Going Natural? How?

[MitziK]

Thanks to the plumber taking tips from the Scarlet Pimpernel, I've not been able to redo my hair dye for much longer than usual.

Anyhow, the shower mixer is allegedly being fixed tomorrow, so I paid slightly more attention to my hair than I have been, as making sure it was clean was my only concern.

My pure white streak that I've had since I was 21 has spread. I've lost almost all the colour on the front of my head. It's not grey, it's pure white from my crown to my ears.

Now, I have no problem with the idea of it being all pure white. I'll miss the red, but the natural red is what's decided to turn white first. I shall (eventually) have a pure white lob and rock it. Where it's started over my temples, I can see that white will probably suit me/my pasty white and freckled complexion.

It's obviously happened over the last three months, as it wasn't like that when I last did my hair. (coincides with my brother dying and my starting a different medication - I wonder whether either of those could be related?)

Anyhow, I have to dye it tomorrow, as I'm starting a new job and they would probably be slightly concerned if I were to turn up looking like a completely different person. I don't want to be doing this forever, though.

But when do I stop dying it? Do I go for the 'trendy' silver and then get the white put in? Do I (ugh, been there, done that) go pale blonde from a box and hope that it doesn't all snap off?

I am not doing a pixie cut. I would look like an angry red auntie of Donald Trump. My hair is mid way down to my bra strap, wavy but fine. I'm 46. I could cope with it at shoulder length as a step towards lob, but it does feel weird.

And I can't go cold turkey, work wouldn't tolerate it and neither would I.

I need to plan this. DP won't be worried either way, as he's got no hair of his own and hasn't since he was 22, so he's sympathetic to any hair issues. But I need to feel that I don't look any more shit than necessary.

Anybody got advice?

No idea but just to say you write really well!

So you have to dye it? You can have hair different from at your interview,it's allowed.

I would see a really good hairdresser and tell them exactly what you've said here and see what they suggest. That's what I did when I grew my grey in.

Thanks.

I have to dye it because there's a lot of regrowth. They would be fine with it being any colour, natural or otherwise, just so long as it looks like it is being looked after, rather than ignored/neglected.

I tried a hairdresser this afternoon.

They recommended a pixie cut and starting from scratch. Nope - the only time I'll have one of those is if I have to due to medication making it all fall out (at which point, I shall naturally embrace it/get DP to start it off with a buzzcut).

I suspect that they didn't really want my custom/dealing with shitty box dyes isn't worth the time and effort, going by the way the recommendation was made directly down their nose. Or they still think that everybody should get their hair cut short on their 40th birthday before opting for a cauliflower perm/shampoo and set and a tartan shopping trolley as a present?

In any case, our budget only really stretches to a packet of dye and DP hacking across the ends in the kitchen every couple of months (we have decent/sharp hairdressing scissors, so it looks pretty good, as long as I don't ask him for anything more complicated).

I suppose I could just go progressively lighter. It's a mid auburn at present, pretty much my original/natural colour before middle age got in the way. Maybe from there to light, then to blondes, getting progressively lighter each time until the white claims victory?

Honestly - white, of all things. They don't even advertise dye that covers white, only greys. I'm going from a natural squirrel dunked in a puddle colour, to squirrel, to squirrel in a deep freeze.

Bah. I'm still about 12 and a half in my head.

I went lighter and lighter which meant my natural colour and greys could blend in too. I told the hairdresser I didn't want loads of upkeep and she did exactly what I asked and now I only have it down 3x a year and cuts in between. Works a treat. Try another hairdresser who is a colour specialist.

I've grown out red hair dye. I used a temporary colour every few washes at first to blend it in a bit (Harmony-you can get it on Amazon) but the red dye actually faded quite a lot so wasn't as noticeable as time passed. As my natural hair grew in it wasn't as grey as I expected, which was sort of a nice surprise. If I'm honest I preferred it red, but it was time.

No answer here really as I've just stopped in my early thirties before this became an issue . Have got a number of greys around, but not to noticeable now as I head towards 40.

A friend went for high lights - half a head but her base was brown to begin with. Can you maybe head for brown first and then lighter it slowly?

Harmony! Is it still in a toblerone shape box? I remember dithering over which shade to get in Boots in the 80s - or whether I should get a Glints instead.

@JMAngel1 Square box, but it still smells the same!