What happens when you go grey?

[50StrandsOfGrey]

I’ve fairly recently started going grey and I’m curious about how it will progress. Noticing people who have gone fully grey, it seems that they are mostly a dark grey with silver bits (I guess this is salt and pepper?) eventually turning completely silver/white.

My hair is long and a dark chestnut brown colour with red undertones. I can see some strands that are fading to a blondish/light brown colour and then strands that are silver/white, mainly through the front and top and only a few inches long at the moment. Where do the ‘pepper’ strands come in or will I have these but they’re less noticeable against my dark natural colour? Do some people just go straight to silver/white?

Although they’re starting to get more noticeable and the greys are accelerating, I haven’t decided if I will dye my hair or let myself go grey naturally yet, kind of hoping I get a Mallon streak. When I search for images of people going grey, it just returns ones of people who are growing dyed hair out to their natural grey/silver so I’m curious to know how it happens if you decide not to dye.

Would also love to hear when/if you decided to dye your hair at what point did you start and how you did it (box dye, salon highlights etc)?

My hair is black, my greys are a pale grey colour rather than white, the texture is the same as my black hairs, I know some grey hair can be quite coarse. Mine were focused around my ears when they started coming in, now I would say I have a fairly even spread with about 1/4 to 1/3 of my hair being grey.

My hair is dark brown and I have greys coming in (I'm 47). They mainly sit in a bit of a clump about 0.5 cm wide on the right hand side of my parting.

I am now using Plantur 39 shampoo and this is making them less obvious. The hair is still lighter but the grey looks a bit more blonde/light brown. It has taken a while to start working though!

I have rarely dyed my hair in my life, because I'm lazy and a cheapskate, occasionally I'd have highlights put in.

As I got older my hair went from mousey to a darker brown and at about 40 I started getting grey hairs at the front by my temples and underneath by my ears.

I've decided to go grey disgracefully and not ever due it. I quite like it. My hairs are fully grey (where they are). I thi k the salt and pepper look is more where people have natural grey and some non grey hairs mixed in. My nans was like that at 87 when she died. Hair doesn't tend to grow a bit grey then brown then grey all on one strand, once it's grey, it's grey.

I've been surprised at how slowly my hair is taking to go naturally grey. I'm nearly 47 and most people don't even notice it.

Personally I think it more noticeable when people start to dye it, because it really highlights the roots as it grows out and draws attention to it, even if you regularly do the roots.

No Diss on people who dye their grey though, you have more perseverance than I'll ever have!!

I'm 41 and had greys coming through since I was about 25! I have always coloured it! It's always grown so fast too, I have my full roots dabbed and then rinsed at home every 4 weeks and have about 1/2 inch of regrowth every time I go! I will never embrace the grey!

My sister on the other hand who is 4 years older is now completely grey and fully embraces it!

I assumed salt and pepper hair was grey hair (salt) and your original dark non-grey hair (pepper). Not different shades of grey,

Mine is only really in two places, a few strands at the parting which don't seem to grow to full length and stick up, and more over my ears, so these ones don’t show when my hair is down but do when it is up, I don’t like that, they show because my hair is a dark chocolate colour, they are all individual strands rather than a stripe or block and look messy but it’s not really worth dying them as I only tend to put it up for exercise, gardening etc. Recently I have started using colour conditioner from Superdrug which tones them down a little but doesn’t cover them. They have stayed this way for years and years, don’t seem to be increasing in number particularly. My mum in her 80s has never gone past the salt and pepper stage but her hair was black to start with, my hair comes from my Dad’s side of the family

I used to be brunette but then went blonde when I noticed more grey. Now I'm letting the blond grow out and my hair is a bob length and white. I get loads of compliments tbh. The only aspect I don't like is I'm not used to it being in such great condition ( before the bleach dried it out) so I've had to change shampoos etc.

This is what I think salt and pepper means too. A mix of grey and dark hairs.

Mine is mid brown with quite a lot of grey and I've determined not to dye it because once you start you can't stop.

Some people's hair turns literally white, some people's turns grey. Look at some old people, there is a huge variation.

I always had fairish hair. I had it highlighted for years in blonde shades then around age 50 I decided to stop colouring it. It turns out my natural colour now is about the same colour I was having it highlighted. It's a glorious silvery blonde. You just don't know what you have until you stop colouring it. If you don't like it you go back to colouring it or just accept it.

Same. I'm nearly pure grey/white but you'd never really know. My hair is a lovely light vanilla blonde colour. Even my hairdresser compliments me on the colour when I go. Any stray greys just seem to blend in.

I hate seeing grey roots on dark hair. I remember my mother dyeing her hair black and then growing it out! My hair was jet black and then grey started to come through but a few friends said it looked good and not to dye it.
I have more grey than black now but have no intentions of interfering with it.

Similar to @ApolloandDaphne Although I used to describe my hair as light mouse. I had highlights/streaks for years until it was obvious the white was pretty plentiful. That was a long time ago, I’m in my 70s. I just use a silver shampoo now, have a good cut and I like it.

I’m naturally pale, all over dyeing never looked right, and as our skin fades, lighter hair is less harsh.

I think it is less of a shock if you let it happen rather than dye it and then grow it out. Mine has gone silvery around the temples and paler overall. Then it has kinda stopped there and there have been no major changes recently. I’m happy with it - but then I am also happy with my laughter lines etc as I don’t mind looking my age.

I'm in my 40s and in the grey hair don't care camp. I dyed my hair very briefly in my 20s but haven't for years.

It's a mix of brown with grey underneath. And there's a streak of grey. Tied back it's noticeable.

The Facebook group silver sisters has many examples of grey hair on all different ages, some who've dyed in the past, others who haven't.

My grey is a beautiful steel colour underneath around the nape of my neck and ears, but around my temples it is white which I'm not so keen on. I still have around 85% dark brown hair including the top around my parting.

Mine is grey round the edges and working its way inwards, which is a pain as the front, the most obvious bit, is now entirely grey - or in fact, white - when it isn't dyed. Its natural colour is dark brown, so the white/grey is very obvious.

It's been noticeably greying since I was in my late 20s, and I'm now in my 50s. For a long time, I hennaed it but unfortunately henna just doesn't cut it any more (and it's very time-consuming and messy) so I use a box dye; do my whole head every so often and my roots when they show. I don't buy a 'root touch up' kit, I just use a small quantity of my regular dye mixed in a ramekin.

My husband thinks I should 'go grey gracefully' - I wouldn't mind being totally white/grey, but half and half as it is now looks so messy with dark hair, especially as it's not even a 'salt and pepper' streaky look but whole patches that are white.

I've got a transition plan. Just as hairdressers can dye colours, they can also dye you grey. There's some beautiful work if you google.

Mine's just doing its thing in my 50s. I've never dyed it. It's more at the front and sides, though there are silver bits all over now. The only issue I have is one of the women at the salon I go to doesn't approve of older women having long hair. So I don't have her cut it any more.

I started getting greys in my late 30s, but with curly mousey hair I'm just rolling with it. I don't love my natural hair colour, so very happy to embrace the grey.

DH was salt and pepper and is now a silver fox. Very sexy!

Personally, I don't like the look of when grey hair grows out at the top of dark hair. IMO highlights or lowlights looks much more natural.

I found an occasional white hair in my 20s but never decided to dye it (never occurred to me for ages, plus I know I would not have been good at maintaining it). Now I am 52 and the main white is at my temples with a sprinkling through the rest of my hair, which is long and mainly mid/dark brown. From the back you can see it close up.

I’m fine leaving mine to change naturally I don’t know if I’d feel differently if I had gone significantly grey younger. I don’t have to worry about roots being obvious and it’s interesting to see how the grey spreads. I almost wish the temple streaks had started more on the top than underneath (but not enough to start colouring them).

Theres no such thing as grey hair - you have your natural colour, and white hair, where your pigment is gone.

The 'grey' is the mixture of both. Salt and pepper is the mixture of both - again no shades of hair colour, just the blend of natural and white.

I box dyed occasionally from my teens to mid 40s, let COVID and a medically required drastic cut take out all the box dye and I recon what's grown back is about 25% white now. I have a great hairdresser and a great cut which is far more flattering than a fake block hair colour.

I had a boss whose hair when white almost overnight when she was quite young. She had it cut into a sharp bob and looked awesome. She was so recognisable and it gave her authority, for some reason!

I was a chestnut brunette and noticed that I started going grey on my crown only. It looked like a bird had shat on my head!

I started colouring it and did so for about 10 years before I had it all stripped out and went ash blonde, which I kept up for another year or so before deciding to let it grow out, by which point I was about 95% grey anyway

The red will go grey first. I have silver “wings” so they’re very obvious if I tie my hair back but if I keep it short it’s much more hidden. All the red in my hair greyed first, the rest is nearly jet black. I haven’t dyed it because the roots would be so obvious against the dark so I’m waiting till it all goes grey and then planning to go blonde 🤣.

Firstly, there’s no such thing as natural grey coloured hair. It doesn’t exist.

It’s hair strands that have no colour in them but amongst your natural hair colour, whether blonde, black, brown or red, will give the illusion of looking grey.

It becomes noticeable when strands start to appear around your temples and around the front.

If you want to colour some of it but not cover it completely, then something like balayage highlights are a good option but only when done by an experienced colourist. This way you can go 2-4 months between colour sessions depending on how quickly your hair grows.

I have some ‘grey’ around my temples mostly and I have my hair cut into a pixie and bleach and colour my hair shades of lilac and purple because I love to be colourful, inc. my clothes and footwear.