I'm going to cast a vote against the platinum. But I think you should play with those highlights and lowlights. Perhaps be more bold with the pieces around your face. And I like the idea of you going shorter or taking more risk with cut.

Thanks, all. Krish, I've had darker lowlights from time to time, yes. Sometimes if it is feeling too flat blonde I have done it.

I think I just want to avoid the whole growing-in business completely. But clearly I will have to bite the bullet and accept ugly looking hair for a while. Sigh....

Sheila, is that your natural silver/grey? It's GORGEOUS! Exactly how I hope to look.

Yup... that is it !
It is actually a bit more contrasty that perhaps that picture makes it look.

I went there with a process of high low lights ( mainly for the workplace) but it can happen many other ways.
What I did was have them match the dark part of my hair in the back with low lights... one shade darker and more ash. And the low lights were tiny and bleached almost white with a platinum toner. Very tricky. I learned NOT to wash it much as the toner would fade. Here is a pic halfway thru the growout and it is in about 4 inches. The second is grown out fully and a pic from the lighting in TD Garden. The cameraman must have appreciated my hair alot as I found myself on the jumbotron more than my son liked. Ha !

I think your hair is going to be fantabulous alaskagirl !

I've never been platinum but I've been all shades of blonde (some by accident, unfortunately!) and I don't like the idea of one all over color. I do like #2 and if you decide to do it, I think that is the way to go.

Kuddos to you for wanting to go more towards your natural color. I've had gray hairs since I was a teenager (I have a streak of gray underneath in the back) but my latest root re-growth was more of a white shade. I couldn't get to the hairdresser fast enough!

So inspiring - I think that grey is gorgeous with the depth and light it creates. For reals.

I think that the women in all the pics you posted really own their hair. Sheila too! To me that makes all the difference. If you are ready to own it, I say go for it. The Sharon Stone gray color is very trendy right now so you will look on trend & that might make it easier. I have never done this but I always wanted to go to a wig store to try on new hair colors. It's a thought if you are still on the fence. Our coloring is very close. I know I am not quite ready to own it. I am mostly afraid of looking washed out.

Silly suggestion, but have you tried on any platinum wigs? They'd give you an idea of how you'd look. I like the idea of it, but also share Angie's concern.

wow i just learned a ton reading this post.

Not feeling the platinum, but understand the feeling of fadedness (going through that myself) as well as a pre-spring antsyness (did I not move 900 km south to get away from all this snow?)

Joy makes a great point about colour next to the face, and I've noticed that my glasses (which I thought were maybe too dark) look better in a more purposeful way with my lighter natural hair.

Also, although still curly, it is way less fuzzy/frizzy!

Below is a model with hair of a colour similar to mine, and an Angie composition that is really working for me. Navy looks super fab too!

Anyway, you don't seem ready yet (despite the antsyness) and when you are, it won't take you long with your pixie! Why not just do a swatch or two of crazya** colour? Something that shows a lot when when you part on one side, and hardly at all when you part on the other?

FWIW, last week I saw not one, but two different women in Union Station with completely white hair, who had vibrant under layers peeping out when they moved their heads. One woman with a straight bob, had alternating streaks of fuchia and blue in a layer deep under her hair, across the back at mid ear. Another had a bowl style with an asymetrical layer from eye level on one side to under ear on the other that was fushia.

Wow! Like Una I have never been any kind of blonde. I was taken with the idea of your going platinum but as I read through I realized it is not so simple. Ultimately I found the solution to grow out (which is much harsher with brunettes obviously) was a super short cut and I think that will be your best solution. I don't know how trendy grey/silver hair really is, but I CANNOT WAIT to have discussions with you and Una about how you like it!

Yep. Ultimately I think the super short cut is going to have to be my method. Maybe a couple of times of the highlight/lowlight thing, and then the big chop. I will just have to time it right, I guess.

Thanks for sharing those photos, Sheila. You look gorgeous with your silver hair! Just stunning.

I honestly think I'll look good with the silver grey also and not washed out (or not with the right clothes/ makeup). If it worked for both my parents and is working for my brother, why not for me? And I don't think my natural grey will detract at all from the impression of "radiant health." I do think a really horrible dye job would, though.

AGREED. I'm excited.

Well, you're certainly doing some midwinter creative planning! I find myself paralyzed when it comes to hair --- not as much with color as with style. I just avoid getting it cut entirely, waiting for inspiration. And here you are -- scoping out your options months in advance!

Love the sound of exploring your grey -- you can always go back if you don't like it!

Staying out of the debate but I do want to point out it is the end of February--in Canada--and that can lead us into some crazy choices. I'd wait for another month or so before committing to any radical changes. In the meantime, why not try Carla's suggestion for an under layer that will have faded by the time you see the green shoots of spring. Then you can decide what direction you want to go...

I like the idea of an underlayer but my cut won't allow for it. It's already pretty short and it has to be thinned out so much so that it lies (more or less) flat/ straight, so there's not much to work with. The only kind of streaks that work are the ones that go on top. I considered doing the pink or blue thing but I am seeing too many people around with it, especially women of a certain age (as in, MY age, or older) and somehow that makes it feel too expected.

Sigh. I think it must be February. Our winter has been, if anything, worse than last year. I do my best. I get out there and enjoy winter stuff. And I've been okay with my clothes. But still....

Suz, I just want to add that since your hair is short you will see effects quickly. Mine is grown out about 4 inches but has yet to hit a critical mass by my face. It's looking remarkably like highlights I might have paid a lot for, but when it's longer, who knows if I will still love it. You will reach that point much more quickly and no harm no foul if you don't want to keep it. Whatever you decide there is going to be some teeth-gritting moments - just know I'm with you!

This is the exact strategy I used to grow my hair out to its natural colour after years of dyeing it brown. My stylist bleached it silver-white, and then I let the roots grow in for several months, until it was long enough to just cut off the bleached hair. It worked really well. I did not like it when it was bleached right to the roots, but after a couple of weeks, once there was a "shadow," I loved it.

And, I owe you a private message--I just realized I wrote you one but never sent it. My brain is a sieve.

Right in time to see how this goes ....

NEEL!!! I have missed you!!!!

And Ariadne -- I THOUGHT that is what you did, and it worked!

Hmm. That is more food for thought in the other direction.

Well, no decision for a while. I won't even be starting the process (whatever it is) until the fall. So for now, it's all systems as usual.

Fall, oh man....I was ready to see your Sharon Stone hair next week! Oh well, in your own time.

I don't think Sharon Stone's hair is platinum right now. This is a recent paparazzi shot.

I do think platinum can look fantastic and it is true it's so fashionable right now. However I agree making it look amazing could be exhausting and expensive. So there's that, as they say in Fargo (the movie not the place).

I am reading this with interest. I have very little experience with colouring my hair (a few times years ago I put highlights in and either liked or hated) but I do wonder what I will do when the gray becomes more obvious.

Your hair looks great and you seem to have a good hair stylist. I am sure you will end up with FAB hair whatever route you take.

Just chiming in to say that I really look forward to follow this process. I think silvery grey and super short cut will suit you to a tee. Keywords like "radiant health" is such a great guideline to keep you on track.

Oh, Suz has the bug, Suz has the bug :). Once you get it, it's hard to shake

I just wanted to throw in some caution... my (ex)colourist , who is very good, told me that you can't go platinum if your hair is already processed/coloured. It may look that way for a very short time, but will quickly go yellowish, and brassy. I think it's because processed hair really holds onto dye. And to strip it enough, is very damaging.

Now mind you, I was going from brown, not blonde, so my case may have been different. The streak that I put in to look "intentional" about my hair when I had my skunk stripe had a platinum toner on it, and it looked blonde from the get-go.

Deborah has been fighting the damage from when she went more platinum a few months ago... but of course damage is not so bad if you are going super short and will be getting rid of it.

That being said - you'll find your way. And you'll rock it. The process can appear painful, but if you're ready, it's not so bad, esp if you are willing to go short short.

Oh, and have to add... NEEL!!

Oh I love this idea and I think it would be amazing on you! Annie Lennox and Sharon Stone's coloring are my favorites.

Yeah, Elizabeth, I think it is quite different when you are going from light hair already. My hair has never been dark. And it's also really short and would be shorter. (Although I'm not even sure that is possible. Right now, the hair on the back of my head is only about 1/2 inch long, if that! In places, it is way shorter. Even my bangs are short. There are a few pieces that are about 3 inches, but that's probably the longest, and the hair is so textured that most pieces are much shorter. (This is hard to explain but I will bet Shannon knows what I am talking about. My hair requires a lot of thinning and texturizing with every cut. Which means that there is an awful lot of shorter hair on my head even if the front looks longer.)

I don't think I really need to worry about damage, both because my hair is so short (and I'd continually cut it shorter) and also because I have the thickest head of hair my stylist has ever seen.

Oh, trust me, I know about the thinning. When my stylist gets done with me it looks like a sheep exploded. And that is all hair taken off AFTER she cuts it!

Sounds like you'll be grown out in about three months. I say have some fun along the way!

I LOVE Sharon Stone's hair, and when I read your initial post I was all on-board for this change. But then when I read what the other ladies said, the reality of how it might turn out, and managing the hair color crept in.

Is there a wig or costume shop in your area? I think you should go try on some wigs and take some photos if they will let you. They will probably ask you to buy a wig cap, but that shouldn't run more than a buck or two.

I am late to the discussion, but I'm glad you've gotten such thoughtful feedback. My sister is a former hair stylist/salon owner, and she has said that going true platinum is one of the trickiest color treatments. So I'm glad you've put the brakes on that plan for now. It sounds really appealing at first just because it seems so exciting, but I know what Angie is saying -- I'm not sure it's the best choice for your personal style.

Whatever you do, I know you'll put thought and care into it, and it will look fantastic.

There has been so much discussion here of going grey lately that it has me thinking about how on earth I will manage the transition... someday... when I decide it is time. I don't look particularly great in short hair, and I'm really worried that my grey hair texture and color won't be very appealing. At this point I suppose it's all speculative anyway because I don't think I'm more than about 15-20% grey under my color, and transitioning at this point would just make me look unkempt. The dilemma in waiting until one is significantly grey is that then it's harder to grow it out gracefully without a harsh line of demarcation, at least when one has dark hair like me. Oh well. I suppose I'll deal with it one day in the future and for now resign myself to 5-6 expensive hair appointments a year!