Look how grey I am!!!

[EyelinerQueen]

Story so far:

Have always been darkest brown. Started going grey at 24. Spent a fortune covering it.

Decided in January to bleach it and dye pillar box red. The bleach ruined my hair so I shaved it all off and decided to let it grow in grey.

I'm (only?) 33! I was recently diagnosed hyperthyroid due to Grave's Disease and have read a few articles that say there might be a connection between my premature grey and my thyroid.

Anyway now I just have to wait for it to grow grow grow. is my glamorous grey idol .

Anyone else embracing the grey?

I've been reading The Highland Fashionista's blog but her knock-kneed poses and dodgy outfits have put me off. Any other grey bloggers I should know about?

[Fideline987654321]

Sorry. I have done nothing but X post all week.

[MadameDefarge]

I am ever so pleased wotever ladies!

[MadameDefarge]

But Eyeliner (OP) is damn hot.

[MadameDefarge]

BTW my mum was grey at 26....

Never saw her real hair colour til mid sixties!

[CointreauVersial]

I'm going to have to look at this thread on the full version of MN because the pics don't show up on my tablet.

I was doing the "rear view mirror" thing while trying on some jeans yesterday, and nearly fell over when I saw the back of my head. I knew there were a few grey hairs, but there are hardly any at the front and I have been in blissful ignorance until now about just how grey I'm going. I'm 47. DM has been dying and streaking for years, and I really don't want to go down that path, so this thread is very timely inspiration for embracing the grey.

[CointreauVersial]

Looking at some of those Young with Grey Hair Pinterest images, the first thing I noticed is that they are nearly all "fully" grey. I didn't see too many of them modelling the salt & pepper streaks in mousy brown hair that I'm blessed with.....

[Milmingebag]

I have seen someone with that colouring and it came through a beautiful expensive looking taupe/true mink blonde with natural highlights. Absolutely stunning.

[TheFarSide]

MadameDefarge you look fabulous. Definitely no need to faff around with highlights. Going grey for me has, weirdly, given a huge boost to my confidence - I haven't felt this confident about my looks for years. Looking back, my dyed hair never looked quite right and only lasted a week or so before the white roots started showing, so I never felt my best. Now, when I look in the mirror, I just look bright and alive (and I'm no beauty BTW). I am absolutely evangelical about ditching the dye.

[TheFarSide]

Cointreau I googled "mousy salt and pepper" just for you

[Darkhorsefor1]

madame you look like a woman that's not to be trifled with. You really stand out in that pic, are you there to judge the cakes?

I've recently become more lipstick dependent. Even when I take dog a walk I have to slick a bit on, whereas usually I'm low maintenance. I also feel the need for a scarf that flatters my complexion, which must tone with said lippy. I feel my hair needs to be a cooler colour than the dye is making it, yet if I dye with a cool colour it looks sort of green. Grey is a cool tone, so would warm colours clash, or do you need that warmth to not look the dreaded "drained"?

[BindiBach]

TheFarSide your hair looks absolutely beautiful but it also looks "blond" rather than grey. I think Madam is a stunning looking woman and I still think that some white highlights around the face would just give it a lift. I know many who have embraced the grey but have added highlights to add icing to the cake. They call these highlights around the face the "hair money shot" as it throws lots of light onto the face and stops shadows. Anyway obviously that's just my opinion but as I said before I have embraced being blond so what do I know.

[Darkhorsefor1]

I just looked at the link in eyelinerqueen's OP, that lady is very glam, doesn't look "old" at all. I think she is a natural beauty though. Ive noticed a shed load of other clips on the same topic. All very inspiring.

[WitchWay]

I spent most of yesterday evening looking at dyed-to-grey transition blogs & youtube stuff & have decided to stop dyeing

I already have a broad silver streak through my fringe, so it's "just" a matter of stopping dyeing the rest, which I think is increasingly dark towards the back with some silver on the top & lots behind my ears - difficult to tell really from the roots. Planning to keep the shoulder-length length if I can. My hair grows quickly, so hopefully it won't take forever.

With luck I'll have a nice silvery greying "do" by the time I'm 50 next May.

[TheFarSide]

Go for it WitchWay. It's taken me just over a year to grow mine out - I don't have the bone structure for a pixie cut, so I've done it the painful way ie keeping my hair at least chin length. My next visit to the hairdressers will finally get rid of the dyed blonde bits at the end.

[mrskittyfantistico]

Hello everyone, please may I join you?
I'm another convert- I had very dark hair which, even with mid brown dye, would be too dark for the first week, second week my greys would be coming through and I'd spend the next few weeks wondering how long I could get away with before starting the whole crappy cycle off again.
I took the drastic route and clippered the lot off at the end of the summer before last, spent a couple of months in hats until I had enough to feel ok about. My hair is now shinier, healthier and suits my complexion in a way it hasn't done since before my I started dying it. My only regret is that I waited until my mid forties to do this!
Someone asked about natural shampoos earlier and I can recommend Klorane's silver shampoo, no parabens or sulfates and leaves my hair with a nice sparkle to it.

[MadameDefarge]

Thank you for your kind comments ladies! I have asked MNHQ to remove the pic as it is very identifying!

Am now resolute is sticking to the grey!

[Darkhorsefor1]

Oh please keep posting, I love this thread!

Anyone a few months into this process? I gather that's the hardest time when the roots really stand out and the negative comments are plentiful.

Had a look at the highland fashionista blog. Her skin really glows against the hair. I think its her youthful peachiness, contrasts well with the silver. Not aging.

[TheFarSide]

You can see that stage on my profile Darkhorse - 2 months of grey regrowth. I got through it by lightening the rest of my hair so the contrast wasn't so huge. I used ColourB4 to strip the brown dye out (which didn't work that well) and quite a few highlighter kits. Eventually I turned myself blonde enough for the grey roots not to be so noticeable.

I've not had many negative comments. My 84 year old dad wasn't too keen but now thinks it will look all right "when you get those yellow bits cut off the ends". Generally, the very few people who prefer my hair coloured are those who miss the youthful me - my theory is that seeing me grey makes them feel old. All the positive comments have come from my more recent acquaintances - possibly because they first knew me during the bad home dye jobs and my natural grey hair is an improvement on that. Who knows.

[Darkhorsefor1]

Thanks farside, your natural color is much nicer than the reddy brown color in the first pic, which is pretty much the same hue as mine right now. Is that the post stripped colour? I find it clashes with everything. Makeup, clothes, the weather.

Ah, my dad would be 84 if he was still alive. Less outspoken, but would probably be thinking she used to have nicer hair. Anyway, can rely on my mum to come out with something barbed.

[TheFarSide]

The reddy brown was me using "very light brown" semi permanent dye on top of grey hair which had a build up of dye on the ends of the hair. If that makes sense.

I had been gradually moving from dark brown to medium brown to light brown dye in an effort to match my fading skin. It wasn't really working.

The colour stripper and many home highlights resulted in the very light yellowy brown hair in the second photo.