How to Transition Dark Brown Hair to Gray

This post is going to be all about me and a journey that's been almost two years in the making. What's it got to do with food? Nothing. I'm sharing what I've gone through because when I was trying to figure out how to quit coloring my hair in the least painful way, there wasn't a lot of information out there. Unless chopping your hair off and letting it grow out naturally was an option. That wasn't going to happen with me. My Mom was a hairdresser and known among my cousins and neighbors as the Pixie Queen. No more for me, thank you.

At three years of age, I was wishing for long hair. Or at least shoulder length.

When Dana Troglen of The Mini Maverick made the pictures I was to later use for my digital cookbooks, I loved them. They're natural and really look like me. Ughhh. Even the gray hairs at my part. First thing I noticed. Why didn't I get a touch up before I had these made? Better yet, I started thinking...

When am I going to quit being a slave to hair coloring and JUST BE THE REAL ME?

Two weeks after coloring and grays are popping back up.

I talked to Lauren, my hairstylist of many years, about not coloring my hair. We had this conversation literally every time she was coloring my hair. When your hair is as dark as mine is, those silver strands are really noticeable. I knew in my late 30s I wasn't going to be like my 78-year-old mother who has so little gray she doesn't color her hair. For a long time I could go two months between a touch up. Then it dropped to six weeks. When it got to every four weeks I was like, sink or swim, we're doing this! At that time, Lauren estimated I had 85% gray in the front and pretty minimal in the back.

November 28, 2018 was the day. I took this last picture to show that skunk stripe that was getting more prominent when there was any kind of light on it. After much consideration, Lauren was going to process my hair and then add in a gray/denim color. That way as my hair grew out it wouldn't be so noticeable. Well, my hair was stubborn and refused to strip down and behave! The decision was made to roll with what we had, wait a period of time and process it again so my hair wouldn't get damaged.

Photo creds: Lauren Brindley | Bombshell Studio | Pulaski, TN

Here are the results of transitioning step one. I was very pleased with it. We did have one problem. That color wasn't a permanent color and it washed out way too quickly. If I wasn't so lazy about my hair, I would have gone back every couple of weeks and had a toner applied. Hindsight, that would be my recommendation.

By the time our Christmas party rolled around in December, most of the gray was out and there was a mixture of blonde, reds, browns, grays and black. I liked it and there was no gray line of demarcation in my part.

Photo creds: Lauren Brindley | Bombshell Studio | Pulaski, TN

Transition step two. By February, my hair had grown out even more and Lauren went back in an did some additional processing. This time she had a permanent silver color. I absolutely loved it!!

But my hair, being the #$%@# it is, still would not retain the permanent color. She recommended washing it less with cooler water. Mama tried.

At the end of March, I toured the State Capitol with my fellow Leadership Giles
Classmates. I stepped out in the sun and my hair lit up!

Photo creds: Dana Troglen | The Mini Maverick | Pulaski, TN

Late April Dana Troglen, The Mini Maverick (my most favorite Photo Lady evah!) generously snapped head shots for all the ladies attending the Professional Women's Luncheon. Flat ironing and processing had taken a little toll. No matter how hard I try, I can not not wash my hair everyday. I have naturally coarse hair which requires a flat iron or it frizzes like crazy. Humidity...living in the South? That combination is not my friend. At this point, I had Lauren start trimming/layering my hair. I definitely have a couple of wider silver steaks at my temples but in normal lighting, the gray is not as noticeable.

Here I am at the Leadership Giles "Welcome to Historic Downtown Pulaski" mural unveiling (our class project) in the middle of June. The grays are definitely a little more prominent. Again, having that toner put on it every few weeks would have made the transition a lot less noticeable. That's on me, not my hair stylist.

I purposely selected pictures with different lighting. Here I am holding my precious one-day-old grandson Cooper in mid-August. The sun was shining through the window to my back while under fluorescent lighting.

Ahhh! There's nothing better than  holding a sweet baby. A week later in different lighting and you can see the gray. I highly recommend using a purple shampoo to keep your color bright.

Ten months into my journey. This picture was taken September 14, 2019 in the shade on a bright, sunny day. Now that the gray is getting longer, I'm getting more of the length cut to get rid of what was processed. You won't be seeing me with a pixie...ever! 

Under my daylight bathroom lights, you can really see my silver sparkles.

I'll be letting it grow out longer once I have made the full transition. This 56-year-old grandma (Nise Nise) has no regrets at all. As soon as I'm 100% natural hair color, I'll be calling Dana for updated pics. (That I'll probably use for the rest of my life. LOL!)

I flipped how I part my hair to show my silver streak(s).

If you are considering this journey, make a plan with your hairstylist. Be sure to have Olaplex treatments so your hair doesn't get damaged. There is no quick transition. I have followed several Instagram accounts (grombre) to watch others go through their transition. Everyone chooses something different. 

Young ladies...when you start noticing those grays be proud of them. You are not the color of your hair. If someone tells you otherwise, they don't deserve a seat at your table. The point is to love and accept yourself as is. I finally turned that never-ending recording off in my brain that prevented me from being satisfied with myself. You will never be skinny, smart, pretty, happy, rich, fill in the blank enough for some people whose opinions don't matter. Just think what you can do when you quit listening to them...anything you want!