hair raising question

This post will remind you that my blog has nothing to do with saving the world, or embracing a cause, or providing you instruction on how to live a better life.  It's really just about everyday stuff, and hopefully I can make you smile now and then.

Todays controversial subject, is an age-old dilemna (pun intended...)

To dye, or not to dye?

As I approach my 48th year (gulp, how did that happen?), the silver streaks are increasing in quantity, nearly daily.  And while my mom started graying in a beautiful gray swath across her hair, my gray is random and wiry and not at all attractive.  I regularly encouraged my mom to keep her hair natural, as I thought it was really stunning.  And she never did dye it, and is a gorgeous 67 year old.  See?

Unfortunately, I did not inherit my mother's hair.  She has Archibald hair, it is still thick and strong.  My grandmother has lovely, pure white hair, that she styles in graceful waves around her head.  I always remember her with white hair, and didn't realize she had dark hair until I saw older pictures of her.  So she must have started graying young.

I have Hanson hair.  If you go back further, I think it is Port hair.  My hair is very fine, and thin, and I have about half of the hair I had just ten years ago.  Now I understand why my Grandma Betty wore wigs all of the time-they didn't have women's Rogaine back then.  She even talked her mom in to wearing a wig too, so clearly the thinning hair problem goes back even further, and is more likely a Dunn trait than a Port trait. In her last years, when she gave up on wigs, I remember her incredibly sparse hair, and being able to see through to her scalp, and just wanting to give her a really pretty hat. 

I have checked in to Rogaine.  I understand it works for some people, but it is expensive, and once you start using it, you can never stop, or you start losing your hair again.  And the thought of putting chemicals on my scalp, and just leaving them there, is not appealing.  I know someone who is using it, just on one spot on their head, and it really works.  But I have a whole head of problem, not just one spot.

I have read that if I dye my hair, it will appear thicker.  So that is a point in favor of going the color route.  My stylist (Hi Kim!) has suggested I start with highlights, rather than dying it all, until the gray gets more prevalent.

Is it a vanity point that I want to make it to 50 before I dye my hair?  And why 50?  At the rate my hair is graying, if I wait until 50 I will be as white as my Grandma Doris is at 88.  I have crooked teeth, could use some liposuction, and really need my veins done, and could benefit from some Botox-but would not seriously consider doing any of those things.  Why do I feel like I need to dye my hair?  (well for one, it's a lot less expensive than all of those other procedures...)

Your thoughts, dear readers?  (and please don't suggest going blonde, the only time I have messed with my hair I had a dramatic run-in with a bottle of Sun-In during the early 80's....)

Do you dye?  Will you dye?   At home or at the salon?