Hi Everyone,

How many of you pull out your grey/silver hairs and at what point would you stop?

Do you like the texture of your grey/silver hairs?

I've just stopped plucking and I am anxious to see how much "silver" I actually have.  It is also kind of coarse and curlier, too-so that could be cool... 8)

I stopped pulling my white hairs when I couldn't keep up with them. After that, I tried to cover the gray with Loving Care - messy and hard to use - henna - really messy - semipermanent color - unsuccessful - and finally permanent color.

I actually loved my invisible silky white hairs. There just weren't enough of them, and judging from my genetics, I never was going to go completely white.

I think if I was 50% white, I would have kept my natural color, but my mother didn't get 50% white til she was in her 70's. Besides, she did red when she was younger. Now it's my turn.

My grey hairs were only noticible during the winter when my hair was/is darker.  I don't think I ever intentionally pulled them out.  There weren't that many until more recently.  Now they sorta blend in with the blonde.  I worked harder at keeping my hair out of the sun this summer, so it did not lighten near as much.  This may be the first time I will really see how much grey I have!

I'm curious. I read in another thread that pulling out grey hairs encourages a new hair to grow beside the resting follicle, so that you can end up with 2 grey hairs when the original grows back in (I'm sure I'm simplifying things here). Theoretically, doesn't that mean that plucking out hairs will make your hair thicker in the long-term?

I used to have a problem plucking out hairs when stressed, and since then (10 years ago) that area is much more sensitive than the rest of my scalp. Can you damage the follicle through repeated hair plucking?

/Kate

There's an old wive's tale that says if you pluck out one gray hair, two will grow in. This is probably based on the observation that gray hairs only increase when you pull them, with the mistaken logic that the cause of gray hair is plucking gray hairs, rather than growing older.

It is highly unlikely that plucking hair will increase the number. Those who pluck eyebrows do not end up with unibrows, unless they started that way.

If it was true, we would have an industry that would increase the thickness of a person's hair by plucking it, after greatly lightening their wallet.

While it may be possible that continually pulling out hair might cause damage (This is the opposite of the above proposal!), for you, at this point, the damage is done, and it is undoubtedly also recovered as much as it will. Do you think permanent damage was done to your hair?

No I've never believed it either, eKatherine. But I vaguely remembered reading a thread here recently that claimed there was a grain of truth in the myth.

I can't see any damage to my hair nowadays, but the hairs that grow where I plucked are possibly a bit finer than the rest of my hair. That area (along my part) is definitely more sensitive though, it hurts like crazy if those hairs get caught in a clip or something.

/Kate

I would never recommend pulling hair out for any reason.  If a hair is pulled too often, the follicle will quit producing hair - certainly NOT what you want.  

The reason the say if you pluck a grey hair, 2 will replace it: If you had 1 grey hair, you are already producing them.  The odds are another grey hair will grow in after another hair is lost, plus the plucked hair will again produce a grey hair.   The reality is, you will have more grey hair!

Thanks Everyone!

I never thought about doing permanent damage to a follicle...
After reinspecting my head, the rate that the silvers are growing back in indicates no discernable damage.  They are a little wirier and curlier? than the other hairs.

But, I will not pluck again! ::) I will respect the integrity of each and every hair, encouraging it to grow to its maximum length.

Thanks again!

I need all the hair I can get *eek*.

I am at that point where there is enough grey to make my hair look mousey and I'm not happy about it, I'd love it white though.

I don't color anymore because I found that when I got over a certain amount of greys the stain would just never wash out and I got demarcation lines and if I manage to get as much length as I hope to I really don't want to be stuck with that...g

Well, here I am, back again some months later.  I'm happy to report that all my follicles seem to be very productive in spite of my earlier plucking practices.

I now have about a 2-3" cloud over my head and they are all grey.  Plus my red seems to be fading.

I'm glad the hairs have grown back, but they are all white.

Would henna help?  What color?  Can you get henna in more than one shade of red?  I don't want to change the color of my hair overall, just preserve it.  I don't really mind the white hairs, but the shock of seeing so much of it emerge all at once has been kind of an unnerving event.  I guess I should have thought about  that when I was pulling those greys out, that eventually when I stopped they were going to come back in a herd.  And they have.

Any suggestions?  Please.......

TIA,
strawberryfine :'(

I'm very interested in trying henna myself-but I have about 6 months to wait, since I just did some lowlights
on Nov 1, plus I still have 6 inches (at least) of bleached
hair.   I don't like my natural colour( blah brown) light-med  brown.  However, all the reading I've done on henna on the henna sites reccommend not using it on
previously chemically treated hair for at least 6 months.
Also, it sounds like a lot of work to apply.  I've never
coloured my hair at home (by myself).  
However, I'm intrigued by the fact that it has conditioning and hair thickening and strengthing properties.   I like, red, so that's not a problem.

I've got some of the same concerns about henna.  My last few inches were previously bleached, then colored over.

Also, I've read more opinions that henna will not cover gray.  Although having some pink hairs inplace of grey/white hairs might be interesting. LOL

I think I might be leaning more towards permanent color if I do anything at all.

I'm not sure I want to color it; maybe acceptance would be best for me.

???

When I tried to henna, it looked like the gray had become light red, not pink. This made it less noticeable, and it was okay with me, as I have also temporarily covered my gray with manic panic colors in the past. But it was so messy for so little improvement that I just stopped doing it.

Kate, I think hair CAN be damaged by repeated plucking.. I was a trich-er for the longest time and half of the regrowth was kinkies and wiries... they came by the dozens... especially apparent in the spot I used to pull the most. The other half of the regrowth was finer. Now the kinkies and wiries "correct" themselves after two inches or so. After two inches of growing in weird and kinky, they straighten themselves out again and it seems as if the follicle repairs itself.

I pull my greys and reds out.. but from now on, nevermore!!

;D ;D ;D

Hugs,
Anais

Congratulations on stopping, Anais!

Your hair will love you for it!

I haven't pulled any silver hairs out, but they are much more noticeable when I put my hair up.  They are along the front and underneath (temple area), so when I do any kind of an up-do they are out in the open for all to see 8).  As much as I love to put my hair up and can't wait to do more as my hair grows, it does make me think twice about it  :-/.

I've just (past 2.5 months) noticed my hair, too has begun to turn -

It's still in first gear - I've spotted about 8-10 2 inch long very wavy/almost curly silver hairs in the first 1.5 inches at my forehead.

The last section of bang/fringe - less than 1/2 inch wide bears the brunt of the new color - and it is REALLY visible in my medium warm brown hair.  There may be more than I'm noticing - but as the remainder of my hair is "up" 98% of the time - I don't often scrutinize it as I closely as I do the front.  (Thank goodness the last section of "bangs to grow out" now can be braided into the rest and be up in a bun!  finally!)

Note to self:
NEVER, NEVER, NEVER CUT THICK BANGS AGAIN!!!!

ok, just needed to get that out of my system.

I don't mind the silver hairs - Though sometimes it looks like I've had glitter sprinkled into my hair... at least they're growing - and hey - if they stay wavy/curly - and I keep getting more of the dark auburn that has come in since my son was born in '88 - I just may end up with thick-ish hair after all, and say goodbye to the fine!  ;D

(I'm still dreaming or silver streaming from the temples, though..... call me silly - but I'd love to see it!) ::)

nightowl

I have alot of gray hair,and I love it.I don't pluck them never have.I've heard that some people do.
I have to say I get gray hair in my black eyebrows and those I pluck.The hair on my head can go gray.......but not my eyebrows.
I seem to get the most comments on my gray hair from men.As if I could care what men think.
They always say things like "I wish my wife would let her gray show"or"its nice to see a woman with natural hair color.
Hey I don't care if someone likes coloring their hair,thats up to them.And really none of my business unless asked.
But I personally don't want gray roots.even if  I didn't like gray hair I don't think I'd color it because I'm just to lazy to keep the roots up.

Welcome Jackie!  Congratulations on feeling good about your natural hair color.  In today's society, where everyone is trying to look younger, people almost expect you to color your hair to hide the grey/silver.  I've always felt that if you are comfortable with yourself, and feel young, you will look young, regardless of hair color.

Hello Jackie.  I'm with you about being to lazy to want to deal with gray roots.  Hope you enjoy LongLocks board! :)

Go Jackie!!  I too am letting my hair "do its own thing" regarding color, after years of highlights/lowlights &, more recently, semi-permanent colors to blend it all together, before I decided I could no longer be bothered.

My hair is now just below shoulder length and it is totally back to its natural color, which is a mixture of dark blonde & light brown underneath, with a sun-lightened top layer and a definitely gray area around my temples.  And I love it!  Like you, I too receive compliments about the color, with many people not realising that the lighter bits around my face are actually gray & not color achieved in a salon.  Other women will tell me that they wish they had the courage (courage??!!) to let their hair grow in the gray naturally.  

And I never have to worry about "roots" showing - ever!  Soooo much simpler!

My mother always said that if you pull a white hair seven more will grow and since childhood I have always had white hairs growing just at the front to one side. I watched a television serial once called the Mallen Streak and thought it looked very attractive so I started pulling out my white hairs but nothing happened so I guess that blows that theory out of the water.

Jules,

 We have very similar tastes in hair color.  I think the blonde forlocks look really cool on rdheads and brunettes.  It seems a lot of ladies are coloring a bold blonde streak in the front now.  It looks so bold to me!

Blondestorm

bikerbraid wrote on Feb 11^th, 2005 at 10:18am:

Welcome Jackie!  Congratulations on feeling good about your natural hair color.  In today's society, where everyone is trying to look younger, people almost expect you to color your hair to hide the grey/silver.  I've always felt that if you are comfortable with yourself, and feel young, you will look young, regardless of hair color.

Right on, BikerBraid!  My young students make me feel young and i have a very upbeat and perky personality, so I feel I look a lot younger, at times, than many of my cohorts who color their hair.

I love my tinselhair and wouldn't pluck out a single grey hair!  I don't want to damage my hair follicles or cause damage anywhere!  I am just too cautious now that I am finally growing out my tinselhair!  I cherish every single silvery strand.

Tinselhair

Working with young people, does tend to "keep" you young at heart.  Never let anyone make you feel old.  

As for coloring hair - many of the box hair colors, leave the hair with such a monotone color that I think it detracts and makes the hair/person look older.