To go gray or to fight it kicking and screaming

I've lamented here before about the rapidly gray onslaught my hair is facing.  I've had gray hair at this point longer than I haven't had gray hair.  My first appeared shortly after the start of puberty (around 12) and was nice enough not to bring lots of friends along until I was in my mid 20s.  I aggressively dyed it until about two years ago.  I was chocolate, chocolate cherry and eventually blowout burgundy thanks to L'oreal Feria, who make a great hair color I must say.  My hair color was always rich and lush and the conditioner was freaking amazing.  However, about two years ago I was about three weeks post relaxer and looked up to see the little gray army marching across my scalp like now what broad?  I'm sure you're wondering why would you worry three weeks post, surely your color was older than that.  Yeah no it wasn't.  We'd relax and then hit it with the permanent color and condition the mess out of my hair to make sure it didn't fall out of my scalp.  It would result in gorgeous color after my scalp stop reenacting Sherman's march across Georgia (for the non American readers he burnt a lot of Georgia along the way just cause).  It is the only hair color I tried that with and I wouldn't recommend anyone else do the same thing but the semi permanent colors would be pointless on my hair.  Within a few washes I'd be back to just plain old salt and cayenne pepper (well it was red) hair.


So after giving up the color I was resolved to leave it alone but there was a brown, black, gray, red thing happening after so many months of not dying it.  A black rinse went green after one wash and another black dye job resulted in those damaged edges--which are still filling in nicely.  Plus I looked weird with jet black hair.  So again the hair dye is fading and I'm not sure you can see it closely in any of my old photos but my hair is gray at the roots, salt and pepper within about an inch of that, brown for a bit--where the mass of previously gray hair was, and black at the ends.  Honestly it's annoying and I feel like a six year old's coloring experiment gone wrong.  My mother thinks I should keep dying it as I'm only 37 and it makes me look old in her opinion.  Considering I still get carded often I kind of appreciate the gray.  However, right now I'm thinking of trying to dye my whole head silvery gray or do that reverse ombre thing with gray flowing into black tips.

Anyhoo, here's where you all come in.  I'd like your opinion on the state of my gray so I'm doing a poll and I'd love all comments too.  As my parents were mostly or all gray by 50 this is really an inevitable decision but I'd rather it be a sexy gray than Brillo pad gray so dying it once or twice may be the only choice to get that while it's all growing out.  So vote a way and tell me what you think.  Oh and here are some photos too in case they help just scroll pass the photos.

Should I Dye?  Just Dye?!?!?!?!?

Update--poll kept losing votes which was weird then I learned that blogger polls are apparently notorious for that so I'm going to repost a NEW poll--I know trauma your votes are being discounted and stuff--they disappeared so gotta reboot.

Sassy Gray

Ombre Ladies

Gray? Who's Gray?