Hair Color...

[Etienne]

Okay, here's the follow-up thread to the Long Hair thread! What's the best way to go with very, very dark brown hair (like darkest coffee) when one is getting OLDER? I have been coloring it for years since I started getting gray (read WHITE!) hairs when I was in my 30's, but my eyebrows are really dark still. Only the very back of my head is my original color still. The color I use is wonderful and is my own true color, but it grows out like mad. I have to do my roots every 2 weeks (permanent color). My hair is strong like iron, very, very heavy and thick, wavy and just at my shoulders at the longest part. I don't know how much longer I can do this coloring thing and yet I have NO idea how to let it return to white without looking like a skunk! I have light olive skin and blue eyes and anything in the reddish/blonde family (like Marlo Thomas, for example) is dreadful on me. I have tried wigs on in every color imaginable for my husband so I'd have an idea of how it would look to go lighter and they were all perfectly TERRIBLE!!! White looks very good and so does my own dark color but there's nothing in between that is even remotely decent. How do you transition from one to the other and WHEN?

I wear make-up every day and do my hair every day, and take good care of myself--and my husband really loves my hair long and dark and so do I. BUT, I am 56 and sooner or later this dark hair is going to look too weird! I would really appreciate your thoughts or experience with this!

 

[Paisley]

Etienne, maybe you could keep dying your hair its original color, but leave the forelocks and temples white. You could also find a good colorist to make it all a natural-looking white.

Also, may I recommend a site that helped me choose a beautiful new hairstyle: The Hairstyler. For a small fee, you upload your photo and try on as many hairstyles as you want and see how they would look in various shades.

 

[BettyValentine]

I don't really have any advice, but I'm *so* jealous. I'm absolutely enamored of the look of dark-haired women going gray, particularly if they have blue eyes. Just something about that combination is so dramatic and piercing; I'd love to be able to look like that someday. Dark hair goes gray so beautifully.

I don't know what I'll do with mine. Blonde and red hair don't work the same. Le sigh.


BV

 

[Etienne]

I asked my colorist (though maybe someone else would know more than she does) and she said that there is no way to entirely strip hair to WHITE. (Stripping the color seems to leave the hair sort of beigey color.) I'd strip it to white in a heartbeat around the front if I could--or even do a reverse weave where I'd have pieces pulled out and made white so I could gradually turn it all to white. Has anyone had any experience with this?

Thanks, Paisley, for the suggestion!

 

[Miss Neecerie]

My mom has a similar problem, and what she did was have her stylist start gradually adding highlights, so that as stuff grows in, she has multiple colors going, and not just a line of where its white vs dark....

I know you said blond wouldnt suit, but there are other shades that are lighter that would at least help blend, and if the highlights are not all one colour, you don't have skunk stripes.

 

[RetroModelSari]

I personally think no matter if coloured or not: The important ist that it looks good!!! (and to re-colour it regulary cause it looks so horrible when several centimeters grey hair grows out and the rest is another colour).

I have a few white hairs already, but as long as it isn´t too much I let them be. I think about getting me platinum blonde hair when it´s all grey/white. It´s very likely that I´ll be white haired by an early age. My Dad is all snow white.

 

[mysterygal]

my mother is experiencing this problem as well. She dyes her hair the original color..usually She really likes Clairol, nice and easy. Besides that, there's not much to do!

 

[Tourbillion]

My mom uses some kind of semi-permanent color so that it rinses out and is less obvious. She is still mostly brown though.

I would caution you to be careful about highlights to cover grey hair. I have seen some really badly done jobs. It seems that your options are to have a "skunk" effect or a "tabby-cat" effect. Natural white streaks at the temples look nice, but some of the stuff I see these days just doesn't look good.

I can understand that someone might want to add streaks of color because of their lifestyle (i.e. punk) but I just don't understand why so many "normal" girls go around with stripes of brown, blond and red. I can understand highlights, but if the colors don't go together, then why?? Everyone can still see the gray when it grows out.

Anyway, back on topic, once you get the hair to "yellow" can't you tint it with something (toner?) to make it look better? Maybe someone with dyeing experience could answer that one. Also have you tried both ash based blonds and golden blonds (what do you look like with a white wig)? If you can't wear red, a light ash blond might be okay.

 

[Paisley]

Etienne, your coloring sounds like that of my grandfather, who had beautiful white hair. It also sounds like that of another friend of mine, a lady who I think is around your age. I don't know if she dyes her hair, but there's no gray or white in it, and it doesn't look unnatural. I don't think any color but white or a deep brown (grandpa's original hair color) would suit either of them.

Once you decide on a look you want, I'd start looking around for people with beautifully colored hair and ask them if they know a good colorist. Even if you end up going to Pierre the Expensive for a consultation and corrective coloring, he may make some recommendations you can follow at home, or at your regular stylist's if you ask. I think it would be money well spent.

 

[Paisley]

I can understand that someone might want to add streaks of color because of their lifestyle (i.e. punk) but I just don't understand why so many "normal" girls go around with stripes of brown, blond and red. I can understand highlights, but if the colors don't go together, then why??

Ah yes, the freaky streaky look. My stylist says that's what her work looked like when she first was just learning to color hair and was making mistakes.

 

[Etienne]

Lots of food for thought--thanks, ladies! NO shade of blonde works for me--I've tried all sorts of wig colors. I have a very high contrast coloring so a white wig looked great, as does my very dark hair. The style and color I have now are fine--I'm just looking ahead a bit and wondering where I go from here. MissNeecerie, your mom's situation sounds similar! I will try another colorist and see what they suggest. I should probably catch up a bit on the Hollywood set and see what they do as they age! My overall coloring is most like Elizabeth Taylor's and she went through some fairly extreme phases. Her silvery white color looked fine on her, I thought. Don't know what she looks like now...

I keep thinking that sooner or later the beauty industry will come up with a product that completely removes hair color from white hair! Overnight I could solve this problem (and scare a few people, too! Ha!)

As an aside, does anyone else have to color their gray (white) every 2 weeks like this?? Whew!

 

[jitterbugdoll]

Anyway, back on topic, once you get the hair to "yellow" can't you tint it with something (toner?) to make it look better? Maybe someone with dyeing experience could answer that one.

You can tone down brassy tones in blonde or white hair by using a violet shampoo, like Clairol Shimmering Lights. Just don't leave it on too long, or it will tint your hair purple.

 

[Etienne]

Forgot to add that when I have tried red based colors, the white hair turns PINK! When I have used ash tones it's better, though the white looks GREENISH! The best are the neutral tones. I wish my Mom's picture in my avatar was in color because I look very much like she did. Lucky for her, she didn't get too white until she was in her 70's; her dad was snow white in his 20's! What a genetic pea soup!

 

[Paisley]

You might want to look into Mrs. Stewart's Bluing, found in the laundry aisle at the supermarket.

 

[Orchids Please]

Does She or Doesn't She....

I have the same issue re:gray hair.

My hair has been every color available. I had it blonde for a very long time,
which was great except that if I didn't put on makeup ended up looking like a lost mouse.

Touch up is every two weeks at home - just the roots with a brush. Am thinking of highlights, but need to think more.

If you really want white hair you would have to go platinum blonde. That is a white blond (blue-violet base for toner). All the color would be removed from your hair leaving you to let the white roots grow out. It can be done but it is initially a bit of work.

Good luck with your hair endeavor.

 

[fortworthgal]

I have red hair and I color it because I am going gray. Not a pretty, silvery gray, or a nice snow white - but a hideous yellow gray that looks wretched against my auburn hair. So, I color and have been doing it for years. I have a lot of experience. lol I've never gone blonde. I'm not sure how you would be able to highlight a few pieces to white and change the color gradually.

I've had to have my hair stripped once. It does NOT turn a wearable color. You will have to put another color on top of it. Your hair will turn the most hideous shade of bright banana orangey yellow that you have ever seen. Now that being said, if you don't want to keep coloring your hair, it seems that the easiest solution would be to just go all white. You would have to completely strip your hair and then use a platinum blonde color. If there are any yellowish tones left, you could use the bluing shampoos as others suggested. I really like the Aura line that Sally Beauty Supply sells (Aveda knock-off), and they make a blue malva shampoo for blondes that says it neutralizes yellow tones.

Your hair would be semi-thrashed, but gentle shampoos and heavy conditioners would fix it up right quick. Again, Aura makes a wonderful cherry revitalizing conditioner that isn't too expensive. Honestly, when I had mine stripped, I let it rest for a day (had this done on a weekend, obviously, so I didn't scare my coworkers) and had it re-colored the next day. I just avoided heat styling and used rehydrating/revitalizing shampoos & conditioners, and I didn't have any issues. My hair was back to normal fairly quickly. If you went platinum, you could let it grow into white, and I think it would look rather dramatic with your dark eyebrows - kind of a Gwen Stefani/Jean Harlow look, if you will.

 

[Lady Day]

My mom was a red hed when she was younger ( there is nothing stranger, or more exotic than a black woman with a red fro) and it grew darker to a deep brown. The transition of colors gave her a head full of different hair, buti n the end she wa speckled with grey and white all over. She just cut it real short (one inch) for the last 5 years.

Id advise trying it short, or at elast seeking what it would look like short. Maybe a bob of some sort.


LD

 

[Shimmy Sally]

Hair Hazards of Aging

I'm headed down that same road, so tell me what I'm in for.

To dye or not to dye? The tale of how I lost my ponytail.
OK, yeah, when I turned 40 this spring I panicked over a small white streak in the widows peak of my hair (like David Vanian). So I decided to start dying to hide it. Denial. I needed to pretend I can look young. I'm a very light auburn and every color I tried was either too dark brown or too brassy red. Well, I had been repeatedly using boxes of dye from the grocery store shelf. I used to work as a stylist in a salon, so I know better than that. Usually back then I would use nothing other than Wella on customers.
Anyway, the last time I tried to tint just the roots, my hair began to break off by handfuls as I shampooed. All that cheap dye, probably overlap from doing it myself, and harsh styling took it's toll. I was starting to look like I was in an 80s metal band. I scheduled a salon visit to trim off a few inches just to get a halfway decent look, but it still seemed shaggy and overprocessed. So I went to yet another stylist who scolded me saying, "You're hair is too nice and thick at the roots to be thin at the ends."
I then consulted an old friend who reprimanded me with, "All that damage over a cute little streak. It's so gorgeous when you just leave it alone. Your natural color is beautiful. Don't dye it, don't straighten it, don't bleach it, don't torture it anymore."
Well, long story short, my hair is now shoulder level at 13 inches length (6 inches shorter than it was). So, I guess I'm back to sponge rollers to tame it. Or maybe I will go all natural like a freak'n hippy. An emergency purchase of hair masque, Therappe, Keraphix, and Humectress was made.
Moral of the story is: Don't fool with Mother Nature ... unless you know a good cosmetologist.

 

[Miss_Bella_Hell]

I'm reviving this thread in - celebration? - of my first gray hair. May I use it as an excuse to go blonde.

 

[Lillemor]

I haven't read through all the other posts but you may want to keep in mind that as you get older, you loose some of your overall coloring and may not be able to carry off as dark shades as you used to. Some ease their way from dark to grey and white by having different shades of highlights that blend the "grey" hairs in.