Going Gray Ombre? Yeah Right!

Recently, I made an attempt to be edgy by trying to get the Granny Hair look. I spoke to five different stylists who told me that my hair was too dark and I'd have to bleach it first to get to get gray. My reaction was "Bring it on!" as long as I got the look I wanted. I showed them pictures of the gray hair color. I could not have been more specific. The stylists around me began talking shop. Speaking in numbers and levels that newbies to the hair dyeing community like myself would not understand. It sounded like they knew what they were doing. A plan was in place. I had no reason to believe that anything could possibly go wrong.

Two hours later my hair was brassy and dry. Having naturally dry and curly hair this was nothing short of a disaster. I was an ugly blonde ombre. My worst nightmare come true! All the stylists kept affirming how good it looked but not one of them empathized with my sorrow. "It isn't gray!" was all I kept saying, filled with regret and wanting to grab the nearest pair of scissors and just shear it all off.

The stylist came clean there and explained that there was always a risk that the color would not lift or turn gray and that I had many intervals of bleaching ahead of me before achieving the Granny Hair look. I wasn't prepared to learn that I had a long journey ahead to getting that edgy hair color. It might be out of fashion by then. And from the sound of it, I might have very little hair to show for after all the layers of processing to my already brittle strands.

The failed dye job was really just another day in the life of the hair stylists.

I am not sure what I have derived from this mishap except that it has made me twice shy and I've reverted to fearing experimentation into trendy and edgy looks.

I did, however, realize that I failed to do my due diligence and afterward hopped on to that little known website called YouTube to see what they had to say about it. It turned out I should have started there first before hopping along like a happy Tigger to the first trendy looking salon I could find.

I kept asking myself if this was something I should have tried at home. I watched several videos on YouTube of DIY "Granny Hair" dye jobs and I had to give these girls their props...big time! The major theme in all the videos was purple dye on bleached blonde hair, resulting in that smoky look that I ran to the salon for. I also learned that the gray color was temporary and would wash out after a few weeks. I also got some very good advice about deep conditioning bleached hair. Advice that will come handy right now!

In a very ancient Egypt B.C., henna was used to cover gray. As early as 100 A.D. Romans already had the recipe for dyeing their hair black from their local GP Dr. Galen and in the last 125 years our permanent hair dyeing methods have remained static, at least chemically they have. The growing awareness of what we put on and in our bodies does not exclude the hair dye industry and many have tried to raise awareness of the dangers of long term use of hair dyes, including the affect they might have on pregnant women.

Nonetheless, this fad has been around for ages and is only expanding with the spectrum of brilliant temporary colors on the market today. And even men are in on it.

According to DailyMail.co.uk author Deni Kirkova, and many members of my family, "one in six women have dyed their hair for so long they no longer remember their natural shade". But there are many women who go their entire lifetime without dyeing their hair for their own personal tastes and reasons. I was one of those women until I got a little bit inspired by that super-sexy Granny Hair look. It didn't exactly go well, but now that I am here maybe I won't throw in the towel just yet in reverting to my dark curly locks. Perhaps there is a DIY that will work for me and perhaps I should try, try, try again since at first I did not succeed.

In using that most common phrase, at the end of the day... Your hair is your very own magic halo whether you color it or just leave it natural.