To go grey before my mum?

[Joskar]

Or maybe Wwyd?

My mother is in her 70s and has never left her hair undyed. She goes to the hairdresser every three weeks to keep it coloured. I'm on mat leave and have no spare cash for hairdresser dye jobs. I've used a box dye before but I went off them as the last one I did the colour was appalling and I looked like Morticia's dumpy cousin. Plus then the regrowth wasn't good. I was using Colourfresh which washes out slowly and it was a bit nicer but you have to do it every month or so. I haven't had a chance since before the baby was born 4 months ago. Possibly grey hair accelerates through lack of sleep because I've got a fair bit of silver in there now. My mother is horrified that I'm even considering not dying my hair.

Do I just leave it and embrace the grey?
Do I submit myself to a future of monthly dye jobs? For 30 odd years?!

When do you go grey? How do you go grey?

It’s fine. Your hair, your choice.

Just go grey. Dyed hair looks increasingly silly the older you get, there's nothing wrong with just aging naturally.

Your mum sounds like mine - late 60s, has had (dyed) dark hair since I was a teen. I'm early 30s and have a fair few silver strands which I've never dyed. I a) like how they look and b) think it's a privilege to live long enough to go grey. Don't buy into society's "old age is a curse" trope; lots of people would love the prospect of living this long but they won't.

Persevere with the box dye.

I have brown with about 30% grey. I use a box dye in a mid brown shade from the pound shop. Always the same colour. I touch up my roots only every 4-6 weeks. Even my hairdresser says the colour looks good- no build up as I only colour regrowth now.

All the same, it would be a pity if people who aren't keen on wearing grey hair (no matter how lovely it looks on others!) found themselves objects of scorn on this thread ...

Ive got a few greys but box dye regular. If I had a full head I’d embrace but only so I could get some bright ass semi permanent colours in there.
My mum is in her late 60s and has just started going grey which I’m annoyed at as I’ve had greys since I was 25

You do you.

I'm dark blonde/light brown and have been cultivating a patch of silver hair for a while now. It's easy for me, because it blends right in.

I've never really dyed my hair so the thought of monthly maintenance fills.me with dread. I won't do it. I also believe there's nothing to be ashamed of in getting older, although I must admit my new wrinkles are off-putting....

I stopped dyeing after mat leave for the same reason. I just didn't have time to keep it up, and I think a stripe of grey at the roots looks worse than natural greying streaks, so I stopped while I still could. I had it cut a little bit shorter to make it happen quicker and now it's mainly dark with grey bits here and there. I seem to be the only person over 30 at work who doesn't dye, but I'm happy with 'clean and tidy' rather than 'as flawless as possible.'

I'm going to let mine go. And my mum has dyed hers. I have dark shiny hair with greys round the temples. I will let them keep coming and change my make up if I need to, but I won't dye my hair.

I went grey before my mum and she hasn't even applied hair dye I was 21 (17 years ago) when I got my first grey hair , my mum is 68 ( now) and only just started going grey I was furious at the time ,I don't colour my hair now after all platinum's so popular 😊

My grey is mainly on one side of my head so I have to dye. Some people suit it others do not especially the in between stage.

What about having some blond highlights put through it and then the grey wouldn't be as noticeable as when people see the grey they will assume it's the blonde, .

My DM still dyes hers but I went grey. Mine looks amazing. I constantly get people asking me who did my highlights!! That may change once the whole silver hair trend is over, but even if it does I'm not going back.

I was very grey and spending a fortune on covering it up every three weeks, so one day I said to myself sod this, and cut it super short. I love it - I'm lucky that my grey is quite silvery and it looks good. My mother is jealous but doesn't have the nerve

Each to their own.
I am proudly silver grey and have been since I was late 40's.

and I think a stripe of grey at the roots looks worse than natural greying streaks

When I was still coloring mine the regrowth made it look like I was mostly grey. Now that all the old color is out, I'm nowhere near as grey as I thought.

It depends how your hair is going grey I think. If its an even spread it looks great, if it’s a badger stripe it could look more Cruella de Vil than you might want.

I think mine is more Cruella.

It doesn’t help that I don’t much like my natural colour anyway as it’s a drab dark brown with no warmth.

If she's so bothered about your grey get her to book you an appt with the hairdresser, pay for it and babysit ! (But only if it bothers you !)

I second the advice about a shorter cut - it's been a revelation for me!

My mum is still (completely naturally) dark in her 70's so I had hoped that would be the case for me...but no.

When I started going grey (mid 40's) I felt it aged me terribly so now have it done at the hairdresser to match the rest of my hair (brown).

But I knew someone who had long grey hair in their 20's and looked great - it's totally up to you.

I stopped dying my hair a few years back, it’s short anyway so didn’t take long to grow out the dye. I found when you can see the grey down the full length of it, it looks much less grey than when you see it just at the roots contrasting with dyed hair.
I don’t mind being grey at all, ageing is better than the alternative!

I think some women look fantastic with grey hair,and I would love to save the cost of having mine coloured every other haircut -plus I find the whole process tedious .But I just can't bring myself to stop just yet,I felt so old and knackered looking sometimes lately anyway and when my hairs done I do get lots of compliments on how the colour suits me.I think a lot depends on your skin tone and the shade of grey you naturally go.Someone I know in her 30s is already naturally grey,but it's that stunning silvery colour that looks elegant.My grey bits are dull and unflattering.But in a few years will probably say sod it and give up the colousing to see how it looks.

I had long very dark shiny straight hair until June (54yrs)..My crowning glory! But the upkeep! I used to go to the collage for roots every 3-4 weeks (£20). I had it washed, blow dried and straightened weekly (Frozen shoulder, and only cost a £5, and I couldn't do it better than the students). I used a product that you sprayed on the roots..L'Oréal? Very good. BUT..I had a horrible accident in June and realized I could no longer keep that up. 5 broken ribs, lung damage and broke the shoulder that was just getting better from the frozen shoulder! Sods Law. Oh..and multiple blood clots.

I had it all cut off for charity.(I raised over £700) I am now very short and all silvery white..so easy to care for. But how I miss my crowning glory. I feel I aged overnight. I know the accident didn't help as I have put on a couple of stone too. I have saved quite a bit too and being off sick for months it helped..

But I was so proud of my hair..

It's your hair. Dyeing your hair just to hide the grey is so depressingly self loathing and ageist.