Founder's Blog

Karie Bennett,

Master Artist and Atelier CBO

August 2008--article from Shine, on Yahoo!

Yesterday's Houston Chronicle featured a story about how more and more women are forgoing expensive, time-consuming dye jobs in favor of letting their hair go au naturel. While nearly all of the subjects interviewed for the piece found this move "liberating" and "empowering" and a "sign of distinction and wisdom," some expressed fears of looking old.
It's an interesting topic for sure, especially given the double standard: Men become distinguished silver foxes when they go gray; when women do the same they're often de-sexualized—thought of as dowdy, unstylish or just plain old. Because of this, according to the Chronicle story, nearly 65 percent of the female population uses hair color (often starting at age 18) and 71 percent of women who dye their hair do so in order to "look and feel more attractive." One source estimated spending $65,000 on color treatments over 25 years.
Yikes.
***Atelier Founder, Karie Bennett’s Blog in response:

As a 26-year veteran of the Haircolor Wars, my opinion is this:be sure you're ready!  Although always remember, you can cover it any time you want.

When you're ready for gray, ask your longtime stylist to help with the transition.  And it can still look young, hip and sexy!

This can be accomplished a few ways:

1. Wear a hat a grow hair out for 12 months, then cut your hair 6 inches long all over...(hair grows 1/2' a month on the average) This one's not very popular...

2. Have your colorist start highlighting your hair with your natural pigment color.  This is the brown, black, red, or blonde that you might still have somewhere in there.  I call this technique "tapering away the gray".  This will take up to 12 months for a hairstyle that is 6 inches long.  Have it re-done every 3 months.

3.  Have said haircolorist use a Deposit-Only haircolor product on your hair.  I use only Aveda haircolor, which is 99% naturally derived.  It's like a conditioning treatment gloss with color we custom blend.  It doesn't have ammonia, won't lighten the hair...only deposits color.  The old school term for it was Demi-Permanent, or Semi-Permanent.  It's quite sheer and fades out over 6 weeks.  Have it done every 6-8 weeks.  You can keep using it until the old permanent color has grown out and got cut off, then let the Deposit-Only color fade all the way out.  By then you will have gotten used to how it looks.  See #4 for how to maintain grey hair!

4.  Now that you are a bonafide silver fox, you can keep it shiny and silvery.  Remember that a white hair has air bubbles instead of pigment molecules, and it has a tendency to absorb pollutants that float around in the air, or come through in water.  Such as cigarette smoke, and chlorine.  These can "yellow up" on white hair.  Using a Detoxifying shampoo (Aveda has one) and having the hair Clear Glossed every 3 months will keep that beautiful hair turning heads for years to come.  And THAT'S young, hip and sexy!