After two years of growing it out...

[Dappleganger]

no more colored hair! It's all gray now (well, more like salt and pepper).

FREE AT LAST...yay! No more being a slave to the bottle of color every couple of months. I had let my hair grow pretty long, so now it's in a wedged-bob (whatever they call it). This isn't popular in our area as most women here never, ever let themselves go gray. You wouldn't believe how many 80+ elderly people still color their hair!

Anyone else doing this? BTW I'm 46 and began going gray at 19.

[sarge43]

1. You'll love it especially when it turns silver. It'll glow in the sunlight.

The dye was destroying my hair; I had to stop. After the shock of seeing my mother looking back at me in mirror, I really liked it. I've had mine short for a long time, so wash, towel dry and hit the streets. Life's too short to be fussing with something I see only once a day.

[Dappleganger]

14. You're so right...

life's too short to fussing with it!

:hi:

[cwydro]

2. A close friend of mine dyed hers forever.

She started going grey early and is now in her fifties. Finally all of her friends convinced her how nice her hair looks the way it is.

She has beautiful blue eyes and it sets them off wonderfully.

I don't intend to color mine...it is beginning to turn, but very slowly.

I've never been one to fear getting older...I'm proud of it.

[Dappleganger]

7. Great for you!

My eyes are blue as well, have my mother's Irish coloring (light skin and freckles, too).
Wish mom had not ever colored hers as we never were able to enjoy her gray.

[stray cat]

28. Maybe it makes a difference if you are completely gray before you are 40

[hobbit709]

3. Color? What's that? Mine is all natural.

[hippywife]

4. I came really, really close

and had it just about there, and for some reason, mid-life crisis or something, I colored it again. I wish I would have just gone to a beautician and had a weave done to help it keep going without looking so freakish or having it all chopped off really short.

[Dappleganger]

8. Any crisis can grab you wrong...

actually, losing my mother made me want to go gray for some reason. I was also afraid of the short (mine's still long enough for a stubby ponytail, ha).

I'm sure yours would be beautiful no matter what. :)

[CaliforniaPeggy]

5. My dear Dappleganger!

I"ve never colored mine, and it's a beautiful silver now... I love it!

I pulled out my first white hair when I was 20...:scared:

And I gave some serious thought to coloring it then. SO glad I didn't!

How about a picture?

I have a pic of mine from the back, showing my ponytail!

:hi:

[Dappleganger]

9. Ha!

I'll bet yours is beautiful!

I should but don't generally post pics. Maybe I'll do one just for you tomorrow so you can see it.
Today I also did an apple cider vinegar rinse so it is soooo soft. The stylist said is seals the hair shaft so it becomes smooth for several days.

:hi:

[CaliforniaPeggy]

16. See for yourself!

[Dappleganger]

20. Love it!!

It looks so good long, too. And it's great to see the freckles. ;)

[CaliforniaPeggy]

21. Thanks!

Ah yes......freckles...

I'm 66 years old, and I still have 'em!

;-)

[GreenPartyVoter]

6. I still color mine. My mom stopped coloring hers a couple yeard before she died. Basically

she waited until the grey got down to the nape of her neck and then cut off a very long brown braid and never looked back. :D

I probably will go the same route, but I think I have another decade or so before I get there.

[Dappleganger]

11. It's hard to begin that route...

but once you get into it it's not so bad.
Yeah, I wouldn't have had the courage to do it in my thirties. Now it doesn't seem to matter so much.

Mom would die if she saw how gray mine is today (she was always getting on to me about the roots, lol).

[sarge43]

27. My mother had a funny.

"It's not my grey hair that bothers me; it's my kid's."

[Duer 157099]

10. Raises hand

Also started going gray in my teens, but didn't color until the past decade or so and just recently stopped because it's just so annoying to keep up with.

[Dappleganger]

12. How long did it take

for yours to grow out? As my hairstyle was long it took two years (after cutting).

[Duer 157099]

19. Mine was also long, until fairly recently

Now it's only sort of longish, just enough that I can get it into a semi pony tail.

But my hair grows FAST, which is why coloring it was such a pain. Probably only 6 months.

[nolabear]

13. Did the same thing a few years ago. It ROCKS! Mine's almost white and looks great.

[Dappleganger]

15. Bet it does!

Actually, I'm looking forward to white. It'll be interesting to see how long that process takes.

[Kali]

17. I seem to have come from a family that has really good hair

My Grampa still had a lot of black in his hair well into his 70's, my father too. Mom died at 60 and had lost most of hers to chemo but until then it stayed black. I'm a dirty blond and 50 and it was only a year ago husband found a white/grey hair on the top of my head, I never even noticed (of course I tend to avoid mirrors anyway) he's been grey/white since his 30's.

But: I would never color it, I love long silver hair on old ladies. Had a distant cousin of my Grandmother who was tall and slender and she had long grey hair she wore in braids. She is how I pictured myself in old age. Not going to happen I think - I will probably get that yellowish grey color that isn't as pretty (still won't color it) and I sure as hell ain't slender anymore!

[lunatica]

18. I do something kind of strange. I color only my solid white hair and leave the rest natural

My hair is solid white on the sides and around my ears but the rest has a natural sprinkling of gray and brown hair. The solid white on the sides look stark and look like I'm trying to be punk or something. So I color that part and leave the rest natural so I have gray hair. It looks much more natural than if I didn't color it. I must say I really like the way the gray looks otherwise, especially when it shines when the light hits it.

[Ilsa]

22. I'm considering it, but I love how the chemicals "re-texturize" my fine hair.

It gets wire-y as it turns grey. The gentle colorants keep it feeling soft.

[applegrove]

23. Me too. I died my hair for years and now I let it go grey. I love it. Plus I read somewhere that

dark hair dyes are carcinogens so I felt 20 years of dying my hair dark was enough. Plus I had so much grey hair I was having to dye it much more frequently than six weeks. As usual I have a lot of reasons for doing something.LOL!

[sarge43]

25. Yeah, a health hazard is possible

The other thing is after a certain age our complexions charge texture and color. A frame of dark hair doesn't look good, tends to emphasize the aging. Plus, as we age, our hair can become more fragile.

Back when I wanted to grab Lady Bird Johnson and redo her hair. "Honey, we know how old you are. That dead black mop is just making you look older. Let it go; you'll look so much better."

[MiddleFingerMom]

24. kick

[Kali]

26. ha

when did yours start turning? I remember the first time I met you in person at El Dorado - you were the one that first greeted/acknowledged me. I remember your nice long ponytail - definitely some silver hee hee

[Odin2005]

29. grey hair makes ou old farts look distinguished.

:)

[sarge43]

30. As one old fart once said,

"Go away about the winkles and grey hair; I earned 'em." :thumbsup:

[rove karl rove]

31. salt and pepper rawks

I bet it looks good on you. I knew this family once that would all go completely grey before the age of 25, and it really didn't look bad at all on most of them. Best with shorter hair IMO.