Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Original poster

What age did you or will you go for grey hair ?

229 replies

Annabey · 16/01/2023 10:07

at what point did you decide to stop fighting the grey ?
and if you’ve already done it, gone for grey are you glad or do you regret it

OP posts:
Thread gallery
13
SparkyBlue · 16/01/2023 19:17

@My3cents1 your hair is gorgeous. I'd say it would look lovely whatever the colour.

I've had to go blonde even though my natural auburn colour is much nicer but the grey is too much I needed to try blend in regrowth. I'd love to have nice hair that I could let go grey and it would look good but my hair is naturally dry and thin and straggly so if it was grey on a bad day I'd look like a witch. My aunt tried the natural grey look in her late forties and when in conversation with a lady in a pub they asked did she also attend the local active retirement group that her much older sister attended my aunt realised that she really wasn't rocking the look she was aiming for lol. She started colouring it again

neurospicygal · 17/01/2023 01:46

First grey hair at 26, dyed hair until 38, grew out twice, on 3rd grow out now at 45. when I've cracked and dyed it i only like it for 2 weeks and really miss my white streaks! It's all down to personal taste and choice but IMO hair colour makes not a jot when it comes to ageing people. As a society, we're just now starting to get used to seeing younger people with grey hair as trends change, so in time grey hair won't just be seen as an old thing, just a choice thing. Ive seen plemty of ladies over 50 with all.manner of different colour hair and I can tell they aren't 21 anymore 😂 It's whatever makes them happy.
I find it odd though that many people have been more than happy to paint entire houses inside and out with various shade of grey, but are absolutely disgusted by hair thats the same colour 🤔😉

antipodeancanary · 17/01/2023 01:53

StarInTheHeavens · 16/01/2023 10:23

This is amazing! I had my first single greys at 37!

Show quote history

I'm never going to bother I don't think. I'm 60. Thought I saw my first grey a few weeks ago so pulled it out, but no, turned out to be brown, so that was a waste of a perfectly good hair.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

Beauty
Chibbers · 17/01/2023 02:38

I'm very lucky to have natural light, almost white blonde hair. There are a few Grey's in it, but they're barely noticeable as they're literally the same colour as my natural hair.
I'm early sixties.
My dad has the same hair colour and he hasn't gone grey, nor bald and he's in his nineties.

MinnieSmall · 17/01/2023 02:45

I've been dyeing my hair to cover the greys since my mid 20s. I don't think I'll stop for 20 years at least even though it's a pain. I was 33 in the first lockdown and didn't colour my hair for months and I looked much older. I think grey silver or white hair can look great but it does make you look older.

ShippingNews · 17/01/2023 02:46

I'm 63 - fully grey as far as I can see. But I colour it a nice light "almond blonde" which is easy to do once every six weeks. I'll never go grey - mine are an awful gun-metal grey colour which does nothing for me.

To me, grey hair just shouts " Old person here", and I'm not interested in going that way when it's so easy to avoid.

MinnieSmall · 17/01/2023 02:47

I am 50% grey at 35 and still dyeing it. My colleague is 46 and only about 10% grey and just thinking about starting to dye it. I've been dyeing mine for 10 years already!

MinnieSmall · 17/01/2023 02:49

My mum has the most beautiful pure white hair though, it's very thick also and looks angelic.

MysteryBelle · 17/01/2023 03:01

My3cents1 · 16/01/2023 10:30

I started going grey at 14! 5 years ago i just said sod it and grew all the dye out. I like it so that’s all that matters.

Luckily I haven’t gotten grey yet but feel I would want to somehow cover it when I do...at the same time though I’ve always tended to a natural approach so I’m not sure. Now, this hair is absolutely gorgeous. If my hair turned that color, I’d love it. Beautiful.

Everyonehasavoice · 17/01/2023 03:06

I am in my 50s.
I have never died my hair
I stated going grey I think in my 30s.
Its very liberating not conforming to this odd norm of hiding your age
Most men dont
My mum died ( in my belief the more appropriate spelling) her hair all her life to the point where it was in such a mess it was permanently green.

Aprilx · 17/01/2023 03:07

I am 52 and going grey, my natural hair colour is brown, but it is dyed blonde and I really don’t know how much grey I have. I got some idea during lock down and it was only patchy grey. I would want to be all over grey before I considered going natural. So I am thinking I will revisit in my 60s.

CrunchyCarrot · 17/01/2023 03:49

I'm 67 and haven't gone grey yet! Total surprise to me as I'm not exactly in good health and my mother went totally grey by 30. I am dark blonde or light brown, depending on your point of view. I don't intend to cover the grey when it must surely arrive, I've never dyed my hair. It hit me the other day that people must think I dye my hair, but I don't!

grannycake · 17/01/2023 05:30

I had my hair cut short in my early 50s and haven't dyed it since, Its been both long and now short again. I am now 66 and have more compliments about my hair colour than when I dyed it

Alondra · 17/01/2023 06:23

60 y.o. I'm a natural blond and I started getting foils around 30. About 2 years ago my hairdresser commented "you have a lovely colour, your white is really mixing well with the rest of the hair". She planted the seed for me to give up foils completely, and honestly, I couldn't be happier. My hair has 3-4 different natural shades and I like it. I keep it short but styled.

My bank account is also much happier, lol.

Bagsundermyeyestoday · 17/01/2023 06:25

Wish I had the courage to pull it off now (42 and horrified to be about 50% grey! My hair grows so fast I have to dye it every three weeks to keep up. Thank God those sprays were invented)

MintJulia · 17/01/2023 06:27

I'm 59 and my hair is still 95% brunette. DBruv is 66 and the same.

So I don't know. I'm not going to dye it grey. At the moment I have highlights that colour the grey strands with honey colour.

I'll just wait until something changes and then work out what to do.

CirreltheSquirrel · 17/01/2023 06:30

I'm 44 and no real sign of grey yet. I've never dyed my hair and don't really want to start so when it happens it happens.

Vicliz24 · 17/01/2023 06:52

I was 49 and had absolutely had enough of getting the box dye and the artist paintbrush out every single Saturday to cover the silver sparkles in my almost black hair . I've never regretted it ever . After a lifetime of really dark hair it's so liberating having light and dark in my hair . I don't care if anybody thinks I look older . I'm pretty well preserved for 58 and my hair suits my skin and I can play with temporary colours .

Ineedcoffee2021 · 17/01/2023 07:21

never lol
34, purple hair and once they stop sticking will go stronger box stuff, then wigs
I wont get the nice silver gray, like my natural mousey brown, i will get the ugly weird grey
So i will dye till i die

Sillybanana · 17/01/2023 07:29

Never! I will dye my hair until the day I die!

humancalculator · 17/01/2023 08:27

I was blonde as a child and then went very dishwater/mousy, so first highlighted for years and then dyed it blonde. Was never very pleased by how even the nicest honey blonde (from the hairdresser, not a box!) would eventually turn cheap yellow. Finally stopped dyeing it about 18 months ago (age 55), and it’s growing out the exact colour I was dyeing it all those years 😂(mixed with some silver streaks).

PizzaPastaWine · 17/01/2023 08:27

I'm 44 and I'd say about 30% grey and the rest dark brown. It's long and thick and way down my back.

I've spent all my life dying it and stopped about 2 years ago. My reasons being cost, condition, trying to be my more 'authentic self' and just trying to embrace natural beauty...which is what I have come to appreciate more in my older years.

I have had nothing but positive comments, mainly from my DP but also a lot from friends that are in the dyeing cycle.

I'm not sure whether I will continue because I flit between being amazed by it/feeling liberated/old at times.

What I do need to do is work on my make up (I wear very little) and make sure my clothing and hair style is as young as I can get away with.

If I did dye, it would have to be some type of hairdresser highlights. Box dyes for darker hair are for the young.

Lonecatwithkitten · 17/01/2023 08:42

I have vitelligo so have huge blocks of white - not grey and then blocks of natural colour. 50 and if I didn't dye with highlights mixing light blond and my natural colour I'd look like a weird snow leopard. My Dad only went grey in his 70s so I see myself dyeing for years yet.

Silverparting · 17/01/2023 08:48

I'm 50 soon. I found my first greys at 19. Thanks to MN, I grew mine out 2 years ago and love it!

What age did you or will you go for grey hair ?
mast0650 · 17/01/2023 09:00

I'm 51 and only have the odd grey hair in my dark curly hair. I don't plan to ever dye to cover them up - I prefer to just go with the natural change. I admit I would probaly have felt differently if I had gone grey early, but as I'm unlikely to be very grey much before 60, by which time being grey is totally to be expected, it seems slightly silly to try to turn myself into something I'm not.

Given my age, people sometimes assume I colour my hair. Even the person who cut my hair last time thought I coloured it. I'm (very) mildly offended when friends think this - do they really think I am the sort of person who is going to prioritise my hair highly enough to never ever have any grey roots?? I almost want the opportunity to prove I'm someone who embraces aging! I realise this is a bit odd.