Going Silver – NOT Grey!

Hahaha, I have to laugh as I write the title of this blog.  I always call it grey and everyone reminds me that it isn’t grey, it's silver.  Ya, that is just what we tell ourselves after all the grey has come in and it actually turns into a pretty silver.

I started going grey at the age of 18.  Yes, in college and noticing grey’s is not ideal.  Luckily there is always a way to cover it up with color and highlights.  Well, fast forward to turning 40 with over 20 years of dying your hair and one begins to say, enough is enough.  So, I decided to see just how grey I really was.  I let my roots grow out, and you could see a silver shadow all the way through the top of my hair.  And thus I knew it was time to begin the process.

My friend and hair colorist, Erin, said the process wouldn’t be easy, and it would take time.  It wasn’t like I was taking virgin, un-dyed hair and turning it grey like the 20-year-olds are doing, I was taking hair that was beat up, over-processed and asking it to go from oh so dark to void of any color.  But I knew the time was right, I just had one last thing to do…convince my husband that now was the time to go grey, and it would be ok…and could even be pretty.

I started in July with highlights, then a complete bleach (which I don’t recommend at all, this caused me to need to cut my hair so short from all the breakage) and then some additional toning.  Well, I should say lots of toning.  See, hair that has been colored for so long doesn’t want to turn grey/platinum/silver – it wants to go YELLOW!  And not a pretty yellow as in blonde, it is YELLOW!  So I fought on and off with that for over a year.  And now at almost two years in I have just a few inches left of the dyed stuff.

Throughout the process, there were days when I thought I’d go back, go back to the brown I loved…cause it took some wardrobe adjustments – peeps I didn’t realize how many grey things I owned until all the sudden my hair matched my wardrobe.  And I would see a picture of me and think “oh goodness – I look old”.  BUT, along this process, I also decided to lose some weight…ok, not just some, 20 pounds of body fat that needed to come off. 

I finally put my excuses aside, following a detox program and then, with Stacia, created our 21 Day Detox that has helped so many others in addition to me and helped me keep the weight off.  I don’t feel deprived at all – EVER.  Yes, I still have pizza and cookies and even brownies – they are just healthier, and I realize how awful I felt with all the inflammation from the not so great foods.  My kids have finally stopped saying – “is this our new healthier version”?  And I gave up for good Diet Coke – thank goodness, I always knew just how awful that was, but since I don’t drink alcohol, it was my drink.

So, now I am here!  I love and embrace my silver.  And I am grateful for all those who have told me how good it looks – of course it does, it’s my actual natural hair color.  Amazing how that all works.

And if/when you decide to embrace your SILVER – these are the products I love.  I rotate through the 3 shampoos for the color Gem Lites (Celeb), Fanola (No Yellow) and L’Ange (Cool Toning) and alternate with the Olaplex since they are all a little drying.  These keep the yellow (which grey hair naturally turns in the sun on all people) away.  I rotate between the blue and purple hints so my hair stays silver and doesn’t end up blue (like it was in the beginning) or purple.  As for conditioner – I love the L’Ange (Cool Toning), Olaplex and my cheapy Tresemme Anti Breakage.  If you are looking for one to start with try the L’Ange (I have to be careful with these as they have grapeseed in them which if I use it more than once per week my skin has a reaction too – but they seem to be the most conditioning and least harsh).  I recommend alternating every time you wash.

And when you decide to rock your silver – I’d love to see it and cheer you on!  Go #silverfoxes