anyone fancy going grey next year?

[notactuallyme]

so, i've been toying with this idea for ages (am nearly forty) but always end up dying it. i thnk i'm going to go for it - anyone want a support thread for intermittent updates?

[TheFarSide]

twentythirteen my grey is quite silvery at the front but according to my hairdresser more salt & pepper at the back . I'm not sure the white/silver look would suit me because of my sallow skin.

[twentythirteen]

Thefarside, you keep describing your skin as sallow... is that true or are you being harsh on yourself? A good cleanser and moisturiser, maybe a little foundation? Silver is beautiful, I've never seen a silver that didn't look amazing. Maybe you need a nicer hairdresser? It's normal to have the changes in hari colour you describe, but that's what makes going natural interesting and it's why hairdressers rarely agree to do block hair colour, because the variations are nice/interesting.

Maybe I'm sticking my nose in, just sounded a little harsh. I have a red nose and am prone to going red generally, nothing suits that! (I wear foundation!)

[doglover]

Thanks for the link! May venture into Boots tomorrow!!

[Aquelven]

The ranges for platinum blondes work really well at keeping it bright. Be careful of using too much of the purple shampoo/conditioner if your hair is very, very light. They can definitely be a touch of the blue rinse if you use them too often.

[cafecito]

drown I know, it was just the first one on google I think - I like how she actually looks though she's amazing, and her actual hair colourcolour, properly white/silver/glimmering

[probablyaslytherin]

I stopped colouring my hair four years ago. I had been colouring it for 20 years and just felt it could not be healthy putting strong chemicals on my scalp every 6 weeks. I grew it out while I was off work following an operation. It is great not having the tyranny of hair colouring to think about.
I use purple shampoo and also like Klorane shampoo for grey hair, available in every pharmacy in France and in John Lewis.
I have no intention of colouring it again - I love it. However, I've found I have to be careful with the colours I wear. Black washes me out and I need strong rich bluish colours - absolutely no warm colours at all. Also, I read somewhere that if you have light grey/white hair, in order to give definition to the face you need to have strong eyebrows. Now, some people have white hair and naturally black eyebrows. I am not one of them. So I use eyebrow pencil (which has its own challenges as I can't see too well without my reading specs!)
I feel sorry now for folk who feel they need to dye their hair. Many of them are fooling no-one and often it's too harsh for them. Smacks of lack of confidence. (Sing after me "I yam what I yam.... I yam my own speshul creation...etc")

[wigglybeezer]

Forgot to mention that my hairdresser has gone grey and stopped straightening her curly hair (she is still beautifully groomed though).

[TheFarSide]

OK , inspired by this thread, my New Year resolution is to go grey.

Like the OP, I've been considering it for ages, but this very afternoon I've just spent hours and £££ in the bathroom putting in some highlights (£6.99), noticing a stripey bit, opening up another packet of highlights to correct the stripey bit (£6.99), thinking it then looked a bit too highlighted so putting a light brown semi-permanent over the whole lot (£5.99).

I wouldn't be surprised if all my hair fell out overnight.

[TheFarSide]

I have posted my 'Before' pic on my profile - check out the monotone orangey hair. It is a bit lighter than that now as I'm currently using Dark Blonde semi-permanent. Could be some time before I get round to the 'After'.

[KnittingChristmas]

Your profile isn't public!

[TheFarSide]

Is it working now?

[doglover]

Yes, it's working

[hattymattie]

I tried this year, having not seen my true hair colour for years. My grey looked like bad highlights - so I've recoloured it and I'm going to wait until I'm 55 (I'm 48).

[KnittingChristmas]

See, I really don't think I could get away with that 'After' pic - I'm not slim and attractive and just think I'd look old, fat and ugly .

God, I know this is such a 1st world problem but I hate dying my hair!!

[cocolepew]

My mum went grey in her 30's. She always wore her hair really cropped and people used to ask her where she got ger "tips done" . She's 70 now and still has the crop and lovely silver hair .

I worry that my hair goes a dull grey, but the bits that shine through between dyes are silver.

[TheFarSide]

I don't suit a crop because I have a double chin, so I have the dual problem of going grey and needing to keep my hair fairly long.

[doglover]

I really want to try some of the recommended 'purple shampoo' - please could you have a guess what impact it may have on my hair?!! (I won't sue if you're wrong!!). My natural colour is dark blonde with quite a sprinkling of grey. I'm also growing out old light blonde highlights. Could anyone suggest what could happen?! TIA

[FiveHoursSleep]

I haven't dyed my hair for over a year and I'm now completely grey. If you are interested you can see a photo here

[doglover]

I genuinely like it, FHS

[Fab41]

I will join in here too. My hair was home dyed red, naturally auburn but with a lot of grey which was becoming resistant to dye. I went to local hairdressing college to get ash highlights, but my hair failed the incompatibility test and fell apart when tested. So two weeks of coconut oil treatments and I was able to go back and get some darker lowlights in to break up the solid line of the colour growing out. Toned it down a bit closer to natural, but I now intend to let it go natural, maybe a few highlights over the year to help smooth the process. Feels like a big step though... I am reluctant to cut it short as it has taken a couple of years to get a decent shoulder length. Will follow with interest.

[TheFarSide]

FHS I am inspired! Your hair looks wonderfully natural.

The growing out stage looks pretty painful though.

[FiveHoursSleep]

Farside, it was a bit and I could see people looking and trying to work out if I'd just not had time for the hairdresser.
Luckily I don't really give a shit about my appearance, so it didn't bother me much. You could get some highlights only to break it up a bit, this is what my hairdresser suggested but I stopped dying because my psoriasis got really bad.

[3b1g]

I thought about having highlights to break up the transition but failed the strand test (pale green or sludge, anyone?) as there was so much henna build up on my hair. So far, it doesn't look nearly as bad as I expected. I changed my parting to make the (now half white, half brown) streak at the front less obvious, and the rest of the grey is still only scattered. If you can, I would definitely recommend taking the plunge while you are still only a bit grey.

[DistantShip]

I can only read a few messages in this thread as the app keeps crashing.

Marking place, as today my hairdresser advised that due to my scalp being "frazzled" by years of 4-weekly dye, I will have to consider the option of a "managed transition".

Pass the to me now!!!!

I'm 44 with a 4yo DS and fear looking even more like his granny at the school gates.

Help me find something to celebrate .....

[TheFarSide]

@ "managed transition".

Here's to a stripey New Year .