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anyone wear grey hair?

darie01

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Hellen Black

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4
PrettySquareGal, I will! I'll have to wait though. The allergic rash is back - and on my face. :( No pics of me until I look normal again. Since I haven't colored my hair recently, I think the culprit is nuts this time. Hazelnuts specifically. I think I od'ed on Nutella. Why couldn't I have developed an allergy to liver or something else I don't like?! No, the universe saw fit to take away my hair dye and Nutella. Rotten luck.

I wish the wig would hurry up and get here. The white stripe down my part is getting more than a little noticeable. I'm excited to see my natural color again!
 

sheeplady

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I recently have been reading in many different places online that offer methods for using coffee to color hair! Rathen than dying it, it "stains" hair. Anyone ever try it??

http://www.ehow.com/how_2343597_dye-hair-coffee.html

My great grandmother did this. She was only gray around the temples when she died at... 92 or 96? She rinsed her hair in the coffee grounds after breakfast every morning. I do think, however, she had less gray than a lot of people her age due to genetics, but a lot of it had to be the coffee given her age.

I think this did two things: it helped her hair from getting too gray and also created an acid environment for the scalp and hair- which helps in preventing dandruff and makes the hair smooth and silky. My mother says she let the grounds cool and then added luke-warm water to the grounds, and rinsed them through her hair. She rinsed them out with warm water. I do think if someone is mostly gray it would probably take a long time to start to darken the hair, and you might want to let it sit a bit.

I do what is called no-poo for my hair, and many people also use black tea to darken their hair. It is also a weak acid. They brew a cup or so of black tea very strong, let it cool, and dump it over their hair when they are done washing their hair. Then they rinse it out.
 

sheeplady

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You're welcome PrettySquareGal!

I wouldn't recommend doing the coffee in the bathtub because it might stain or clog the plug. :) Perhaps do it over a bowl or wash basin? (I think that's what my mother remembers her grandmother doing.)

I think the tea would also be a much lighter brown color than coffee. They say it takes several weeks (maybe longer than a month or two) to see any effect- which if you wanted a smooth transition might be nice. I doubt either would totally cover all the grays, but it is worth a shot.

Also, I wanted to add: My great-grandmother lived in a house with a lot of coffee drinkers- I think there were 4 grown men and her living at home when she did this (they each had a cup in the morning). So you might need a lot of coffee grounds. But my mother can't remember if she used the whole pot or not, but she knows they only had a cup or so apiece.

If anybody tries it, can they let us know how it works for them?
 
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PrettySquareGal

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4,002
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New England
I may try it after the new year. I have some gray strands that I want to color. I think I'll like my hair gray once I have more of them, but until then I'm not liking salt and pepper!
 

PrettySquareGal

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4,002
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New England
So I came up with the idea that to try it out I am going to simply pluck a gray hair and put it in a cup of coffee to see what happens! I will report back.
 

DonW

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26
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Cheshire, England
My wife of 34 years has a magnificent head of silver hair which gets compliments on a regular basis, I love it.

I used to work with a girl who was beginning to get grey hairs and used to pluck them out but she forgot about the back that she couldn't see in the mirror, result, all black from the front and going very grey from the back.

Just for the records I am receding quickly and going grey quickly, not sure which one is going to win!
 

PrettySquareGal

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New England
DonW it's nice to hear from those who love gray! Also, love the story about the gray in back girl. :)

So I poured cooled coffee into a small Tupperware container, placed a gray hair in it, covered it and shook it well. Will repeat shaking every five minutes for an hour...
 

PrettySquareGal

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New England
It did absolutely nothing to my gray strand. It wasn't even slightly darker; if it was I'd think it could be gradually stained. Maybe it will work on others hair but I'm glad I didn't waste my time doing a full head soak!
 

sheeplady

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Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, USA
I'm sorry to hear that PrettySquareGal. I was really hoping it would work out for you (and therefore for me).

My mother-in-law uses Henna, and she is very natural products focused. Would you be willing to try something like that? I think all Henna is reddish, however.
 

Stanley Doble

Call Me a Cab
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2,808
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Cobourg
If there are any men still reading this thread. My hair went gray when I was 26. Now I use Alberto VO5 hair dressing for gray hair. It has a slight blue tint to it that eliminates the yellow tinge that often accompanies gray or white hair.

I just wash my hair, towel dry, and rub in a dab about half the size of a pea. Do not use too much. Then brush my hair. Have gotten compliments on my hair color and soft manageable hair from hair dressers.
 

olive bleu

One Too Many
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Nova Scotia
:bump:





Thought i would attempt to revive this conversation, as i have just decided in the past week to let my hair go gray,and wondering if there are others in the same place. I actually just a month ago had my hair (which was just past my shoulders) cut short. My main reason for taking the plunge to do this was because I was finding the long hair ( which is also VERY thick) too difficult to dye. I knew there was no way i could afford to pay to have it professionally done, because my hair grows extremely fast, and i may as well camp out on my stylists doorstep..well, now that i have chopped off my hair, of course i want my long hair back. so, the only choice now is to stop colouring. And honestly, i find I am becoming more and more sensitive to chemicals in cosmetics, etc. So, now might be a good time to kick the dye habit before it gets worse. I really don't know how much gray i will have once it gets going. I know my right temple will get fully gray pretty fast, because it always does, which causes me to panic and run to the drugstore, I'm feeling kind of excited and nervous at the same time...
 

Wire9Vintage

A-List Customer
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411
Location
Texas
Hi olive. I'm doing the exact same thing you are and for the same reasons. I'm at the panic stage as my hair has grown out about an inch and I feel like I look so old! I was excited about a week ago and now I'm freaking out and wanting to color my hair again. I've done this little dance with myself several times now and I always end up recoloring. At 43 I am in that between stage of wanting to grow older gracefully yet wanting to still look as young as possible. It's really hard!
 

PrettySquareGal

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New England
Here's what I have concluded and confirmed with my hair stylist. Coloring is harsh on your hair, and I think for many people, hair that is dry and brittle can make one look older. So I am opting for silky, healthy, shiny hair with silver highlights!
 

AmateisGal

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6,126
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Nebraska
Here's what I have concluded and confirmed with my hair stylist. Coloring is harsh on your hair, and I think for many people, hair that is dry and brittle can make one look older. So I am opting for silky, healthy, shiny hair with silver highlights!

I like how you think, PSG! I haven't dyed mine for awhile and it's past my shoulders. Lots of gray going on right now (I'm 37) and hubby thinks I should dye it again. But I really don't want to as it finally feels very silky and smooth.
 

olive bleu

One Too Many
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Nova Scotia
Hi olive. I'm doing the exact same thing you are and for the same reasons. I'm at the panic stage as my hair has grown out about an inch and I feel like I look so old!

I chuckled at "panic stage" ..ha ha..because that's dead on. Soooo many times i get to the same place , feeling great about this no-dye decision untill i see that patch at my temples and I always panic, practically running to the drugstore.But, i am trying to tell myself that soft, shiny hair will actually look more youthful than a bit of grey...so far so good..if i can get past the next few months, it will be interesting..lol
 

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