The Virginia Queen Bee

Friday, October 3, 2014

I'm Gonna Wash That Color Right Out of My Hair...

Once upon a time there was a twenty something young woman who was going gray. "I can't go gray this young!" she exclaimed. So she bought her first box of Clairol. Throughout her 30's she colored her hair....she started with brown and then decided to become a redhead. She entered her 40's as a redhead and continued buying a box of color each month. When she was 46 she decided she needed professional help...a professional hair stylist that is. She loved having her hair colored by her wonderful hair stylist, but she still had to buy "the box" each month to keep up with her gray roots. The woman's loving husband encouraged her to let her hair go gray, but she insisted that she was "too young." When she turned 48, she finally decided that she was ready...ready to go gray! She gave her roots one last boost to get her through a family wedding, and then she stopped. No more "boxes"...no more color from her hair stylist. How would she make this awkward transition though? She researched ways to go gray and finally decided that she would do something drastic. She went to her hair stylist and had her long locks cut off! Fortunately, her hair stylist was very talented and cut her hair in such a way as to camouflage her gray...no skunk stripe for her! After four and a half months passed, she was finally free from "the box" once and for all!

Here I am as a redhead

Here I am in May of 2014

This is mid-July -- first cut. (Also going through cancer

treatment on my nose)

This is my second cut all grown out -- but it shows that the

color is still on the ends of my hair. Easy transition!

This is October 3, 2014. The tips of my bangs have a bit of

color left on them, but the rest is my new natural!

All in all, it's been an easy journey. I told my hair stylist today that the weirdest thing for me is to see myself in pictures. I'm used to seeing myself in the mirror, but when I look at myself in a picture I don't recognize myself! I guess that will change over time.

If you are contemplating letting yourself go gray...I say go for it! It has been the most freeing experience!

I did it!!! My "Gray" Journey is Complete!

Today I had my final cut on my hair journey! Going short with my hair was definitely the right way to do it. My biggest adjustment was going from long hair to short hair....the transition to gray was very, very simple! Again, my wonderful hairdresser helped me with a great cut!

So, here's my latest cut. There's actually just a tiny bit of hair color on the tips of my bangs, but other than that, the rest is my new natural!

The shadow is really bad on this one, but it shows the side of my hair better. My mom had a white streak in her hair, and it looks like I inherited that streak! The sides definitely have more brown in them than the top!

Overall I'm very pleased with my transition! Now I can decide if I want to continue with this style or let it grow out a little bit. But one thing I know...NO MORE COLORING!!!!

Thursday, October 2, 2014

Cut Deux

Welllllll, I was really late on taking a picture. I'm actually getting cut #3 tomorrow! So, this is really, really grown out! I wanted to document the color though. So, here is cut two:

You can see the grown out color on the ends, but it really has not been bad at all! I'm actually quite amazed at how easy it has been to grow out my color. I've had lots of people ask about it. They're not sure if I'm letting myself go gray, or if I have some funky frosting going on. I've gotten lots of compliments.

We'll see how it looks tomorrow. Almost all of the bottle color should be going bye-bye!

The First Cut

So I took the plunge and got a major haircut in July! The timing was not the best....we had just gone through a death in our family and I was using chemo cream on my nose, so it was very unsightly. Let's just say my emotions were raw, my self esteem was low, and I was about to possibly make it worse by cutting my hair off and going gray!

However, my hairdresser is amazing!!!

I LOVED the cut she gave me! The gray didn't show through as much as I thought it would, and it was really easy to fix! You can see the gray peeking through, but I had some more time before I really went gray!

So, yep...not showing the nose. :)

Sunday, June 29, 2014

Freedom in Going Gray

Hi! My name is Teresa and I'm TIRED of coloring my hair!

My natural hair color (I think - haha) is a medium brown with a few red highlights. I don't remember having red in my hair, but I do remember a few people calling me a redhead before I ever colored my hair! I definitely look like I could be a red head with my fair skin and green eyes! Here I am with my husband, Neal, in 1992.

Anyway, I started permanently coloring my hair when I was in my late 20's -- about 20 years ago. I wish I hadn't, but I was a new mama and I didn't want to look old with gray hair! I don't remember what color I used, but I probably tried to match my natural hair color. At some point I decided to go red. Here we are in approximately 2012.

In this picture you can see that I need to touch up my roots -- thus one of the main reasons that I am wanting to let my hair go to its new natural color -- gray!

First, I want to say that I am NOT looking forward to this process. I know it's not going to be pretty. I know I'll get a lot of questions. I know I'll get some strange looks. I really don't want people to look at my roots and think "wow, she's lazy!" BUT this is something that I really need to do. I'm ready!

So I'm going to chronicle my journey here on my blog. If you know me in person, it's okay to ask about it...I'd rather it not be such an awkward process! :)

My first step is getting my hair cut. I have an appointment on July 8th to get my hair cut short. I'm still trying to decide on my actual haircut. And for the record...my husband has been trying to get me to do this for years! I wasn't ready until now.

This picture was taken last month (May 2014):

There's actually quite a bit of gray underneath, but I colored my roots the day before so that it would look nice for my sister-in-law's wedding.

That's it...I'll be back later with a progress update!

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Christmas 2011 - Part I

I know...Christmas was 3 months ago...I figure better late than never! (btw...I don't know why everything is being underlined and I don't know how to fix it). Oh well. Here is Christmas Part I. These are a few pictures from around the house this past Christmas.

Pretty obvious, I guess, but this is our 2011 Christmas tree.

I just used my "It's A Wonderful Life" village this year.

My favorite movie of all time!

My three wise men were in the living room this year...

...while the rest of the nativity was in the kitchen. :)

Monday, January 2, 2012

Beth and Ben's Birthday Party November 2011

Beth turned 17 in November and Ben turned 14 in November. They both love to dance, so we had a combined birthday party for them. They both invited several friends and we all had a good time!

Mamaw, Grandma, Grandpa, Daddy and Aunt Janet

Ben and his cousin, Alley.

My niece, Susie, putting raspberries on the Raspberry-Mocha Cupcakes

My great-nephew Daniel with his daddy, Robbie.

Laura and Beth swing dancing

Ben on the right

Time for food!

Looks like the girls claimed this table!

I made Keylime Cupcakes and Raspberry Mocha Cupcakes

We had hot dogs, potato salad, mac and cheese, cole slaw and chips.

Beth and Alek dancing

Getting ready for a line dance.

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Myrtle Beach - November 2011

We were blessed to be able to spend a few days in Myrtle Beach in November. We went with my mom and we stayed in a new hotel.

Definitely a great place to stay!

The other side of the hotel was rounded. Every room has a view of at least part of the ocean!

Neal spotting some dolphin!

Ben celebrated his 14th birthday while we were there. In addition to a ticket to Word of Life Superbowl, he also received gold fish (his fav) and sunglasses.