What a difference 1 year 6 months makes

Hard to believe it has been a year and a half since I decided to grow my hair long again.  Two and a half years since I stopped coloring.

Throughout this process, I've inspired a few women to join the quest for hair authenticity.  Two women are well on their way with a couple inches of regrowth. One has very long hair and the other is slowly cutting away the color as I did. Another friend with short hair, completed her salt and pepper transition fairly quickly, only to come to my cubicle frowning. Said she gave in to the color.  Hey, she tried it, but it wasn't for her and that's okay.

I'm still loving my white...it's really not gray.  There's a revolution that I've noticed lately. Many many women are saying no to color and find themselves liberated. They not only save time and money, but have piece of mind that they are not putting chemicals on their scalp.

So, here I am today....curly look for this 4th of July.   Sans makeup...as well.  Happy 4th do July!!!

Stay tuned...I'm completing my second week of no-poo hair care...with me, it's always something.  

Decision has been made....

No, I'm not planning on coloring my hair.  I've decided today that I'm going to grow my hair longer again.  Once again I let my big brother get to me.  He told me that a picture I posted on Facebook made me look like I was in my 60s.  I'm just a little over 5 years away from that number, but I really didn't think that I look it.  Maybe I'm starting to look my age.  

Anyway, that comment did get me to update the after picture to a more flattering one.  I first one that I posted was kind of a test of my vanity.  No makeup...wrinkles and all.  I was doing ok...till today.  

Here's today's picture...

This was taken tonight after work.

Here's the after picture from the original post.

Okay, so my winkles show...I am 54. 

I sent today's picture to my brother and asked him, "better?"  His response, "You want the truth?"  Oh well...what can a sister do?

My decision wasn't made because of my brother's comment, though.  While looking through my pictures to decide what to post, I saw pictures of me with long hair.  Granted, my hair was dyed to a darker color, but still, I liked the length.  So, now my blog will record my grow-out...with the gray.  

No more color...

Yesterday was my last cut off my color haircut.  Now I need to decide whether to grow out my hair or keep it short.  I'm really enjoying it short, but sometimes I miss my longer hair.  I know I want my hair longer than it is now.  Not that I don't like it, cause I do and I wanted all the color off.  I get so many compliments on my hair since I went short too.  I'll figure it out as it grows.


My hairdresser blew it out yesterday and I went curly today.  So, here's me without color....at last.

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.