Is anyone transitioning....to Gray?

Hi Everybody,
This is my first post! [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
I was just wondering if there are any gray transitioners out there. I've been natural 8 years, but I have been coloring my grays since I was 23...I'll be 40 next month. That's a long time. I'm tired & it seems like I'm touching up my roots every 2-weeks. I have about 1" of new growth, but I don't want to cut my hair....which means I will be looking like skunk until I am ready to cut. I'm just conflicted....and it doesn't help when all you hear is, "I think you should dye your hair. You don't want to look old." [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] So I was wondering if anyone else has decided to take the plunge & just let those "wisdom" hairs come in, what products you recommend & what obstacles if any, you are going through. Also...I'm very glad to be here!

I am a 9 month transitioner and I have gray strands that I henna. To find out more about henna, check out www.hennaforhair.com and the henna thread on this site.

Also you may want to check out suburbanbushbabe in google. She is an older women who has a blog but she is gray and I think she colors her hair as well. She has alot of different recipies on her site.

Suburbanbushbabe has been transitioning to gray
http://www.curlynikki.com/2008/10/blog-post_15.html

Here is her fotki
http://members.fotki.com/suburbanbushbabe/about/

Thanks Ekaette [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Thank you ladies! I will be sure to check her blog!

Intelligentbeauty wrote:Thanks Ekaette [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Does henna actually work on your grays? Mine stay gray

Absolutely. I have used it about 6 to 7 times and I have full gray coverage. Mine are redish. I love it. It looks like highlights. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

@Intelligentbeauty - How often do you have to use the henna? It has been 7 months since my last relaxer and I have gray around my edges and was thinking about not trying to color, but then I researched henna and found that it can be used as a color. I have a 1 year old and don't know how much time I will have to focus on my hair.

@DoodyBugg . . . I can relate. I just turned 40 and have been using semi-permanent color for so long I can't remember when I started. But, I know I started because I got tired of friends always saying "you're too young to have gray hair" and many other comments about it.

I've been transitioning for 7 months and that includes color! I do not care what anyone has to say about my gray ever again! It's mine and it is what it is! LOL And soon, it will be natural, healthy and fly . . . oh, and gray (well, white actually)!

As for products, I'm learning what works for me. I've found coconut works well for me, so I find myself gravitating toward products that contain it. Helps keep my hair manageable, but not greasy. If I find something that affects the gray . . . I'll let you know.

Good Luck in your hair journey! :-)

@mom2btr, first of all your avatar is beautiful...lol. I have 2 sons myself (1 and 3 yrs old) I use to henna every 2 weeks when I first started. It takes a few applications to get total satisfation in my eyes. Now I do it once a month. I try to let the color release overnight on my head so in the am I can rinse and DC then rinse again whenever the children sleep and style. It is very therapeutic (sidebar). I try to do everything when the kids are alseep. I love henna and I do not think I will ever go back to commercial color again. This is the only tx I do that takes 2 days, but not really if you allow the color to release overnight on your head verses in a bowl then applying it to your head.
I hope I am making sense [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] .

@ THE_RYL_1, Good luck to you as well. You are absolutely right....healthy, natural & fly!! I hardly see any young black women with a fierce white/gray/silver fro! Although I think mine will be more of a reverse "Cruella DeVille"; white in the front & black in the back! Gotta grow a little more before I'll know definitely! Maybe I can start a trend! [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Oh...incase you haven't already seen it, take at look at: http://public.fotki.com/GiiGii08/
Gorgeous!

@Intelligentbeauty. Thanks for the compliment on the avatar, it is a wedding pic. When I BC on 3/20/10, I will post another pic. Thank you so much for the information. I will more than likely follow your same routine.

@Doddy I have a fair amout of gray and simply was tired of looking at it so i decided to henna (the main reason i used the henna was for conditioning and strenghten the color was a bonus) my hair, yesterday for the first time actually....my grays came out a pretty copper color, I like them. I know it will fade some in a couple of days, but they are working for me. You can also do henna and indigo if redish hair doesnt work for you with the right mix you and can get a dark brown and even black, you should check the henna board, im no expert since ive only henna once.

Whatever you decide I am sure you will look terrific...good luck

DOODYBUGG wrote:@ THE_RYL_1, Good luck to you as well. You are absolutely right....healthy, natural & fly!! I hardly see any young black women with a fierce white/gray/silver fro! Although I think mine will be more of a reverse "Cruella DeVille"; white in the front & black in the back! Gotta grow a little more before I'll know definitely! Maybe I can start a trend! [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Oh...incase you haven't already seen it, take at look at: http://public.fotki.com/GiiGii08/
Gorgeous!

Wow . . . I checked out the link! Her hair looked good, didn't it? Thanks for passing that one on.

LOL . . . my hair is more white in the front, too. And I can't wait to have my coily fro with "personality" in the front!

Mom2BTR wrote:@Intelligentbeauty. Thanks for the compliment on the avatar, it is a wedding pic. When I BC on 3/20/10, I will post another pic. Thank you so much for the information. I will more than likely follow your same routine.

WOW, it looks like you and I will be BCing around the same time. My date is 3/17/10, one year from my last relaxer. We will be changing our avatar at the same time....lol.

KEEP ME POSTED [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

@intelligentbeauty... How exciting is that. We will be "BC buddies". LOL. I am so glad that I decided to post on this forum. I was hesitate and now I have a "BC Buddy" that also has a 1 year old. How odd is that? Well, I will keep you posted and I will go to the website to purchase the henna. I didn't realize I could use it now. Duh!

Yes, BC buddies we will be. Keep me posted on your henna experience. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Hey!!!! What happened to 3/27???? My appointment is this Saturday @ 10am. I will post pics as soon as I can.

Your hair is beautiful!!!!! Are you having problems with bed head or dryness? I am most afraid of those two things.

I had to do it earlier. Thanks for the compliment.
I just couldn't take it anymore. And I did not want to do more harm than good.
Bed head seem to be unavoidable but water is our friend. Dyness, not so much. But when I am at optimal moisture, good things do happen. Still trying to figure out products and how to retain that moisture. It's like starting all over again.

Can't wait to see your pics. Remember to post in the March BCers in the general section.

Okay, I am over a week late, but you know how it is with a little one. I did it! My big chop was done on March 20th. I hope my avatar changed. I am loving it. I will post on the March Big Chop thread too.

Hi ladies,
I have grays, but when I henna'd all it did was turn the gray from silver to copper! So I did more research and found that if you want to really cover them up you need to first henna, and then indigo. That makes your hair jet black, and covers up the grays. Henna for Hair has a great site. Check this out.

http://www.hennaforhair.com/indigo/index.html

- savvy