I hope Friday is off to a great start for you guys! Finn and I traveled to Florida yesterday afternoon to spend the weekend with my family. We haven’t visited since May so my grandmother couldn’t wait to see how much he’d grown and changed…and to see him walking in person! He is getting super steady on his feet and walking pretty much everywhere now.
Also, my nieces are here! We haven’t seen them since Christmas break so we were long overdue a visit. 🙂
Tropical Storm Barry is missing us (sending lots of prayers to the New Orleans area) but we are definitely experiencing rough, stormy seas and some rain because of it. That’s okay though! I’m just happy to be here and hanging out with my family. We’ll sneak in some swimming and beach time when the weather allows.
A few Friday favorites for you today. I’ve been making a list in my head for a few weeks now of some things I want to share.
While on the topic of travel, do y’all use packing cubes? I’ve had some for a couple of years now and I’m on and off about using them. My recent Jamaica trip reminded me how helpful they are so I packed with them again for this trip. They’re great for keeping things organized and make packing/unpacking so much easier.
When I was in Florida back in May my dad gave me two Yeti tumblers that he wasn’t using. I am obsessed! I take this cup with me everywhere now…on walks, to teach classes, upstairs to bed at night. It keeps my drinks cold for hours and hours and hours. I want to order this lid for it so that when I walk and run, my water doesn’t slosh out.
Finn loves my Yeti too. 🙂 He’s all about drinking water these days. It’s one of his favorite activities. And when he first started drinking from cups I taught him how to go “ahhhhhhh” after he drinks water. It’s kind of become our word for water now and he does it all the time. Very cute.
Oh, I also packed a Yeti in my suitcase for Jamaica and it came in very handy at the pool and on the beach whether I wanted to have some ice water or drinks that stayed cold in the hot sun.
I recently switched from a pop socket to a ring grip for my iPhone.
The big seller on the ring grip switch was the magnetic mount system for the car. I use my GPS to get everywhere in Charlotte because traffic is so ridiculous these days so I love having my phone at eye level instead of down in my cup holder or in my lap. Much safer this way.
Lots of travel/portable/convenience faves today! I ordered this portable bluetooth speaker for the retreat and you can’t beat it for the price. It’s small, produces great sound given the extremely reasonable price tag and holds a charge for an impressive length of time. I’ve already used it quite a lot since returning home!
If you have dark hair and gray roots like I do and find yourself regularly wearing a hat/trying to cover up grays between appointments, I found the best root concealer that I’ve tried yet. I appreciate that it’s not a dry shampoo so it doesn’t feel as heavy on your hair. All things considered, it works pretty darn well. I mean, nothing is going to be like fresh color but unless I want to go every four weeks, stuff like this is going to have to get me through.
I started getting gray hairs when I was 18 of course they’ve spread as I’ve gotten older. I started coloring my hair 6-7 years ago. I held out as long as I could! I used to be able to spread color appointments 12 weeks but these days it’s more like 6-7 before I can’t stand it. It feels impossible to hide grays with dark hair, and of course mine seem to be concentrated near where I part my hair. Ugh.
I opt for all over color and to keep my hair its natural dark shade because it is much less damaging to put color on my hair than to strip it out and lighten my hair. I know that some lighter color would help blend the grays more but it would just be expensive, harsh and require a lot of upkeep.
Not sure how I got off on that tangent…but I’m sure many can relate. Would love to hear any tips and tricks you might have for dark hair + gray hair. 😉
Alright guys, enjoy your weekend and I’ll be back soon with recent eats!
Give me all your best tips for dark hair + gray hair.
Any travel gear that you can’t live without/find extremely useful?
This post contains Amazon affiliate links.
i technically have dark hair like you but am now blond. i started highlighting and as i got more grays (mine are more like white) i just went blonder. well let me tell you you are smart to try to stay dark. lightening your hair is so much harsher. my hair is definitely thinner than it was years ago especially around my face. and yes grays can blend a bit with blond but not always. i still really “need” to go every 4 weeks because i get dark roots (obviously) and then those have grays and even the gray around my face is noticeable because gray hair is harder to color. I try to stretch to 5 but it is no bueno let me tell you ! that said the only root cover up spray i used that seemed to work was rita hazaan and that was only so so for me. I have often thought i would like to go back dark but i worry about even more gray showing. I have come to grips that i will never really fully love my hair and i need to just be ok with that. Good luck !
I bought the exact same bluetooth speaker for a recent lake weekend and I LOVE IT! Everyone was super impressed with the battery life… I used it for an entire evening, most of a morning, and an entire other afternoon and it still had not drained the battery from one charge. It replaced a Bose bluetooth speaker that never lasted longer than 2-3 hours on medium volume. I am super happy with this purchase and it is so portable!
As to the hair discussion, I’ve got that “dishwater blonde” color, and have white hairs, not grey…. luckily they are VERY few and far between but I know they will start getting worse soon. Glad you found a product that works for you but I bet YOU notice your grays 10000000x more than anyone else does 😉
Thanks for sharing! Thats so fun that you went to Florida for a bit. I absolutely love my Yetis, and they are even better with straws!
-Kate
https://daysofkate.com/
I have really dark hair and started getting grays in college. Now I’m 33 and have to color my roots every 4 weeks. So I get it!
I touch up my roots at home every month. With a dark color it’s so easy to do. In a pinch, I’ve also used mascara to cover stray grays. It actually works great!
I am 32 and started getting a ton of white hairs around 28. I had never dyed my hair and decided to have some fun and jumped on the bandwagon before I got married. After my stylist raised her prices and I was seeing the damage it was doing to my naturally curly hair, I decided to just let it be. I am actually really excited to see my curly hair turn white/gray. I think it’s going to look awesome! Honestly, I say go natural! The grow-out process will be so much easier. My mom was inspired by me and is finally letting her color grow out and is so annoyed with the harsh line.
I started growing our my grey a little over a year ago. It was a scary thing to do, lol. I get so many positive compliments. I have dark hair too. This blog is what got me to do it
https://thisorganicgirl.com/how-to-go-gray/
She also has an amazing Facebook group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/487231665018276/
I have really dark hair just like yours. I am 48 now and I color it every three weeks, which is super annoying. Even worse, I am actually considering moving to every two weeks! I have tried highlighting it a few times, but I just don’t like it on me. I really love my dark hair. I have tried several of the root touch-ups but it is bad enough (especially around my face) that those really don’t work anymore. I should probably consider just going gray but I really am not ready. Sorry I don’t have any good advice, but I definitely feel your pain!
Now that my oldest is almost 4 we can’t live without a tablet for travel!
Can I ask what stroller that is you use for travel? Is it easy to fold up?
It took two years but my hair is now a natural color. I get so many compliments on the results. The gray looks like highlights in my natural medium brown hair. Love it! And it was such a surprise to see what was under the color.
This is so awesome to read!
I get it on the grays! I started graying around 21 too and I’m 38 now and color every 5 weeks or so. And my hair is black so its super annoying to have the gray roots showing so fast. However I love having dark hair and will keep coloring for as long as I can. Haha. I absolutely LOVE the Madison Reed root touch up powder. I usually try and stay away from sprays so this compact little powder works great and is easy for travel too 🙂
i LOVE my packing cubes! i have 2 sets now…life changing for trips, i swear.
#embracethegray <3
My greys around my forehead are driving me crazy too. I hate “painting” it temporarily. I now use a Herbatint colour and top it up every fortnight. Each bottle lasts about 5 applications if I just use the roots so its not too bad. I am tempted to look into getting some streaks that try and embrace the grey, but I am lazy/cheap and do all my colouring myself so think that might be hard to maintain!!!