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)?

I worked with a woman who had loads of grey in her dark hair at age 22. She also kept it short (it was curly) and she looked great - but 22 can carry off grey better than 52 or 62!

This is me but I am slightly behind you. I'm still in the highlights/lowlights phase, partly because I still have a lot of block colour from earlier years of dyeing to grow out and didn't want a big dark line.

I did try growing it out recently, but my hair (originally the dark end of fair) is now very white all around my face. I don't mind looking my age (49) but it did put at least 10 years on that and I'm not ready for that!

It doesn't. All grey hair is white haif because the hair completely loses its pigment. It's only when all your hair has lost it's pigment that you have really white hair all over. Up until that happens, if it happens, there are a million different ways you can go grey because it depends on your original hair colour and your genetics. The shade of grey is dependent on your original hair colour mixed with the white hairs. If a clump of hairs all lose their pigment ahead of the rest of your hair then you'll get a white stripe of hair.

Mine's gone straight to white. Progress is not linear. (Partly stress) Not dyed because I would not keep it up. Lots of white round the front. This is the least of my worries over the past decade or two.

So when you see people with steel grey hair have they just dyed it that colour? I had no idea! My assumption was some people went grey and some white.

I first got greys in my early 30s. Stopped colouring in my early 40s and now 50. It's come in very very slowly - am still only maybe 40% grey. I was mousey brown before.

It looked drab for ages because the grey is steely grey not white. So no contrast and that brought my face down. I saw a picture of myself at 45 the other day and I just looked so washed out.

Now it's better. I have a Mallon streak at my parting. I have more white bits which blend in nicely and I've been asked where I get it highlighted. .

Game changer for me is purple shampoo. That really helps bring out the tones. And brighter lipstick as I do benefit from a lift.

Depends on your genetics. My family go pure white. Others stay grey.

I went straight to white, same as my paternal grandmother. My hair was naturally dark brown and started coming through white so I went platinum blonde, then highlights balyage, root fade etc. During lockdown I decided to go natural and other than the occasional toner I don't colour anymore. I never had the hair like pubes on my head that my sil has and keeps ripping out.

You have described my hair, including the blonde bits. I use Garnier Nutrisse Permanent Hair Dye, Natural-looking, hair colour result, For All Hair Types, 5 Mocha Brown this box dye, not as often as I should (I have embraced hats!). But I find it doesn’t colour my hair just the white strands, much like a tint.

I have recently been ill and had a bit of hair loss, it’s all growing back white atm. So also pondering whether to just go grey. I am in my 30s though and have a warm skin colour so not sure.

link didn’t work! Grrrrr

Mine started at my temples and around the ears, on the lower level so at first it was hidden by the hair at the top. Now it has spread to the sides of my head. I have tried leaving it but it just looks dull and faded rather than grey as still too much of my normal colour mixed in. I do a home dye now and then just to take away the dull, faded look.

The shade of grey your hair becomes as you get older is dependent on the white hairs mixing with your natural hair colour. More white hairs, more grey appearance. You get all shades of natural 'grey' from a warm, goldy grey to an icey steal grey. Also the white hairs aren't evenly distributed over your head.

Also it's a gradual, changing process because as you age, more hair will lose its pigment and grow white. So you could have steel grey hair in your 50s/60s and white hair in your 70s.

I have long, layered wavy hair that is grey and it's the same texture my hair was when I was younger, ie not at all pube like 😂
It's also in excellent condition.

My hairdresser told me it isn't that your hair becomes more coarse, it's that your scalp produces less oil so you should counteract that with gentle shampoo, conditioner etc.

I'm bright white with a grey streak at the front. I like that although sometimes the white does emphasise where my hair is thinning. However the back of my hair is still an ashy brown so there is a clear stripe and I look quite ridiculous 🤣
However, I was paying a fortune to get my hair coloured and I could never get a colour I liked then either so at least it's now free to have hair I don't like!
Having said that, some women have magnificent grey or white hair. My colleague has very striking steely grey with a few natural black strips that look like lowlights. She used to be a generic blonde and this is much, much better and more interesting. I also do a club with someone who has big silver chunks (and they are silver) who gets complimented regularly. Then there is a woman who I see walking by me regularly who has grey hair in a funky mohawk type style. She looks amazing. I also know a woman whose entire head is a solid white. That looks very striking. On the other side, a friend just has a few strands that twinkle when they catch the light.
So the only way you'll know is if you grow it out. It'll take maybe 6 months before you can see the distribution properly.

I started going grey in my early 20s (38 now) and have only ever used semi permanent dye to avoid having a harsh root line down my parting. The greys fade out to light brown as it starts to wash out. Mine is very grey at the front and mostly brown at the back.

My Nan was pure white, it was beautiful.
My mum and I are patchy, grey at the front and brown at the back/underneath.
I want my Nan's hair, sadly it's not forthcoming 😭.

It varies so much. I seem to just have white hairs peppered through. My hair is long and dark so they do show up quite a lot. I box dye with a semi permanent every once in a while.

The few grey hairs I have are totally white. A few strands that are losing their pigment are like a 'weaker brown' than the others, and these looks brassy/red.
I'm 40. I see the grey (white) ones in the mirror as they're often much more wiry, but I haven't started dying - they are not in clumps and you wouldn't 'know' I had them, I expect it just slightly dulls the colour compared with 10 years ago.

My mum is 75 and colours her hair - I'd say she's about 60% grey/white now and her remaining hair is much lighter than very dark black it used to be. It's not the colour that she dyes it for but to even out the patchiness. I expect I will do the same but I reckon (hope) I've got 10 years before I care!

I’m a light mousy brown/dark blonde. Have been highlighting since my teens. I love going grey as my roots hardly show! 60 now and am a light ash blonde with highlights being done every 12 weeks.
Purple shampoo is an absolute must.

I dyed my hair solidly through my teens and 20s - normally bright or bold colours that took maintenance - then at about 30 I developed a grey raccoon streak in the front of my hair that holds onto dye for about 10 days then reappears so I moved onto box dyes that were easier to maintain for the last 5 years, then about 3 months ago couldn’t be fucked so decided to see if I wanted to embrace the raccoon 😂and let it grow out whereby I discovered I am full of salt and pepper grey! I am unembracing the raccoon because grey makes me v washed out

I'm in my early 50s & have got female pattern baldness so my hair has become considerably thinner & my temples have obviously receded.
Fortunately I had a thick mop of hair to begin with so whilst friends from my early teens immediately see the difference, people who meet me for the first time must just think it's my normal hair.
I've shown photos to my hairdresser from my early 40s & she's pretty stunned at the change!

I can't take Minoxidil due to other meds & as the hair has come out pretty evenly a hair transplant isn't possible.
I do take Spirolactone but can't take the full amount due to potassium levels & kidney function but it's sort of keeping the hair loss at bay.
HRT has given me hairy legs & pits but done nothing for my scalp.

Bizarrely, I am still growing new hair but it's very thin, gets to about 1.5 inches then snaps off. It's all coming through white & as the hair loss is even, it's coming through evenly white all over my head.
So I have a thinning mousey brown bob with a slightly strange looking halo of white hair.
Given my appalling language at times, I'm the last person that should have an angelic halo!!

In my early 40s, I was quite looking forward to going grey & as the new growth shows, it would've been white & coming through all over my head. I had plans of getting highlights it to make the change from mouse to grey.
I never thought I'd be losing my hair instead. Sod's Law that my 83-yr old father has thicker hair than me...

I started going grey in my 20s, had a pronounced ‘Mallen streak’ by mid 20s and was fully white by mid 40s. After suggesting dying it once,my hairdresser decided that, since I clearly wasn’t going to consider dying my hair, I should have a very sharp hair cut. She’s been great, I get lots of compliments - have been stopped in the street multiple times over the years. I use a special shampoo to clear any product build up on the hair, purple shampoo to keep yellow tones at bay and a good conditioner to make it shine.

You’re right! I was previously very dark brown, I now have white hair with grey streaks, I have an olive complexion and my hair colour really doesn’t suit me. It’s also difficult to find clothes colours that don’t just blend into my hair or make me look washed out.

Where do the ‘pepper’ strands come in or will I have these but they’re less noticeable against my dark natural colour

The 'pepper' strands are your natural colour - the 'salt' is just your white/grey coming through.

Its different for everyone surely?

Mine for instance (I'm 50) has started with the wispy bits around the front going white. (I have dark brown hair) These have been about for about 5 years but are so minimal I just use a bit of brown hair dye now and again to cover them.

Recently I started spotting wiry white hairs - only a few - dotted about. They are fully white and I have long hair, so I have no clue why I didn't see them before! A bit like those bloody chin hairs that don't exist - until they do and they're about an inch long. WTF! I am just leaving these (head hairs) for now. If I spot them whilst I'm dyeing the wispy bits, I'll have a go at them too!

I've been greying for a few years, dieing to conceal how much I have.
My greys aren't grey they are pure white, almost translucent and actually quite pretty.
Unfortunately they also make me look quite haggard due to the placement so I'm hoping in a few years when they're more uniform I can stop with the hair dye and just embrace them.