Congratulate me, I have not dyed my hair for a whole year!!

[seashore]

Hi all,

since it turns out I'm allergic to hair dye I have now not dyed my long hair for a whole year. It has been hard sporting a two tone look. A very helpful person here put me onto the going grey looking great website which completely turned my views around about grey hair. I can't remember your talk name, I think there was a moon in it? but thank you, you really helped me out. I am soon about to get a chop as I am close to half and half at this stage but it has been a long year. I'm 42 and thought I thought I would dye my hair until 50. My mum never dyed her hair at all and she always looked great. I think I have about another 6 months of growing to be completely dye free.

No, there's away hairdressers do "half and half" that doesn't look odd - my mum has it done and it looks very natural: some full strands of grey and some full strands of black. I love long hair and I suit it well so I will keep it long (for now). I will chat with the hairdresser and get their advice - the salon I go to is Aveda in central London and they are excellent colourists.

I meant "a way".

I think you're all very brave inspirational.

I always said I'd go grey gracefully, but I'm 24 and have started dying already, i was getting a few too many greys for my liking. My aunt was completely grey at 30, I was worried I was going the same way!

I started going grey at 21, I have never dyed it, keep thinking I should maybe, make me look younger? Until recently it was just a few strands, but aged 30, I developed alopecia, took the focus off the grey, having a couple of bald patches! One grew back during my last pregnancy, but the other patch, right at he front of my head, like male baldness, but on one side, has grown back white hair that is very thin - DH god bless him, thinks it is striking, I worry about it costing a fortune to maintain if I dye it..

I am 26 and hate my hair, have had greys spiking through since my late teens (dad went completly grey at 21 - I blame the genes) I just to have it dyed dark brown every 6 weeks, recently tried to go lighter to cut down on cost and hopefully have to dye it less but only four weeks since last time and it is really getting bad, can't go grey gracefully at 26 so it is getting me down, with a 4 month old baby as well I am not feeling too glam!

it's all very Joan Baez (who looks amazing, probably moreso than she did in the 60's)

Chanel closed their couture show with a grey haired model this year.

I've only just started getting the odd strand of grey but I think I'm going to let it stay natural, can't be bothered with the up-keep of dyed hair.

I dyed mine from age 50 but when I lost my hair with chemo I vowed I would never colour again if it grew back.Mind you I am 66 now and proud to be grey.

I am 36 and have been going grey for years. A hairdresser found my first one when I was 14. This developed inot quite a think skunk stripe by the time I was in my mid 20's
I reckon given the chance it would look a lot like the first picture on the newbie page of that site, I will still have some dark but mostly grey. about 75%

If i let my hair grow out I am really grey but looking at that website I think all the women look much better with grey as thier natural skin tone at this age seems to suit it.

Gosh i had never even considered the idea of not dying but I would like to give it a go. I think maybe 36 is a bit young yet though.

I haven't seen my natural hair colour for thirty years. As far as I can tell, I'm now almost completely grey under the highlights.

And at 54, if I let it all go grey, I will just look like my own granny.

Facebook status now has 2 likes and two Noooooooooooo comments...

I have a grey streak which obviously really shows on mid-length dark hair. I don't like it but I don't want to dye all my hair just for the sake of one streak, so I'm stuck with it.

Any ideas for a good hairstyle that doesn't make me look like Morticia Addams? I have just past the shoulders, frizzy hair and currently just rub curl cream in and let it dry naturally. Obviously this enhances the grey streak so...

Oh and I won't can't blowdry it so straightening is not an option.

TIA...

I had grey hairs from my early twenties. My mum dyed her hair and I hated that look and loved it when she let it go natural.

I had a 'mallen streak' first but apart from one time when I used a sapphire blue hair mousse (sheen on my normally brown hair, vibrant blue on the streak) I've never really dyed it.

It actually helped me in my work as people equated grey hair with seniority (more fool them!). I quite enjoyed the young face/grey hair combination.

I'm now of an age where grey is more to be expected and have completely white hair. I like it.
PS Just looked at the website and agee it's horrible - far too many (forgive me) worthy women looking frumpy. There are a few who look amazing but most of the other are no advert for the state.

I did lots of bleaching/hennaing when I was young, and then used to dye hair red for years, which I liked, but I stopped about 6 years ago and now I really like the colour, there's still some light brown, and lots of white unevenly distributed so it looks as tho' I've had it streaked. And the best thing about grey hair? people are always offering me seats on the bus!

I'm 41 and I think my hair would be pretty much all over grey if I didn't dye it (not sure what it is like at the back). I do have the feeling of looking like my mum if I didn't dye it - no offence to her but I don't really want to look like a 70 year old.

Wow, I didn't think this thread would grow so much! It's a bit like a grey hair!

There's some really interesting posts and I must say even though I am a definite convert to grey, you have strengthened my resovle, thank you all.

Notrightnow and Scuttlebutter great posts, my thoughts exactly.

Diddl,I've been lucky, my dh is an artist and he never liked the hair dye colour anyway (me either, it all comes out the same when it's from a bottle, mine was Bono colour, although I'm sure not as expensive!) it has meant so much to me that he has been really supportive, but show your dh the women on GGLG, some of their stories there have reluctant dh's, in the beginning.

I think we need to change our views about greying, the fact is, it's not about being old, it's about being alive! As so many have mentioned your first grey comes in sometimes when you're still just a teenager, mine started arriving in my mid twenties. I just wish I had actually thought about my options and not bothered dying it, instead I feel the constant stream of advertising we are all surrounded by made my decision for me.

That Chanel model looks amazing by the way, very inspiring,thanks Meglet.

I'm going to track down a link to an article that I found useful when I had just started growing out my hair dye.

I am 47 and really don't wnat to dye my hair but the grey bits on the top are just too depressing. Not enough of them to "go grey" but just enough to look yuk.

I think it's each to their own when it comes to your views on grey hair. Personally, I think most of those women on that website look better before, sorry! But I guess a lot of you on here disagree.

It's not just "dyeing" you have to concentrate on IMHO, it's disguising it with highlights. That's what I do. I have dark hair, going white now (thanks dad) - so I have some blonde highlights put in and the greys don't look as bad.

I'm 44 and I'm not ready to look as old as the women on that website just yet.

Has been going grey since about 17 - more George Clooney than Phil Schofield though. So ladies which is more preferable (just the colour not the face / body)?

DW has been dying her hair for quite a few years now in a few tones - not sure what would happen if I suggested to let it go.

Some of the grey heads do look very stunning some do make you look older.

Aged 41 I've never dyed my hair. I've been going grey very slowly since I was 18. Got a big white streak and a speckling here and there. I do think that dying looks very false in some others. I suppose it depends what you pay out, what colour you choose etc, but some folk's hair looks so brittle and lifeless.
I feel a bit more individual with my grey. I'm sure that some people probably think I look awful but I don't care.

Thank you for this thread and the link. I think that most of the women look as good or better with grey.

I'm 42 and keep wondering when to make the change. Have had to dye my hair for years and would love to just go grey - can you dye it grey?

I've just dyed it again using a natural home dye andit looks great just now but after a couple of weeks, the grey stripe will appear again. Don't know if I've got the nerve just yet but certainly feel much happier about it when it comes.
I think there has been a lot of prejudice against grey hair in the past because you only ever saw it on women who also had rather old fashioned hair styles. Whereas this website shows lots of funky styles that you normally would never see grey.
Thank you again - I'm inspired

Helgicita, I bet you look great. I agree that dye can look very artificial and the hair in poor condition, my hair seemed to be holding up with it but my scalp didn't, wish I'd had your sense to let it slowly grey. Must say though every time I dyed it, I was wondering what it would look like natural and now I'm happy to be able to watch it's progress as I age.

Here's a couple of links, I put one up on the thread I did in the summer. Doesn't the woman with the really long hair look amazing? And the difference between the make up artist before and after is incredible, her hair was so scrappy before, after she looks fantastic.

www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/magazine/2010/0703/1224273601676.html

www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/magazine/2010/0703/1224273599763.html

Thank you for your lovely post VoluptuaGoodShag, I'm really glad I did this thread, I almost didn't! You are so right, perception is everything, grey has been very much typecast, but I think it's going to become more and more common to see all kinds of styles in it. After I get mine bobbed, later once all the dye is gone I'm going to grow it long again.

I had a teeny thread in the summer about greying and it was there I found out about GGLG so it was well worth it, seeing others getting through the tough growing dye out stage made all the difference, when I would get fed up about it I would always think all those women did this I can too.

Well, they do look better in those links but as it's a Before and After article you would expect that

I think if you've got olive/dark skin and strong straight hair, grey can look really striking. I'm still not convinced that a pale complexion and salt and pepper frizzy hair looks good (on me). It's a struggle though and agree that a silver/grey hair dye might be really useful. I'm lucky that the best dye I've found for my hair only costs £1.99

I haven't dyed my hair for about 10 years (I'm 47) - most of my hair's light brown with reddy-gold highlights, but at my temples I've had thick grey streaks, which have got bigger and whiter over the years - no grey hairs anywhere else though ....

Lots of hairdressers try to persuade me to dye it but my current hairdresser thinks it's fab - one of my friends who's a couple of years older than me has been completely grey since her mid-30s and it looks beautiful

my hair's in much better condition because I don't dye it - and I'm better off too!