horrible job and the salon owner had to fix the color the next day or my dd would have been walking around school looking like a zebra.

 

[Hedy]

I'll have to check out those colored shampoos-I'm grey enough I notice, but not enough to dye it.

 

[Feralpeg]

I'm letting my gray grow in. My neighbor across the street has a GORGEOUS head of silver hair. I am hoping that mine will do the same thing as it gets grayer.

I used to color it, and it just got too annoying. I figured I earned the gray hair, I am keeping ti and wearing it proudly!

I feel the same way. I used to color my hair, but the grey area never took the color the same as the non-grey. So, I was still two-toned. The color made my head itch something fierce. I decided to just let nature take its course. It is actually coming in pretty nice. I've had people ask me how I got the silver streak in the front of my hair because they can't figure out how to do it. I just laugh and tell them that Mother Nature is my hairdresser!

I'm 56 years old. Coloring over my grey hair is not going to make anyone think I'm any younger. As that great cartoon character, Popeye, used to say "I am what I am!"

 

[SydneyBristow]

I have a stark white patch in the back of my head since I was oh about 10 or 11. Fortunately it's in the underside as well, or it would look weird.

I just went a couple months without coloring it, figured I'd just let it go natural and try not to care. Well one day I put my hair in a ponytail and the patch was in it's full white glory, I was like and went straight out to buy some hair color.

 

[CathrynRose]

Which is great, if it *is* silver. Some of us are not that lucky. I'm a natural redhead, and my grey is a sort of taupe color, with a pink cast to it. It looks like dirty dishwater, a truly ugly color.
.

Youre a perfect candidate for a 'gold' pigmented shampoo / conditioner.

I am one of the lucky ones - at 38 I don't have one grey.
Denae

Me too - Im going to be 35 - not one. And my Mom died at age 55 and had maybe 3.

 

[Aimeedyan]

It depends on how your hair goes gray. One of my grandmothers had a beautiful head of silver/white hair. The other GM had mousy-colored gray hair. I'm hoping that one day I will take after Dad's Mom in the silver/white department.

One of my collegues had the most gorgeous head of white silverish hair - she wears it in a bob and it's just stunning.

If mine ever did that, I'd totally go natural.

 

[mickeyboat]

OMG! I just realized that I listed my age incorrectly. I am 37, not 38, thankyouverymuch!

Denae

 

[ChrisnSteph]

I tried to do my own hair color once - it was a calico disaster! I get mine partially highlighted about every 8 weeks.

However I also have a girlfriend who colors her own hair using drugstore stuff. Her hair looks great! It probably helps that she's blonde and goes a little lighter. It does work for some people!

 

[Poohnatic]

I use Wella from Sally-I actually started combining two shades. I also add Grey Magic and use a colorist's brush and comb/pick combo. It really makes a difference to take the time with the brush.

My L'Oreal color treatments *might* have lasted me 4 weeks up north (where my hair didn't grow as fast). Now, I get nearly 6 weeks out of each coloring.
It helps when you take the time and do the brushing and have the proper tools. Also, when you buy your own stuff from Sally, it's a lot cheaper than the kits that don't last!

I'm the lucky one in my family. Until about 5-6 years ago, I only had about 10% gray. Now, it's about 35% and shows up in patches. My Dad was full gray at 25, my mom in her mid 40's and most of my siblings were almost completely gray at my age. (I attribute some of that to the fact that every one of them is/was a heavy smoker and I'm not.)

I'll keep coloring until it goes more than 60% gray. That's what my mom did and it was so attractive when she let it go natural. Granted, she was only 2 years older than me when she did that!

Funny thing is, I had a professional coloring back to my natural color and everyone told me how unnatural it looked! I rhought she'd done an awesome job, but I got asked frequently if I was ill because I looked so pale.


Suzanne

 

[NEVERENOUGHWDW]

Gray hair denial here!!!
I have an appointment every 4-5 weeks

What gray hair>

 

[undercovermom]

Gray hair is hereditary -- you get it from your children.


I now, I know, but I could't resist...

 

[solferino]

Gray hair is hereditary -- you get it from your children.


I now, I know, but I could't resist...

I definitely didn't get mine from DD, but a significant amount came from kids that I work with.

 

[Buckalew11]

I use Wella from Sally-I actually started combining two shades. I also add Grey Magic and use a colorist's brush and comb/pick combo. It really makes a difference to take the time with the brush.

I'm curious about what the difference between applying with a brush and apply from a bottle make to you. TIA

 

[Pin Wizard]

When you get tired of pulling them out or there are too many to keep up, then you'll color it!

 

[Pin Wizard]

I'm curious about what the difference between applying with a brush and apply from a bottle make to you. TIA

Former hairdresser here...in my opinion, each strand gets better coverage with a brush.