Wednesday, May 16

A health tip and a beauty question

Earlier this week I shared my very best skincare tip, and I showed you a special photo of me from back when I was 45 years old.  I stand by my advice to make peace with your fair skin instead of spending time in the sun.  But my health-conscious friend Anne recently clued me in to an important health fact:  many women are deficient in Vitamin D.

Sunlight is an important source of Vitamin D.  If you're protecting your skin from exposure to the sun, you may not be getting enough Vitamin D.  Your physician can perform a simple test to determine whether you're deficient and whether you might need a Vitamin D supplement.

Do be careful.  Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin, and taking too much isn't good for your body.  If you do an internet search regarding vitamin supplementation, you may find all kinds of contradictory advice.  I'd suggest that you avoid huge doses of any vitamin.  But vitamin and mineral supplements can be very helpful, and many women do need more vitamin D than they're getting.  I thought this article about vitamin D supplementation was helpful; perhaps it will help you, too.

Now I want to share a couple of photos that my husband took of me this past weekend.  These aren't very glamorous--they were taken on our front porch.  But I want to show you how much more white there is in my hair than there was just a few years ago.

My red hair has a good many blonde highlights, but most of the light pieces you see here are white. 


The photo below really shows off the white hairs--and demonstrates why Jack usually takes my picture when I'm wearing sunglasses.  I can never seem to keep my eyes open in photographs!  It also shows that I have gum in my mouth.  Sheesh.



As you can see, my skin hasn't aged much in the past three years, but my hair certainly has!  And I've never colored my hair before, so I'm kind of scared about it.  I'd like to ask you:  Do you color your hair?  If so, do you do it yourself or have it done by a professional?  Have any recommendations for a novice?

**By the way, if you're looking for good beauty tips (for both inner and outer beauty) you should check out my friend Cyndi's blog, Walking in Grace and Beauty.**  

26 comments:

  1. Your skin is Be-YEW-ti-ful Richella! I am totally at peace with not getting a tan nowadays and wear hats and sunscreen all year round, but I'm afraid that my teenage sun-worshiping years will come back to haunt me one day. Oh, and I've never colored my hair, so no tips on that score, but I for one, think it's perfectly beautiful how redheads tend to turn glorious white - so much more romantic than gray or salt and pepper (which runs in MY family :-p)!

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  2. Well, you saw my Ginger comment the other day. I'd love to walk you through red head coloring since it is the most difficult. Can be purple.

    I just so wish I could get the color I had in 5th grade. perfect.

    For now I'd say don't color yet. Yours is still really pretty.

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  3. Girl, you have the most beautiful skin and I think your hair is gorgeous. I wish I had body like you do. Honestly, I think your hair looks FABULOUS just the way it is. I get my hair highlighted and the hairdressers always end up over-processing my hair which tends to cause a lot of breakage, which is not pretty. Anyway, my point is, your hair looks lovely. I wouldn't change a thing. =)

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  4. I have lot more gray than you do. I am on the fence as far as highlighting it. But, with my fair complexion, it makes my face look really washed out. I just don't want to ruin my hair either. You have beautiful hair and the gray isn't really that predominant. I say leave it. If mine looked like yours, I wouldn't be questioning whether I should color it.

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  5. I just make a point of being out in the sun for about 30 min to an hour before putting on any sunscreen and even without supplements I've never tested low for vit. D. I do the same for my kids, if you have a hard time remembering just set an alarm to remind you, I had to for a while.

    Doctors will tell you that you only need 15 minutes of sun to get all the vit.D you need but that's only if you're out on a very high UV day BUTT NAKED thus my at least 30-60 minutes rule of thumb.

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  6. Your hair is gorgeous and I have a recommendation for you. Mirage Hair Design in Durham (off of Carver St). Her name is Erica and she does a great job with coloring hair - she LOVES red hair and I'm sure you will be pleased. She's reasonable also. Tell her Trina sent you. Their number is 919/477-8870.

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  7. Trina, thank you so much for giving me a name and phone number! How kind of you!!

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  8. I have the same problem keeping my eyes open for pictures. And the worst for me is that my bite is a little off so the side of my tongue likes to make an appearance in my smile.
    Your hair and skin are beautiful. Like you I don't plan to color my hair until it starts graying. I'm a little nervous for when that day comes.

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  9. You are so pretty!! I've never colored my hair, but I know one day that step will come. It's a hard balance though, b/c I don't want to be 85 with dark hair. :s

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  10. You are so beautiful! I get my hair colored at Hair Color Experts. Since I work in RTP I go to the Arboretum location in Cary. They are awesome. Shea is my stylist. Good luck!

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  11. i love that picture of you laughing... closed eyes, gum & all!!! someone asked me the other day if i got highlights... ugh. um, no. wondering if my gray is more than a few strands that i can see! i have dyed my hair for fun once or twice yearsnadyearandyears ago... but maybe highlights will be in order soon!!!

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  12. You are lovely and so is your hair. I think it doesn't really need color yet, cuz it just looks like you have natural highlights.

    But... if you do want to get it colored, then a little color-weaving with some lighter strawberry blonde or just blonde color maybe the way to go, and just leave most of the red the way it is....cuz it is beautiful!

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  13. Yes, I color my hair now. My biggest suggestion is to talk to a professional whom you trust (for me, my stylist is also my colorist). We talked about it for two years before I actually did something. Let your colorist know what you're trying to achieve and see what he/she suggests. You have very little gray so you could go with highlights or lowlights (painted on to cover the gray); that would be low maintenance and give you a little "lift" at the same time.

    One benefit I've found from coloring my hair is that it's not baby-fine anymore. It's still fine but it has more body and texture. You've got great, thick hair so that won't be as big a bonus for you.

    Go for it, girl - you won't regret it!

    XO

    Erin

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  14. Richella- You are just beautiful! I have a special spot in my heart for redheads. My youngest daughter has red hair, too.

    I colored my hair myself for years. I am blond now but dyed my hair dark for years because my hubby liked dark hair- I know...crazy, huh? Anyway, then I returned to blond. I have lots of white in my hair now so it blends in pretty good but I do go get it toned about 5 times a year.

    Good luck- You will be beautiful no matter what you do! xo Diana

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  15. What a beauty you are! Sure wish we lived closer--I'd share my wonderful hairdresser with you. Yes, I started coloring my hair about three years ago. I started with just highlights, but my girls thought they made me look too blonde. So about a year ago I convinced her to start doing all-over color with highlights. After that whole process, she uses a toner that leaves my hair really shiny. I love it! The thing is, that whole process (including a haircut) takes about 2 hours. Ugh. I have that done every 12 weeks, but in the 6 week in-between time I have my roots touched up. Can't go too long without those touch-ups!

    My hairdresser told me that once you start you can't go back. That's the biggest drawback. Well, that and the fact that it's EXPENSIVE!! But for now I think I'm worth it. :) My girls tell me that I definitely have to let it go gray when I'm a grandma. I guess I can do that. Maybe.

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  16. Your grace and loveliness inside radiates to your outside too! So many women these days are obsessed with tanning, it goes to show that staying protected from the sun really pays off in the end, you have beautiful skin! I have been coloring my hair for many years now, and I have done it myself and gone to the salon. I prefer the natural look of a foil in the salon as opposed to a full home color. Although it seems the products over the counter now are amazingly simple and easy to use. With that said... your hair is simply lovely just the way it is!

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  17. Your grace and loveliness inside radiates to your outside too! So many women these days are obsessed with tanning, it goes to show that staying protected from the sun really pays off in the end, you have beautiful skin! I have been coloring my hair for many years now, and I have done it myself and gone to the salon. I prefer the natural look of a foil in the salon as opposed to a full home color. Although it seems the products over the counter now are amazingly simple and easy to use. With that said... your hair is simply lovely just the way it is!

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  18. Richella you are beautiful even with a few white hairs. White hair is not a bad thing, really. I don't think aging is a bad thing. God made us the way we are and we aren't supposed to look 20 when we are 50 and the bible tells us that white hair is a glory to us (though sometimes we don't want to believe it). Besides, I find it very hard not to laugh when I see a 60, 70 or 80 year old woman with blond, red or black hair. I work with someone who is pushing 60 and while she still looks somewhat young mainly because she colors her hair, there will come a day when she just looks completely ridiculous with blond hair. I am only 42 and I have a significant amount of white hair. WAY more than you have but believe it or not, I actually am used to it and I like it. I used to color my hair before it needed coloring and I can just say that it never looked or felt natural. Also coloring is very damaging to hair and it's something you really have to keep up on. Recoloring constantly! It's very high maintenance and then when or if you do decide to quit coloring it after 5 or 10 years you will be shocked at how much gray you really have and so will others (that's personal experience talking). When I stopped dying mine I was only 36 and I had so much gray I wanted to crawl in a hole and not be seen by anyone. Also it took a few years before I really looked normal again because I had gray hair at top near the roots and colored hair a the ends. A very ugly situation. I would've had to scalp myself to go back to being completely natural all at one time. Perhaps that's why we see 80 years old with jet black hair. They are too afraid to commit to going natural again. LOL. Also, I really believe that coloring my hair for 5 years contributed to the amount of gray I received at an early age. Of course, that's just opinion, but with all that said, I think your hair is beautiful just like it is. I wouldn't change a thing, but that's just me. Good luck with your decision!

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  19. Hi Richella! I'm a strawberry blonde, 51 yrs old, and started coloring my hair a few years ago when the white strands started to bother me. I've always done it myself and use Loreal's Feria dark golden blonde, which is a pretty close match to my natural shade. This color never seems to lose it's shine. Love it! I may have five (soon seven) grandkids, but I'm not quite ready to look like a granny! :-) I will say, though, it took me about a year and a half before I finally had the guts to do it.

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  20. You have lovely skin Richella! I started coloring my hair in my mid-thirties and continued until I was 50. I always had it done in a salon because it's hard to do it at home and not damage your hair. Your hair is beautiful and I wouldn't do a thing to it.

    Gretchen

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  21. Beauty. That's what I see, inside and out!
    As for the hair color, I've been coloring mine for the last 9 years. It started out because I wanted to be adventurous with a new "shade." It has morphed into a {vain} necessity to cover the slips of grey. :) I always use a box (Preference by L'oreal) and have had many friends show surprise when they found out that it is colored, especially out of a box. I've learned that beauty doesn't have to come at a high price. Would I like highlights/lowlights? Sure. But our budget doesn't allow for it right now and I've learned to be content with my 30 minutes of alone time in my bathroom while the color sets. ;)

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  22. You are SO gorgeous, sweet girl! Did you think I had fallen off the planet? :)

    If your husband is anything like my husband, he loves those new "highlights" (that's what I call mine...that's what they are!). My stylist even told me NOT to color my hair because she loved the way it was coming in. So, embrace those highlights, baby! :)

    Oh, and I have (as my friend Kim says) porcelain skin, which is funny because when I was little I could get as brown as the best of them. But, you're right, this fair skin comes at the price of a Vit D deficiency. I need to get a prescription Vit D filled, but I keep procrastinating because my insurance doesn't cover it. It leaves me feeling blah and I don't have the energy I used to have. Definitely something to have checked out!

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  23. Your skin looks awesome! And I have the exact same shade of naturally red hair---with all the wite, too! My "white" is in a streak in the front on one side! There's a lot more throughout-but that white spot in the front really shows. Hair dyed red-often looks just that! I can spot a fake red-head miles away! But my gray made my husband feel old (I EARNED those gray hairs!)--so one year for Christmas I did it. Had my hairdresser color it with highlights. He hit the natural red color right on the money-and the highlights hid the gray! I LOVED IT!!! Since then, he's tried to tweak the color and its often darker than what I want. We're going to have the "THIS IS THE RED I want-I don't want it to look colored-I don't care if I have to come more often (and he shouldn't! lol!) Take photos of the shade you want with you-make them look at your hair in the natural light-go outside! The salon is usually darker and shades look skewed! Best of luck-worst case scenario? You don't like what they did and he/she strips it back out. Been through that, too! He did it at no cost to me since I wasn't happy! Blessings, Sharon

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  24. Your hair is beautiful!
    I am 47 and have been totally grey for about 15 years! I used to color it myself but the more grey I got the more stubborn it was to cover! I now have it done professionally and people can't believe it's not my "real" color!

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  25. Just wanted to tell you that these pictures are gorgeous. You are so beautiful. I don't have a lot of hair coloring advice. I'm 41 and I've been having mine highlighted to camouflage the gray for almost 10 years. It's expensive and time consuming but I'm not ready to go gray yet. You will look beautiful whatever you do!

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  26. Pinterest brought me to see your laundry "sunburst" mirror...love your blog.
    48yrs old brunette w/ highlights,
    lowlights now for 4 years.Grey is just around my face(grrr). It looks as though you have been blessed more thoroughly! :) Your natural color is fabulous!If you're wanting to color the grey, go for it! Blessings!

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