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)?

It depends on the person! I've been going grey since my early 20s, I'm 35 now. I have very dark brown (almost black) hair.

I have a silver streak going backwards from both temples, and over the past year the top has started to really speckle with silver too. I love it! Recently got a pixie cut to show it off, I think it looks fab and get loads of compliments. 😁 I've always loved the look of going grey naturally.

It doesn't, it loses all colour and grows white as the pp said.

I have dark blonde hair and my grey has started around my face. So I now have grey streaks at the front/fringe. And the rest is getting the occasional grey so the blonde is fading all over.
I think it looks nice and am interested to see how it progresses.

I think the people with the lovely silver streaks have it done at the hairdressers. When I make the change (not til im mid to late 50s Im planning) I'll get it done in the hairdressers.

This has popped up again. I commented originally to say that the front of my hair was every colour from pure white to gunmetal but that the back was mousy with maybe 30% grey. I loved the front but the back looked ugly on me.

Well a year later and the back of my hair is now predominantly dark grey. The front hasn't changed much apart from the white streaks getting wider.

So my back and front still don't match but the back is a little less ugly than it was. I'd imagine in a years time, the front will be mostly white and the back will mid grey. I'm hoping I get some of the fun stripes in the back like I do at the front.

I use L’Oreal Castings (semi-permanent) in a shade much lighter than my own, and use the greys as “free” highlights. With no need for the horrible hat and knitting needle of pain I remember from the 80s.

You don’t have to use the whole box each time unless you have loads of hair. I can usually get three goes out of one box and use a little water to dilute the mix for ease of application and nice transparency effect. I appreciate not having a hard regrowth line to worry about because sometimes I just can’t be bothered with the faff of colouring and with a semi-permanent it just fades away.

My greys/silvers have come in like highlights against my mousey brown. I had a mallen streak for years which just looked like a chunkier blonde highlight. I had my first greys at 15.
I had some grey blending (not the ridiculous price kind) more highlights and toner to make them super white to blend in the with grey/silver.

Now I just have a highlight balyage every 4 -5 months which leaves alone my own growth. I only have this so I can do fun colours at the bottom. I'm fully embracing it at 34 it's so freeing to not be dying it every 2 weeks. I do toners at home and have a good haicut/style so I don't feel it has made me look older or drab. I have slightly tweaked my wardrobe colours to really compliment my hair and fair complexion.

I'm hoping it looks very intentioned. I never really get that oh I really need to go to the hairdressers feeling or wanting to wear a hat for a period of time because I feel like I'm too rooty. Its worth it just for that alone.

I went grey at 30, another thing that happened is that the texture of your hair changes because the hair is different (think of the difference in texture between a dark hair on your lip/chin compared to a white one). My mother and grandmother both had snow white hair and mine is the same, and now the full length of my hair is texturally white even though I colour it. It doesn’t hold the dye and goes reddish purple orangey tints not chestnut brown, and box dye washes out after 3-4 washes. I can’t afford salon dye but my next strategy is going to be to buy the dyes hairdressers use to do my own, because box dyes are just awful and are costing me a fortune