# I just want grey hair, dammit! Little help, ladies? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 10, 2019, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-want-grey-hair-dammit-little-help-ladies/841574 "2019-10-10T03:45:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![DummyGladHands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-want-grey-hair-dammit-little-help-ladies/841574/41 "2019-10-11T00:54:09Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > I guess we scared off the OP. Amazing how often that happens. Huh? Here reading. Was there an unanswered ? I missed? ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-want-grey-hair-dammit-little-help-ladies/841574/42 "2019-10-11T01:26:22Z")
After my house flooded I had to spend 8 months living in a camper and that was super not fun to keep my long hair dyed so in early '15 I said a firm “fuck this” and decided to let it grow out. Turns out the top layer is a super nice silver and the under layers are a much more interesting shade of dishwater blonde than it’s ever been. Once or twice a year I’d chop off enough inches of hair to leave just enough for a pony tail. Took about 2.5 years before it all grew out then I just stopped cutting it. I use a super mild Trader Joe’s Tea Tree Tingle shampoo and conditioner on it and whaddaya know–that oily hair I always thought I had was a combination of too much stripping from dye and harsh shampoos along with too greasy conditioners to try to put it all back in balance. I also always thought my hair would never grow past the middle of my back but it turns out that was just yucky split ends drying out from the processing. Now it’s brushing the top of my butt, it’s incredibly healthy, the ends don’t split and I finally have a really interesting hair color–all because I decided it was too much trouble. Best hair related decision I’ve ever made. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-want-grey-hair-dammit-little-help-ladies/841574/43 "2019-10-11T02:05:14Z")
> [@SmartAleq](#): > > After my house flooded I had to spend 8 months living in a camper and that was super not fun to keep my long hair dyed so in early '15 I said a firm “fuck this” and decided to let it grow out. Turns out the top layer is a super nice silver and the under layers are a much more interesting shade of dishwater blonde than it’s ever been. Once or twice a year I’d chop off enough inches of hair to leave just enough for a pony tail. Took about 2.5 years before it all grew out then I just stopped cutting it. I use a super mild Trader Joe’s Tea Tree Tingle shampoo and conditioner on it and whaddaya know–that oily hair I always thought I had was a combination of too much stripping from dye and harsh shampoos along with too greasy conditioners to try to put it all back in balance. I also always thought my hair would never grow past the middle of my back but it turns out that was just yucky split ends drying out from the processing. Now it’s brushing the top of my butt, it’s incredibly healthy, the ends don’t split and I finally have a really interesting hair color–all because I decided it was too much trouble. Best hair related decision I’ve ever made. Hey! More info on the tea tree stuff. My hair needs this info. Kinda fast.🙂 ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-want-grey-hair-dammit-little-help-ladies/841574/44 "2019-10-11T02:39:18Z")
> [@DorkVader](#): > > This has been a most interesting thread. > For those of you who decided to get a perm at some point in your life, and I mean this with all the heartfelt sincerity someone with naturally curly hair can muster, > WTEVERLOVINGF IS WRONG WITH YOU? > > VOW is my new Hero Of The Week _twirling around, showing off my new hero cape_ ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-want-grey-hair-dammit-little-help-ladies/841574/45 "2019-10-11T02:41:07Z")
> [@Saintly\_Loser](#): > > I do. Every minute of it, and then some. I’m turning 60 in a few weeks. 50 hurt my feelings. 60 pissed me off. I haven’t yet decided what I’ll feel when I turn 70. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-want-grey-hair-dammit-little-help-ladies/841574/46 "2019-10-11T02:49:20Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Hey! More info on the tea tree stuff. My hair needs this info. Kinda fast.🙂 Let it go, **Beck**. Take deep breaths. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-want-grey-hair-dammit-little-help-ladies/841574/47 "2019-10-11T02:49:22Z")
~VOW I’m thinking you’ll be dementedly happy at age 70. My Daddy said 70 was his second childhood. He capitalized on that. * * * Girl, love that cape!! You’re owning the super hero vibe! ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-want-grey-hair-dammit-little-help-ladies/841574/48 "2019-10-11T03:31:03Z")
_nudges Beck_ You should go radical, cut it like VOW but, Bright Pink with matching boots and jacket. Also, please be aware that I don’t always advocate such things unless I’ve done something in the same realm of radicalness…long ago…very long ago…when such things were acceptable, as they are for young people trying to figure out their place and who they are in the world…so very very long ago Wait, we get a second childhood? aaahhh screw it I still ain’t copping to bein older than twelve emotionally ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-want-grey-hair-dammit-little-help-ladies/841574/49 "2019-10-11T03:50:09Z")
> [@DorkVader](#): > > _nudges Beck_ > You should go radical, cut it like VOW but, Bright Pink with matching boots and jacket. > > Also, please be aware that I don’t always advocate such things unless I’ve done something in the same realm of radicalness…long ago…very long ago…when such things were acceptable, as they are for young people trying to figure out their place and who they are in the world…so very very long ago > > Wait, we get a second childhood? aaahhh screw it I still ain’t copping to bein older than twelve emotionally You forgot to tell what you did that was so radical. Come on, spill it! ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-want-grey-hair-dammit-little-help-ladies/841574/50 "2019-10-11T03:53:00Z")
I had a bit of wild child at fifty, shortly after I cut it all off and went punk. I had the top dyed red. Picture it: short, spiky mostly white hair…with fire engine RED on top. Getting reactions from co-workers was an experience to treasure forever! I’d just smile and say, “I had fun.” It was great. And the next haircut, it was gone. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-want-grey-hair-dammit-little-help-ladies/841574/51 "2019-10-11T04:19:40Z")
I’m such a chicken. I never do anything that fun. My DIL has been lightening my roots to maintain the blond me. It’s hard on the hair though. I’m about done with that crap. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-want-grey-hair-dammit-little-help-ladies/841574/52 "2019-10-11T05:06:19Z")
Hell, if I ever do go white or at least black and pepper I’m planning on getting a rainbow dye job. Not one of the “Pride Parade” rainbow jobs, just have a few different bits dyed the kind of colors human hair doesn’t naturally grow, with most of it left as-is, and with those dyes that wash away. Right now any dye jobs other than henna, dark brown or black would need decoloring and hell to the no. Decoloring is really damaging to the hair: speaking as someone who’s professionally qualified to wear a white lab coat\*, it involves removing the metals which give hair its colors, breaking part of the bonds which are part of each protein strand and some of those that form between strands. Kind of like throwing minimicroscopic razors at your hair. Not a good thing. - Degrees in ChemE and Chem. ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-want-grey-hair-dammit-little-help-ladies/841574/53 "2019-10-11T06:00:25Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > You forgot to tell what you did that was so radical. Come on, spill it! Ah yes…age 14, 9th grade junior high school \ Once I graduated 6th grade, elementary school and short pants, I was the perfect image of style and elegance (as much as a hormonal teenage boy can be). All of 7th and 8th grade and about the first 1/4 of 9th grade it was dress shoes and pants, button down shirts and sweater vests or a jacket and ties (full winsdor knot, none of that crappy sloppy looking knot that is uneven that the newsmen all seem to like and makes you look like some sort of bumpkin slob), hair always clean and neatly trimmed and well groomed. I have no idea now, at this great remove in time, why I chose to dress that way, but I did. Every afternoon I went home and changed into jeans and tshirt plus whatever other clothes were appropriate for the weather/season and planned activities, planned being a roughly approximate term only. Then one fine fall Tuesday morn, I said screw it! I wore my rattiest torn most faded jeans, an old blue leather motorcycle jacket I "inherited " from my dad (he used to race off road motorcycles) and I happen to have had a short length of spent ammunition belt for a Squad Automatic Weapon to link closed and make a “just the right size” Fucking Kick Ass Wristband of Awesomeness to wear. Aaand thats pretty much the style, both sartorial and mental/emotional/personal that I’ve been rocking since. Oh I still like dressing up, when the occasion warrants it. And when it does, I go all out and not bragging when I say DAYYYYUMMM I look good (still and for my age and alla that) but yeah, that was my radical overnight change > [@VOW](#): > > I had a bit of wild child at fifty, shortly after I cut it all off and went punk. I had the top dyed red. Picture it: short, spiky mostly white hair…with fire engine RED on top. > > Getting reactions from co-workers was an experience to treasure forever! I’d just smile and say, “I had fun.” > > It was great. > > And the next haircut, it was gone. > ~VOW VOW is my Hero of November ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-want-grey-hair-dammit-little-help-ladies/841574/54 "2019-10-11T06:08:58Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > ~VOW, dearest board sister help me emancipate from my hair slavery. I’m truly sick of this crap. Should I go short by degrees? Or chop it off one fell swoop? Just go for it, Beck. Get something fun and asymmetric [like this](https://www.short-haircut.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Asymmetrical-Pixie-Hair.jpg). That way the “grow out” will just look like a purposeful ombre. To “work” the family, get some brightly colored washable hair wax [like this](https://i5.walmartimages.com/asr/ddebf596-5c5d-48ec-a78f-82f546ed3f5a_1.aaf2dfd1df12f8880ec00e4cc9d73b1a.jpeg?odnWidth=450&odnHeight=450&odnBg=ffffff). Put it in the first day they see the new hair. When they find out that the neon green washes out they’ll be so relieved they’ll leave you alone about the rest. 😉 > [@VOW](#): > > I stopped messing with my hair when I turned 50. No more coloring, no more perms. My natural hair is stick straight. I had the last perm cut off to where my hair was about 1-1/2 inches long. > . . . > I am “hair emancipated.” > . . . This is me. I wore my hair elbow length for the first 30-odd years (except for a brief respite around age seven provided by St. Dorothy of Hamill). I had been convinced at an early age that it was the only way to look female and/or attractive to men. When I finally cut it off it was a revelation. Between the extra time washing, conditioning, drying, and curling the ends, I had an extra hour every morning. That adds up to an extra two weeks every year. Hair emancipation is right!! I’ll never let it grow long again. I’d love to just buy myself a Flowbee. 😃 > [@VOW](#): > > . . . > The rest of my body is dry-dry-dry, but my scalp and hair are still as oily as ever. I wash what little bit of hair I have left with Dawn dish detergent. > . . . Preach Sistah!! I use Ajax, because I can get it in 2.5 gallon bottles for only $5. Read the ingredients, people, shampoo is a scam. > [@DorkVader](#): > > . . . > For those of you who decided to get a perm at some point in your life, and I mean this with all the heartfelt sincerity someone with naturally curly hair can muster, > WTEVERLOVINGF IS WRONG WITH YOU? > . . . LOL! The Celtling struggles with her curly hair. I tell her all the time “I have spent fortunes trying to get curls like yours.” ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-want-grey-hair-dammit-little-help-ladies/841574/56 "2019-10-11T06:15:41Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > My mom dyed her hair black (her natural color) from the ages of 18 to 65, to cover up the gray. All those years…sometimes she did it at home, sometimes at the stylist when she could afford it. > > One day she was just like - fuck this! I’m over it! > > There was a little protest from the family because we had NEVER seen mom without black hair. No one had. She has always looked very young and now she was suddenly going to be showing her age. Were we ALL going to get old now?! > . . . > Since it took a long time to do, all of us had time to deal with the emotions associated with mom going gray 🙂 > . . . Jeez-o-flip. I want your life. Seriously. I want a life so smooth and easy that _my Mother’s hair color_ qualifies as a trauma to be eased into gradually. Ferchrissakes, do you hear yourself?!? :smack: ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-want-grey-hair-dammit-little-help-ladies/841574/57 "2019-10-11T06:42:13Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > Jeez-o-flip. I want your life. Seriously. I want a life so smooth and easy that _my Mother’s hair color_ qualifies as a trauma to be eased into gradually. Ferchrissakes, do you hear yourself?!? :smack: Eh, hair is a very emotional thing. When my sister came home with a single pink stripe over her ear, the way my Mom reacted you would have thought the sun was rising in the west and sis was going drop straight into the fires of hell at any second bypassing death completely. It was quite the row between the two of them. Hell im nearly 50 and she still gives me crap cause I’ve gotten so tired of dealing with curly hair that would make a poodle jealous, that I just shave it off completely every few weeks. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-want-grey-hair-dammit-little-help-ladies/841574/58 "2019-10-11T12:19:13Z")
When I dyed my daughter’s hair black, my mother had a hysterical meltdown. Seriously crying and angry at us. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-want-grey-hair-dammit-little-help-ladies/841574/59 "2019-10-11T14:01:21Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > Jeez-o-flip. I want your life. Seriously. I want a life so smooth and easy that _my Mother’s hair color_ qualifies as a trauma to be eased into gradually. Ferchrissakes, do you hear yourself?!? :smack: Where did she say her mother going grey was “a trauma”? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-want-grey-hair-dammit-little-help-ladies/841574/60 "2019-10-11T14:10:22Z")
I did a home semi permanent color for a while to even things out while the old color grew out. The semi perm would fade, I’d do it again. Cheap and easy. Mine is still more pepper than salt. And yes, cut it down to something that will grow out over less than a year if your face can take short hair and its currently long. And yes on the purple shampoo, My husband is far more grey than I am and purple shampoo has taken him from dingy grey to distinguished. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-want-grey-hair-dammit-little-help-ladies/841574/61 "2019-10-11T14:55:04Z")
One of the reasons I stopped ALL home coloring of my hair is that there was this ONE time… I called it “That’s Not the Color that was on the Box.” People actually complimented me on the color. I said, “You’re the only one who likes it.” Most of my life has been fight-fight-fight with my hair. In junior high school, I even SLEPT with curlers in my hair, for God’s sake! My decision at fifty to go with short, spiky, leave-it-grey is the happiest I’ve ever been in my entire life! ~VOW [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-want-grey-hair-dammit-little-help-ladies/841574.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-want-grey-hair-dammit-little-help-ladies/841574.md?page=4)