'Old Girl' Talk...Wild Hair in Unexpected Places

I was reading Boomington Express this morning. Wild hair was the subject of interest today. I am not good at "girl talk" so a lot of this information surprises me. I was almost 65 before I realized that I could have something done to my nails, apply a little make-up and fix my hair so I would look and, consequently, feel better about myself.

We women  50-115 fight the fact that our skin, hair, and youth attitude is not what it used to be. I am here to tell you that all is not lost. We can make ourselves look wonderful good in spite of it all.  But here is the deal...you had better be willing to suffer some pain if you want to deal with a lot of these things! There is a cost for everything.

My hair has been a sore point since I first discovered a gray hair. I pulled them out at one time. It occurred to me that bald was not good either. That was the beginning of my dependence on hair color.  To this day I still put "hair color" stuff on my hair to improve the texture. Just don't like wild dead looking hair. It is so unfair that my hair would look dead before I am, dead that is. Darn.

Even our babies like to be beautiful..check out this pose!
Fresh Look Photography, Portland Or

Then there is that other wild hair...the stuff that grows on my face. Just yesterday I decided that, in addition to having my eyebrow waxed, I would ask the woman to wax all that facial hair on the sides of my face that made me look blurred. The outline of my face had disappeared in a forest of white downy fuzz. I was accustomed to the eyebrow pain so I didn't think this procedure all the way through. I did not know it would hurt that much! She applied a huge swath of very hot wax to the whole right side of my face, applied the cloth and yanked like a man. The hair hairs, a lot of hairs, did not come out willingly. I can truthfully say this is the first time I have screamed really loud in pain at the spa. Then, like an idiot, I let her do the other side. I will be drinking something very strong before I go have it done again. When the saying "no pain no gain" was first coined, some woman was screaming as hair was being yanked from her body in a spa somewhere...really!

Now I am seeing the threading technique being done by vendors at the mall. You know, that is the procedure where they yank each hair out individually using a thread spinning and pulling. I just cannot decided whether I want to have a little pain for a longtime or a lot of pain for a few seconds. But, let me tell you, I will be doing one or the other...I did mention I was an idiot didn't I? I cannot help it. Vanity comes to call whether I want it to or not.

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Related articles

• In pursuit of youth: Does the back of your head match your face? (retireinstyleblog.com)
• I may end up being a bag lady! Note:  Blog rot has set in on this old blog post but I still think you might enjoy it. (itcrossedmymind.com)

Gray Hair Color...finding a subtle HAIR COLOR change!!!

I like to change the color of my hair.  My first gray hair appeared when I was around thirty.  I pulled them out while my children took piano lessons and I waited in the car.  Like most women at that age looking older did not make me happy.  I didn't want to be gray.  I wanted to be blond or red...just not gray!  

I am 68 now and for almost 25 years I have been having perms and coloring my hair looking for the perfect look.  It has been a learning process and I would like to share what I have learned.


LET ME COUNT THE WAYS...There are many ways to color your hair.  Hair dressers have become very sophiticate and techniques are so much better than they were the first time I had a "color weave".  I am learning about things that I did not even know existed.  Did you know:

You can bring you color up or down without a total hair dye job.  By adding highlight, twilights or lowlights you can change the appearance of you hair color in such a subtle way your friends may not even notice.  

• Twilights will tone down a hair color if you feel you hair color has that "glow in the dark" shade and you don't like it.  
• Lowlights can take your gray hair color and bring it back to a younger shade without getting rid of all the gray.  I have a friends that does this.  Her hair is blond with gray at the roots.  By using lowlights she hides the gray but does not change what is left of her blond hair color.  
• Highlights will just brighten your hair in a very subtle way.  I found a website that said you can even do this with mascara.  Christian Dior and Revlon both have a product that will work.  It just washes out the next time you shampoo.  

 There are several techniques that will make a bigger statement.

• Veiling is a technique that will bring your gray hair dye or mousy brown dye job back to life. This process actually is done using an all over semi-permanent hair color.  I did this for myself recently when I found my hair so blond it looked almost white.  By adding the semi-permanent dye I brought the tone down to a reasonable level and it has lasted much longer that I thought it would.
• I have a friend that does a chunking process...her husband helps her.  She takes a chunk of hair in the front of her hair but not totally in the bang area.  She usually used a blond to get a highlight in that area.  My granddaughter would like to do this to her bangs and leave the rest a natural black color.  

USE A PROFESSIONAL IF YOU CAN AFFORD IT...In most cases I don't recommend you do it yourself...professionals know what they are doing.   Having said that I will have to confess that I will do things to my hair on Sunday when the beauty shop is closed and I don't think I can wait another day.  I guess that is why I have ideas and opinions and know just enough about the process to be dangerous.  This is my disclaimer if any of you take my advice and it doesn't turn out!   Not everything I have done to my hair has turned out to be a good idea.

WHAT I DO...My hair is gray...really gray.  I use a ten minute hair dye that works beautifully.  By following the instructions I get a dye job that does not totally color my hair and leaves it with highlights as a result.  I don't mind that gray shows up in some places.   I think it looks more natural.  I do not try to make my dark brown/gray hair a color that is so far from normal that it looks fake.  I just don't think that is a good idea.  Any color that has the word "ash" in the color will not have nearly as much red highlight as one that does not have that word.  I think it just depends on what your hair color was originally...something in that same tone will go with your skin color.

TRY IT WITHOUT TRYING IT...Now, if you are ready or are thinking seriously about making a change but are not completely sure, you need to try it without trying it.  On those websites that allow you do a virtual makeover you can see how a new style/color looks on you.  By uploading a picture of yourself, you can try on the hair color of you choice and then make a educated decision.  I love to do this.  It is fun to play around with hair styles and color.  Nothing permanent...it is just make believe.
    
Should you cover your gray and have a change?  I can't give you the answer for that.  I do know that it is a lot of fun.  We are going to Mexico for our fiftieth wedding anniversary.  I am going to get a special hair color for that vacation...just for the fun of it.  There is some beautiful hair color for gray hair and I am going to take advantage of it.   Hair color is a bit like painting your living room...it is not forever.

Have fun!


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