How can I go grey gracefully?

[NormaCore]

So I am mid 30s with dark hair that I have been dyeing since my early 20s. I get my roots done every 6 weeks at the hairdresser but I really fancy going back to my natural colour. I have lots of white hairs now that seem to spring up within a few weeks of getting it done. But how do I ease the transition until the roots have grown out?

I feel quite excited to stop dyeing but don't know how to start.

I don't think I am the only one coming over all superior- less so IMO than those who seem to want to denigrate women who dye their hair!

I love the notion that Paul McCartney, with all his millions, has a bad dye job.

I'm sure he forks out top $$$ for a New York salon. Why wouldn't he? It still looks crap.

Agreed. I think I've been trying to point out all along that either choice is fine. Not dyeing my hair doesn't make me look 80 or 90 and I'm sure you look lovely the way you are. I just question the expectation that we have of how women should look and whether it's healthy or maybe a downright waste of all the other attributes we might have that aren't based on how we look.

alpaca lol at John Major - I will have my say, he was very grey wasn't he on spitting image.

The same discussions go on all the time about make up- use it or not. Blah blah.
As for Paul Mc- his hair is a disaster because no doubt HE wants it like that and no one has the guts to tell him how awful it is. Same as his face lift.

Having money to have work done is no guarantee of good taste- look at Joan Rivers.

I love make up :) I've also gone long periods without wearing any. It's all good.

Santas, your comment - 'it's not an exact science' - is exactly the point I was trying to make. So your comment: If you don't want to dy it, fine, but don't kid yourself about the impact it will have re, your appearance simply doesn't apply. It may have an impact. It may not. People may not be kidding themselves.

And yes, Paul McCartney thinks he looks good! The same applies to us, surely? We think we look good too, in our hair-dying endeavors. But do we, to the casual observer?!

Maccas hair is a touch mahogany, mind you Shane Ritchie and Perry Fenwick (Billy) are a bit like it too. alot of men on tv seem to dye their hair.

And yes, Paul McCartney thinks he looks good! The same applies to us, surely? We think we look good too, in our hair-dying endeavors. But do we, to the casual observer?!

well- speak for yourself. I think I'm savvy enough to know - with honest advice from friends and hairdressers- what looks good and what would look ridiculous.

I think you are going over old ground here.

It's been discussed to death that one-flat colour hair dye looks ageing and false because no one in pre-grey days has hair all one shade anyway.

This hair is coloured- maybe with 2-3 shades. It's not my hair -but it gives you an idea of the alternative to Macca colouring.

Its the same old sneery put downs .

I don't look like a ginger tom died on my head !

Sorry about that but my hair is very important to me and luckily I have teens/hairdresser/mirror who would tell me if I looked crap.

I think those who did the old packet dyes just don't understand how flattering a good cut and colour can be and so persist in the nastiness Santa
My hair is a couple of shades lighter but with the same tones.

I don't think it's the grey, I think its the fact that we associate grey with 'old' so almost automatically assume someone is d if they are grey. Fwiw I think Judi dench uses toners to achieve the white grey and I'm sure at forty she would have looked good. It would be nice if grey could become as acceptable a mainstream choice as expensive regular maintenance or cheap home dye jobs currently are.

There has been some nastiness on this thread to be sure. I think it's pretty piss poor to slag someone off to bolster an argument.

The hair in that pic is beautiful. I can imagine it must be a huge confidence boost to come out of the hairdresser looking all swishy and lovely like that.

Can you imagine just for a moment though, that it's possible for a woman to look just as beautiful and lovely even with some grey hair? Or even with a less than washboard stomach? Are we only to measure our worth by how many hours we spend in the hairdressers or on the yoga mat?

Im sure Judi Dench spends a fortune on her hair to get it like that so I don't see the difference.
If you want to be grey go for it - I don't , it wouldn't suit me.
We wear clothes that suit us, choose tattoos ( or not)and have an infinite choice regarding hair and makeup.
Why is grey the only "acceptable choice" when it doesn't suit everyone?

I have no idea whatyoueast sentence even means if directed at me. I said it would be nice if grey could be as acceptable as other choices so no need to take offence. In fact having read back everything I've put I can't see anything unkind or controversial so am confused by your hostility.

'Your last'

"hostility"
Er I replied to you Nerf sorry if you don't like a different point of view .

Ms Surely that's up to the individual ?
I don't measure my worth by my hair colour - that's a very old fashioned view. Its part of who I am to be sure but my whole worth - nope !

I think Jamie Lee Curtis looks fab.

Crikey, we are going over old ground.

Do we seriously think Macca gets a block colour, is the point I'm trying to make.

He has zillions of pounds. Why would he go into a high-end salon, pay top dollar, and say, 'no, no, don't make it natural looking! I know better than you, trained hairdresser! Give me an unrealistic block colour, and be quick about it!'.

I seriously doubt it. His hair is no doubt high- and low-lighted, and it still looks shit. Perhaps it's because it's so whispy. Perhaps it's because he's a man...?!

Or maybe he's just too old to have youthful-colored hair, and that's why he looks ridiculous. There comes a point - I think we're all agreed on that. It's when that point happens that we appear to differ.

he has got a reasonable head of hair for his age but his face looks hollow and it looks ridiculous. Geoff Lynne still has the same hairstyle/colour he had in the 70s

maybe Macca does a DIY job with just for men

This is me with my newly grown grey hair. I'm 61 and I don't think I look old, tired, dreary, dusty or any of the other negative descriptions on this thread.

No-one is saying grey is the only acceptable choice. The point is that almost the opposite is currently true - women who want to go grey are often made to feel like they are letting themselves go and not making an effort. Men who don't dye their hair would not face the same accusations. I mean regular men here - not celebrities who rely on youthfulness or their looks for work.

Regardless of whether dye looks good or bad or natural or fake, this is the real issue. We as women should be free to have the choice without feeling that either choice is going to lead to us being judged.

I'm in the process of going grey.. or rather I am in the process of having stopped colouring my hair and am waiting to find out what I really have

I am 47 next week and this year suddenly noticed that the few scattered unnoticible grey hairs have suddenly bandied together to become little streaks , mostly under my fringe and round the front. (mid brown hair) I also noticed that despite a good colourist I have rarely been totally happy with my hair, either a tad too dark, or too light, highlights too thick, too fine.. yadda yadda so I decided to stop..I'm now 6 months in.

I now have brown hair with a white streak at the parting and many scattered white hairs elsewhere..and they shimmer in the light, look fabulously healthy and I can't wait for them to be long enough to be my hair all over. True, currently the 3 inches of white root and darker ends isn't pretty, but I don't look dreadful (it's not even very obvious unless my hair is clipped back for sports) and the light colour frames my face better than the brown did.

I figure if I grow it all out and hate it.. well then I will have a fresh head of hair to highlight or whatever, but if I can manage 18m of growing it out, I will have chemically free healthy hair and I don't need to look 'young' . I'm the mother of 4 adults, I'm slim and fairly fit and I am going to rock the white streaks look if I possibly can!

Dh is pretty bald with an almost white short beard, and says he is just jealous mine grows and he really doesn't mind what colour it is!

I work in school, and my decision was partly prompted by looking at all the middle aged ladies with dyed heads (you can tell staff meetings are riveting ) and those few with natural hair, and thinking that they looked better. There were so many ' roots showing 3 weeks in' heads, so many 'beige blondes' and only one lady with truly beautiful hair.. whose daughter is a colourist!

I'd rather be individual!