Monday, February 10, 2014

It's ponytail time!


MY HAIR IS FINALLY LONG ENOUGH FOR A PONYTAIL!

Hey, that's big news, at least for me! It was a year-and-a-bit ago that I decided to cut off all my hair. I was sick and tired of dying it. Two seconds after the dye job, I had white roots. Ninety per cent of the time I looked like a skunk. As I got older, the dark dye I was used to using seemed too harsh against my madonna-like face. So I tried blonde, and that was just plain ridiculous. I looked like a truck stop hooker, seriously, and then the bleach over-processed my hair to the point that it broke and fell off in a big chunk. I had a bald spot on the side of my head the size of a hockey puck.

That, I thought, was freaking it. I went to the hairdresser and asked her to cut all my long hair off. All of it! I wanted to start fresh. It actually took a few military-short cuts to get rid of the dyed stuff. The last haircut I had was a year ago. Haven't had as much as a trim since. The only thing I did was cut my bangs. Saved a ton of money. No cuts. No boxes of dye. And it was liberating!

Finally, a year later, my hair is long enough for a ponytail. In another year it'll be hanging down my back and I'll be able to braid it and be that independent grey-haired woman you see in grocery stores sometimes, and envy her funky style.

All in all I'm happy with the decision to go grey. On the negative side, it definitely makes me look older, but since I'm not caught up with the ridiculous quest to be 25 for the rest of my life, that's fine with me. On the plus side, the colour is much prettier – softer – against my skin. My hair is stronger because I'm not dousing it with chemicals, and the salt and pepper look I have going on gives me beautiful streaks. Women pay lots of coin for streaks from the salon, but mine are FREE!

Sometimes, like when a friend gets a particularly great haircut and colour, or I see an actress my age with gorgeous coloured hair, I feel that temptation to cruise the Clairol aisle. It's kinda like the itch I get after I've had a few drinks and somebody lights up a cigarette – the urge never fully goes away. Don't forget, there's a ton of pressure on women these days to colour their hair. Everybody my age seems to be doing it. You hardly see any grey heads on 40 and 50 year olds. Even sixty-plus women are dying their hair in numbers like never before.

People can do what they want, of course but, for me, embracing my grey hair is a powerful and lovely thing.

Me, exactly a year ago. I had just cut my hair for the last time.

Me yesterday. Looking all ponytail perky.

My ponytail-less hair on Saturday night. We went out for dinner to the classiest joint in town (The Sawmill) with our neighbours Michelle and Gerald. The occasion? We started playing euchre with them last summer, boys against the girls, and we kept track of the number of wins for each team. At the end of 2013 the scores were tallied and the losers had to take the winners out for dinner. And guess who the winners were? The look on Dave's face pretty much says it all!!!! (Wot, is that a capital L on my beloved's handsome face???? tee hee)

45 comments:

  1. It looks really nice now. Wear the grey and be proud of it. I do.

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  2. Gave up on the colour trail years ago.....it is what it is. You look good in salt and pepper.

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  3. Love how your hair is looking all natural .... and pony tail like. You go girl ~ natural all the way ! xx

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  4. I have never died my hair and I'm afraid to start. Everyone says that once you start you can't stop. Currently my hair is almost to my waist and If I had to cut it off to grow out a color job I would cry. I've got plenty of white hair coming in but I earned each and every one of them so I'm going to let them stay.

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    1. You have hair down to your waist???? So jealous! No! Don't dye it! You'll regret it, for sure.

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  5. Your hair looks all soft and natural - very nice!

    I keep mine really short, and I do highlights twice a year, which gives the gray strands someplace to blend in and hide. :)

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  6. You look fab. Can't have both you know; high maintenance length and high maintenance color are mutually exclusive.
    I intended to have that long braid down my back when I retired. Sadly, I can't do high maintenance anything!

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    1. You'd look great in a braid! Hey, not to late to start growing!

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  7. Your hair looks awesome!!!!! I would kinda like to stop dying mine too but it's the only thing Russell's ever asked me to do regarding my appearance, so we'll see.

    BTW, you Canadians are so polite. 'Truck stop hooker'. If you were American, you would have said 'lot lizard'. lmao

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    1. I would have said lot lizard but I forgot the term for it!!! *curses memory*

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  8. You had me smiling while I read this post. I'm still in the fight with my greys. They pop out every so often and I get them colored. I tried to color it myself but always fried my poor locks. I recently had it cut and I couldn't tie it back in a ponytail. I was crushed. But, guess what I'm doing right now? Rockin' a pony!!

    Elsie
    AJ's wHooligan in the A-Z Challenge

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    1. WOO HOO! I love that you're rockin' a pony!! Love, love, love! And hey, Elsie, thanks for the follow!

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  9. Love the look. And my salt and pepper is rather more salt than pepper these days. But my hair needs to be wash and wear - which rules out product, blow drying and dye.
    Congratulations on the euchre wins. Women rule!

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  10. New do looks great!
    I'm afraid to get my haircut in town. Most of the local gals look like they're sporting Regis Philbin style hair-dos. So I'm going to grow mine out too.

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  11. You look good, Cathy!

    And like you say, all those chemicals for dying hair... just doesn't do the hair any favours.

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  12. I think you look awesome ! I have always had medium to long hair . I stopped dying my hair years ago and wearing make up I figure heck I earned these gray hairs and wrinkles and marks over the years so I will wear them proudly . I say we may be getting older but are also getting better at it ha ha *snort * ! I agree to much chemicals on the hair and face doesn't do any good and beside no matter what you do to prevent aging , nature will take it's course and by using all the crap may help it along faster !.Thanks for sharing ! Have a good week !

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    1. Thanks CG! I'm with ya on all that crap. The only time I get dolled up with make-up is on special occasions, which wows my husband since he's used to seeing a make-up free face.

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  13. Hey Jo Jo

    I am Canadian and I have always called them lot lizards my cousin is a truck driver so yeah I hear ya lol !

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  14. Wow! What a great look! I was thinking a look like that allows you to act your age — which is about any age you want to name.

    Me? I've graduated to pretty much white. Life is interesting in that. Young children have seen me in my red winter jacked and have mistaken me for the guy who supposedly lives at the North Pole. Tough act to work with.

    Blessings and Bear hugs!

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  15. Your hair is beautiful Cathy! It's a lot like my mom's, (she had coal black hair until her 30s and never dyed it so it quickly became salt-n-pepperish), so thick and gorgeous!
    I have been getting quite frustrated with my hair lately. I was blessed, (or is that cursed), with a hodge-podge of colors from birth - one year my hair would be a golden blonde, the next auburn, the next a chestnut brown, and that was with NO dye! It was weird. I dyed my hair for the first time when I was 24 and saw my first gray streak and then of course had to do it more and more often after that. After a few years of experimenting I finally stuck with strawberry blonde for summer and light auburn for fall (which I call autumn camo), but this past year I've had this odd down-like growth around the edges that absolutely will not take dye and it's the ugliest mouse-brown gray. So, while I'm well over 40 but not yet 50 I'm not willing to give up the dye quite yet. If I knew my hair would look like yours though, out it would go!

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    1. Hey Deanna, it's great to hear from you! Sounds like you have a colour schedule that works for you, and that's great! My problem was nothing was working for me anymore. I was just getting more and more frustrated.

      I had no idea what my hair was going to look like, either - growing it out was like being pregnant and not knowing if it's gonna be a boy or a girl!

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  16. You look gorgeous! I'm still a coloring hair gal, but fortunately, blond is so much easier to deal with. Darker hair is tougher to fake. I'd say done if mine was naturally dark

    I downloaded Green Eggs and Weezie and can't wait to start reading it.

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  17. Looking great girl! You do grey well.
    I last dyed or cut my hair five years ago. It gets a slight trim once a year. The rest of the time it's in the (grey) braids I've loved since I was a kid (but my mother wouldn't let me have because she hated braiding).
    Not fussing with the hair is very liberating!

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    1. Oh! So awesome! I can't wait for those braids!!!! And yeah, it IS liberating!

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  18. Your hair looks so healthy, and THAT is the most important thing. :)

    So pretty!

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  19. I think your hair looks soft and beautiful! So freeing to not need to color your hair. :) I am sure you are happy to have a pony tail for the first time. I always like to be able to keep my hair off my face. I love your positive and happy feelings about your hair. Yeah!
    ~Jess

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  20. I stopped dyeing my hair ten years ago. I waited until the dyed hair was grown far enough that I didn't have to go ultra short, then I had all the dyed hair cut off.
    I'm loving the salt and pepper streaks! I had a cut last year, just before Christmas, and right now it is about the same length as yours.
    Isn't it wonderful not to have to worry about what all the colouring is doing to your hair? Natural is so much softer in look and feel.
    I miss my pony tail, may let it grow again.

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  21. Only a Canadian would compare a bald spot to a hockey puck. Your hair looks great - go with it.
    the Ol'Buzzard

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  22. I have not embraced my gray. People say they can't see it but, when I put it up in a pony tail, I can see it. It's all underneath. Luckily, I found a chemical free dye that I love! So, until I embrace it, or until I look as good as you do with it, I'll be using that chemical free dye. About once every 8 weeks. Yep. LOL

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  23. Your hair is lovely. It looks healthy, shiny and I truly would never have guessed you hadn't had a cut in a year!

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