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Monday, January 6, 2014

Self Trim (Must Be Supervised)

When you are growing out color the single most annoying thing is looking at those damned dyed ends. I will confess I have been so focused on attaining the glorious ponytail that I have not self-trimmed. The last time I DID self-trim was about three months into my transition when I was desperate to see just one piece of my hair without dye. This went tragically wrong when said piece began to rebel and stick out, making one side of my head look like it had a permanent fascinator. A little styling gel and I soon got it in check but it was touch and go there for a while.

My last haircut was in early August and having seen six months go by without so much as a trim, I wanted to see some results already! Although my last stylist burnt a section of my hair, thus yellowing it, she did manage to give me a kickass haircut. This has made it possible for me to grow out my hair for six months and it still looking styled. I learned that from now on, I will get a cut and blow dry, but not allow any salons to use styling tools on me. They simply don’t know what they’re doing when it comes to grey hair. 

It was the day before my 16-month anniversary and I just went for it. I divided my hair in half and cut at least an inch off the side-swept bangs. I should have had parental supervision when attempting this but alas, I did it anyway. One silver sister said, ‘the difference between a good haircut and a bad one is about two weeks.’ I can live with that.

I have this unfortunate Patty Duke flip going on and that’s really annoying me but I must say I’m still glad I did it. My hair looks sooo much lighter just with some of those ends off. I figure I will go get a trim before I go back to Kansas in March but I need to grow out my cut a bit before doing the walk of shame to the hair salon. Here is my before and after pics. The two before pics show the alarming amount of dye still left. The two after shots show both the cut (indoor lighting) and how much lighter it looks now that there’s a little bit less dye to reflect off. 

 
It really is all about the lighting. There’s no flash or saturation changes done or any editing, for that matter, on these photos. You’ll notice with grey hair that some people seeing you only indoors will think you’re a blonde. Anyway, I hope those of you getting frustrated with your transition process realise that there are nice surprises along the way. I didn’t think an inch off would make that much of a difference but I’m pleasantly surprised to see my hair lighten with the trim.
 

6 comments:

  1. It looks great, Jill, as I already knew from CG! May I ask you, how did you get the dyed ends so much lighter than they used to be in older pictures of you? You have very similar dye to me, but mine are still brassy auburn/gold/hideous. Did your dye just fade that much, was it vitamin C/other treatments, or something else. Would love to know! Really enjoying your blog!

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  2. Hi, Puppyfur!! Nothing, and I repeat NOTHING got that color out of my hair on my own. You know that second color in my signature? That was the same after 8 months. I tried Color Oops, the vitamin C and peroxide/baking soda thing and nothing worked. I went to Aveda and had a color lift- their only toxic process. If you have a PPD allergy don't do it. It lifted to a bright yellow that could be tamed with some Roux (see my two blog posts in April: http://greyinganddating.blogspot.com/2013/04/color-lift-part-deux.html).

    I would recommend this but do know that it redistributes some of the dye on your virgin hair. On the one hand it softened the stripe and even now my ends blend so nicely with my virgin hair. On the other hand, I did this with 8 months of growth and lost some of that time. You're earlier in the process and it might be a good option for you. If it doesn't sound like it's something you want to pursue but the skunk stripe is getting to you, try layers.

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  3. Dearest Jill....you're so kind to have replied. I'm going to think it over very carefully. At the moment I'm just going to try vitamin C. If that's no good, I'm leaning towards toughing it out! After all, I have great examples in you and some others. <3

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  4. I just saw your latest pic posted today and I think your color has lifted. Even at 8 months mine was much darker than yours is now. You see that back pic of me? That's probably where your color will be in another 6 months or so. Not a bad contrast. A lady at Church yesterday told me it looks like the dyed bits are natural and that my hair is just progressively getting greyer. Okay, that can't happen but to the public it looks very organic. Get yourself through a few more months and it will all be downhill!

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  5. I am impressed that you trimmed your OWN hair - and you did a beautiful job! I too find myself stretching the time between haircut appointments in an attempt to save money (you make a good point in your latest post about not cheaping out on the cut) and also to get some length. But I wouldn't mind giving myself a teensy trim to get off some of the dye. Do you have a certain method you use for self-trimming? GirlCat linked me to one method she used, but it was for loooong hair and would not work for me. --Karen/Karefree2

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  6. I don't recommend because I didn't do a good job. What I did was divide my hair in half and trimmed an inch off, cutting not perpendicular (or straight across) into the hair but horizontally (cutting up). But I wasn't even and my method probably created layers that hid my grey more than showcased it. It looks all-over lighter now that good stylist did it. Let me see pics though of your hair! I swear, an inch off makes a massive difference and lightens your hair shade. You'll get excited all over again.

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