Naturally colored hair

My hair was last colored the first week of June. Since then, I had a difficult time talking anyone into coloring it. This nursing home does not have a cosmetologist. For a while one of the activity aides was a licensed cosmetologist and she could color, cut, and perm hair. But, most of the residents, even the females, just have their hair cut.. I sort of felt like I was asking for too much to get more done to mine.

I offered to pay her something for doing my hair, but I was told she could not take anything. I had to buy the perm or the haircolor that she used. But, that was not that bad.

But there were times when she could not do my hair. That's when I felt I would rather pay someone. At least I knew if I went to the salon, I would get something done to my hair.  Living in this nursing home, I was never sure when my hair would be cut, colored, or permed. I also could not be spontaneous about my hair. If you can't be spontaneous about a hair decision, what can you be spontaneous about? But here, anything done to my hair, was planned to an extent. No one here could just drop everything and do my hair.

So, by the time of my birthday in September, my hair had not been colored – even though I asked. I decided to just let it be natural. The worst part of regrowth is when there is 1 inch or less of hair that is different. I realized I don't even know what color my natural hair is. The longest I've gone without haircolor in the past 20 years has been three months. I know my hair is 50% gray – which isn't all that gray.

So the journey of letting it grow out has been interesting. One good thing is the only mirrors here are in the bathrooms. Since I can't stand and walk, I can seldom see in the mirror. The only place I can look at my hair is at the nurses' station through the glass around it. And that is always a distorted view. So, unless I intentionally look at my hair in my hand mirror, I have no idea how gray it looks.

Last week one of the aides did my shower. She told me I really needed to color my hair. I told her I actually don't and I'm not going to. I told her I'm letting it grow out to see what color it is.

The last time I saw the color was a couple of weeks ago when my sister visited. We went to the salon inside Walmart and I got my hair trimmed. It looks like my hair is coming in a silver color. I was hoping it would be more white. But it is not. I still have blonde on the ends because I started having it colored blonde two years ago, before I stopped coloring it. I guess that was the transitional phase.

It looks like it's going to be a while before all the colored hair is grown out. I thought maybe by June all my hair would be back to the "natural for me" color. But it may be more like the end of summer or the fall.

Since I have read that gray hair curls easier than colored hair, I'm hoping mine might curl up naturally just a bit. If I no longer need to get perms, I would be almost salon free.