for those transitioning to gray hair, how is it going? (shampoo, dye)
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I quit dying my hair in march 2020 and was initially excited about finally going natural. it is now 8 months into the process. while i love my gray hair colors, i'm finding my gray hair is thinner, very dry, and frizzy without hair color. also, the demarcation line between my blonde dyed hair and the gray mix hair is very pronounced which i find ugly.
thank goodness for lockdown. if i had to go out in public with this multi-color mess, i'd be embarrassed. i wear hats when i have to go out.
i'm determined to press on and grow out my natural color. however, reality hasn't reflected the thick beautiful gray mane of hair i envisioned. i've always been told by hairdressers my hair is thick. it is not thick now that it is white and gray. in fact, you can see the pink skin on my head where it is white gray.
How is your gray hair transition going?
Last edited by texan2yankee; 11-15-2020 at 05:35 PM..
My hair was dark (almost black) and I really hate the "skunk" look. My sister bit the bullet and has been growing it out since Jan. She cut off a lot of her hair so it is now short and grey.
I have gone the route of using a lighter shade of brown as "highlights" and when that portion hits my shoulders I'll cut it off. My DH says that my hair looks thinner on top; I don't know if it is because of the color change or aimply because i am 8n my middle 50s.
I quit dying my hair in march 2020 and was initially excited about finally going natural. it is now 8 months into the process. while i love my gray hair colors, i'm finding my gray hair is thinner, very dry, and frizzy without hair color. also, the demarcation line between my blonde dyed hair and the gray mix hair is very pronounced which i find ugly.
thank goodness for lockdown. if i had to go out in public with this multi-color mess, i'd be embarrassed. i wear hats when i have to go out.
i'm determined to press on and grow out my natural color. however, reality hasn't reflected the thick beautiful gray mane of hair i envisioned. i've always been told by hairdressers my hair is thick. it is not thick now that it is white and gray. in fact, you can see the pink skin on my head where it is white gray.
How is your gray hair transition going?
I went natural about 2 years ago.
First thing to know, I guess, is that hair dye roughs up the hair shaft, which makes hair seem 'thicker'. Regarding the frizzies, I recommend using some kind of stay-in conditioner, like Argan oil. Don't go too heavy with it, cause it'll flatten your hair.
Lately, I have NOT been using the Argan Oil, but instead, I've been using Pantene flexible wave gel. I put it in my hair when my hair is still wet, and then brush it into curls. (Very loose, curls/waves.) THAT has seemed to tame the frizzies well, for me.
OH! Regarding the color difference between the new hair and previously colored hair...a colorist might be able to 'correct' that, or purple shampoo might help tone the blond down, to make the difference not so noticeable.
I went from reddish to white/silver, so the difference between my 'old' hair and my new was kind of stark. A colorist lightened the red, and as a few weeks went by, the lightened part of the red faded even more, and it wasn't that noticeable anymore. Actually, I got a lot of compliments on the transitional color.
My hair was dark (almost black) and I really hate the "skunk" look. My sister bit the bullet and has been growing it out since Jan. She cut off a lot of her hair so it is now short and grey.
I have gone the route of using a lighter shade of brown as "highlights" and when that portion hits my shoulders I'll cut it off. My DH says that my hair looks thinner on top; I don't know if it is because of the color change or aimply because i am 8n my middle 50s.
Whatever the reason it blows.
I cut 8 inches off my hair a few weeks ago. the blunt cut is about 2 inches above my shoulders....shortest haircut since i was 12 years old. i'd love to go to my longtime stylist and get all the dyed hair cut off, but her studio is a very large room with multiple chairs and am not willing to venture into that environment with covid looming.
you're right. "[the process of growing out our hair] blows". lol. I'm determined to persevere! I'm done with coloring, highlights, lowlights!!! done. done. done.
Last edited by texan2yankee; 11-17-2020 at 03:37 PM..
First thing to know, I guess, is that hair dye roughs up the hair shaft, which makes hair seem 'thicker'. Regarding the frizzies, I recommend using some kind of stay-in conditioner, like Argan oil. Don't go too heavy with it, cause it'll flatten your hair.
Lately, I have NOT been using the Argan Oil, but instead, I've been using Pantene flexible wave gel. I put it in my hair when my hair is still wet, and then brush it into curls. (Very loose, curls/waves.) THAT has seemed to tame the frizzies well, for me.
OH! Regarding the color difference between the new hair and previously colored hair...a colorist might be able to 'correct' that, or purple shampoo might help tone the blond down, to make the difference not so noticeable.
I went from reddish to white/silver, so the difference between my 'old' hair and my new was kind of stark. A colorist lightened the red, and as a few weeks went by, the lightened part of the red faded even more, and it wasn't that noticeable anymore. Actually, I got a lot of compliments on the transitional color.
thank you very much for the tips, sassy. I've been experimenting with a few hair oils. they do seem to help with the frizz.
I look forward to being 2 years into this process, like you are, and this grow out transition is over. only 15 more months to go!
Last edited by texan2yankee; 11-17-2020 at 03:50 PM..
To me, it's going slowly. I like the color of the "gray" hairs (more white and silvery) and since I had a rinse rather than dye the last few times before lockdown, the line is not so pronounced. Also, the majority of my gray is around my face in front (think Bride of Frankenstein), so the jury is still out on how I'm going to feel about the color of the rest when I get a good look at it.
I have a friend who keeps telling me that everyone she knows who gave up the color says their hair is so much healthier. I'm not sure that's going to be the case with me. I also think it looks thinner on top and the gray is all frizz. I went back to mousse to control it, which I had given up because (ha ha) it took the color out. I find that if I pull it back into a little tail and mousse the frizz, there's no really noticeable color line. I just look like one person in front and another from behind. But it was meant to be an adventure.
I had gone to a silvery platinum blonde a few years back and was doing a double-process, and had stopped doing the lift on the front of my head b/c the hair had gone white anyway. My natural hair has lightened considerably since then all over, and I stopped doing bleaching process altogether, did a couple of rounds of just the silver-blonde color deposit only, and then one application of just a silver-blue toner & developer, and it's been about 4-5 months now since I even did that. My hair medium-thick hair has gotten the "Xmas tree" thinning on the crown and I've been looking into doing transplants once the COVID threat has lifted (~$5k in my area). Because the color was so light when I started, the grow-in has been hardly noticeable. I do use Pravana purple conditioner on a regular basis to keep it bright. My hair has a lot of curl, and I put a bit of curl butter in it after washing and then finger twist it into ringlets to style.
I have some good news on the hair growing out process. After only shampooing once a week and using Matrix Biolage conditioning balm, the gray hair has softened considerably and feels much healthier. Shampooing 2-3 x/week dried out my hair. Also, I nixed the hair dryer, bought foam curlers of different sizes and roll the hair after it has almost completely air dried. After leaving them on for a few hours, the voluminous curls make the hair look thicker and the demarcation line between gray and dyed hair less noticeable.
There is lots of time for experimenting on my newly gray locks since going out isn't possible right now.
Last edited by texan2yankee; 11-24-2020 at 05:14 PM..
I just reached the 1 year mark on growing out my natural hair color. My silver hair is so soft, healthy and smooth. no more need for deep hair conditioners or oils for frizz. it is a gorgeous combination of silver, white, and brown. The silver hair even has a natural wave that I never even knew I had! The years and years of using hair dye damaged the natural wave apparently.
I wish I'd done this transition to gray sooner. I thought about going dye-free for years, but the covid lockdown was just the push i needed to finally go for it since the salon was shut down for months.
It will take another year for my hair to be long enough to touch my shoulders. It has grown out about 6 inches and is still two tone with 6 inches of old dyed hair. I'm committed now to go the distance. My husband and kids love my hair color, too, which was a bit of surprise.
Anyone else have an update on their gray hair transition?
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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I started going salt and pepper (mostly pepper) back about age 55. Eventually it was probably 75% gray but still well mixed with the dark brown. At 67 I had chemo for cancer and lost it all, completely. Since recovering it's grown back, and after about 3 haircuts since it's actually more dark, probably back to 50% and still well mixed, no streaks of brown or gray, head and beard.
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