Actually, it just occurred to me that I do need practical advice re babymaking and hair -- I vaguely recall hearing that heavy-duty chemical-rich hair dyeing is a no during pregnancy. Is this in fact so? If so, is it safe to get a big gray-obliterating chemical bath as long as one does so before actually beginning to try for a baby, or should someone who's contemplating trying within the next six months or so stop right now? And is absolutely all dyeing verboten, or is there some alternative product that is safe for use during pregnancy? Henna? Watercolor paint? Sharpies?

I used henna for my first trimester, however, the low-chemical dyes like Naturtint are generally considered to be okay.

JZ, I think they recommend no hair dye in the first trimester, and after that only things like highlights, that don't actually touch your scalp.

I had my first gray hair in high school.

(Also, Naturtint appears to last really well. I may stick to it post-baby.)

Also, I should add that Hec's gray and Katerina Bee's gray and Anne W's ultracool salt-and-pepperness are all most excellent. My gray hair, however, is in scraggy patches at the temples that look, frankly, kind of sad.

My mom had the loveliest white wings at her temples for years before she started really graying up, and my dad went beautifully salt-and-pepper in his mid-50s. Mine, stupidly, resembles neither. It's just nast.

JZ, I think they recommend no hair dye in the first trimester, and after that only things like highlights, that don't actually touch your scalp.

OBs vary on it. Mine had no real opinion, other than going with what I was comfortable with. Contrary to popular opinion, the fumes are considered the more harmful aspect, not the potential slight amount of chemicals through the scalp.

I think completely gray hair or salt-and-pepper hair often looks great. My hair, as became depressingly obvious as it grew back in, is about half gray and half dark blonde, or, as the friend who colors my hair described it, "the color of a rat."

Oh, thank you Ple! I like Fire Red rather a lot.

I think completely gray hair or salt-and-pepper hair often looks great.

I agree, Ginger. If my hair would go pretty!gray, I would let it. But blondes do not gray well. It's this weird, yellowed-with-age, gray thing. No, thanks.

But blondes do not gray well. It's this weird, yellowed-with-age, gray thing.

Aiiiiiiieeeeeee!!! Please don't tell me that! I had counted on going white.

Redheads can have the same problem. My grandmother was a dark auburn and her "white" hair wasn't really white when you looked closely. She always wore it up in a bun, so it was kinda hard to tell, close to the scalp seemed to be the whitest.