Small Talk: The Prayer Closet

[zoomama]

this hair talk is fascinating to me!  i thought you all were young kids on here and that i was the only grandma!!  i confess to having very little gray hair, nothing that is even noticeable. that said, i have been putting purple streaks, and pink ....and blue in my very short hair. i like to have fun with it. but i am sort of just letting all the highlights grow out now to see whee i am at. all my siblings (all younger) have full heads of gray hair. i guess when it turns all gray, then it will stay all gray. i don't know....

[kassygreene]

I always wanted to be a coppery redhead, but never had the nerve to change that much.  I was a tow-headed blonde until puberty, then went dishwater.

I had a stylist in the 80s who was fabulous (lost her when she got married and was able to cut back to one job).  She gave me very nice natural highlights, and introduced me to the spiral-wrap perm, which takes about four hours for me because my hair's preferred behavior is straight. fine, and ever-yielding to gravity.

Tried a few others and never had such good work, so I finally gave up.  Now that I'm sixty, the dark blond that resisted gray long enough for every co-worker my age in my forties and fifties to hate my breathing guts is silvering up quite nicely.

And I now live with my mother, and apparently I'm going gray the same way her mother did and she likes it, plus we live in Florida (sun streaked hair and permanent tan lines), so Tres Semme is all I do now, with a good cut at Great Clips every 8-10 weeks.  That takes about fifteen minutes, which also happens to be the outer limit of how much time I can spend breathing salon chemicals.

[lookeyloo]

Welcome to the grandmas on the forum!  I have three human grandchildren and two canine. When I was a little girl I had copper curls. Like a new penny my mother told me. And she saved a curl for proof. I lost track of it but we had it long enough for me to remember looking at it and thinking what? My hair is straight as a stick and very dark brown. She "said" when she cut it is when it grew back dark and straight. Maybe it was just my baby hair. 

[CalicoKitty]

EMMA, I used the DNA kit from Ancestry.com.  It uses a little less "spit", and was therefore easier for my elderly parents.  We did have a good laugh doing the test.

[GeeGolly]

I too was a towhead blonde, and darkened a bit, but not quite to dishwater color, and always had natural highlights. In my youth I always had the attitude that I would never dye my hair. I was and still am a bit of a tom-boy, and have never been into mani-pedi, salon experience, and the like. I like to think that if I started graying younger, I would have went gray, but I'm not so sure. I don't wear make-up, or 'do' my hair, but I do dye it, and will continue to do so. I'm lucky that I can wait longer in between dye jobs because the blonde/gray colors aren't so far apart.

Now, if I was a man, I would for sure not deal with the bullshit of dying my hair.

[MargeGunderson]

My natural hair color is a very blah brown, but ain't no one seen that since high school. For the last 3 years it's been some shade of copper/caramel, usually lighter in the summer and darker in the fall and winter. For a couple years I got foils from a great colorist which were fantastic. Then she moved and I've gone back to a single color process every 7 weeks. I'm lucky that my hair takes color well, and I use color-safe products so it doesn't fade a lot or turn brassy between colors. This is one area where I'm willing to spend the money - this and skincare/makeup.

Funny thing, I wasn't that into fashion, makeup or hair as a teenager. It was partially a lack of money. I'm definitely making up for it now.

[Happyfatchick]

42 minutes ago, kathe5133 said:

I think it's important to feel that you look your best always. 

I think Kathe5133 nailed it.  Try it.  If you're not comfortable, do something else.  It's all about how you FEEL.  If it makes you "feel" old or act old, or gives you the feeling that others treat you older, color it.  And if you start growing it and everybody else hates it, but you love it... screw 'em. 

I'm gray, I've been gray since 27ish.  I was white blond as a child, dishwater in my early 20's and coloring by 30.  I always ALWAYS hated coloring.  It's such a HASSLE to keep up with (for me, anyway).  I tend to be a little unconcerned about my looks, and pretty much devil-may-care.  I'll say this, though, since it's a fear among us: I really don't feel as though I'm treated older because of the gray.  When my youngest was a senior in HS, I started growing out the color.  I'd stayed dirty blond, so maybe it wasn't that noticeable.  (I did worry about having half colored/half natural hair with a cutoff line around my ears...).  But then, right at graduation, when it was mostly gray, I panicked.  I told my hairdresser to color me (precisely because I didn't want to look like his grandma in the pics!). She refused.  Nope.  You've gone too far to back out now.  So I kept going.  I wear my hair in the angled bob, and for me, that's key.  Although my hair is the perfect texture to go short, I don't do it.  I did the Lisa Renna (is that her name, big lips dancing-with-the-stars girl?) last summer and my kids went ballistic.  Mom!!!  UGH!!  GROW YOUR HAIR OUT!!!   For me, personally, it's  the length and the cut that make people treat me older, not the color.   It's incredibly thick (I always joke that I have Cabbage Patch head) and wavy.  I straighten it with a flat iron and use good conditioners.  I'm being completely serious when I say some random stranger will stop me in public at least once a week to say, "I love your hair!!!"  I'm always vocal about going gray, and sometimes my friends say, "if I had your hair, I'd go gray too!"  Yeah, but we'll never really know as long as you're coloring, right?

[lookeyloo]

Happy - one of my friends is mostly gray and whenever we stood out in the sunlight (she is from former city so don't see her now although we text every day) her hair would glitter like real silver. I always said to her "your hair is gorgeous". Hers is thick with a nice wave and she wears it shortish and bouncy. What with my tiny head and thinning hair (medication induced) I am in a battle with mine. I use a red laser hair max and I don't know if it helps after 2 years but it hasn't hurt and the doctor recommended Rogaine. I'm three weeks in and it will take a few months to see if it works. I have tried a lot of thickening shampoos and other styling products. It does behave better when it is freshly colored. 

[CherryMalotte]

Originally a dark brunette but with slight red shading from time to time, mostly in the sun.  I started to go really gray, but it was actually kinda nice because it streaked in a way that made the brunette bits look even darker.  Then I went thru a long patch without a regular stylist because it was getting to the point where I couldn't afford to see her anymore and my hair had been layered on top of layered and I didn't know what the heck to do with it anymore.  So I just let it grow out and would stick it in a ponytail.  Finally I started going to the stylist school where my husband had been going to get his hair cut and I'm hooked on the place.  I never get a bad cut because the instructors won't let one out the door, and 99% of the time the girls (and guy or two) are all pretty sweet natured, and are just happy to have someone to practice on.  After the Mini Malotte begging me to try something different I finally gave up and let 'em at it - dyed it a dark dark red, and it looked great.  Now I get some purple mixed into the red to deepen it more and it looks great.  And it's very inexpensive.  I do feel guilty about my prior stylist, she was so nice but sometimes you have to make that change.  Besides, the roots are pretty much white now, not gray, which isn't surprising after the last year.      

[Happyfatchick]

I once accidentally picked up a shampoo with volumizer.  Whoooooo, boy.  Bad, bad day.

[marypat57]

I took the Ancestry  DNA test a few years ago just for the heck of it.  I remember  opening up the email with the results and laughing out loud all to myself.  Seems that the test came back as 100% British  Isles ancestry--mostly Irish (I kind of figured that), with some British  and Welsh thrown in.  

 

As  a matter  of  fact , I managed to locate a second cousin through the DNA match on Ancestry .  We've managed to share lots of interesting info about my paternal grandma's family.

I started to investigate on Ancestry because we knew so little about my paternal grandad's family other than both his parents died when he was very young  and he left his stepmother's home to live with a friend when he was about 12.  We also had no idea who was the first in our family to come to the US--turns out it was my parental grandad's mother.

For those of you who are interested , you can find out lots of stuff for free if you do a census search.  

I am interested about what other info I cold find out from the 23 and me DNA test.  Has anyone done both tests?

[MarysWetBar]

Am I the only one who feels paranoid about sending my DNA to a lab?  I have done the Ancestry stuff on a free  weekend one time and found it very cool but I'm just not so sure about supplying my DNA all willy nilly. 

[Andalusian]

Re; assorted hair chat.

I actually buzzed allllllll my hair off at the beginning of June.  My hair has always been very thin/fine (think toddler hair) which runs on both sides of the family.  The exception is my aunt (dad's sister) -- my grandmother shaved her head when she was a baby as she had heard Indian mothers did this to ensure hair growth (or something).  Sure enough, either lucky genetics or what have you -- my aunt has the only thick hair in the family. 

ANYWAY.  Since I decided to start college (real college!) this year and I'd been threatening to shave my head since high school I did it as a "fresh start" sort of thing.  Honestly, if you want to go for it, I say DO IT.  I'm taking gelatin, biotin and vitamin e (all part of my general supplements as is) but all are said to help promote good hair growth.  It's not doing too badly, I think.  My only complaint is that I suddenly have WAY WAY WAY more silver hair.  I don't know where it all came from.  Sorry about the terrible images (day of the cut and at one month), but I figured it might help to see the progress (I'm documenting it on my facebook as it is).

 

 

Edited July 8, 2016 by Andalusian

[Love2dance]

4 hours ago, Happyfatchick said:

I think Kathe5133 nailed it.  Try it.  If you're not comfortable, do something else.  It's all about how you FEEL.  If it makes you "feel" old or act old, or gives you the feeling that others treat you older, color it.  And if you start growing it and everybody else hates it, but you love it... screw 'em. 

I'm gray, I've been gray since 27ish.  I was white blond as a child, dishwater in my early 20's and coloring by 30.  I always ALWAYS hated coloring.  It's such a HASSLE to keep up with (for me, anyway).  I tend to be a little unconcerned about my looks, and pretty much devil-may-care.  I'll say this, though, since it's a fear among us: I really don't feel as though I'm treated older because of the gray.  When my youngest was a senior in HS, I started growing out the color.  I'd stayed dirty blond, so maybe it wasn't that noticeable.  (I did worry about having half colored/half natural hair with a cutoff line around my ears...).  But then, right at graduation, when it was mostly gray, I panicked.  I told my hairdresser to color me (precisely because I didn't want to look like his grandma in the pics!). She refused.  Nope.  You've gone too far to back out now.  So I kept going.  I wear my hair in the angled bob, and for me, that's key.  Although my hair is the perfect texture to go short, I don't do it.  I did the Lisa Renna (is that her name, big lips dancing-with-the-stars girl?) last summer and my kids went ballistic.  Mom!!!  UGH!!  GROW YOUR HAIR OUT!!!   For me, personally, it's  the length and the cut that make people treat me older, not the color.   It's incredibly thick (I always joke that I have Cabbage Patch head) and wavy.  I straighten it with a flat iron and use good conditioners.  I'm being completely serious when I say some random stranger will stop me in public at least once a week to say, "I love your hair!!!"  I'm always vocal about going gray, and sometimes my friends say, "if I had your hair, I'd go gray too!"  Yeah, but we'll never really know as long as you're coloring, right?

HFC, I remember the family picture you once shared with us, and I completely agree with your friends. "if I had your hair, I'd go gray too!" You have great hair. 

I'm starting to get more gray hair around my face and it does not go with my complexion at all. Also, it is thin and kinda in-between straight and wavy. So I get a perm for volume and to style a curly bob, and I use semi-permanent reddish brown hair coloring. But I can wash and condition every 4 days, then wet, gel and go daily, which I appreciate. No blow drier or curlers for me.

[Happyfatchick]

@Andalusian, you should wear that red lipstick every single day.  You're very brave!  I'm always threatening to take a weed whacker to my mop, but I don't mean it.  Although, in this heat and humidity, I think people would empathize and be jealous.  My granddaughters and daughter all have long hair, and they never pull it up.  Mine is a chin length Bob - it takes two big barrettes, two small clips and a rubber thingy to get it off my neck, but I DO IT!!!  (Those are NOT the days people stop me in the parking lot to admire the hair).  How long was your hair before you buzzed it?

@Love2dance, I hope you're not referring to that stinky awful hat pic the night Mama died.  Pathetic all around.  Even though we laughed (she was FUNNY, y'all, it just happened!) it was a brutal night and there should have been NO pics.  https://www.dropbox.com/s/dcmgxwf2727uybh/tybee savannah 2013 006.jpg?dl=0

Edited July 8, 2016 by Happyfatchick

[Love2dance]

11 minutes ago, Happyfatchick said:

@Love2dance, I hope you're not referring to that stinky awful hat pic the night Mama died.  Pathetic!  

No, HAPPY, it was a delightful picture of your family, maybe all the adult kids and even a few friends, I think. You told us which one was you, and I really admired your hair color and style.

Just saw your added/edited picture. Yup, stunning, just like I remembered.

Edited July 8, 2016 by Love2dance
New picture added by HFC.

[GeeGolly]

Beautiful hair HFC.

[GeeGolly]

Is anyone else being brought to the first page when going into an already read thread? I am, and I don't like it.

[Jynnan tonnix]

27 minutes ago, GeeGolly said:

Is anyone else being brought to the first page when going into an already read thread? I am, and I don't like it.

Once in a while it is doing that to me. Maybe about 30% of the time. It's a bit annoying when it does happen, though. On the other hand, most other places that I tend to post don't even have that feature of going to where you last left off, so I'm more or less used to it.

[Andalusian]

41 minutes ago, GeeGolly said:

Is anyone else being brought to the first page when going into an already read thread? I am, and I don't like it.

Had it happen earlier, almost didn't realize it.  Was very strange.  Forum gremlins.

4 hours ago, Happyfatchick said:

@Andalusian, you should wear that red lipstick every single day.  You're very brave!  I'm always threatening to take a weed whacker to my mop, but I don't mean it.  Although, in this heat and humidity, I think people would empathize and be jealous.  My granddaughters and daughter all have long hair, and they never pull it up.  Mine is a chin length Bob - it takes two big barrettes, two small clips and a rubber thingy to get it off my neck, but I DO IT!!!  (Those are NOT the days people stop me in the parking lot to admire the hair).  How long was your hair before you buzzed it?

 

Only shoulder length, that's about all it would ever get to before it would start to look like I combed it out with a bear.  Always wish I had hair like yours, although I know I don't for real.  I suspect I want something more in-between. :P  It has been GREAT for driving with the windows down though.  It's about to the point where I can (almost sort of) make a tiny little faux mohawk with it now so I don't just have this weird blob of hair.

[lookeyloo]

Great look Andalusian - love the red lipstick. Also try collagen for the hair. I'm about a month in. Fingernails growing faster. Can't tell about hair yet. 

[Catlyn]

On the hair thing, I've been dying my hair since my early 20s. I grayed early, besides, I wanted to try some new things. First was highlighting, then full dye jobs. Reds, and some warm browns. My hair was dark brown (sometimes appearing black) with red. The gray really stood out, but since I've always looked young for my age, I freaked.  I still look young, so I'm sticking with dying. As for styling, I like wash and go hair. Right now its about shoulder length, but put up right now in the hot weather. Usually, by this time I would have it whacked off, as I can't stand having my hair on my neck when it's hot. But, my sister is with me and able to talk me down.  Funny thing about getting older, when I was young, my hair was straight as a stick. Now it's got a life of its own. I come out of the shower and it just goes wild. When it's short it's real curly.  

I'm really jealous hearing about how people's hair changed color growing up. I was born dark and stayed dark, luckily my youngest brother was the same so I didn't feel too left out. Both my eldest sibs were born light haired (my brother was a tow-head and my sister was copper red). My eldest brother hair darkened when he grew, but funnily enough, his beard used to come in bright red. (We laughed at an Andy Griffith episode when Aunt Bea described an old beau with dark hair, red beard and blue eyes as a riot of color, because that was my brother!) My sister's hair turned dishwater brown. But, happily dyes come in copper red!

As for Ancestry DNA, I had a jolt. I was always told we had Native American blood, seemed to fit. My Dad had dark eyes, hawk nose and skin that would tan at just a touch of sun and he'd darken to a real deep color. Find out, no Native American Blood. A touch of North African, however a real eye-opener.  And East and West Europe, Scandinavia, West Asia, touch of Italy, Greece and the Iberian peninsula, nothing from the Americas.  It was interesting and yes, I did find 2nd cousins I had no idea about. I would say go for it.

[frenchtoast]

2 hours ago, GeeGolly said:

Is anyone else being brought to the first page when going into an already read thread? I am, and I don't like it.

Yeah, it's a bug being worked on. 

[RazzleberryPie]

10 hours ago, MarysWetBar said:

Am I the only one who feels paranoid about sending my DNA to a lab?  I have done the Ancestry stuff on a free  weekend one time and found it very cool but I'm just not so sure about supplying my DNA all willy nilly. 

Prepare to be cloned.

 

49 minutes ago, Catlyn said:

 

As for Ancestry DNA, I had a jolt. I was always told we had Native American blood, seemed to fit. My Dad had dark eyes, hawk nose and skin that would tan at just a touch of sun and he'd darken to a real deep color. Find out, no Native American Blood. A touch of North African, however a real eye-opener.  And East and West Europe, Scandinavia, West Asia, touch of Italy, Greece and the Iberian peninsula, nothing from the Americas.  It was interesting and yes, I did find 2nd cousins I had no idea about. I would say go for it.

I think I'm going to put on my History Professor glasses and tell you it sounds like you may have a pirate or two in your family tree, or at least some sailors. That is fascinating and very cool. 

[emma675]

I lost about half of my hair to Grave's disease about 10 years ago and only part of it came back. Originally, it was fine but thick and wavy, it came back in fine and frizzy with a round chunk of gray on the back of my head. My natural color is a dirt brown with some reddish notes, not pretty at all. I'm obsessed with dying it--right now it's a medium brown with some blonde and coppery highlights. I'm super pale so I can't go too dark or I start looking goth-ish. It's also fried on the ends right now since I flat iron it a lot--I'm thinking of trying a keratin treatment.

On a more somber note, I live in Dallas and work downtown. My office is still under lock down so I'm having to work from home. Any good thoughts and prayers for my city would be appreciated.

[Barb23]

Love all the hair talk & think it's the first time we've discussed it.  I like new topics. Hope MEchelle is reading to get some new ideas for her mop.  I would bore you all with my hair.  My niece will be starting her last year of hair school at the Vo-tech center.  Evidently they wait to do all the good stuff like cutting & coloring til this year & she has many friends & family (incl me) who have volunteered to be her guinea pigs & we can't wait.  She has a part time job with a hair stylist so she's already had plenty of hands on experience.   

Regarding our Old Bay discussions - My MIL made us this wonderful shrimp dish.  All it was was a creamed type of white rice with jumbo steamed shrimp mixed in.  It had a zing to it & both Mr Barb & I couldn't place it.  Just found out it was Old Bay!  I'll have to get details from her- was shrimp just steamed with Old Bay (only way to go) or did she add it to rice? I'm thinking it may have just been on shrimp cuz Old Bay would have turned the rice orange & it was white.  It may have been a rice mix cuz it was saucy. It was sooo good & the bowl was scraped clean!!  I'll let you know when I find out.

Like I said, Mr Barb works out of state & just headed out with plenty of bags of Utz "crab" potato chips (which are regular chips with Old Bay type of spice on them) for his office (their request). Little different than the usual fudge & salt water taffy usually brought back after a vacation. 

[RainbowBrite]

I just had to share that my mom is 61, when gray in her late 30's and has never coloured her hair. She keeps it quite long (just below her shoulders) and it is all curly ringlets. She is stopped all the time so that people can compliment her on her hair. We live in a small city and I can identify my mom to nearly everyone just by describing her hair. It's about 90% white now, and she started out with dark brown/almost black hair. 

I'm following in her footsteps with the gray hair starting in my 30's but unfortunately I do not have her beautiful curls. I have already decided that when the gray becomes overpowering I will start dying it light blond to hide the roots better (right now I'm a medium brown with some golden ends). 

[Love2dance]

2 hours ago, emma675 said:

On a more somber note, I live in Dallas and work downtown. My office is still under lock down so I'm having to work from home. Any good thoughts and prayers for my city would be appreciated.

Sending peaceful thoughts and wishes to Dallas and everywhere. We need to do SOMETHING to put an end to the violence. What a sad world.

[Natalie68]

19 hours ago, GeeGolly said:

That coppery color is beautiful! I think I would try a semi-permanent in the brown family, to even it out a bit, until you grow it out, then highlight without the stripping process. Or if you can find a copper dye, and go with that color on your whole head. I really love that color.

The color is very pretty!  Semi permanent isn't going to cover the gray well and what it does cover will rinse out pretty quickly.  Gray hair doesn't hold color very well at all.  I have a relative who is all gray and colors her hair a coppery color.  She bleaches her hair first then colors or it doesn't last.  I used to be a hairdresser in a previously life.  If I were to go natural (the thought gives me the vapors) I would cut all my hair off (down to the middle of my back currently) because I wouldn't be able to handle the growing out period.  I did that once when I went to my natural color which I hadn't seen since I was 12.  My sister grew hers out and it looks lovely (hers is that white gray).

[scriggle]

15 hours ago, MarysWetBar said:

Am I the only one who feels paranoid about sending my DNA to a lab?  I have done the Ancestry stuff on a free  weekend one time and found it very cool but I'm just not so sure about supplying my DNA all willy nilly. 

Me. Totally paranoid about it.

[bigskygirl]

Speaking of hair...I have had short hair and hair almost down to my behind until I got it cut in 8th grade. I had dreams where my hair was long or my haircut was a pixie style. My hair color in my dreams of been brunette, red, or blonde. I started getting highlights in 2007. I did get a pixie style cut, but I hated it. My hair style now is a little below chin length with long layers and strawberry blonde and lighter blonde highlights. I do get compliments about the highlights. I did go darker black one time. Sometimes I would love to be a blonde or a brunette, but I do not know how well it would work out.

[CherryMalotte]

I've thought about totally stripping the color out of my hair and doing that full on lavender with some blue or pink but have not actually gotten worked up enough yet to do it

.   

[emma675]

I've always wanted to try being a red head (I'm extremely pale, so I think it could work), but my natural hair color is dirt brown and it seems like a massive amount of upkeep to go red.

[BitterApple]

14 minutes ago, emma675 said:

I've always wanted to try being a red head (I'm extremely pale, so I think it could work), but my natural hair color is dirt brown and it seems like a massive amount of upkeep to go red.

I have dark brown hair naturally, and had beautiful red highlights put in. They looked amazing: until they washed out two shampoos later. And that was with a sulfate free, salon quality shampoo. Faux red is the hardest color to maintain, which sucks because it's so darn pretty.

[Jynnan tonnix]

3 minutes ago, emma675 said:

I've always wanted to try being a red head (I'm extremely pale, so I think it could work), but my natural hair color is dirt brown and it seems like a massive amount of upkeep to go red.

I've always wanted to try red as well, but my husband has always given me his patented "don't you even think about it" glare whenever I've brought it up. Its kind of amusing that all those uncovered coppery highlights now in my hair have almost made me a redhead, by stealth, little by little...I don't think it's the right shade for my complexion, though, much as I like it. I put some semi-permanent color in it yesterday. It was supposed to be "lightest golden brown", and I put it in mostly at the roots, then just finger-combed it lightly through the highlighted parts. It came out pretty good...didn't entirely cover the gray, so there's a lighter "shimmer" in there which still mostly blends in. It's supposed to last through 28 shampoos, but I suspect that the parts on the gray will fade much faster than that. Maybe I'll try a darker auburn next and see if putting a range of colors in there helps even it all out. 

[Barb23]

1 hour ago, emma675 said:

I've always wanted to try being a red head (I'm extremely pale, so I think it could work), but my natural hair color is dirt brown and it seems like a massive amount of upkeep to go red.

 

1 hour ago, CherryMalotte said:

I've thought about totally stripping the color out of my hair and doing that full on lavender with some blue or pink but have not actually gotten worked up enough yet to do it

.   

My son had an Asian friend in  college who dyed a strip of her hair pink, purple, blue, etc.  She said since most Asians have dark hair, she wanted to stand out a little. Thought that was cool.  I had no problem picking her out during their graduation ceremony.

I have a question for all the curly/wavy hair folks - do you like your curly hair?  My two siblings & I all have some form of naturally curly hair.  My brothers is more wavy, as is mine, but my sister got it the most.  (Or worst if you ask her.)  She ended up with the more frizzy type of curl.  She may have tried to straighten it back in high school, I don't remember.  She has always kept it short & layered & blow dries most of the curl out.  I think it looks very  nice, as do others but she can't see it.  Recently she took me to a drs. appointment & the receptionist complimented her hair.  She thanked her then laughed & told her she hates it. 

[scriggle]

I have a love/hate relationship with my curly hair. Most of the time I love it because I don't have to do anything to it-no mousse, no gel, just finger comb and let it air dry. But when it's really humid, major frizzies.

[Jynnan tonnix]

I used to hate my curly hair when I was growing up...Of course, that was the era when everyone wanted to be Marcia Brady, and there was no way my hair was ever going to do that. I never really fussed with it, though. When it got a bit longer, it was always sort of fun to just braid it, and it would stay braided without anything to hold the end together, even overnight. It does snarl really easily, though...I could probably get it dreadlocked without much trouble if I ever felt so inclined.

I didn't actually learn to embrace it until after I was pregnant, though...With all three pregnancies, I grew a whole lot more hair, which is typical, I guess, but then after my kids were born, it seemed that I lost all the pre-pregnancy hair, and what was left was almost completely straight. I'd have a good six months of hair that I had no idea what to do with because it actually needed styling to get it to look like anything, and I'd never learned the fine art of wielding a blow-dryer. That's how I realized how lucky I really was to have the sort of hair that needs practically zero upkeep.

Oddly, mine actually likes the humidity of summer and frizzes more in the wintertime with the static. It doesn't curl as much in the winter either. 

Here's one more photo, of the back after my daughter put a French braid in it...though I hesitate to put it up here because if it was a photo of a Duggar, it would be roundly criticized for everything from the unkempt look of the hair (yeah, I know it's in dire need of a good trim) to the messy backrgound (we had just been having pizza), but it does show the length & texture, and I'm open to suggestions on what to do with it, too :)

[Readalot]

So I just finished watching a movie called "the song".  I didn't have my glasses on when I selected it from on demand. It's a Christian movie, based on the Song of Solomon. It's my first viewing of a movie of this type. It wasn't bad, but very predictable. A grown up version of an "Afterschool Special", don't lust after others kids, or else you will become a drug addict! I wonder if any of the married D's have watched it. (The main guy during his downfall had shaggy hair and totally(!) reminded me of derruckdillard.  Wait, maybe DD cheated too and therefore his appearance change!) has anyone else seen this movie? - and in the grey hair discussion, I had my youngest at 40, so I HAVE to dye my hair, i don't want to be mistaken as her grandma! (I was about 35 when my hair stylist said I was about 50% white (she said there is no such thing as grey hair?!) ugh and boo. 

And Jynnan, your picture can be the back of my head!  About six years ago I did the Brazilan hair straightener thing and it was SO COOL! 

[Muffyn]

I used to dye my hair to match my natural color, dark brown.  My roots were close to black.  I decided to try to go blond a few years ago because I felt like the dark hair made my skin look too pale.  It took a long time to get the dye out.  Then I went too blond and looked like I died and forgot to  lie down.  I have now settled on a dark blond that works well.  I have gotten much more gray in the last few years.  It blends better with the blind, creating highlights. 

The tricky thing is my hair will turn red as it fades.  It is a terrible color on me.  And, I am Indian, not a drop of the British Isles in me, so I don't like becoming a redhead.  When we dye my hair, I add a bluing agent or a heavy ash (looks sort of brownish green) to mask the red.  Then I use a touch up toner once a week that I get at Sally Beauty Supply.  It really helps the down the red. 

@Jynnan tonnix if you want to grow out your hair (which would be lovely) you may want to look for that kind of toner.  It will tone down the copper, helping it blend better, and soften the gray during the grow out. 

[GeeGolly]

I have wavy hair, but fine hair. I wish it was curlier than it is, and maybe a little thicker. I am lucky though that if I curl my hair, it holds, and because its fine, it doesn't take much time to blow it straight. Not that I really do either though.

I haven't met a person who loves their hair all the time.

[Happyfatchick]

@Readalot, stop right there!  What is a Brazilian hair straightener???  I'm listening.  And where have you been???

I have a hair story.  I've told bits of this already I think, but it came full circle yesterday.

my hairdresser has been cutting me for at least 10 years, maybe more.  She's always been very very "drama queen".  She has a son who's got maybe asbergers or maybe a mixed diagnosis. He is OFF THE CHAIN!!  And her salon is in her home, so there's always a lot of yelling and correcting.  She's gotten a divorce since I've known her.  He was abusive, drunk, shiftless and crazy.  For a time we had shops next door to each other.  I've known her through several (failed) relationships (mostly with women).  She and her current wife bought a house together because this was FOREVER, and now the Wife has left.  Left her with a leaky toilet, a house full of garbage, a green pool and the son.  (And he is her biological son from a disastrous hetero marriage).  I called to have her cut my hair and she burst into tears.  (She loves me, she needs me, please come).  Against my better judgement (screaming inside voice), I went.  It was a train wreck.  Couldn't believe it.  Horrible, horrible.  I couldn't do ANYTHING with this mop, and it should have been my regular normal cut.

so yesterday, I called a different shop to reach a man who has cut me on a rare occasion I wasn't able to get to my friend.  He's squirrelly, but when I get home and fix it myself, it's always good.  He wasn't available, so I agreed to let another woman do it.  (I was desperate)

[Side story: a long time ago, I posted about waving to neighbors in the south.  I told about a neighbor we call "the mean people" who have never ever done a thing wrong on the rural road near my mom except they don't wave.  They've lived there since 2001 and we don't have a clue who they are.  Keep totally to themselves, and DONT WAVE.]

i thought it would take 15 minutes to fix the damage.  No.  Nooooo.  Nope.  I was in that chair for  an hour and a half, with her blending in and recutting, measuring, blending some more... I was jumping out of my skin.  But she was very sweet, and chatty.  And at some point, we talked about where we live...and yep, she turned out to be Mean Lady.  I was laughing my BUTT off, and I told her what we call them.  I really did.  I said "why don't you wave???"  She says, "well, you don't really know who's going by..."  Listen, until 2 years ago, it was a DIRT ROAD.  It now has cheap pavement already full of holes, and NOBODY uses that road except those of us who live on it.  It's COUNTRY. DO THE WAVE!!!  The other hairdresser, eavesdropping, says, "I TOLD YOU!!!  I TOLD you to wave at them people!!!"

so there you go.  2 full blown haircuts, 3 hours in a chair, a lesbian drama with tears and a Mean Lady later, my hair looks FABULOUS in all its silver glory.  

Edited July 9, 2016 by Happyfatchick
Fat finger syndrome

[lookeyloo]

Great Story as usual HFC.  I'm sitting here with a head full of color solution.  Trying a new brand and a new color called Cappuccino.  We are leaving later to go to the Pacific Northwest to see the Grands.  Ask the son to wave to us.  I am the old lady with cappuccino colored hair with the young husband with the mostly salt and a little pepper hair.  Easy to recognize, haha. So, I wonder what I will look like.  I need a haircut but not desperately.  Rogaine hasn't started working yet.  If ever.  I have the color on my white eyebrows too.  They don't take the color as well.  I have 6!! doctor appointments coming up when we get back.  The lady who cuts my hair works at a Pigtails and Crewcuts and is only there Monday and Tuesday.  No appointment needed, just the right time to get there.  

12 hours ago, Jynnan tonnix said:

I used to hate my curly hair when I was growing up...Of course, that was the era when everyone wanted to be Marcia Brady, and there was no way my hair was ever going to do that. I never really fussed with it, though. When it got a bit longer, it was always sort of fun to just braid it, and it would stay braided without anything to hold the end together, even overnight. It does snarl really easily, though...I could probably get it dreadlocked without much trouble if I ever felt so inclined.

I didn't actually learn to embrace it until after I was pregnant, though...With all three pregnancies, I grew a whole lot more hair, which is typical, I guess, but then after my kids were born, it seemed that I lost all the pre-pregnancy hair, and what was left was almost completely straight. I'd have a good six months of hair that I had no idea what to do with because it actually needed styling to get it to look like anything, and I'd never learned the fine art of wielding a blow-dryer. That's how I realized how lucky I really was to have the sort of hair that needs practically zero upkeep.

Oddly, mine actually likes the humidity of summer and frizzes more in the wintertime with the static. It doesn't curl as much in the winter either. 

Here's one more photo, of the back after my daughter put a French braid in it...though I hesitate to put it up here because if it was a photo of a Duggar, it would be roundly criticized for everything from the unkempt look of the hair (yeah, I know it's in dire need of a good trim) to the messy backrgound (we had just been having pizza), but it does show the length & texture, and I'm open to suggestions on what to do with it, too :)

Somehow I missed this but, it is gorgeous hair.  As far as the pizza stuff, looks like normal people live there.

[Arwen Evenstar]

Time for me to put on some color solution too..it's such a bother.

Jynnan, my hair is longer than yours, and no ,your hair would never be mistaken for Duggar hair; it looks way too healthy for starters.  Pretty color too.

[scriggle]

In addition to being curly, my hair is thick.  Every hairdresser I've ever gone to remarks on how thick it is. When I was young my hair was medium/dark brown with red/gold highlights. Now it's very dark brown/almost black.  At least that's the color of the hair that's not gray. I started going gray very young just like my mother.  I usually go for a light or medium golden brown.

This is my hair.

[zoomama]

On 7/7/2016 at 7:02 PM, marypat57 said:

 

I am interested about what other info I cold find out from the 23 and me DNA test.  Has anyone done both tests?

i have done 23andme and ancestry.  the 23andme gives you health reports and it helped prove that my half-aunt was genetically really related to me. we both did the test and matched a lot.   i am working in ancestry a lot more right now as 23andme is updating their site.

[lookeyloo]

51 minutes ago, zoomama said:

i have done 23andme and ancestry.  the 23andme gives you health reports and it helped prove that my half-aunt was genetically really related to me. we both did the test and matched a lot.   i am working in ancestry a lot more right now as 23andme is updating their site.

Mr. lookeyloo is looking for racial/genetic info on his father's family since his father was adopted and there are secrets around it.  Which one would you recommend.

[Readalot]

HFC I've been busy working and volunteering. Our oldest just graduated high school, lots of related stuff the last few months. Just went to our last graduation party, it's bittersweet. - There is a hair straightening process that's called the Brazilian Blowout. A solution is put in your hair and then the stylist flat irons it. Your hair is super straight for a few months. It's pretty pricey. I think I paid about $260 but she had to use two bottles of solution because of my thick hair. I loved it. I'm not sure if they do it anymore. Turns out the fumes contain formaldehyde and people were getting sick. 

Edited July 9, 2016 by Readalot

[crazycatlady58]

It is so nice to come here and read about HAIR! It seems like the world  has gone crazy  this week and this has became   my safe place.

[zoomama]

20 hours ago, lookeyloo said:

Mr. lookeyloo is looking for racial/genetic info on his father's family since his father was adopted and there are secrets around it.  Which one would you recommend.

i think, personally, that 23andme tells you more about your background..where your ancestors are from. but they are both fine. if you want to PM me, i can give you some more details about testing that may be helpful.