To embrace the grey at 37?

[CherryGarcia23]

So I'm going grey. I'd say looking at my parting only, I'm at 25%.

I haven't dyed my hair since February this year. I'm considering going to a professional hairdresser to start dying a silvery grey to blend everything in.

I do not like the mousey brown / blonde/ grey that seems to be to go to in your 40's / 50's when a haiirdresser does a professional cover up.

AIBU to do this at 37? Everyone I have spoken to says wait until 50's??

There are many ways to look good, it is a matter of personal taste and style.

It is not 'letting yourself go' to have grey hair.

I see other women with undyed hair and they look cool. With nice clothes, make-up etc they don't look unkempt, far from it.

I see the odd woman on the school run who look like they have given up, I get it! But I'm not there yet.

So I'd like a go between. I think a trip to the hairdressers is a must, also a trip to the Clinique counter to get a real nice lipstick that I can use for all occasions.

When are men described as "letting themselves go" because their hair has naturally changed colour? Such a toxic way to talk about people.

It's normal for your hair to start turning grey in your 20s.

@IrisApfelRocks you look stunning! Remind me of Nicole scherzinger.

Op, I started getting greys in my late 20's and they were really noticeable as I have very dark hair. Personally I hate any grey in my hair. Not only the colour but the texture is wirey. I do my roots at home once a month- £6 box dye.

Honestly I think it totally depends on the person.

My best friend stopped dyeing her hair during Covid, she now has beautiful salt and pepper highlights similar to IrisApfelRocks, but has sallow skin and dresses really funky so it looks fab on her.

I on the other hand, have pasty Celtic skin with pink undertones, and from what I can see of my roots have lots of pure white coming though near my hairline - it would completely wash me out and make me look like death warmed up, so I will keep dying it dark blonde.

I think it depends on your colouring . Someone like @IrisApfelRocks who posted a picture upthread looks fabulous because she is ‘winter’ colouring so grey is one of her colours.
If you are more ‘summer’ colouring I think it will possibly age you.
However why not try it out and see; you can always colour it again if you don’t like it.

Quite. I don't consider I'm letting myself go. I don't dye my hair or wear make-up or take particular care over my clothes. I'm still myself. I look older than I used to because I am. All being well I will look a lot older than I am now at some point.

I set no value by looking older. If anyone else sets my value by that it's very much a them problem.

@IrisApfelRocks You look fantastic! Very insprirational. Thankyou for posting x

@IrisApfelRocks you look absolutely fabulous!!!! You're so right grey hair is beautiful. I grew out my dark dye at 49 and have never ever regretted it , I wish I'd done it at your age .

I’d say dye it for as long as you can.

Grey hair rarely looks nice. I have 2 friends that have this year eschewed the dye and they don’t look great. It too often washes you out and makes you whey-faced.

@squeekychicken I got my first grey hair at 23!. I have always dyed my hair but don't want to anymore when 2 weeks in it is obvious there are grey roots. I've hidden the greys for 14 years!

I'm Irish, very pale with thick dark hair, so if I leave it much longer, it'll look awful.

And to the poster above who mentioned women 'letting themselves go' its a societal thing isn't it. I'm 37, middle aged, and my friends have told me not to do it. (One friend told me I'll be giving up on life itself!!) But I've been hiding the greys for 14 years. I've been through so much in my life to date that I am suprised I even have any hair left.

I love this!! You're rocking the look!!! I stopped using colour in March, had a short cut in July to get rid of the dyed hair and simply adore my snow white/silver look!!! Getting some length to it now and so pleased I took the decision to go naturally..... Really good feedback from colleagues and friends. Should have done it years ago and saved a fortune on boxed dye....😆😆

Why not?
Grey is beautiful.
Do you mean - people should strive to look younger?
They shouldn’t.
Do you also think it’s ’not the best look on younger’ men?

This.
It needs a good cut, especially since some people experience a different texture in their grey hair.
If you are concerned about it being ‘ageing’, go for a really funky cut.

WTAF is this?
Going grey isn’t ’letting yourself go’. Has Helen Mirren ‘let herself go’?
Not having Botox isn’t ’letting yourself go’. Has Judi Dench let herself go?
Not wearing make-up isn’t letting yourself go either. I haven’t worn any for a good decade. I’m pretty fab, to be honest. And grey. With no fillers.

That won’t affect the texture though.
I’m lucky in that my grey(silver really) is exactly the same texture as it was when it was (all but) black.

@IrisApfelRocks you look fab!

I’m 36 and I’ve just had a short haircut to see how much grey I have. Turns out, quite a lot haha! But I am really enjoying it. I don’t buy into this youth worshipping nonsense; ageing is a privilege denied to many. Also, I heard something the other day that rings true - when you get older, you either look old or weird. I’ll take old, thanks :-)

Are they interested in whether you think they look nice? I hope not.
is Helen Mirren washed out and whey faced? Judi Dench?
I’m not either, thanks very much.

I think Sali Hughes as mentioned upthread is a good example of how harsh going grey can be. It does her no favours.

I think it’s great for some and certainly not having to think about dyeing several times a year must be great, but I’m just too vain.

Helen Mirren and Judi Dench are both old women. The OP is 37. There’s a big difference in taking the plunge at a young age.

IrisApfelRocks you look stunning.

Helen Mirren and Judi Dench are in their 70's, the OP is in her 30's there's a huge difference.

And you may be oblivious to the fact that most people want to look their best, but there is a Billion dollar beauty industry, with 'anti-aging' products everywhere for a reason.

Most of us want to look and feel our best, and for most women that means looking young for as long as possible (check out the long running thread about looking younger, where a huge percentage of posters claimed they look 5-10 years younger than their age and seem quite proud of it).

Grey hair may look great on some, but for a long time it was a shorthand for 'old', that's just an association that I and many others have about it.

I found my first grey hairs on my temples in my mid-teens. Go with your plan and if it doesn't work hair grows so you can try something else.

Sorry but this is such an old fashioned, out of date view - ironic really! And thankfully the beauty industry is actually catching up and now we have brand ambassadors who are stunning older women.

I went grey young in my 20s, I’m in my early 30s now and it’s fully grey, I just embraced it tbh, wasn’t letting myself go, just moved from one natural colour to another.