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Original poster

Going grey- no more dye- anyone transitioning etc?

53 replies

QueenCess · 29/12/2011 15:51

I have cut my hair into a pixie and am loving the pewter colour that is emerging. The brown dyed ends look so harsh and unnatural. I can't wait for the final chop!

Anyone else out there doing this? Have got so worried about the chemicals in all perm hair colourants that I decided to grasp the nettle and you know, it's not as scary as I imagined. I'm late thirties.

Love the 'going grey looking great' site. Great for inspiration.

OP posts:
SoFreshNSoClean · 29/12/2011 15:55

How old are you? I would be very grey if I let the dye go, but at 34 I just feel too young to carry off the look.

I admire women who do it, though. I think if you have a crop it can look lovely, so good on you! I think I may have a few years left before I go grey though...

ameliagrey · 29/12/2011 15:55

SorrySad No.
I will not go grey. Ever.

Unless you- and you might have Smile- strikingly beautiful features and great bones on your face, it is ageing.

I look at women my age ( 50s) who have let themselves go grey and they look terrible by and large.

TheAnnoyingSatsuma · 29/12/2011 16:04

I am 47 and going grey gracefully (I hope) with the help of my lovely hairdresser.

I was naturally a brunette and have been dyeing since my twenties, hairdresser permanent colour every 6 weeks because my hair grow fast. Got fed up with the 'skunk stripe' so started having lighter highlights with a light brown base. Then in the summer, not helped by 3 weeks in the south of France, my hair went so blonde, I decided to let the grey grow out. So liberating!

I dropped the base colour completely. The blonde highlights are being gradually phased out and replaced with ash blonde highlights. It's still quite dark underneath but I have it cut in a graduated bob so the darker hair shows and looks deliberate.

I'm enjoying being a blonde!

TheAnnoyingSatsuma · 29/12/2011 16:06

QueenCess, your cut sounds fab btw.
What shade of grey are you?
Mine is quite a mix of silver and horrid dark grey so hairdresser won't let me go nautral, bless her (she's in her early 20's!)

FrigidHare · 29/12/2011 16:10

My roots are snow white now. Wouldn't want to be like that all over. It does suit some women, but I'd look even haggier with my hair grey.

TheAnnoyingSatsuma · 29/12/2011 16:12

I do worry about looking like an old biddy from the back. Hence a sharp cut, and (hopefully) decent outfits.

fluffylegs · 29/12/2011 16:37

Good for you. I think that the most aging thing ever is grey roots peeping through. Much better to embrace grey and get a great cut. If more of us did it grey hair would be normalised. As opposed to demonised.

CMOTDibbler · 29/12/2011 16:40

I'm 39, and am one haircut away from being totally dye free. Pure white at the front, silver elsewhere - and I love it

didldidi · 29/12/2011 16:52

TheAnnonyingSatsuma - have you got any photos? this is what I am intending to do as a brunette.

Whenisitmysleepytime · 29/12/2011 16:56

I'm 30 and have a growing amount of white hairs.
What do you do while waiting for a more substantial amount of grey if you're not dyeing it???
I think my eyebrows are too dark and heavy to carry off white hair.

rubyrubyruby · 29/12/2011 17:02

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

valiumredhead · 29/12/2011 17:27

I am 41 and had mid brown hair and suddenly it looked to 'dyed' with the rapidly emerging greys!

I have caramel streaks out in now every 4 or 5 months and all the grey blends in nicely.

I am sort of half and half! Grin

Ungratefulchild · 29/12/2011 17:32

I'm 47 and have been growing out my dye for a year now. I'm not actually that grey for my age but I was just sick of being a slave to dye and never liking it that much. I have dark brown (and grey) hair and a chin length bob. It looks bloody awful at the moment because I'm about 2 haircuts away from being 'free' but I totally cannot wait.

TheAnnoyingSatsuma · 29/12/2011 17:41

didldidi - i'll have a go when i'm back on my laptop - relegated to the DC's PC at the moment as they are playing educational games.

Dawndonna · 29/12/2011 18:24

I'm 53 and have a few streaks, so few you have to look for them, but I know they're there. I have developed an allergy to dye and it's really frustrating as, I'm fairly sure, I will never go grey. My Nan is 99 and still has more brown than grey and has never coloured it.

levantine · 29/12/2011 18:25

I'm doing it - only about an inch of grey coming through at the moment. It seems to be mostly at the front in a sort of stripe. I'm forty.
I've seen lots of women my age in central London with grey hair recently, seems to be a new thing, over the past year or so. I think it can look really good, tho gawd knows yet how it will be on me

cece · 29/12/2011 18:31

I stopped dyeing my hair about 18 months ago. Had it cut short and got rid of it all. Now regrowing it into a bob.

I have white at front and still brown at back. I think it looks good when I make the effort to 'do' it - get the straigheners out and groom it.

In fact I really like my stripe of white at the frint and wish I had more of it. Aged 44.

mycatsaysach · 29/12/2011 18:32

i am 45 my hair is light brown mixed with white and pewter grey.i am fine with it and really think dyed esp brown hair looks more ageing tbh.

toddlerama · 29/12/2011 18:37

I don't have grey but have always dyed my hair to enhance the colour (I'm very dark so I like to warm it up slightly). I've stopped in the last 6 months because I've decided that when I do go grey, I don't want a skunk stripe. I will just go with it - I think it looks nice to have the contrasts. I'm 30.

GeriManda · 29/12/2011 18:42

Yes, only looks better, I think, If you are groomed and have tanned/tannable skin. I can understand that it must be liberating but I too was put off by that grey website. Hate dyeing my hair though.

Original poster
QueenCess · 29/12/2011 18:54

Thanks for all the responses.

I have a winter colouring so the cooler colour suits IYSWIM.

I dress in a minimalist way, lots of black, charcoal, tan with silver bold jewellery so I think it goes. Also suits a strong red lip.

I don't know why I have bothered with the years of colouring to be honest. I had to colour my hair every two weeks as it was so resistent to dye and so obvious. There is no dye on the market cool enough to blend it!

Anyone got any good links to other inspirational sites?

OP posts:
HouseOfBambooootiful · 29/12/2011 20:03

I'm doing it and actually really like it.

Brown dye just doesn't work properly on white roots after a while. I'd prefer to be my original colour, but at least what I have now looks natural and not like the bad dye job I had for years.

Styling tip I read somewhere - those wax moulding type styling products are good for avoiding the 'white fluffy old lady' look if your hair is prone to frizzing or being flyaway.

CroissantNeuf · 29/12/2011 20:11

I'm not ready to do it yet (44yo) but wish I had the guts to.

I know someone through work, about the same age as me, who has shoulder length grey hair and she looks gorgeous, really strikingly gorgeous Envy. I would just look old and haggard.

niminypiminy · 29/12/2011 20:44

I stopped dyeing about 5 years ago when I was 44 and have never regretted it. I really like my silver and grey hair, it suits my face and colouring. I've had various styles in that time and at present have a longish crop.

I like having shiny and soft hair rather than having to use millions of products to stop it being wire wool, as you do with dyed hair. I like the fact that it isn't one colour all over, and it doesn't have those tell-tale highter stripes.

I like the fact that it says that I am confident in who I am, and that I don't need to pretend to be younger. I like the fact that it is striking and unusual, and that I stand out from all the dyed heads around me.

I like the fact that the money I save on dyeing can be spent on much nicer clothes and keeping my hair really well cut.

Sometimes I look haggard, but that is because I have quite a tiring life: I am tired. All the hair dye in the world won't change that.

didldidi · 29/12/2011 21:03

I just checked out the progress on the going grey looking great website. Considering those ladies seem to have been 'transitioning about a year they look a lot older than they did a year before...

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