Newbie Class ‘10 First Semester 1
Newbie Class '10 First Semester 1 has the unique distinction of being the first class to play hooky -- en masse! While technical glitches happen from time to time on any site, never in the history of GGLG has a whole semester disappeared. We've managed to save the introductory paragraph, but not the update text. Confident that you can see the great progression going on, we will just have to pick up where we left off. At the last picture. Sorry, First Semester '10. But do send in your updates, and we'll go from there.
How do you become a Newbie?
1. Go to the Great Grays tab, and click on the article "Three Reasons to Send Us Your Picture."
2. Make sure your submission provides all the information requested. If anything is missing, we cannot post your pictures.
3. Always start out with at least two pictures. Preferably a full face front shot, and perhaps a root shot, or anything else that shows the stage your hair is in right now.
4. Send your information, with the picture attachments, to .
5. For all pictures in the future, continue to submit in the same way. And include a little blurb about your progress.
It's really that simple! Hope you'll join us, as we chart your silver journey. Makes the months go faster, and you'll love chatting with all the people who have gone through this before you!
Fluttered off? If you see this symbol in your entry, it means you haven’t updated your picture in awhile. Please let us know if you still wish to be enrolled in Newbies. If GGLG doesn’t hear from you in a reasonable period, we will bid you a fond adieu from Newbie-land.
Jennifer B./ "chrysalis"
Starting Transition: ???
Chrysalis is here! You’ve been chatting with her for a while, now it’s time to meet. Jennifer hails from Northern Virginia, and at 46, has decided this is the time. After one last coloring in July (pic 1), just before a family meet-up, she’s ready to give up a history of dying, beginning at the age of 18, which included black, brown, red, and blonde. The latter, a disaster. Jennifer ran right out and dyed her hair to brown again, resulting in a lot of damage. For the past 10 years, she’s stayed with medium ash brown, but noticed it only lasted for about a week before it looked red, and the gray at her temples began to peek through. After experiencing recurring scalp tenderness for a week after home dying, Jennifer went to a pro. Didn’t help – her scalp was still tender. It’s time to give up that bottle! Her husband and three boys (16, 19, and 23) are on board. She says her boys even “have a gray or two themselves.” Jennifer says she has “no idea what my natural hair color is” but she’s ready to find out!
Jane B./ "shimmer"
Starting Transition: December '09
Jane, 50, is an Ohio-turned-Ontario gal, and chose the screen name Shimmer because she really does love the silvery shimmers in her “new” hair. This isn’t the first time she’s seen them, though. It’s her second attempt (but her first one didn’t include GGLG!), and now she says she’ll need full support from all the Silver Sisters. Jane started with regular color appointments about 10 years ago. Last summer, she had a bad reaction to the dye. Her head itched horribly, her lymph nodes swelled, and she felt generally unwell. It can happen – even if you’ve been successfully coloring for years. She started to grow it out, with the help of some lowlights, then gave in and colored it herself with no-ammonia dye. She was fine with this for awhile. Eventually, Jane got tired of the mess and bother, and did her last at-home color in November ’09. She’s afraid she’s going to be self-conscious about going to work with a skunk stripe, and knows GGLG can help her through this stage. On the good side, Jane is “fascinated” as she watches her silvers grow in. That’s part of the fun, Jane!
Jennifer W./ "hijenw"
Starting Transition: December '09
Jennifer, 43, comes to us from Texas, and is ready to show her gray in 2010. Actually, she just decided to (today, Dec. 28th!), even though she’s been going gray since the age of 18. Jennifer’s tried highlighting, lowlighting, “dyeing and frying” her hair in the quest to eliminate the gray. Her natural color is reddish brown, and she says she’s currently dyed a “poor substitute” of that shade. Jen is excited to find GGLG, and see other gals who are just as fed up with the “proverbial line of demarcation.” This site is giving her the courage to flaunt her natural color, and she looks forward to sharing her journey with all the beautiful women here. She also says she’ll need all the support she can get. We’re good at that, Jen!
Amy Jackson/ "reddy to gray"
Starting Transition: January '10
Amy, 56, joins us from Pittsburgh, Pennyslvania, and her screen name says it all. She’s Reddy to Gray. After adding highlights to her brown hair in high school, Amy’s been going red for over 20 years, but became increasingly frustrated when her colorist could never get the shade the same from one appointment to the next. And when she switched to a new color line, she couldn’t get it red at all. So, in December, Amy switched to a new stylist and got “radioactive red” roots. She says with her green eyes, she was a walking, talking Christmas motif. Amy has been toying with the idea to go natural, and this dye job finally convinced her. She plans to go shorter each month (to about chin length) as it grows out. Maybe lowlights are in her future, too, but at the moment, Amy is a bit gun-shy. She’s been getting inspiration and ideas from the book, and has determined her new makeup palette already! Amy says she’s going to need a lot of encouragement and support from Newbies and Alums. As a commercial interior designer, appearance is important to her and she knows the transition won’t be easy. Maybe not, but we can make it fun!
Barb Hughes/ "barb hughes"
Starting Transition: December '09
Barb, 48, hails from Oregon, and first began noticing a few gray stragglers in her early 40’s. She went directly to henna, which seemed to add “excitement,” shine, and good coverage to her dark brown hair. Until the grays started turning orange. Barb went back and forth between henna-ing and not for the next few years. But, whenever she was “off” the sauce, photos at family weddings or high school reunions would show what she called her “water-skipper” look. Barb says her grays must have passed some “do-not-henna-after-this-point” mark, because they became resistant. Worse, they turned orange-ish red, her skintone stopped going well with her hair color, and she began to see whole sections of pewter/silver hair. So she’s joined as a Newbie, and did her last henna at the end of November. Barb has great hopes that products and haircuts will make whatever pewter and silver stripes she has look fabulous, and by the time she turns 50, she’ll have the long, layered, completely natural shade she wants. Do-able, Barb!
Linda K./ "lindyk"
Starting Transition: October '09
Linda, 61, hails from Ohio, and has been following GGLG since October when she searched the internet for help and inspiration. She found it here, decided to let her gray grow in, and continues to read our pages to keep from “backsliding.” Until today, when she reached for the hair color! Linda put in a few highlights around her face, and immediately wished she hadn’t. She says she feels like she’s taken a step backwards. Hey, it happens, Linda. She’s decided to become a Newbie so it won’t happen again! Linda first started noticing a few grays in her early forties and her hairdresser put in a few highlights. Over the years, this became a full head of blonde hair, which she loved. She began home coloring, and started going a little darker. After going through a difficult divorce that took its toll on her hair – “It became thinner and just plain ugly” – Linda met a wonderful man who encouraged her to be herself, and believe in herself. She says it took awhile to be convinced of that, but now she’s ready. Linda knows she has a long road ahead of her, and may decide to cut it all off, but for now, she’s keeping the curly locks!
Linda did go for the chop! Not a whole chop, a half chop, but that's a lot for her. Now into her 10 month of transitioning, she says the back, almost all the way to the crown, is a nice slate gray. Blonde is still "hanging on" at the sides, but only because she won't go any shorter. Fine enough, she's got some great things happening all the way through (pic 12). Linda says she can't believe that a year ago she was on the fence about this, but now she couldn't be happier with her decision to grow out her natural color. Lovely, Linda!
Kate Laing/ "katy b"
Starting Transition: November '09
Kate, 42, joins us from New York State, and is happy GGLG will help keep her on the path to non-coloring. She’s just entered the phase where it’s harder to keep her resolve, and while she really doesn’t want to “go public,” she’s decided to be a Newbie for this very reason. Kate began highlighting her hair when it became very dark after her first pregnancy at 27. Then, when the grays started to come in “fast and furious” a few years later, she progressively went lighter and lighter. Four years ago, the highlights just weren’t enough, so she went to all over color. But now she doesn’t like how it looks – “too platinumy” – or feels. Kate’s also noticed it breaks easily and seems to be falling out. All good reasons. And, bottom line, she’s fed up with monthly colorings. Kate says some days she feels good about her decision, but other days, not so much. Sums up Newbie-dom pretty well!
