Why ‘Again’?
I’ve been on this ‘get it dyed/grow it out’ hair cycle for a long time. I’ve been through all sorts of combinations and phases of things such as highlights/lowlights/base colours/no colour/fighting the warmth/fighting the brassyness/permanent/semi-permanent/leave it to grow/can’t-stand-it-need- to-get-it-dyed-again for years.
So, I’m not going grey for the first time, I’m going grey yet again.
But, as I explained in my first post, my hope is that by pursuing the path to pure hair colour in this public way I’ll not be quite so susceptible to those impulsive-then-instantly-regret-them decisions to go get my hair dyed again.
(I should probably point out here that sometimes when I’ve had it dyed it’s been with a view to making growing it out easier, so that it blends and doesn’t look quite so stark — my hairdressers have all been brilliant at trying to help me do that. But this time I’ve decided no more chemicals and it’s time to try going cold turkey.)
So, where am I at with it now?
I last got my hair coloured by a professional on the 21st of February 2019, then I used one of those semi-permanent box affairs at home on the 30th of April 2019. It’s been 16 weeks since I last dyed my hair.
I’m looking very two-tone, with one half of my head darker than the other.
I think this might be partly down to me being rubbish at applying the box colour and it being pretty uneven, and a small part of the light side is due to my ‘Mallen Streak’ affair. But I won’t know until it grows a good bit more if I’m naturally, starkly darker on one side than the other! Maybe I’m going to be naturally two-tone!
(Sidenote: I’m actually two-tone from top to toe at the moment following the impact on my tootsies after my recent ultra run. Skip quickly past the next photo if you don’t like feet, especially not-well-looked-after feet…)
One of the things that puts many women off going grey is the fear of looking ‘washed out’. I’m trying to decide — after yesterday’s long run along the beach, when the wind was pushing my hair off my face, exposing the fair few inches of natural colour at my hairline and giving me some idea of what it might look like once there’s no dye left on my whole head — whether I look washed out or washed up…! What do you think?!?
In years gone by, this photo would definitely have made me susceptible to an impulsive-then-instantly-regret-it decision to go get my hair dyed. But not this time.
I’m sticking with it! For the moment! So far so good!
Though, I can’t help wondering if maybe some of you are thinking, ‘No, not so good Jane, go get it dyed again! You look decrepit and washed out…!’
It’s a strange one. I’ve decided to share this journey publicly for various reasons: I’m hoping it makes me feel more accountable, I aim to have some fun writing the blog, I want to explore the more serious side of women’s relationship with their hair and hair loss and I like the idea of comparing notes from my own ‘going grey’ experiences with other women who might be thinking of doing the same, or might already be somewhere down that road.
And I guess I’m hoping that all of that’s going to make me less inclined to give up as easily as I’ve done in the past.
But I’m also aware that by sharing my own ‘going grey’ journey I’m opening myself up to — and inviting — opinions and feedback from other people.
Which I’m hoping doesn’t make me feel more inclined to give up as easily as I’ve done in the past…
Until next time my friends. Hopefully still with a multi-coloured head of hair.
