'Deliberately' grey hair - yay or nay?

[PickledLily]

What's the verdict from the MN jury on this matter? Is it possible to look chic/stylish/un-bag-lady-like in your 40s with (some) grey hair? Does it need to be short, long, mixed with other colours, or just avoided at all costs?

chippy I love your name! My DS was only allowed to watch Trumpton/Camberwick Green DVDs when little as I read somewhere that modern animations have too many images per second for a child to cope with. So I've been able to watch and love them again myself!

Is your hair like this?
There are some other really good pics on here.

Think the thing is.....to have a brilliant cut and always wear make-up.

I looked at the first site your posted perrycombover, to me some of those ladies look so much younger in the photos with colour in their hair, and so much older in the photo of them with grey hair. That tells me I am definitely not ready to grow my colour out yet. Each to their own.

I am always on here cheering for grey hair. I have short pixie cut. Love it. No more sitting for hours with muck on my head. My hair keeps getting more and more silver. I have pale skin but I think it suits me more than a dark dye. Always wear make up and lipstick though. I say go for it.

I suspect it totally depends on the person as we all go grey/white in different ways. Some people look washed out, some look very distinguished and some really quite dramatic. I am getting a fair bit of salt in my dark hair, but prefer to have a few streaks of colour than an all over dye job. I don't wear make up (never have) so for me it's more about wearing the right colours to go with my skin tone/hair, and getting the dye right too. I had a colleague who decided to drop the dye (she'd always dyed it to match her previous colour) and was really quite strikingly grey. Sadly it obviously didn't appeal to her because she then came in platinum blonde, which looked terrible!

Mewsical - I'd love it if my hair could stay that well groomed was like that. Same length, but no fringe and much thinner/finer.

Grey can definitely look great with a pixie hair cut and make-up, but I think I agree with Dolly - it does make the person look older unless the skin is glowing (but only, I think, because we aren't used to seeing younger women with grey hair).

Rats, rats, rats. I look rubbish with short hair, I don't wear much make up and my dress style definitely isn't cool enough to carry it off. But I don't like my colour either - it's too red/auburn for my skin tone.

What to do....

How do you get grey hair? (If that's not a stupid question ). I have been toying with the idea as I'm pretty sure most of mine is white underneath the dye, looking at my roots as they come through.

The thing is I have shoulder length hair, fairly dark brown (as was my natural colour) and I'm mid 40s. I'm fed up, frankly, of having a permanent colour applied every four weeks or so and keep thinking of letting it go. I just can't face simply leaving it alone as I think it would look weird to just let the roots keep growing out.

So...do I switch to a semi? Do I have streaks put it? Crop it all short (sob). How do I get from where I am to being grey (white) all over? Any suggestions?

But you don't think that photo of Jamie Lee Curtis shows her natural hair colour do you? she obv dyes it like that IMHO.

My sil has whitey/blondey natural grey hair and it looks great. But the prob is mousey hair with grey through it, looks dirty (what mine is like underneath). But bluey grey hair with a suntanned skin looks great (like many of the pics of older women on the first page).

So it depends on skintone and shade of grey. I will be a grubby mousey colour for years before I go grey (judging by my parents) and the grey hair is slightly kinky, not sleek and flat like my hair is now. So does not bode well, and I have fair skin so I will colour mine.

Ooh great thread! I'm 30 and quite grey but like to think I make an effort and don't look old for my age. I think 50 would be my minimum age to go grey, but I have a long way to go so may change my mind before then.

I've seen one or two young looking (40s) very grey mums who are very grey and have thought it ages them, perhaps it's the casual clothes. It didnt look horrid, just a bit odd- but that could be because we dont see ladies natural colour too often. Maybe it looks best with a polished sharp look.

I started going grey at 13 and now at 44 I am about 90% white at the front, 50% everywhere else. I regularly dye mine and have gone much blonder over the years (I used to be chestnut, looked brown but with lots of gold/red when the light caught it, sobs). I think other women with grey/white hair look amazing. I wish I were brave enough to go the Judi Dench/Jamie Lee Curtis route. Not sure short hair would suit me and don't think I could cope with growing it out. Also very worried that I would look bald at the front. When my roots show the hair is so white that you can kind of see pink skin. I worry it would be very noticeable if I were to go au naturel.

Nay

Does anyone know if you can use Colour B4 on dyed grey hair? I've been googling it but can't find it mentioned anywhere.