Spinymouse, interesting question. I have something like 25% to 30% gray, which is less than my siblings have, and they are all younger. I've been using a do-it-yourself, level-2 colorant on my hair for about 4 years, ever since I was in a play where I had to color it. The product I use doesn't change my hair color, just covers up the gray. In fact, I didn't tell my partner I was doing it for over a year, and she didn't notice.
I'm confused, though... you don't want the "frump" look, but you also don't want to be "attractive"? Tell us more about that...
pamatga - I just did my first pilates dvd this weekend. It was harder than I expected, but fun. I bought myself resistance bands, stretchies and 3 dvds that use them for my birthday. (did I REALLY just type that? - OMG - I HAVE made some lifestyle changes!) I love the Prevention dvds too!
JayEll - I love the tinted primer. I painted my entry with 5 coats and it still didn't cover a waterspot. Finally, I bought tinted primer and voila - first coat covered it. Lesson learned (sometimes I AM a slow learner). It feels good to get those nagging projects off your plate doesn't it?
meowee - glad you are safe and still part of the continent! Sounds like quite a storm. We have never had winds over 65 mph that I know of - and it was pretty scary!
Spinymouse- I have very dark blonde hair (turned much darker the last couple years). In my 30s I sometimes used a 6 week coloring in the winter (Natural Instincts) to even out my zebra stripes caused by the sun bleaching it out in the summer. I haven't done that in quite some time. Although my eyebrows are about 50% gray, I haven't found a gray hair on my head yet. DH started going gray at about 40 and is about 50% there. He has asked me not to color my hair when I do go gray. He is a pharmacist and is concerned about many of the studies around hair color and cancer. I will PROBABLY honor his wishes.
As far as waiting to go gray - I don't know. Part of me says, do it now because you want the weight loss to shine on its own, and if you change your hair color too, people might notice the hair more than the weight loss.
I'm confused, though... you don't want the "frump" look, but you also don't want to be "attractive"? Tell us more about that...
Jay
I suppose it is a matter of degree.
I think that the grey right now would be very frumpy. The grey combined with not so sloppy clothes at a lean weight would be not frumpy, but also not as "attractive" as my current colored (and highlighted) hair would be on a lean person.
I know, it's sort of self-centered to even ask about such things. I really don't want to appear superficial.
And I don't want to attract anyone. One of the things I appreciate about being as I am is that I don't have to come up with things to say to not be mean but to succeed in shooing people away. (I am not interested in "mating" and I don't understand that concept at all.)
My interest in losing weight is about health, not about looks.
But in a weird way, I am aware of looks; it doesn't make much sense.
So maybe I want to be just unattractive enough to not have to say negative but assertive things to people who might "want my phone number" or something stupid like that.
Last edited by Spinymouse; 11-04-2007 at 03:09 PM.
Whichever way you want to spell . . . I basically don't have it (except for a little at the temples) . . . take a look at my profile picture. Basically that's me (well last year at 63). Strong 'hair-colour-genes' from both sides of my family, seems to be the secret.
Funny, if you could get grey/gray hair-colour I might just try it. Still might go for colouring someday since almost nobody believes this is my own until I directly point out the grey ones for them. My biggest hair problem is that it is very fine and very oily -- lots of people tell me that colouring it would help that.
Once upon a time -- back in my late teens/early twenties (, you are right; there were still dinosaurs roaming the earth back then) -- I dyed my hair black. Was that ever a disaster -- very, very hard on the hair although probably the products (even for black) would be a lot easier going now. About the funniest thing was letting it grow out. When I had about 1/2 to 1 inch of roots, it looked like my hair started tht far above my head, because it was so much lighter than the rest.
COUNTING . . . my first grey hair wasn't on my head either . . . also wasn't in my eyebrows, though . . .
SPINY . . . my DIL was completely WHITE by the time she was 30. I actually love grey or white hair on sombeody very young like that. Think it looks cool.
HA!! I wear earrings about twice a year! They match if I can find ones that match! I am such a non-decorative person. It always amazes me how people will decorate ANYTHING. I saw some doorknob decorations recently and thought, HUH?????????????? Decorated doorknobs. Fascinating.
Continuing on the gray/grey hair vs. "attractive" discussion... I would like to look a bit younger than I am for work-related reasons. (And also for those play auditions I sometimes do.)
I take it by "attractive" we're really talking about "unwanted sexual interest"--true?
Wearing a wedding band can go a long way toward deflecting that sort of interest. You can often find an inexpensive engagement/wedding ring set at garage sales, pawn shops, second-hand stores, etc. Heck, for all I know, in a cereal box!
I want to look as good as I can for as long as I can... but, I've never had much trouble in simply telling people when I'm not interested in dating, etc. I figure if they have guts enough to ask, I have guts enough to turn them down.
You are right, Jay.
I guess I spend some futile energy being mad at the world about some things. Like: WHY is it that people assume this default setting, that if single, I need or want to find a man. If I correct them, then they go on to default setting number 2, which is that I need to or want to find a woman. Reality is that I am not interested in finding a man, woman, giraffe, or space alien for mating purposes. I don't get it.
Ok, now that I got that off my chest, there is also beyond the sexual interest thing, the fact that I don't want to appear to be superficial. I don't want to appear to be one of those people who tries to look "cute." I never did want to look that way, even when I was 18. So I'd shun nail polish and was one of those who had hairy legs for awhile, and wear things that didn't match (could you guess?) and pants that were "too short" and dresses that were "too long" made of the "wrong" kind of material. I can almost hear circus music following me.....
oh, I just came back to edit: also I don't want to be blatantly conspicuous either. A seeming contradiction, but there is the look of just being "off" enough; it is the look of someone who just doens't quite get the whole fashion thing. Which would be accurate.
Last edited by Spinymouse; 11-05-2007 at 10:01 AM.
Reason: clarification
Uh, yeah... I looked at your picture... And I say, definitely go for the wedding band, because even if your hair were completely gray, you are a good looking woman!
I hear that some space aliens can be fun...
Seriously, though, it is difficult to buck the tide of the culture. I've had to do it for a long time myself. But I guess I've had to find a point of compromise where my desire to avoid the appearance issues balances my desire to have credibility for my own purposes (e.g., work, environmental activism, community theater, and so on). I don't go for the nails or the makeup or the bare midriff either--well, as for the latter, there are excellent reasons why not. But, I try to look put together when I need to.
OK, maybe Mr. Spock. Don't Vulcans have sex about once every 26 years or something? That would work for me.
So, what kind of music does everyone here like? My favorite is American folk music, the kind that used to be popular in the early 60's when I was just a tot; I was so disappointed that by the time I got to be in my teens it was pretty much gone. But I am also heartened that it seems to be coming back, not exactly in the same flavor but there are a lot more people playing acoustic guitars and banjos again.
Why... I used to teach guitar, a long time ago in the '70s. That was when you could find all kinds of folk music around that everyone knew--and John Denver was popular. I made a pretty good living teaching kids to play John Denver songs.
My tastes run more to Oldtime and Irish fiddle tunes than to strict Bluegrass a la Ralph Stanley.
Other than that, I'm pretty eclectic in my tastes. I've even been know to listen to some techno stuff. But I grew up on classical music.
Ha, Spinymouse, I have been looking at your very attractive (esthetically speaking) picture. You look like a folk singer. I couldn't think who it was you reminded me of.....
You look like a folk singer. I couldn't think who it was you reminded me of.....
Thank you! That is the nicest compliment someone could give!
now if only someone could give me a time machine and zap me to greenwich village in about 1959...
, you are right; there were still dinosaurs roaming the earth back then) -- I dyed my hair black. Was that ever a disaster -- very, very hard on the hair although probably the products (even for black) would be a lot easier going now. About the funniest thing was letting it grow out. When I had about 1/2 to 1 inch of roots, it looked like my hair started tht far above my head, because it was so much lighter than the rest. 
. . . Would love to see a picture of you . . . Always wondered if you wear mtching earrings . . . 
