I frequently get questions from readers and thought the best thing to do was to have our community answer. Please leave a comment so we can support Joy! Let’s support and empower each other! -Going Gray
“I now have about 1.5 inches of beautiful white/silver roots. I am ready to go all the way with a very short sassy cut. My problem is that I have med. brown hair so these roots are really showing up!! About a week ago, my hairdresser did some low lights on some of my silver but it really didn’t do much. Still looks the same. I am going to the Virgin Islands the first week in Nov. and I just don’t know which way to go. Should I use a temp. color just on the roots or maybe one of those new touch up pens for roots? My hair is already pretty short so it really won’t help right now to cut it real short…..the roots will still be there! Any ideas?”
- Joy Miller
{ 23 comments… read them below or add one }
Even temporary color has to work its way out eventually. I say do nothing but enjoy yourself. Even more so if you’re going to be on vacation where no one knows you anyway. If it really bugs you, bring a pretty hat to wear when you’re dressed up & out on the town. Bon voyage! Have a wonderful time!
I’d go with cutting it off. If you have 1 1/2″ of roots, go all the way to the roots. I’m happy to email you photos of myself in the same situation this past March. I had a vacation coming up and nothing but silver roots. I cut off all my brown — about 9 inches worth. At first, I did do a quick cut where I still had brown tips (which still looked MUCH better than the drastic line on the head between colored hair and white roots), but 3 weeks later, I had those cut off too. Email me through my blog (search on there for photos as well), and I’ll send you some additional photos.
Good luck!
I think you look lovely as you are.
Joy:
You should be proud to show the silver hair. I wouldn’t put any more color on it! I hope you have a wonderful and relaxing vacation in the Virgin Islands. I have not colored my hair in six months, and have actually gotten more positive comments from people telling me how pretty my hair is. I am definitely glad I decided to go with my “natural” silver!
Florence
Everyone goes through this stage and it is not easy, however, if someone askes you what the deal is with your hair, just tell them you are giving up hair dye.That is all there is to that. You can also use cute hats and scarves to cover your hair and it wont be long before you have a full head of silver locks. Good luck with this!!!!!
I had to give up hair dye because I almost died from allergic reactions to it. I only found this out when my scalp as well as the rest of my body became infected from the dye and I went to the Dr. Tests were done, the result was hair dye poisoning. I too went through this stage and as stated before, everyone does who once dyed their hair and has decided for one reason or another to quit. I am glad I did, as I am alive and well and hear to pass this on to you. Have fun. Marti
Thanks for all of your coments!!! I am really going to try to go all the way……no more dye!!
There is one thing that I fear…..my hair is very silky fine. Nor really thin but fine. I am so used to being dark that I think it looks thicker the darker I keep it. Do you think that silver hair will make my hair look really thin and limp???????
HI,
I’m going through the same thing. I was growing out my hair to the natural color which is almost black with alot of silver. I made the mistake of putting a clear glaze on it once but it turned out good. So, I thought I would re-glaze it a 2nd time a month later. Keep in mind this was a clear glaze from a beauty supply store. The glaze did not change my color the 1st time. The 2nd time it lightened it to a reddish dark blonde to light brown. I was horrified!
My hair was long & is naturally curly. I don’t look that great with real short hair. I tried it before. Well, I did get alot cut off but the length is still long. I have alot of layers in it now. I usually have a layered cut to enhance my curly hair. But this time I had the stylist put in alot more layers. I’m getting roots but I get it trimmed on the top layers alot. I also trim them myself & it turns out good. So, a little at a time the light color is getting cut out with the layers.
I too was debating if I should put darker streaks in to blend it better. But I really do not want to dye my hair anymore. I also had 2 major gastro surgeries in a 6-7 month time frame. My last surgery was a few weeks ago. So, I really don’t want to dye my hair at home. Or sit in a salon for a hour or more.
To Marti, I feel bad for what you went through. That is so scary to get such a horrible allergic reaction to the hair dye. I would say that most people are better off without putting those chemicals on their hair. I love my silver hair & want it all back to the natural hair color. I love this very supportive website too. Judy K. Chicago.
I agree with M
My fantasy has been to go away, let the sun and ocean do its thing, wash my hair everyday and come back with the grey transformation accomplished.
Unless it is a business trip, what difference does it make?
Bring coloful scarves, hoop earrings, you will fit right in.
The reason I let my hair go natural is that I didn’t want to go back to my dark hair. I had my hair lightened when I moved back to California five years ago and found that it was a lot less maintenance being a blond when my silvery roots grew in. But it was still an expense of time and money getting the blond highlights put in and friends told me that warm tones were not as pretty on me being a winter as my cool silvery tones were. I was wearing my hair pretty long and finally decided that with my predominantly silver hair, going back to a short chic hairstyle would be the answer all the way around. I am so happy to have light hair now without having to do anything except keep my hair trimmed. I am a designer who works from my home studio. My hairstylist in Santa Monica is very supportive of my decision …and my man loves it. It’s a win/win situation.
Oh my gosh I’m reading your wonderful comments about going gray and it makes me more excited about going to my natural color (salt&pepper). I say excited but also a little intimadated. It was my husband’s idea after my comments about the expense of coloring and the thought was in the back of my blonde head….so here I go, probably about 1″ of natural color is looking back at me in the mirror…another of life’s changing faces.
Love your site! We must stick together. And we all need encouragement to continue on this quest. I’ve decided to quit coloring and let it grow in naturally. It’s been 3 months now. I have about 2 inches of fabulous gray/silver roots showing. The first couple months were a BIG internal struggle. I did break down and color it once because I couldn’t stand the roots. But now I am on a mission. I am welcoming the gray and it is a nice transition period. Like a rebirth.
Sure the roots are obvious. Sure people look at me like i’m a little weird. But i don’t care. Knowing there are more people out there with the same journey adds to my strength. THANKS! Mary http://grayhairstories.blogspot.com/
Hi,
I hope that everyone had a real nice Thanksgiving. I love this website! I’m with Mary, it’s nice that we can stick together & support each other with going gray. I’m amazed by some women that I am in contact with on other websites & forums, message boards & even on Myspace. Some women just panic when they see a few gray hairs.
Everyone is different & can do what they want. But I do hear from women who are so afraid of their gray hair! 1 lady has her daughter touch up her roots every week!
The good news is that I live in Chicago & I am starting to see more & more women going with their natural white, silver, gray & salt/pepper hair. This is great! I love all of the comments, info & photos over here. Judy K.
I say definitely go with the short sassy cut! Show off your face instead of hiding behind long dreary locks. I had a girlfriend in Florida who was always changing the color of her hair from one shade of brown to another as she neared 50. One day she got so fed up with never liking any hair coloring she tried, she cut her hair real short so only her silvery roots showed. She looked great! Her face really came to life being topped with the short silver hair. The DYED hair she had before always made her look lifeless and that was what was making her so unhappy with her appearance.
She has become my inspiration now for going short and silver myself.
Go for the cut! Hair grows. If you don’t like it, you can always grow it back.
Hi! This is my first time on this blog, and I, too, am preparing tgo natural, which will be some level of gray/white. The problem is, I KNOW I don’t look good in really short hair, I’ve been there and it was awful. I have a flat head in back, and a sagging chin/neck (never a really defined chin line. The combination, plus a back curvature, means I really NEED HAIR! So, in the light of that, what is the best way to go from auburn to whatever I am without big line?
Becca,
Try a rinse on your hair that washes out. As your gray continues to grow, you can at least fight off the striped look.
In time you can just stop the rinses and viola’, you’re gray.
I’ve kept my hair short for many years, so it wasn’t very difficult for me.
But, I bet the rinse would work just fine.
You’ll love it.
I have been wanting to quit coloring and let the gray come. I even tried to find a wig to wear while the awful growing out process progressed, but gave up on that! These comments and other websites I’ve seen today have made me decide to do it! We need to have a “support group” :’)
Thanks for the inspiration!
Diana
I am undecided about going gray. The problem is that when I grew out about 1/4 inch of natural roots, my hair dresser said I still have some dark brown roots in the back.
She said this is normal and most people go gray in front first. The problem is that I have been dying it light blonde for years and I don’t know how it’s going look with three colors. Does anyone know if there is such a thing as gray or silver hair dye to make the transiton easier?
Oh and I’m only 36 !
Hi..decided to stop the dyeing over 3 months ago and I have about 2 inches of lovely silver coming in .My crappy reddish dyed hair is almost to my shoulders with a little layering. I’m not ready to do the chop yet. My hair and scalp has never felt so good. I’m in this for the long haul and would recommend it to anyone!
I was going to my hair dresser every 3 weeks without fail, and it was sucking away so much time and money! I’ve a LOT of hair – it’s thick in quantity and somewhat coarse in quality, so each dye job took a good couple hours. I moved across the country from my hair stylist and finally took the step to STOP dying. It’s so hard, though. I’ve been here and color free for 8 months. I now have about 3 inches of silvery white/gray and the rest is very brunette. I think often of giving up and dying. But then I find other people going through the same thing – and it helps LOADS. So thanks, all you random internet strangers. Thank you.
Oh, and also? I’m only 37.
Hello everyone!
I am delighted to find so many other women who are struggling to liberate themselves from the pressure imposed by a society that has somehow managed to make the process of aging something that needs to be fixed.
It is neurotic at least, and at worst is a recipe for self-loathing.
I suddenly had the realization about a month ago that it was time to be true to myself and stop dying. I purchased a product called Color Oops at Walgreens. It took my hair from a medium to a light brown and really helped blur the line between the dyed hair and my salt and pepper roots.
I have thick, strong hair and plan to focus on keeping it well conditioned and healthy. I'm 54 and like the idea of totally being O.K. with it!
Hello everyone!
I am delighted to find so many other women who are struggling to liberate themselves from the pressure imposed by a society that has somehow managed to make the process of aging something that needs to be fixed.
It is neurotic at least, and at worst is a recipe for self-loathing.
I suddenly had the realization about a month ago that it was time to be true to myself and stop dying. I purchased a product called Color Oops at Walgreens. It took my hair from a medium to a light brown and really helped blur the line between the dyed hair and my salt and pepper roots.
I have thick, strong hair and plan to focus on keeping it well conditioned and healthy. I'm 54 and like the idea of totally being O.K. with it!