It has now been 15+ weeks since I last had my roots colored to cover the gray. My hairdresser put in lots of highlights and a few low lights to blend in new growth, which was about 1 1/2".

Yikes--I'm not going to have Helen Mirren silvery locks! Except for some on the crown and a little at the temples, my hair isn't growing in all that gray. It is surprisingly dark and isn't quite the color I had before I started. This week we talked it over and I asked her to put in more low lights to blend in the dark.

I have two sisters, one a few years older and the other a few years younger. They were both blue-eyed blondes, but when we met up recently, they both had darker hair with no hint of gray. I thought they colored it, but they both said, nope, never had any gray hair at all. My very blonde sister's hair is a darker blonde, and I almost told my other sister that I thought she should use a lighter color--her current shade looks a little harsh with her light skin. Glad I minded my own business.

I definitely want to go natural, whatever that might be. The last session blended the demarkation line between too light and the dark, but I don't want to keep highlighting forever. I thought a year or two would take care of the transition. I do like the darker highlights better.

So here I am pulling up my hair to show the new blend. Any words of advice what to do next are welcome.