One more cut to go...

When I had my hair cut short in California in October, I had only the slight notion that I would really enjoy having short hair.  I really love it, though.  I'm wondering if I'll grow it long again.  I'm thinking that I will just because I'm curious about how the gray will look in a longer style.  I can always cut it short again.

So, I have only one more cut to go before all the color is cut off.  It was only May that I decided to stop coloring and if I hadn't cut it off, I'd still have a ways to go.  I do believe cutting it was the best option for me.  I couldn't handle the skunk look.  

My journey....from May, 2011 to now...

Here's my hair pre-decision at its longest....

This was the day that I decided to begin blogging about going gray....Day one...

 Then I decided to get a sassy cut...this cut was fun...

 

This is when I discovered a nice streak.  I still wasn't sure of just how much gray I have... 

 

This was the picture that made me consider short hair....I just didn't like the skunk stripe...or my haircut

 

Here's my first short cut that I got in California in October....I really loved it!!!

 

 The day after my cut at the beach in California with my grandson.

So, now I needed to find a stylist out here....I found her!!!  Here's my second short cut...loving it!!

As my journey continued, I found that I was not as gray as I thought I was.  In today's picture, I can't even see the gray.  Here's a top picture wear it's a little more apparent that I have gray.  That's my "streak", but the gray is lightly peppered (or salted) throughout.

Curly time...and time for work....

 

I see more and more women taking the chance and letting their gray shine.  It could be that I notice it more too.  Are you next???

Next post will be when I am color free....

short style #2

The colored part of my hair is just about all cut off!  I'm so glad I went short when I did.  I was really not liking how it was looking.  After years of being a hairdresser in the 70s and 80s, I have a hard time letting my hair be in a bad hair day stage.  Just letting my short style go 6 weeks was really hard.  It was starting to tweak out and I could only wear it curly and had to use mouse on it to tame it down.  Jen really gave me a great cut, but she's in California and I'm here.  

So....I went to a friend's daughter today and she gave me a great cut!  It's different than Jen's cut, but I love it too!  I'm looking forward to seeing what it looks like curly....

Now I need to decide whether I'll grow my hair long or keep it short.  I'm really loving the short, though.  Time will tell.  

New style...short short short!!!

Last month, I had a bad skunk stripe.  

After this picture was taken, I decided that I needed to do something different with my hair.

I went to my hairdresser with a picture of what I thought I wanted.  I really tried to be happy with it, but I wasn't. Three days later I went for a visit to California to see my son and grandson and my brothers.  At the end of a visit with my oldest older brother, he made a comment about my hair.  You see, my brother used to be a hairdresser in the heyday "Shampoo" (think Warren Beatty, 1975) days.  Anyway, his leaving comment to me was, "It looks like shit."  It really hurt my feelings.  He thinks that I should color my hair.  My brother really needs to censor his comments.

So, with his words in my head, I took a good long look at my hair and decided that I had to do something because the colored hair is getting brassy and just not looking good.  I still didn't want to color it though.  

My son's friend (here in California) is a hair stylist and he said she was really good, so off I went to see her this past Monday. 

I showed her some pictures, but basically said to do what she thought would look good.  She blew it out when she was done.  

The gray really shines when it's straight...

This is the curly version, but I'm still learning.  I've not had short hair since 1998.  The grey isn't as apparent wearing it this way. 

here's the back...

I'm still getting used to it and at times really miss my long hair.  It was only six months ago that I had it long.  This was me in June after I last colored my hair. 

Four months of grow out...Vote on my next haircut...

It's been Four months since I decided to let my color grow out.  I wasn't sure what to expect by now, but I was thinking my roots would be longer by now.  Summer is over and my hair may grow even slower, but time will tell.  I'm strongly considering a shorter haircut.  

Here's my hair today...

This is the side that has less white... more of a sprinkle of salt

The other side has more of a marbling of white....

So, I part my hair depending on my mood.  So far, people have been supportive although a few women friends say that they wouldn't do it.  Some say they'll wait and see what mine will look like first.  

Here are some styles that I'm sort of considering...Feel free to vote for your favorite..

This one would be the longer option...but layered...I found this one last and I'm thinking of going with this one...

I like the messy look...

This is seems a little longer than the one above...

I found that I like most of Sharon Stones short styles. 

Convertibles and gray hair

As the summer turns to Fall, the temperature is perfect for driving with my ragtop down.  Today, driving home from work, I glanced at my hair.  My hair shimmers in the sun!  I am still embracing my gray, or rather my white, hair, but there is a lot!!! 

Today's part was in my normal dyed hair spot on the right side.  This is where most my white shines.  It's much more noticeable when I part it there and I find I part my hair more lately on the left.  Although I'm okay with the white, I still find I want it less noticeable.  Little by little I'm making the shift from being 'okay with the white' to 'loving the white'...day by day.

My plan is to keep it cut as it is now.  My second cut since my decision was about an inch shorter than the first time.  I wonder, though, will I go really short?  It crosses my mind.  Funny, last year I was growing it long long long.  I do miss being able to twist it up with a stick, but I'll be able to do that next summer...if I don't chop it all off that is.  I can't wait for my natural colored curls!!!

Curly or straight

Yesterday I decided to blow my curly hair straight.  Since it's shorter now, it was a breeze.  I received complements throughout the day.  Curly does hide the skunk line better than straight, but I'm at about 75% don't care mode.  There is still some vanity when it comes to my roots though.  

I'm loving the colors that are coming in.  I was concerned that there would just be white sprinkled throughout, but I see chunks of white.  I think it's going to look like a frosting once it's all in.  I'm loving the shorter hair too.  I miss my long hair, but there will be time for it.  It's been nice running with shorter hair too...especially in the summer.

I still have a long way to go though.  

Notice the frosted look?

The other side has less white and I find myself parting it there with a zigzaggy part.  

Anyway...even though I am loving the colors that are coming in, I still worry about looking older.  I have always been proud of looking younger than I am.  I'm hoping I'm still happy with the colors when all the dye is cut off.

Till the next inch...or sooner...

August 12 - Still holding strong

Wow...it's been since July 21 since I've posted here.  My gray is coming in nicely.  I vary my part from side to side to mask the skunk line, although lately, it's been blending into my curls.  I drove home with my convertible top down and noticed how brassy my hair is.  This is the part that I'm not excited about.  What I am happy about is how my gray looks around my face.  It looks like I have a weaving.  I have more white on the top, but it's marbled with dark.  I really am looking forward to my natural color.  Next time I'll post pictures.  It's bed time...we are running a 10K Mud Run in the morning...night. 

July 21, 2011 -- slowly but surely....

The gray is coming in slowly but surely.  I find that I'm noticing more and more gray heads.  I even noticed a man that stopped dying his hair recently and he admitted it when I asked.  Lucky for him, though, he keeps his hair short so his grow-out was a haircut or two. 

I saw two women in the hall at work as I was walking by.  They each had a different shade of gray.  On my way back to my desk these women were still there talking, so I politely interrupted them.  Not that interrupting is ever really polite....but as soon as I stated that the reason for the interruption was to ask them about their hair, their expression lit up.  They were happy to share their experience with me.  It's like I've recently joined a new club.  

I sing with a Sweet Adaline's chorus, The Virginia Coast Chorus.  There are women in my chorus that have went through this transition too.  It's fun to hear other women share their gray experience.  

I've found that some partings show more gray (or white) than others.  A middle part would show a lot of white, if I parted my hair in the middle, as would some left and right partings.  At slightly lower left or right partings, there is more dark than white.  I had one woman tell me that my hair seems less white this week than it did a couple weeks ago.  It must be the way I parted it that day. 

Maybe I'm not as gray as I'm expecting.  Here's today's part..sort of zig zaggy...

 This would be the center...there is a lot more white there...

Not much at the hairline there.

Next time, I'll have better light for pictures.

Tricks....

I'm ready for the tricks to graying gracefully.  I read about the zig zag part, so I did that yesterday.  I ordered a book that has more tricks...Going Gray, Looking Great.  I found it on a website of the same name...http://goinggraylookinggreat.com/

My gray...it hasn't grown much in the last week...but it's showing more.

It really depends on where I part my hair....here it shows a lot more gray...

and here, not as much.

I have some gray around my hairline and I'm finding that I like it...so far.  I'm hoping that I'll go all the way with this process.  There are times when I waiver, but I have strong will power though.  I want to see this through.  I read about adding white streaks to your grown out gray and it looks great in the pictures, but you can never be sure that the hairdresser you go to can do the same.  I'd be worried about it coming out yellow.  I'm happy that my gray is white and would like to keep it that way. 

So far, this seems like a long process...it's only been a short month since I decided to stop coloring, though! Oh well...the journey continues.....

my gray....

As I continue to grow my gray out, I find myself ultra sensitive when someone casts a judgement on a woman that they see from afar as old because of their gray or white hair.  Gets me thinking...will they see me as old?  I'll only be 54 when this grow out is complete. I have always felt pride about my youthfulness.  Maybe such pride is what it is...pride.  Aren't we taught that being too proud can verge on being boastful? With whatever else that I'll go through during this process, this will also be a lesson in humility for me. 

I'm still journeying....I'm still not sure how my hair will be. Will I have dark with a sprinkling of white...with some streaks of white?  Will it be more white that I think....or less?  Time will tell...

New Haircut

I decided over the weekend that I wanted my hair cut.  Not a trim, a cut. But, it was Sunday and my stylist doesn't work on Sundays.  I had to wait.  After lunch today, I got the haircut bug again and made my appointment.  I really didn't know exactly what I wanted, but I wanted something a little more drastic than my usual.  My roots are growing in and, according to my stylist, where the gray is the most is about 50% gray.  Other areas, less and in some areas, much less.  I have no idea what mix of color it will turn out to be, but I'm excited about it.  I cut my hair because I know that the dark ends will need cutting sooner than later.  That, and I was really ready for a change, but the gray isn't changing me fast enough!  I needed an instant change.  I couldn't change my color, so it had to be the cut

Here's me at the start...

Tammy was conservative at first and only took four inches and then fluffed it up some so I could see where it would be curly.  I asked for another inch...then another.  Here's the wet version..

You can really see the gray there in my part now!!

My husband tells me my new cut is "sassy!"  He loves it.

Here's the cut now completely dry now...I'm loving it!!!

My gray today...I love that it's white like my mom's was.  I'm also happy that the last color I did matches the darker natural color.

till next time....

Finishing up my second week

My gray still isn't that noticeable yet.  It's been about a month...give or take a week since I last dyed my hair.  I'm going to say...May 6....that as good a date as any other.

I find myself noticing all the women and men for that matter at are gray.  I want to ask them about their transitions.  There was young 30ish woman in the elevator at work with a lot of gray...more on the salt then the pepper.  She looked great!  Gave me some support just seeing her.  Then there was another that had mostly pepper, but a good amount of white too.  I'm not sure how my hair sizes up to either of those ladies.  I'm hoping to love my new hair.  I know that I will love the feel of my natural hair and the shine.  If it's not shiny because of the gray, I'm planning on using a glossing treatment.  

I do find myself wonder more about what others will think of me going gray.  I'm always the one that makes sure my hair looks good in the morning.  I take pride in my hair, makeup (although minimal) and how I dress.  I don't like to dress my age, but I am not distasteful at all.  I dress for comfort.

Anyway...on with my journey...

My hair...my journey...week 2

My hair needs a blog of it's own...

Ok...so just rinsing my hair isn't working.  I'm back to using my non sulfate cleansing product (still not shampoo though).  I decided that I'll tackle one journey at a time.  That, and the fact that I'm training for a half marathon, which causes my head to sweat has caused me to abandon the No Poo idea.  Right now as I'm typing after a 3 mile morning run, I can feel the sweat dripping.  Can't wait to wash it.  

My roots are coming in slowly.  Funny how when I was coloring them, they seemed to grow in so fast, but now it's like watching a pot boil.  I like what I'm seeing though.  My gray is glistening white.  I have a lot of dark too.  It's still not easy to determine what percentage of white I have, but I do like that it's like my mom had as far as the shade of grey being more white.  I still think I'll be more dark than white though...for now.  I was thinking that I'm glad I'm doing this now rather than waiting until I'm in the 70s as my mom did.  As much as I love it when people can't believe I'm a grandmother and can't believe that I'm 53, I'm looking forward to people not making a fuss over it.  I sometimes feel funny when others my own age compare themselves.  With my natural hair, maybe I'll look closer to my age. 

So far.....