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Going gray and confused

Printed From: HairBoutique.com
Category: Hair Talk
Forum Name: Hair Color
Forum Description: The tricks and tribulations of changing your hair color
URL: https://talk.hairboutique.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=18535
Printed Date: July 20 2025 at 9:04am


Topic: Going gray and confused
Posted By: Jessica12
Subject: Going gray and confused
Date Posted: September 23 2003 at 2:16pm
I started going grey at 19 and at first the white streaks in jet black hair were striking. But, at 33 years old, when my hair was more white than black, a woman in her 60's (or older) who was getting her nails done next to me asked me if our sons had gone to school together!! I went the next week back to the salon to have my hair dyed and haven't looked back, since. Now after two years i have a full head of gray hair, or better my roots are gray and the rest of my hair is dyed, i feel it’s already time i was able to go natural again, but somehow can't bring myself to do it! What about a cut, right now it is short and that is fine but again, I want to look young and not sure what to do! Sometimes i have the impression to have given too weight to that lady, even if with time i was less and less enthusiastic about going gray that young. Has anyone else had such a problem and if so how did you deal with it?

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Jessica



Replies:
Posted By: Unregistered Guest
Date Posted: September 23 2003 at 7:13pm
For looking younger don't cut it hairdressers always say it makes you younger, they say that to make money.
Long hair looks much younger. Darker colours and thicker hair, too.

As for your confusion try a headache tablet =P


Posted By: Kuroneko
Date Posted: September 23 2003 at 9:57pm
It's not the length of the hair that makes a person look older or younger. If your hair is long, but grey, people will still see you as an older woman. And short hair can actually do a lot for some women to make them look younger, if they've got the type of face that long hair draws it out.
No matter what style you have, if you let your hair go grey, people will see you as older. If you wear a matronly style of any length, that'll only make you look older. If you have a youthful, modern style, it might not totally counteract the effects if the grey hair, but it will make you seem more youthful in spirit if nothing else. I don't think any length or style will totally prevent people from seeing grey hair and thinking "old", though.

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More awesome than a manatee!


Posted By: Keridwen
Date Posted: September 27 2003 at 7:43pm
I greyed early and starting "washing away the grey" at age 23. Dyeing hair is a pain in the butt to be sure, but I don't think I'll ever let myself go grey.

My hair grows very fast and I have to re-dye it every two to three weeks because I have such an outgrowth of grey roots by that time. Worse yet, I use henna because I don't want to use chemical dyes and henna is a time consuming and messy process. I would love to go to a salon to get colored, but I can't afford that when I need to have it done every three weeks at a minimum.

Did I mention dyeing hair is a pain in the butt? But I will suffer it for vanity. I do not want to be mistaken for a 60 something grandmother. There are women where I work in their 30's and 40's who have decided to just go grey. They get modern cuts, but it doesn't matter--they look decades older than they are based purely on their white head of hair. Their skin is smooth and flawless, hardly any wrinkles...but they still look old.

From a practical point of view job wise, it's better to look young than to appear to be on the retirement slide or to be too old of a dog to learn new tricks. No matter how wrong it is for our culture to idolize youth to such extremes, it is still reality. If we don't want to get thrown aside, we need to maintain as youthful appearance as possible. The grey hair has got to go and stay gone.





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Posted By: Sophie
Date Posted: September 28 2003 at 1:58pm
Kuroneko, good points. I agree people see grey hair they perceive age.

Sometimes a highlight is a great idea on greying hair. It blends the grey, changes the tone somewhat, softens around the face, it can help hair look thicker and if done right the roots don't show as fast, so you get more time out of your color service.

Admitedly there is an Art to getting it right on each individual...because everyone is different...skintone, amount of grey, amount of natural pigment, tone & depth of natural pigment?.....Not over-highlighting so the roots don't show too soon...... so it's important to find someone that is good at grey blending.

Cheers



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Sophie
http://salonwest.proboards34.com - http://salonwest.proboards34.com


Posted By: goreygirl
Date Posted: September 30 2003 at 6:43am
One thing I hate is that some salons think that just because you have gray hair you just want some ho-hum color so long as those nasty hairs are colored. Not so! I went to one salon for about 2 years and could never convince them to try something brighter or hipper on me. Then one day I took a look around and noticed the clientele was mainly in their '60s and '70s. Wrong place to try something more daring.

I found a younger, hipper salon where they didn't discourage anyone. If something wouldn't work, they were truthful but were also willing to try new stuff.

What bothered me was being told a number of times that they couldn't get my hair auburn. That lie was put to rest the day I threw a semi-permanent color and it came out beautifully. Ditto for a permanent one. Then my second trip to the local community college ruined it all and made my hair almost black.

Just wish some places would realize that gray doesn't always mean dull and unimaginative. There are too many great colors and ideas out now to limit oneself just because of the gray.

Just my two cents....

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Posted By: Sophie
Date Posted: September 30 2003 at 8:15pm
So True, Gg.

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Sophie
http://salonwest.proboards34.com - http://salonwest.proboards34.com



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