Tuesday, November 20, 2018

How I made my life nice and easier by SW Hubbard

LUCY BURDETTE: I don't have a thing to add to today's blog from Susan Hubbard--I just know you're going to love it!

SW HUBBARD: I feel the woman’s gaze boring into me as I browse the housewares aisle at Target. I glance her way. She quickly averts her eyes. 

A moment later, I feel a tap on my shoulder. I know what comes next.

“I love your hair,” the staring woman says. “I just had to tell you.”

I’ve been getting that a lot lately. Ever since I made the radical decision to stop dyeing my hair.

I started going gray at the age of twenty-five, while I was still a single girl in Manhattan.

Horrified, I used henna to make the gray strands look like tiny red highlights. 

By the time I was thirty, the henna wasn’t doing the trick anymore. I turned to permanent dye: Nice and Easy 118A, Natural Medium Brown, which matched the color I’d been born with. By then I was married, and my husband, complaining that I smelled like a toxic waste dump after the application, begged me not to color my hair.

“Your mother dyes her hair,” I answered. “I’m damned if I’m going to have more gray than she does.”

The next twenty years found me periodically locked in the bathroom, shivering for half an hour in a ratty old bathrobe with a pile of brown 118A glop on my head. To pass the time, I’d read although it was hard to turn pages wearing plastic gloves. Sometimes I’d get absorbed in a novel, and my hair would come out Ronald Reagan black. Sometimes I’d cut the time short to referee squabbling kids, and patches of gray would show through. Inevitably, I’d splash dye on the tile grout, the paint, or my library book.

Despite his reputation for thrift, my husband implored me to go to a salon. Thus began ten years of spending two hours every six weeks at Trendz in the capable hands of my colorist and my stylist. I’d leave evenly colored but $140 + tips poorer. Within two weeks, a white skunk stripe would appear along my part-line. Covering that up before the next dye job required two more products: brown spray-in color and root touch-up solution.

One day I floated an idea to my stylist. “I’m thinking of letting my hair go natural.”

He was horrified. Said I’d look old. Assured me I’d hate it. (Of course, my decision would halve his income.) But over the next weeks I kept studying my silver roots. They were kind of pretty.
 And I was tired, so tired, of the struggle to stay brown. 

More than the money, I really resented the time I had to sacrifice to this Sisyphean battle. So I returned to the salon with my mind made up. “How long do you think it will take? My hair grows so fast.” (I wasn’t willing to cut my hair short.)

“A year.”

“No way! Well, let’s strip the brown dye out of my hair.” 

“That takes six hours and costs $800.”

Stunned, I went home and bought two hats to cover the increasingly visible skunk stripe. And, positive my stylist didn’t know what he was talking about, I applied my mystery author research skills to find a product to rush the process along. Google had plenty of advice about fading the brown dye: a paste of citric acid and Head and Shoulders shampoo was the least toxic; a product called Color Oops, which produced a chemical mushroom cloud that brought me to my knees, was the most. 

The brown never disappeared, but gradually the hard lines of the skunk stripe softened, and I achieved an ombre look: silver on top tipped with brown ends. A young man at REI told me my hair was foxy. I know what I wanted to believe, but I’m pretty sure he meant I resembled a small forest animal.

Finally, after a full year, my stylist snipped away the last of the brown. I was totally silver. We both stared at me in the mirror.

“I gotta say, I like it,” he admitted. 

So did I.

Yesterday I was in CVS when I felt “the look.” This admirer strode right up to me. “I love your hair. What do you use to get it like that?”

I pivot from the hair products aisle empty-handed.

“Absolutely nothing.”

***

Do you color your hair? Would you ever stop? If you’ve stopped, do you toy with going back?


S.W. Hubbard writes the kinds of mysteries she loves to read: twisty, believable, full of complex characters, and highlighted with sly humor. She is the author of the 5-book Palmyrton Estate Sale Mystery Series and the 5-book Frank Bennett Adirondack Mountain Mystery Series. Tailspinner, the latest Frank Bennett Adirondack mystery, is available for preorder now.  With all the time she’s saving by not coloring her hair, she hopes to release a new estate sale mystery, Treasure Built of Sand, in early 2019. She lives in Morristown, NJ, where she teaches creative writing to enthusiastic teens and adults, and expository writing to reluctant college freshmen. She LOVES book groups and would be happy to visit yours in person (in NJ) or via Skype. 

Read the first chapters of her novels

Learn about sales and new releases by joining her mailing list or following her on BookBub or Facebook.

79 comments:

  1. Well, yes, I long ago joined the gazillions of women caught in the catch-22 of coloring my hair to cover the grey and have recently began wondering if I ought to stop. Since I am adamant about not cutting my hair, I think I’ll just let it go. But after a little while I begin to vacillate and eventually I give in and head for the store for another carton of L’Oreal Age Perfect Excellence 7G Dark Soft Golden Blonde . . . .

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  2. Your hair looks fabulous, although you looked great with brown hair too. I have never colored my hair, and I don't see myself ever caring enough to do so. Admittedly, I don't have a ton of gray, so maybe that's why I don't see the need. But mainly I'm just lazy.

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    1. It's like smoking--once you start it's hard to quit. You're wise to avoid it.

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  3. Clapclapclap! Brava, SW!

    My hair was ice blonde when I was a baby, but got darker throughout my childhood until it was a fairly dark brown. My first husband bought me a blonde wig for Christmas the first year we were married, which did nothing for our relationship, and it looked ridiculous. (I traded it in for a brunette one. It was 1970, when wigs were a big thing.) That's just one of the reasons our marriage didn't last long.

    My current husband adores brunettes, bless him. He has always been attracted to the dark-haired actresses over the blonde ones. (Blame Annette Funicello.) These days my hair is less brunette than, something. It's very evenly silvering, and I also get tons of compliments on it, and yes, people asking how I get it that way. I was tempted to dye it back when the silver started showing up, but I'm really both too lazy and too cheap to bother with it. And now I find I really like the way the silver looks. Young women are actually dyeing their hair the same silvery brown these days, which must be an enormous pain to keep up.

    All three of my daughters dye their hair, for some reason or another. The oldest inherited her (wig-buyer) dad's red-to-premature white hair--she's turning 48 this week, and has had pure white hair for the last 15 years or so. She is really afraid to quit, though.

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    1. that is the rudest thing ever, Karen, giving you a blonde wig!

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    2. Yes, it is a fad among the young to dye their hair gray! That made it easier for me to decide to go through with it. I admit, I'm vain!

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  4. Don't you think the style makes a difference? My grandmother had premature iron gray hair that she permed tightly and held firmly under a hairnet at all times. That's a vastly different look from your smooth bob, SW. (And mine.)

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    1. Absolutely! I knew I could complete the task faster if I cut my hair short, but I wasn't willing to be a gray-haired lady with a "sensible" short haircut. I love my bob, and it's actually very easy to care for.

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    2. I fond this to be true as well, Karen. My grandmother had the poodle perm by the time she was my age. Wearing a bob with a little length that gives your hair some movement makes a world of difference.

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    3. I feel I have to speak up for those gray-haired ladies with short hairdos. One of my best friends has very short gray hair, and it looks fabulous. Others I've seen with short gray hair look great, too. I think that it's not whether your hair is longer or shorter, but that it is styled in some way, not just left to dangle haphazardly.

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  5. I don't color my hair. I did try to have it highlighted once and, as my little girl had said, it looked like someone dumped peanut butter on my head!

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  6. I have no idea what color my hair is but suspect it’s close to rat pelt gray. About five years ago my hairdresser wanted to try the platinum look, and I love it. People also stop me to compliment. Yes it gets darkish at the part but that’s au courant now so who cares. And light to white hair is age appropriate for me anyway.

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    1. I'm afraid I have rat pelt gray too Ann! I don't see any sign of Susan's beautiful white...

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    2. Rat Pelt gray! I may have to use that in a book :). I admit, if I thought my hair wouldn't be a pretty color of gray, I wouldn't have done it. I'm vain!

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  7. Well done and well said! It looks great. I love my silver hair too. I decided that silver streaks in natural almost black hair looked fine, and luckily, husband, a product of the 60's, was in favor of the natural look.And like you, I didn't want to spend time and money that way. One holiday a few years ago, there was me; my sister in law,who had recently stopped coloring and my son-in-laws mom,who has beautiful think silver hair. And my own mother-in-law, still a platinum blonde bouffant at 90! She got some kidding about who was out of style now( She didn't think it was funny)

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  8. Susan, my story very closely parallels yours. I was using permanent hair dye before my 30th birthday and fought that battle for many years. I can't quite remember now my exact age when I decided to go natural -- 54? 55? somewhere in there. The only part that's different is that I have always been comfortable with short hair cuts, so my growing out period was much shorter. And like you, I probably get three times as many compliments from random strangers about my hair today than I ever got in what one would think of as "my prime". It is definitely a change I don't regret.

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  9. This is SO great! And your hair color is gorgeous! That makes a lot of difference--bad gray is kinda depressing--but your natural color is perfect. (My natural color is brown. And that's all I'm saying.xoxo)

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    1. Thanks, Hank! Your hair always looks great.

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    2. Hank, you're definitely silver fox inspiration. You rock the gray.

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    3. Hank, I love your hair. You always look very glamourous. It reminds me of Gloria Steinem's hair and she always looks wonderful.

      Diana

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  10. This does sound an awful lot like my experience! I colored my hair for ages until about 2 years ago I decided 'who was I kidding?' and just stopped. Being cheap and lazy helped convince me. I always had shoulder length hair but now I keep it quite short which is totally hassle-free and it (almost) always looks good without my having to do anything except run a brush through it.
    Sue, I finished Treasure #4 last night and am thrilled you are working on #5. I want to read Frank Bennett too and hope it will be an actual book - never really warmed up to Kindle but it that is my only option, well then guess I'll get it that way. Great characters in both series!

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    1. Thanks, for your kind words about my estate sale series, Judy. Just so you know, ALL my books are available in paperback as well as Kindle. You just have to buy through Amazon.

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  11. I colored my hair until earlier this year. Nice and Easy Age Defy Dark Brown. I also had a hair stylist once who told me I'd look old if I let the gray in. I got tired of having to do the roots every two weeks because I had a lot more white. I did get lowlights--only once--to help blend the dark with the white. Now it's a nice salt & pepper and I can't wait until it's all white. Like you, I get so many compliments on it! I really love it now.

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    1. I considered lowlights but decided it would only prolong the process. Once I reached the ombre stage, I was happy with my look :)

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  12. Count me in on the side of I-can't-be-bothered-to-keep-up-the-coloring! Fortunately I wear my hair short so the transitions was relatively easy. I love the natural me!

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  13. Like my mother before me, I'm a natural ash blonde, which means medium brown with silvery overtones. When mine started going gray around the age of 40, it was just a random hair here and there, so it lightened my overall color and looked like I had added some frosty highlights. Now that I'm far past 40, it still mostly looks brown, but much lighter, and I'm perfectly fine with it.

    I have friends and co-workers who are chemically dependent, but I think any golden ringlets on a 60-year old have to be suspect, and I also think our hair isn't the only thing that lightens with age. After a while, the dark hair color you loved as a teen just looks harsh against an older face. If you're going to keep on dyeing, I think you and your colorist might want to reconsider and lighten the color some as you get older. Eh, but that's just me.

    You look fabulous, Ms. Hubbard, and deserve every envious look you get!

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    1. Thanks, Gigi! "Chemically dependent"--I like that! Kicking the dye really was like kicking a bad habit!

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    2. Gigi, you're absolutely right. My mother, who, like me, started going gray in her early twenties and who colored for decades, went gradually lighter and lighter as she got older. She also changed up her cosmetic and wardrobe colors. Paler hair (and often brighter colors) look far more flattering next to a (ahem) mature face.

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  14. I don't color my hair, never have. Silver started finding its way into my dark brown hair a couple of decades ago. The progression was slow and steady. Now, it's pretty much silver, I think. I say "I think" because when I look in the mirror, I still see dark brown hair. But when I look at the salon floor after a haircut, I see the truth.

    Does anyone else experience that phenomenon? BTW, I still think my wrinkles look like smile lines, too, so it might just be my optimistic nature.

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    1. Sometimes I still get taken aback when I catch a glimpse of the "new" me in a mirror. In my heart, I'm 28 :)

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    2. or maybe our vision's declining too so we see things less clearly:)

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    3. Brenda, I think of your hair as steel-gray. It gives you a definite air of "Don't f#$% with me," which is a good balance to your "I love everyone in the world" smile :-)

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  15. Brava! Being oneself is best, and it is gorgeous! <3 My mom's hair didn't get gray, and her sisters insisted she must be dying it . . . as if she would spend the time and money on that. She did perm my hair for me until college brought an appreciation of straight hair. I wonder about all those chemicals. My cousin trained to be a beautician, and then realized she couldn't tolerate the exposure to so many fumes. I have learned to get my haircut at a place that doesn't do dye or perms where I can breath better.
    Brenda, optimism is healthy, and I think hair does take a different hue when on the floor or in the hairbrush. ;-)

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    1. The time when you start going gray is definitely genetic. My mom started young and kept her hair dyed a Lucy Ricard red until she died at 86. I'm pretty sure she wouldn't like my new look. My stepfather was still mostly dark when he passed away at 84.

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    2. I knew I was right about that, Mary!

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  16. Kudos to you, SW! The color is fabulous! My older sister still goes for the salon-dyed hair. Youngest sister started going white years ago and is fighting it with all her might--her husband has something to do with that, I suspect. Next younger sister has gone completely silvery gray from her original blonde and I think it's stunning. Youngest nephew tells me: "You're never going to go gray!" What a sweet boy! My original blonde has faded to a sort of natural non-color--and in that the silvery strands simply show up as highlights. It's a slow progression--I'm not fighting it.

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    1. I think it's easier when your natural color is blond. The contrast between gray and "base" is not so stark.

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  17. Like my grandmother before me, I started going gray in my early 20s. I was definitely NOT going to be gray at that age! So I did what I always wanted and became a redhead.

    I'm no longer a redhead, but I still color my hair. I have occasionally considered stopping because of the time and money. If I could go straight silver, I would in a heartbeat. But I'm not. My natural hair is a liberal sprinkling of silver strands among some-dark-color-of-indeterminate-shade. I hate it.

    Vanity? Maybe. But I firmly believe your appearance should bring you pleasure. Goes for body type, clothes, makeup and yes, hair color.

    Mary/Liz

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    1. Absolutely, Mary! When you look good, you feel good, so we should all choose the option that makes us feel confident and beautiful.

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  18. Thanks for having me at Jungle Reds, Lucy/Roberta! I love hanging out with you all! And thanks for all the compliments--I'll never get my big head through a turtleneck after all this :) Sorry I joined the convo late--I had a class to teach this morning.

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  19. I've colored my hair for much of my life. I turned my light natural ash into dark and dramatic when I was a young folk singer. When I moved to Calufornia the sun streaked me lighter and lighter and I became red-blonde. Aging made my hair lighter and now what you see is what you get! So easy

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    1. You have great hair, Rhys. I do think a lighter shade is flattering as we get older.

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    2. Rhys, your hair always looks beautiful.

      Diana

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  20. Susan, I loved your post--and I love your hair!!! I'm so envious. About a dozen years ago, my fairly dark brown hair started going white at the temples. If the gray had progressed over the rest of my head I would be tempted to go natural. But, no. While the gray temples look distinguished on men, on women, not so much. My mom and maternal grandmother finally turned a pretty silvery gray all over in their mid-eighties, so I think I have a while to wait. In the meantime, I'm going to keep appreciating my fabulous stylist.

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    1. Debs, the decision is SO individual. I always tell friends, "You'll know if and when the time is right." In some ways, those of us who go gray young (I got my first silver hair at 13!) have it easier - once we decide to stop coloring, there's often a fully silver head of hair under the dye.

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  21. Thanks for the compliment, Deb. Yes, I could tell I was going to be silver all over. I wouldn't have been so brave if I thought I'd turn out patchy :) And you are right Julia--you know when it's right for you. I would never tell any other woman to do it if she didn't want to. But I did inspire my neighbor to go for it, and she looks great!

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  22. I stopped dying my hair about 10 years ago when I was in my mid 50s. It took time and patience to accept my new look.
    My stylist listened to me moan about whether I was doing the right thing; the clincher was when she told me how many of her clients pay to have their hair highlighted when mine does it naturally. She also believes I’ll never go completely gray. I also get stopped in stores with strangers telling me how they like my look and that they admire my courage (ha!).

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  23. Susan, your story is so similar to mine. I started going gray in my twenties around the temples and started dyeing. Didn’t stop until my late fifties. I love my hair now and get compliments all the time and that look from other women and the questions “what do you do to get your hair like that?” People now say I look younger than I used to. I can wear different colors than I used to. Silver, blue, and black look great on me now.

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    1. Yes, the hair color change was a great excuse to buy some new clothes (not that I ever need an excuse!).

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  24. I was born blonde with blue eyes. Grandma was so happy except my hair was stick straight, fine and wouldn't hold a curl, it also was getting darker, but that was okay, Dad's hair did the same thing. One year she talked Mom into getting me a perm from her beautician..... 3 hours later, little Deana's hair was still not dry (it was long) and the perm wasn't holding a curl. By the way, I may have been, maybe, five years old at the time. She also wanted me to have a henna rinse, Mom refused.

    During the summer, as a kid, I wore two braids and spent my days outside, had swimming lessons, got sunburned .... June to Labor Day. On Sundays, my braids were undone for church, and apparently, my hair did it's own bleaching ....lovely browns to blond ...seems I got many compliments. As I hit puberty the hair just stayed brown. I hated "just brown" so I had goldish highlights put in when I got out of college, I had my hair frosted, first through a foam cap with a very small crochet hook being pushed through the cap and pulling small tufts of hair through it, more recently, we went with the foil process. I had it done every twelve weeks with a cut in between.

    I've been getting my hair done by the same guy forever - he has taken care my mom, sister, nephew and niece too. He doesn't work on Saturday, yup, no Saturdays, so I'm usually the last appointment of the day. He has become so much part of the family that he attended Mom's memorial this past January and when my sister comes to town, she visits him after getting my car from me.

    Anyway, to get back to my hair, for the majority of my life, I have had hair long enough to put in a ponytail, on top of my head. And for the past 15 years or so Kaj, he cuts my hair, teasingly trys to cut it off, to chin length. About 5 years ago, I walked in, he looked at , I looked at him... I was a week early, he said okay, washed my hair, asked how much off, I pointed about half way between my shoulder an ear - chin length. Still was getting the frost/foil of gold for my dull brown hair until this past January. I completely forgot about my appointment. Kaj said nothing, no call, nothing.... He just patiently waited for me to call for a new appointment. I finally sucked it up and I called in August. He was out of town so I had to waited till September. My hair is cut again where it belongs but I'm going to stay brown. One: my financial situation has changed and I don't want Kaj to keep not charging me enough because he always does. And two,I kind of like the brown now that I'm 60 years old, sorta of. But I'm going to live with it, for now.

    Oh, and my grandmother, who wanted me to have curlier and redder hair... For years she would have her hair dyed black and then spray it silver after her weekly hair appointment, she didn't like the shade of gray it was becoming when I was a kid. :)

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    1. No matter what kind of hair we have, we always want what someone else has!

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  25. I used to have red hair. In my forties the color was fading but I ignored it. Then one week both a client and my big brother (bless his bald head) commented on it. Shock. I started coloring it a nice auburn shade (thanks L'Oreale) that matched my natural color. Actually my attempts at coloring weren't so good so I had my willing and able colorist, Mr Frank, do it. My husband did a good job and for ten years or so we continued. But as most redheads have found out, red hair doesn't take dye easily or retain it long. When I was nearing 60 I decided #$@* it. Let's see what my hair looks like now. Mr Frank wanted to continue his job. I think he was afraid my natural state would make him look older. My haircutter likes it. I call it faded red but it is light, lots of blonde in there, and some white. But not the bright auburn of my youth. My mother never turned white or silver either. She had light brown hair like her dad. Both of them just turned lighter. I am thankful our drivers licenses no longer list hair color; I wouldn't know what to put down.

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  26. Brava, Sue! I have never colored my hair (well, except for the turquoise rinse I now add a couple times a year) and I also get lots of compliments on my silver. Hey, I earned it! I know people's skin changes along with the maturing of their hair, and I can always tell when older people (not exclusively women) die their hair. It just doesn't match. I applaud your decision.

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    1. (I can't believe I forgot to read Jungle Reds this morning! I'm usually one of the first few commenters...)

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    2. And what I should have said first, except I was so excited you had gone silver, is that it looks fabulous on you!

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    3. Edith, my stylist actually lightens my overall color a couple of shades, then does highlights, which I love. The whole look is much softer than my natural brunette (expect for the temples) and I think more flattering. But every six weeks I look hard at the roots at the top of my head just to see if I've grown any more gray!

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    4. You and your beautiful silver bob were one of my inspirations, Edith!

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  27. I "always" wanted to be a redhead, so in my 50s I started coloring my hair. At that point I was salt and pepper and was pretty nice.
    Many shades, salon visits, hours, and dollars later, I decided I wanted to see what my hair looked like now 15+ years later.
    At times I've toyed with stripping my hair to all white because it is so wonderfully striking. But my hairdresser said it would be really hard to do.
    Having a short cut I didn't have to wait long to grow out the color. Surprisingly, I'm not much whiter than I was before.
    It's a nice look and my hair dresser and her partner are impressed.
    My calendar and wallet are happy, too.
    Libby Dodd

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    1. Yes, undoing the dye isn't anywhere near as easy and starting to dye!

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  28. You are rocking it! I too found snow on the mountain in my 20s. It's a family trait. Since my hair was what was then known as dirty blonde I let it go until the white could no longer be mistaken for highlights and I began coloring until I retired in my early 50s. When I lost my hair to cancer at 55, it came back dark brown. How or why I don't know. Fortunately, it returned the dark brown to where it came from and I'm back to my usual white.

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    1. Hair color doesn't matter compared to your health. I'm so glad you're better.

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  29. What a great post! I agree that you are rocking it! I was reminded by a comment that someone said about her hair going gray. She said there is no hair color called "mousy brown".

    I agree with Hank about bad gray color. It looks unconditioned to me. In your case, white hair looks wonderful. It looks like silk and I noticed your face looks better with white hair. For me, I have been coloring my hair because one side was totally white and it looked like someone threw white paint on my dark brown hair. I love the white color, though. I decide that once my hair is 100 percent white, then I will stop coloring my hair. I colored it red because it was the color I had as a young child. I noticed that Senator Ted Kennedy had snow white hair. I wonder if people of Irish descent have a tendency to get snow white hair color? The white that I have is the color of white like the snow color. I am 1/4 Scottish and 1/6 Irish.

    Diana

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    1. Thanks for the compliment. I read that pure white hair has no pigment whatsoever, so as you lose pigment, the hair gets whiter. I still have some strands of brown mixed in, which I like. But I guess eventually it will be pure white.

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  30. SW, you look beautiful with your hair gray, not that you didn't with it brown, too. The gray is just so becoming on you. I applaud your bravery and persistence in achieving this great end. I admit that I am too much of a coward right now to do the same. I've been going to the salon to have my hair dyed for years now, and although I often wonder what it would look like gray, I think of the in-between I have to go through to get there and stop wondering. I was letting my hair grow out, but even with that I got frustrated, and last week had it shortened some. I actually like it better, so I'm guessing that long or longer hair is not going to happen for me again. The gray, we'll see. I'm not passionately opposed to it, but I think it will be a while longer before I go there. It's nice seeing successful transitions like yours, SW, so that I know it can turn out so beautifully.

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  31. Thanks for your kind words, Kathy. When you're ready, you'll do it! I think one of the great things about getting older is that you no longer think everyone is looking at you. At first when I was "transitioning" I felt the need to explain to everyone I encountered what I was doing. Finally, I realized most people hadn't even noticed, and if they had, they didn't care.

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  32. I love this post! I embraced my incoming gray as soon as it appeared when I was forty. I firmly believe the silver and white hairs are magical. That being said, I have very thin fine hair, so to give it a more 3D look my stylist puts in a few highlight and lowlights every few months mixed in with the gray, which I still love. Good for you for ditching the dye, SW! You are stunning!

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    1. Jenn, I agree that silver hair and white hair are magical. With white hair, my hair looks very blonde, which I never had in my life.

      Diana

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  33. Susan, your silver is marvelous, and so is your story!
    Me, I will die a brunette.

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    1. Thanks, Ramona! And you should do what makes you feel good!

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  34. See, this is definitely a topic more geared towards the female readers of JRW.

    I don't have to worry about whether or not the hair goes gray. I know that I'm expected to be more concerned that the hair is just going away period. But then again, I don't really care either way so balding it is.

    But in order to at least tie my post to this topic a tiny bit, the last woman I was attempting to date (the final attempt ever for me) was the same age as me and she had let her hair go gray and it looked great on her.

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    1. Sorry, Jay! My husband is bald. He says hair is overrated :)

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  35. I have never colored my hair, except for some fun wash-in wash-out stuff when I was young. I like the silver-gray. I just wish it would stop falling out!

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  36. I had been letting my brown hair go gray, but didn't like the look. Last spring I had it colored, but it was way to dark, so a month later I had it colored a shade lighter. Beautician said she could only "lighten" it every six weeks or so. After that second coloring, my hair started falling out big time, and it was skimpy to begin with! So now I'm just letting it go gray; it's about half and half now. Still falling out a big; I wonder if I'll go bald before I go gray! LOL

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