Great haircut and hair care gives greying hair panache!

Just because your greying hair starts showing up randomly now and again, doesn’t mean you need to immediately reach for a cover-up. Hair color is a wonderful thing yes, but it’s certainly not the say-all, end-all, nor the only way to go. Greying hair can be a badge-of-honor of sorts, but maybe more importantly with a great cut and some good care, grey hair, silver hair and white hair . . . can be quite the head turner!“Leave Your Greying
Hair Alone”

Baby boomers have turned the hair coloring industry into a much more flourishing market than it was years ago but, not all greying hair is being covered up. Many women are tired of the time and expense it takes to “wash that grey out of their hair.” And, truth be told, age can bring on chemical related allergies with hair dyes that prevent or deter women from coloring their grey hair.

So have you thought of letting your grey hair go grey, or letting it grow out? We are seeing many more women doing just that and lovin’ it! As a matter of fact, many readers have commented that in going to their natural hair color they have more flattering remarks than they ever had before.

Lin says, “I’m almost 60 and stopped coloring my hair a couple of years ago because it just looked bad – red at the roots and too dark at the ends and I just wanted a classier look. Plus, my scalp stayed red and sore all the time. The upkeep was expensive, time-consuming and just not fun anymore. To my delight, I found out during the growing out process that I have mostly, shiny, white hair and as a white-haired person, I receive more compliments than I ever did as a brunette! The key to looking good is to have a young cut, no granny cuts allowed. I’ve got a bob, it’s classy, easy and dramatic and even my husband loves it!”

The early stages of going grey may not be as flattering for some as later on when there is more contrast between the grey and your natural hair color. In that case, using a semi-permanent hair color or rinse close to your natural hair color may be a better way to transition, at least until your hair gets into a more salt and pepper stage.

How Grey Are You?

This is not a science but greying hair percentages look pretty much like this;

• 25% grey hair – bits and pieces of grey hair
• 50% grey hair – a salt and pepper look
• 75% grey hair – an overall silvery cast to the hair
• 100% grey hair – white hair or silver hair

Medium Greying Hair is Stunning

Short Greying Hair is Stunning

Got a question, war story or comment about this topic? Click on the "Leave Your Comments" link at the very bottom of this article. Some of my best ideas for future articles come from reading reader comments. I'd love to hear from you!

• Touching Up Gray Roots
• Gray Hair Styles Get Silverized!
• Gray Hair-Wonder if People Would Treat You Different?
• Grey Hair Dye
• Dyeing Gray Hairs but Ready to Quit?
• Reverse Gray Hair?
• Tips on How To Let Your Hair Go Gray

Updo party hair style tips from Nick Arrojo

New Years Eve is just around the corner, and as soon as the dust has settled from unwrapping presents, it will be back to party mode and time to start planning your New Years Eve hairdo  While the perfect party dress is ever so important, so is the perfect hair style.  Here are three tips from award-winning hairdresser and television personality, Nick Arrojo (you know him from TLC’s What Not To Wear) for nailing dazzling holiday hair styles.“Updo Party Hair
Style Tips”

How to get a Sparkly Party Hair Style

Spray Thermal Protector all over damp hair before you style to save your hair from the damage of a hair dryer, flat iron and curler abuse.  Once hair is dry and it its desired style, mist some Shine Spray in your hands and run through your hair, focusing on mid to ends, making hair smooth and sleek.  Finally, finish the look with Holding Spray, nice fluid strokes will do the trick here.  Applied too much in a hurry? Just run a brush through and start over.  Thank goodness for buildup-free hair products.  Don’t forget: pack some extra bobby pins, hair elastics, a travel comb and your mini ARROJO holding spray in your purse for touch ups as you run from fête to fête!

How to (really) create a perfect updo party hair style

The answer: PRACTICE!  It may not seem like a novel idea, but this is one of the top reasons DYI special occasion updos go awry.  Choose your desired look and give it at least one run through a few days prior, so there will be no last-minute troubleshooting before the clock strikes 12.  Don’t try to force something that just isn’t working, more often than not a simple, elegant and refined formal hair style will do the trick.

How to save some money getting an updo formal party hair style at the hair salon

If you don’t want to deal with a DYI updo, considering booking your appointment at a reputable beauty school. Services done by students take a little longer than a normal salon styling appointment, but they are a fraction of the price and the students who take clients are at the end of their program and have notched quite a few hours styling.  The following link is a typical price menu for a cosmetology school, you can see styling and blow dries go from $15 -$20 (and yes, it happens to be Nick’s own cosmetology school in NYC) Info For Clients.

For further discussion on holiday hair styles you might want to check out these other articles:

• Holiday Hairstyles From Nexxus Hair Products
• Easy Holiday Hairstyle Idea
• Six Holiday Hair Styling Videos
• Jessica Alba Updo Holiday Hairstyles
• Holiday Hair Style How-To Video from Rihanna’s Stylist!
• Party Hair for The Holidays

Christina Saralegui Blonde Hair Dying

Blonde hair colors are an art to get right!

Are your blonde hair colors too light for your skin-tone? A good indication that your blonde hair colors are too light for your skin tone is when you hear the question more than once, “Are you feeling OK?” Your skin tone will look more sallow and dull than usual with a sort of ‘washed out look.“Blonde Hair Colors
and Skin Tone”

Blonde hair colors can be a trademark like Christina Saralequi, dubbed the Spanish Oprah, but it can become too light for many women in winter months when skin tones have lost their summer glow. Gradually in summer, blonde hair lightens simply from any outdoor activities. Add to that hair salon high lighting to enhance your tan and by fall your blonde hair colors are much lighter than normal. Your blonde hair colors now may easily be too light to wear into the winter months as your skin tone also lightens. That’s the reason you see celebrities going into darker hair colors for the winter months; their hairdressers know the added depth of color will bring out the best in their lighter skin tones.

I found this question from Esther to be timely. A few of you may be experiencing a similar problem even if you’re not 64!

What hair color is right for my skin tone?

I’m assuming since you have enjoyed your blonde hair colors that they have worked well for you and complimented your skin tone, until it became too light. Most Latino’s have cool complexions and sounds like you do also. Your medium to light skin tones with faint pink undertones or with golden undertones fall into the cool range. Your deep brown or black/brown eyes and dark eyebrows are also in the cool range. Your natural hair color, dark brown with red high lights, is considered in the warm range.

I imagine you’ve noticed your skin-tone change over the years. Most of us will notice our skin tone changes, losing a little color as we age. Add to that the lack of sun the winter months bring and your blonde hair colors may easily become too light for your skin-tone.

It may be good to add some depth and warmth to your blonde hair color. You don’t need to leave the blonde hair colors behind but adding some depth to it may be a good balance with your dark eyes and brows. You should leave this to a good hair colorist; I wouldn’t suggest trying it yourself . . . there are too many way’s it could go wrong.

When blonde hair colors are too light, it needs to be ‘filled’ before adding another color to get it to the desired shade. The lightened hair has a lack of pigment and the ‘filling’ puts the right amount of pigment back into the hair in order for it to become the desired shade. That probably sounds like gobbally-gook and that is why you should leave it to a professional who can get it right! It’s worth it!

Your hair colorist might decide it would work well to just put a toner over your color to slightly darken your blonde hair color. This would be an easy fix that may be all you need for now.

Blonde hair colors too light? Jessica Alba . . . Too gold

Don’t miss our complete guide to hair coloring for more in-depth information.

Make sure you check out my other hair color and skin tone articles:

• Tips for Finding Your Best Hair Colors for Your Skin Tone
• What hair color skin tone?
• The Right Hair Colors for Your Skin Tone
• Best Hair Colors for Your Skin Tone
• How to Match Skin Tones and Hair Colors
• What Hair Color is Best for My Skin Tone?

Barb Quinn on Google+  

Got a question, war story or comment about this topic? Click on the "Leave Your Comments" link at the very bottom of this article. Some of my best ideas for future articles come from reading reader comments. I'd love to hear from you!

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• What hair color skin tone?
• Kim Kardashian Goes Blonde Hair, Can You?
• How to Choose the Right Hair Color
• Hair Color: Try Some Contrast
• Blonde Hair Dye for Stunning Results!
• Clairol Hair Color Campaign