Going grey- no more dye- anyone transitioning etc?

[QueenCess]

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.

[FreshLeticia]

ah now, blonde is much easier to grey slowly. I 'm ash blonde naturally, but now very white at the front. Have stopped having highlights to cover the grey and am using the old-lady blue-rinse shampoo 'Touch of Silver' twice a week to blend the blonde and white and neutralise the brassy tone. Hair is now a fab shade of platinum blonde which I struggled to get for years before I was grey. I'm loving it and my hair is longish and layered too.

[higgle]

I would never do this, at 57 I'm still a very classy multi highlighted dark blonde, and at 87 so is my mother - and I can't go grey before her! I know from past experience a pixie crop feels good ad is easy to manage but this cut with grey hair is very very ageing.

[colourfairy]

This is inspiring...Succumbed to colouring hair again after successfully growing all dye out but once again it has gone brassy as a result of cumulative peroxide on ash base. Just reviewed photos of it natural and it looks a classy, taupy darkish brown with some silvering at front. Ho hum start again one week after dye job. May have short crop in due course and hope do not look like goofy hamster due to overbite and cheeks :)

[bonzo77]

Oh five my advice, don't go too short. I'm avoiding that as I don't need to swap one problem (shit colour) for another ( growing out a crop)

[bonzo77]

No advice but catching up. I had my hair cut into a short graduated bob and highlighted. I am now pregnant and have not coloured since 9 th march. My hair currently looks shite, mostly because of the high lights. Too many and too light. But fucked as too scared to dye as had mc in December. Just going to have to put up with it. . Hoping hair will grow really fast while pregnant!

[FiveHoursSleep]

Right, 5 months on and I have around 12 inches of layered hair, 4-5 layers of this are mixed grey and the other more-than-a-half is still slightly red from my last lot of dye.
The hair dresser is coming tomorrow. She's going to go nuts, i know it looks terrible.
I'm tempted to get her to cut it all back short so it's all grey, it's not going to do anything for my looks but at least I'll have got rid of the tideline!
Any advice?

[catnipkitty]

I stopped dying last year. I'm 41. Got fed up with time and money spent on it, realised the colour wasn't matching my skin tone and looked fake, plus felt uncomfortable with pouring all those chemicals down the drain and the fact they're al tested on animals. And there was always one bit that needed dying sooner than the rest so it was bloomin' obvious I was going grey ! Plus just felt ok about going 'au naturel'. What's wrong with looking your age anyway? I've got very cropped hair so dye was cut out quickly and now I'm medium brown with grey flecks (not nearly as grey as I thought I would be!) and I'm really happy with it plus I've had loads of compliments. I do make a point to never wear grey clothes, alwasy something colourful and I always style my hair with wax/putty so it's not just flat and boring.

[TheAnnoyingSatsuma]

I think you have to do it gradually FiveHoursSleep.

I was always quite a dark brunette, natural and dyed - the underneath colour on my photo. Then I started going for lighter browns which were less of a contrast with the roots. Then blonde highlights, and now dropped the base colour and just have the highlights.

[FiveHoursSleep]

So what do people do if they have dark hair? Mine is shortish but I've been dyeing it every 6-8 weeks to keep it that way and I'm sick of it.

[TheAnnoyingSatsuma]

Thanks for the kind comments, and I give my hairdresser all the credit

I see what you mean GeriManda. I am fair-skinned and seem to suit the blonde as I am getting older, but it's not an option for those with naturally dark colouring. Wonder if the website has examples?

[GeriManda]

Yes, satsuma, your hair looks it great condition with a good cut. This is just a huge dilemma for those of us who just do not suit blonde/lighter coloured hair though.

[sprinkles77]

Oh, satsuma your hair looks great in the photo, definitely an inspiration for what I plan to do. Am planning a major hair sort- out before starting to TTC.

[sprinkles77]

Yeah, colour B4 just takes the artificial pigment out of your hair, leaving anything that's been dyed long term rather orange as the result of the peroxide. And you can't use peroxide after for a week, so although it's great for lots of things, I'm not sure it's useful for going grey gracefully.

[NeverKnowinglyUnderstood]

Sounds fantastic,
MiL did this when she went away travelling for 7 months, She came back looking younger!!
Left with jet black permed hair came back with grey short pixie cut.. she has never looked back

[BelleDameSansMerci]

Wow... Admire you but will not be considering my natural hair colour (80% grey) until I am much, much older (70s maybe). I'm 46 and often told I look much younger. I am far too vain to go for grey/silver.

[SP0104]

Im 52 and soooo want to go grey gracefully. I have shoulder length brown hair and am finding that colouring isnt really 'taking' anymore.
I dont want to grow it out and be a mix of colours. Has anyone had their hair stripped back to natural to see how grey they actually are?
I think really groomed, looked after grey hair is lovely, not the cant be bothered with it/left it too late hair.

[HouseOfBambooootiful]

I did colour B4 , not a great success tbh as it left my hair quite gingery looking as previous dyeing had actually stripped out a bit of colour from my naturally dark hair. So I ended up dyeing it dark again.

I did cold turkey, but had a short layered cut so the worst was over in about 6 months.

Sarsuma, your hair looks great - if blonde suits you it's a good way to do it.

[netbook]

Has anyone used the Colour B4 stuff from Boots to get them going? I'm thinking it might be a good way to get a head start?

[didldidi]

looks great thanks TAS. I already have a groupon for a full head of highlights, just needed to brave enough to use it!

[TheAnnoyingSatsuma]

Pic on profile now. That was in August. The grey roots are now 2-3 inches, with ash blonde highlights and it looks similar, just less golden.

[TheAnnoyingSatsuma]

I think that going cold turkey with anything longer than a crop is too hard, it looks terrible and takes so long. Who can afford 18 months of looking like a crazy woman?

As long as you can afford it, your hairdresser is your friend. Agree a plan and stick to it for as long as it takes. Not one person has mentioned my greys but I have had lots of compliments about going blonde. I then explain that I am going grey gracefully and then get lots of 'oh I wish I was brave enough to do that' etc.

Are we starting a trend?

[sprinkles77]

Layers are poo for me. My hair is a bit thin and looks thicker with blunt ends. But I have a blunt fringe and can do a good Cleopatra if i get the GHDs out. Somehow with layers it all looks shit if tied back, so I have to leave it down, which takes lots of styling. When the time comes it will all come off with a sharp little graduated bob, which also needs styling but I have found pretty easy to do in the past.

[PiratecatClaus]

i'd say i was white not grey on the top of my head, about 80% white. but i cannot imagine i will be letting it show until my late 50's. just wouldn't look good on me. am 41. have been dyeing it since late teens, and have gone to a light brown in the past year which is so much more flattering than the dark brown.

[HouseOfBambooootiful]

Sprinkles - I bet the red looks great, that's a proper dye job

For growing out longer hair, layers are your friend, you can keep a lot of the length but each individual hair can be much shorter.