Getting Rid of Gray Hair…Man this color thing has really been an adventure!
Ok… first things first. My apologies for not posting anything since April. Lots and lots of stuff on my plate right now and most recently my 2nd laptop finally died so getting ANY kinda online time is a huge challenge right now.
That said, I’ve got plenty of hair stuff to write about, so much so, that it’s hard to know where to start. But I think the biggest thing is that about two months ago, I finally did the deed. I colored my hair. If you’re a member on either my hair board cNappymeNow.com on NP, you may be a bit familiar with how I feel about my gray hair — in short, I hate it. Mostly because it looks like lint. Nothing at all attractive about scattered gray, nappy hair that looks like lint. Nope…uh uh. If it were closer to being all gray perhaps I’d like it better. But as of this moment in time, and for quite a while now, I’ve just been wanting it gone.
Didn’t color it earlier was cause, well, I really didn’t want to deal with the maintenance of it all, plus, there’s always the chance that color can damage your hair. But one day, I looked in the mirror and said enough and purchased a color called Brazen Bronze.
Ha! The word BRAZEN should have been the first clue. Boy did it turn out brazen. To top it all off, me and my friend had no clue what we were doing, exactly, and we ended spending too much time applying it to the front and didn’t work it through to the back. So when all was said and done, the back was much darker than the front. The back is actually the way I wanted my hair to look all over.
I didn’t like it. I didn’t hate it, but it wasn’t at all what I had in mind. Plus, doggone it, the color I chose was not formulated to cover the gray. So here I was, with a head full of various shades of brazen bronze hair with all the gray mixed in. Lawd hammercy. But the upside of it all is that although I personally didn’t really care for it, EVERYONE else seemed to really like it.
As the weeks wore on, I really tried to get use to it, but nah, it wasn’t to be. Plus, the whole reason I ever even wanted to color my hair was soley to get rid of the gray.
Alrighty then. I decided the next application of color would actually be a correction to the original. But how to go about it. I did some calling around and talking to a few beautician friends and to 
product hot lines to get help in choosing a color that wouldn’t make what I had done more “brazen.” A product specialist helped me settle on Brown Sugar #386 by Dark and Lovely. She gave me some directions to help me try and even out the color, and she also sent me two free boxes because of the density and length of my hair. I waited the recommended sixs weeks and tried it again. Only this time, I left my hair in twists (the exact style you see in this photo) so that I could try to get more even distribution and this is how it turned out.
In short, I like this much better than I liked round one. It’s still a little lighter in the front than it is in the back and the gray is MOSTLY gone or highlighted. It still isn’t exactly the color I want, but I can certainly live with this a lot better than the first round. However, I won’t be doing another full head application anytime soon cause I don’t want to over process it. I’ll just continue to do the roots only until I get the urge to try something different. 
Nappturology 101 
NappyMe, your hair looks great! I love the color. I understand how you feel about the gray hairs. They do not cooperate with styling. They don’t curl or coil where you want them to and look like balls of lint peeking out underneath the darker strands and seems like they are dry to the point of feeling brittle. My hair isn’t even gray, it’s white! I have them all over but I have a huge patch of it right in the front of my head.
I have a couple of boxes of semi permanent hair dye. I haven’t gotten brave enough to use it though. I just don’t want to start having to consistently cover the gray to avoid having 3 colors of hair! To me it sounds too much like dealing with a relaxer and touch ups. I may do it anyway. My hair is dark brown and gets reddish with dark gold highlights from the sun. Maybe I can get the look with semi permanent color.
I love both of them nappyme. I already told you on nappturality how much I loved the first color, but I do like the new one too because it has a reddish undertone that goes well with your complexion and looks very natural.
Very nice! and it makes you look younger!
Ah, both colors are nice. I know the feeling about the lint even at my age (twice 16) since my hair looks like that now.
I like both colors though. The first color looks very natural with the freckles, but the 2nd one has that…that polished look to it.
I’ve been enjoying your archives, especially that one post about glycerine. I tried it, and in this VA weather, my hair really likes it.
Be blessed!
Nedra welcome to NPP101 and thanks! Glad you found some useful information as well. That’s what it’s all about. Helping nappy sistas figure out what it take to care for and love their nappy hair.
Take care,
~Nappyme
Ms gg and maria thanks!
I *lurve* that color on you! Looks great!
Hi NappyMe, I am about to color my hair for the first time (semi-permanent). I am curious as to how you colored your hair while it was still twisted. I am trying to find the best way to do mine.
Hi Monique,
My best girlfriend helped me. We had two applications because of my length and density to ensure that I could satuarate my hair well from root to tip. She started by squeezing color into the base of my twists and working color into my parts. Then based on the instructions I had from the color specialist that was supposed to even out my color some, she applied the color all the way to the ends in the back and then we did the same to the front. Then I followed the instructions in the package and rinsed my hair until the water ran clear.
Then I conditioned and rinsed my hair while in twists and the next day, I took each twist down one-by-one and moisturized, which is the end result of the style you see pictured above.
Hope that helps!
BrightTrotter and everyone else many, many thanks!
I like your hair with the Brown Sugar color in it. It looks natural. I color the grey in my hair every 6 weeks or so. It works pretty good since I only color the grey hair.
Thanks for all the info on natural hair. I have really learned a lot about taking care of my natural hair.
Sooo lovin’ that second color…really looks hot.
Thanks Tish, Joyce and S. Dean. I’m still on a quest to find SOMETHING that gives me total coverage of my gray, but yes I’m lovin it!
Hi there; great website – loads of information (I’m going to look up glycerine right now!)
I like both colours, but the second one is better. Softer and more sophisticated, and you look great with it. Also your hair is in FANTASTIC condition! Mine isn’t but it’s getting there.
(PS:- I’d love it if you visited blog once in a while. I’m also on a quest to get people to embrace their African diaspora hair! ).
Hi Mixie! Welcome. Glad you like my site, and haha, my adventures in color. Also congrats on taking up the challenge to educate and persuade more women to go natural and embrace their nappy selves. Can’t have enough of us out there spreading the good word!
Take care and yes, I’m off to visit your site right now.
God bless,
~Nappyme
Wow! I love the hair color on you. What color would you use if you had 90% gray? I have dark brown but the roots are coming in and I’d like to lighten it up; and your picture is an inspiration. Any tips you can share I’d appreciate.
Also, any tips for coloring while the twists are in versus when they are not.
Thank you
Thank you! Lol!
Hi Sandra,
Thanks. Since I’m certainly a novice at this color stuff, I’m definitely not the one to be asking for advice on trying to get 100 percent gray coverage on 90 percent gray when I can’t even get 100 percent coverage on my own. You’re gonna have to experiment just like I’m doing, although I will tell you that I’m not at all a fan of Dark n Lovely as this product made my hair feel horribly like straw after the initial application.
So the next product I’m going to try is most like some shade of Texture and Tones.
The only thing that I can say about coloring in twists is that the application of the color was much easier than trying to get an even distribution of the product on loose nappy hair. As far as tips go for coloring in twists, just put the applicator tip into the base of the tip and squeeze it into your roots and along the part and then work to the ends according to the directions if you’re doing a full head application or leave it just on the roots, if you’re following directions for touch up. That’s about it.
So i’m ready to stop being a slave to my hair. I started growing it out now im ready to become natural. What’s the first step? I need a perm … but I just don’t want to go there. What’s the first thing that you did when becoming natural?????
Please help
Hi Monica,
Congrats on moving your mindset towards the direction of going natural. Or bet yet, moving away from UNNATURAL. I’m not the best person to ask about transitioning and working with two textures. I couldn’t take it, and I also didn’t want short hair so I slapped some microbraids and honestly, called it day.
But there are other ways, but I’m not an expert on them. You basically have a couple of choices, let your hair grow out a little and do a big chop and go it from there. Or you can transition and find ways to work with the two textures. This can be quite challenging especially since your natural hair will be stronger than your relaxed hair and that can cause breakage where the two meet, known as the point of demarcation.
Anyhoo, there’s a lot more to this than I can go into so I suggest that you take a look at some websites that can give you some ideas about transitioning. Join Nappturality.com and check out the Transitioners forum and another good source of information is on Motowngirl.com.
You’ll need to be proactive and learn all you can about transitioning AND learning how to take care of natural hair. You’ll also need to go through a mindset change as well. Examine the reasons that you want to go natural and get it in your head that nappy hair…your nappy hair is beautiful. You have to come to believe that it’s as beautiful or even more beautiful than your permed hair could ever be. Really. If you don’t start internalizing good feelings about your natural hair, you won’t be successful. So be ready to embrace you natural hair and be prepared to never look back.
That’s what I did. Once I decided to go natural, I never gave relaxing a second thought.
You can read my personal story by clicking on the links under About Me at the top right side of this page.
Take care,
~Nappyme
How’s that color cooperatin? I just did egyptian plum (temp) because my hair is 75%black. The roots especially in front are 23% gray. Not a real huge difference but…the gray is gone with a burgundy tint love it.
I came across your site and saw the color in your hair and felt the need to leave a compliment. I just got my bc 3 ago. The bc revealed some grays that were well hidden under my hair 😦 I need to color. I am about 10-15% gray and I hate it. However, I am afraid to color because I do not want damage my hair. What products do you recommend? Please help.
Hi Tamika. Glad you like it. But I’m absolutely no expert at this color thing and therefore am not in any position to offer any advice as I was very reluctant to color my own hair for the same reasons. In fact, I have yet to touch up my roots so that tells you something about my confidence level when it comes to coloring my hair.
You might hop over to Nappturality.com and do a search for information about coloring your hair. That hairboard has a bajillion members who have been doing it for years and are more than willing to offer up ideas and recommendations.
Sowee…but good luck!
Funny, but I have the opposit problem as some of the other ladies and hope someone has advice. I have a large patch of gray hair in the front and have significant graying developing over the rest of my head. But I really like it and want to keep it. I’m nearly 5 months into my transition and want to try twists with extensions to protect the hair a bit more over the winter. Any ideas on where I can find gray hair for this? Or should I give up on the idea?