Silver sisters - Transitioning to gray hair...

deborah11

Well-Known Member
I am 55 and just starting to gray, not even 5% yet but I can't wait. I love gray hair and I am gonna rock it hard when I turn gray! My best friend is totally gray and beautiful and guys go crazy over her beautiful gray hair!
 

curlicarib

Lovin'' All of Me
I'm 47 and I have a handful of greys - maybe 10ish strands. My problem is I'm a diehard henna head. Right now, it's not a problem because the henna leaves me with very nice red strands peppered all around my head, which I like. But once the grey really starts coming in, it probably won't be so nice. I'm not opposed to the grey, and I want to embrace them, but I REALLY like henna. I'm gonna have to make a decision soon as I have 2/3 strands at my temple that are noticeably red on the ends and grey at the roots.

I just have to find a replacement conditioning treatment for the henna. Suggestions??
 

DarkJoy

Bent. Not Broken.
I'm 47 and I have a handful of greys - maybe 10ish strands. My problem is I'm a diehard henna head. Right now, it's not a problem because the henna leaves me with very nice red strands peppered all around my head, which I like. But once the grey really starts coming in, it probably won't be so nice. I'm not opposed to the grey, and I want to embrace them, but I REALLY like henna. I'm gonna have to make a decision soon as I have 2/3 strands at my temple that are noticeably red on the ends and grey at the roots.

I just have to find a replacement conditioning treatment for the henna. Suggestions??

I hear cassia is just as good. No color deposit. Cant vouche for it personally though.
 

Alta Angel

Well-Known Member
My gray hairs are primarily at my front hairline and they drive me crazy. The plus side is now I wear my hair out wild and free with bangs so that it hides any gray. I have been using henna for the past two years and I love the orange-red highlights that it gives me. But I am concerned that once I reach 20-30% gray that my hair will start looking really orangey-red. I have no idea how I will transition jet brown, orange, and white hair...
 

wavezncurlz

LHCF addict
I guess I should join you all. I haven't colored since July when my baby was baptized. I had just been called a grandma so I was feeling a little paranoid. It looked great for all of 2 weeks. My grays are stubborn and they come back way to fast for me to keep up. My hair feels crazy dry and tangle-y when I color. I eased back for a while to nurse it back to health. I have to admit that I bought a box of color on my dresser but haven't used it. It is calling me but I am going to post here and maybe that will keep me from coloring.

So anyway, after 7 months, the hair on my temples are 60-70% silver. Everywhere else is dark brown (as you can see in my avatar and profile) . Picture attached:
 

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Cattypus1

All loced up...
Graying at the temples and around my ears. My kids say I'm have superhero stripes...LOL. My gray is soft and some of it has little to no curl. I am fully natural (since May 2014) and I'm a 4-something, Definitely a curly/coily girl but some of my gray hairs are bone straight with no curl what so ever. I don't really care about the color and the texture really bugged me when I was relaxed because it always looked like I needed a touch up.
 

wavezncurlz

LHCF addict
Some interesting facts about gray hair
Source:http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/beauty/hair/gray-hair-facts


While some women proudly sport a silver mane, many others face the arrival of new gray hairs with dread. The good news: Scientists are hard at work on how to prevent them. So what do researchers know that you don't?

1. Normal aging is the biggest culprit.
Okay, no surprise here. Dermatologists call this the 50-50-50 rule. "Fifty percent of the population has about 50% gray hair at age 50," says Dr. Anthony Oro, professor of dermatology at Stanford University. And like skin, hair changes its texture with age, says Dr. Heather Woolery Lloyd, director of ethnic skin care at the University of Miami School of Medicine.

2. Your ethnicity makes a difference.
Caucasians tend to go gray earlier — and redheads earliest of all. Then Asians. Then African-Americans. Scientists haven't figured out why yet.



3. Stress seems to play a role.
"Stress won't cause you to go gray directly," says Dr. Roopal Kundu, associate professor in dermatology at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine. "But stress is implicated in a lot of skin and hair issues." During an illness, for example, people can shed hair rapidly. And hair you lose after a stressful event — like getting chemotherapy — may grow back a different color.

4. Your lifestyle makes a difference.
Smoking, for example, stresses your skin and hair. "Low vitamin B12 levels are notorious for causing loss of hair pigment," says Dr. Karthik Krishnamurthy, director of the Dermatology Center's Cosmetic Clinic at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, N.Y. Try eating foods such as liver and carrots, recommends Dr. Wilma Bergfeld, a senior dermatologist at the Cleveland Clinic. Foods packed with certain vitamins, nutrients and antioxidants may help protect cells against toxins and help prevent heart disease, cancer, and other ailments (and perhaps gray hair!).


5. Hair and its color are separate things.
Hair stem cells make hair, and pigment-forming stem cells make pigment. Typically they work together, but either can wear out, sometimes prematurely. Researchers are trying to figure out if a medicine, or something you could put in your scalp, could slow the graying process. (Hair dye simply coats your hair in color but doesn't alter its structure.)

6. Your hair doesn't turn gray — it grows that way.
A single hair grows for one to three years, then you shed it — and grow a new one. As you age, your new hairs are more likely to be white. "Every time the hair regenerates, you have to re-form these pigment-forming cells, and they wear out," says Oro.
 

Qurlyqt

Active Member
Ok, I remember years ago saying that once my hair started turning gray, I would NOT dye it! So young, so naive… Now that my entire front hairline has been overtaken by grays, I do whatever I can to cover, color (henna), camouflage, whatever. :look:

I've been using henna for a few years but must admit that I'm not totally fond of the red color that is much more visible on the grays. I've never used commercial dye. Don't know of any other natural options so I just wear my hair out more since the hairline is hidden.
 

wavezncurlz

LHCF addict
Ok, I remember years ago saying that once my hair started turning gray, I would NOT dye it! So young, so naive… Now that my entire front hairline has been overtaken by grays, I do whatever I can to cover, color (henna), camouflage, whatever. :look:

I've been using henna for a few years but must admit that I'm not totally fond of the red color that is much more visible on the grays. I've never used commercial dye. Don't know of any other natural options so I just wear my hair out more since the hairline is hidden.

I've been doing the same. I miss my updos but between my graying hairline and the different textures, they don't look as nice anymore.
 

naturalyogini

Well-Known Member
I hear cassia is just as good. No color deposit. Cant vouche for it personally though.
I think I may have posted this in another thread. Cassia does color your hair, YELLOW. I've tried a henna melt with henna, indigo and cassia. It made my grey hair have dark blonde highlights. However the color is too inconsistent. I have grey hair at my temples and a big grey patch at the crown. I am leaning toward permanent color as I look 15 years younger with no grey hair.
 

Aggie

Well-Known Member
I am 47 years old and I'm not quite ready to embrace my gray hairs just yet. I believe I am about 30% gray all over and I hendigo my hair to keep it dark for as long as I can. I sometimes use a demi-permanent when I'm feeling lazy and/or don't have a whole lot of time on my hands.

I do however, protective style with whole head wigs that cover my head completely most of the time but I wear it out for a week or two while bunning after a hendigo or color treatment.

I think I need another 3-5 years before I'll even consider letting my grays come in especially since I still look like I'm in my thirties. It's good to know how to take of the little grays that I do have though, hence my presence here.

Who knows, I might embrace the grays earlier if I do stay in this thread for a while.
 

yamilee21

Well-Known Member
Great thread idea!
It's so interesting to hear about the texture of gray hair, it seems to vary a lot. My grays are very wiry and stiff. ...
My greys are also wiry and stiff; it takes effort to blend them into the rest of the hair. Of course, a lot of my non-grey hair is also wiry, but not as stiff as the greys. My hair never took dye (just as it wouldn't take relaxer), so I have let the greys be, but it was easier when there were only a few of them. I have a lot along my front edges, and some streaks throughout the top center. The ones at the very front edges are crazy - they form tight little balls, but are ridiculously long when I unravel them, way longer than the rest of the edge hair. Ironically, the rest of the greys never ever grow as long as the rest of my hair, and they seem to shed much more as well.
 

Transformer

Well-Known Member
I have to Do something....my gray does not curl. I'm starting to resemble Don King.
 

yellagirl730

Well-Known Member
I need to post a picture of my hair, which is completely grey and white in some spots. I can't tell you all how many compliments I get. The products I use are the perm for grey hair and if I'm out I use a regular perm but use white out to remove any yellowing. I also use Roux white minx as I like a little lavender. I've used a few of the purple shampoos but they tend to make it to purple.
 

niknakmac

Well-Known Member
I need to post a picture of my hair, which is completely grey and white in some spots. I can't tell you all how many compliments I get. The products I use are the perm for grey hair and if I'm out I use a regular perm but use white out to remove any yellowing. I also use Roux white minx as I like a little lavender. I've used a few of the purple shampoos but they tend to make it to purple.

You need to post a picture. It sounds gorgeous!
 

Aggie

Well-Known Member


y
'all --- i really want to like my gray hair but it is so different. I'm strugglin'.

Got my stash of dye ready to go...


Girl @wavezncurlz, I feel your pain like you would not believe. I color too honey. Ain't no shame in that for me. I'm just not ready to embrace them, especially since I don't have the face for them just yet. I still look pretty young so I'll rock black dyed hair for a little while longer.
 

wavezncurlz

LHCF addict
Girl @wavezncurlz, I feel your pain like you would not believe. I color too honey. Ain't no shame in that for me. I'm just not ready to embrace them, especially since I don't have the face for them just yet. I still look pretty young so I'll rock black dyed hair for a little while longer.
I hear ya. One day I will bite the bullet.
 

LivingInPeace

Well-Known Member
It looks great! It looks very fluffy! I love it!
I haven't colored mine in a long time and people have been complimenting my gray. But I still have a box of henna on deck just in case.
 
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