Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Style and beauty

Looking for style advice? Chat all about it here. For the latest discounts on fashion and beauty, sign up for Mumsnet Moneysaver emails.

See all MNHQ comments on this thread

Original poster

For those of us going grey

730 replies

SilveryFoxyMe · 12/07/2015 14:09

Forgive the name change, but I reckon this post makes me fairly recognisable.

Anyway, last year I posted my dilemma as to whether to continue dyeing my hair or let nature take over and see what was really lurking under there

I bit the bullet after yet another hair dye ending up brassier than I had hoped and not lasting at all, and decided to grow it out.

Eight months on (I do have short hair) it's all gone, and I am almost completely silver, with a few smattering of darker.

At just 47 I appreciate this is not the societal norm, and in some people's eyes has aged me. One friend pretty much commiserated with me and my hairdresser is horrified.

But in the past month I have been for two job interviews, been offered both jobs, and been invited out in a date (long story, I am happily married and he mistakenly thought I was single).

Several people have told me it looks fab, a neighbour came up to me to say I had inspired her to go for it.

My face still looks fairly youthful, I think, but at first glance people might think I am much older. Yet I still got the job offers and the date! More attention that I have had in years! Grin

So if you are swithering, I would heartily recommend it.

OP posts:
Thread gallery
119
Itsalldramarama · 27/07/2015 21:12

I'm just going to leave mine ! Got enough bleach on and it's very dry ! Guess I'm going just going to brazen it out and look a clip in the mean time ;) ... Whilst dreaming of lovely silver streaks ....

SewingAndCakes · 27/07/2015 21:16

I know I should leave it, I'm just impulsive! I'll have to crochet some nice hats for the autumn/winter, and then hopefully there'll be enough growth to get a good cut and get rid of the brown. At the moment I've got a fringe brushed forwards which disguises most of the roots, and I wear some nice headbands which I've made.

I saw a lady in a garden centre yesterday with half grey and half blond dye; another person going through transition!

doctorboo · 28/07/2015 04:49

I've still got roots. Hoping my hair grows quickly in the next 6 weeks so I don't look too funny meeting new school mums in Sept.
I hadn't realised how much grey I've got in certain places. This is the side of my head. I need to properly check out all my regrowth to see what the percentage is.

For those of us going grey
Itsalldramarama · 28/07/2015 08:49

That is looking a lovely silver :) mines like that through the top and middle parting , wish there was more through the back and sides! Crazy how we have tried to hide it for so long and now impatient for it to hurry up and grow out !!!

SecondSunrise · 28/07/2015 10:55

I love all the inspirational photos on here! I think if your hair is a fairly uniform silver/grey/white it looks fantastic, but mine is black with about 30% white hairs in it. Any ideas to transition this into something that doesn't look like a witch? My hair is pretty long - past my back bra strap.

MeganChips · 28/07/2015 12:36

I've decided I'm going to use colour b4 to try and strip out the very dark dye. I'm going to then put an ash blonde temporary colour on to tone down the brassiness and hopefully I can see better what I am dealing with. I'm going to do it just before I go on holiday so if it looks dire, at least no-one knows me.

I caved the other day and bought a hair dye but was strong and haven't opened it!

suzanneyeswecan · 28/07/2015 14:05

I nearly talked myself into just one more light ash brown but I held fast and resisted the nice n' easy siren song

I'm only one month away from my last dye job so dont have much visible natural hair contrasting with the ubiquitous brass brown

good luck with your plan Megan...be sure to report back!

Pasithea · 28/07/2015 14:13

There are so many people who don't live long enough to age. So grow old and be proud and thankful

suzanneyeswecan · 28/07/2015 14:29

I dont think it even has that much to do with being old, changes in hair pigmentation aren't a degenerative change, as with say loss of skin elasticity.
It's just something that happens during adulthood...like wisdom teeth.

many of us start to go grey in our 30's and 40's it's not as which is hardly old

suzanneyeswecan · 28/07/2015 15:31

I think it's more that we have been sold the message that natural hair colours are boring and unattractive.
In a way they are a bit boring most of us have a very similar shade of ash brown and it can be fun to dye your hair, play around with your appearance etc.

So anyway when you get to 40 or so your hair starts to change and get more interesting all by itself :o

achieve6 · 29/07/2015 12:00

Nicky Clarke says it would be a "disaster" if the Duchess goes grey!! I wonder what his definition of "catastrophe" is - couple of split ends?

I realise that hairdressers are going to have a nightmare if the "go grey" thing takes off but I do hate this thing about what women should look like. If women did just go grey naturally the perception would change. Then again, when I look at this article an ad opens up suggesting I could wear some make up and "be better". Argh!

www.telegraph.co.uk/beauty/hair/Nicky-Clarke-grey-hair-duchess-of-cambridge/

woodhill · 29/07/2015 12:06

yes it is annoying. Do people like Nicky Clarke dye their roots dark as well to make it look like natural regrowth.

Cocolepew · 29/07/2015 12:17

Nicky Clarke still has Princess Di hairafrom the 80's why does he think we care what he says?

I saw an older woman the other day, she was slim and was dressed really well. She was let down by her dark bob, it made her look pale and haggard.

achieve6 · 29/07/2015 12:37

Coco "I saw an older woman the other day, she was slim and was dressed really well. She was let down by her dark bob, it made her look pale and haggard."

this is the sort of thing I'd never really notice. I do occasionally notice if someone looks like Barbara Cartland but other than that, I get very alarmed that people notice this type of thing.

maybe the lady you saw was just tired that day.

ouryve · 29/07/2015 14:16

A trend for going grey naturally might reduce the call for colourist work, but good cutting and styling will become a lot more important.

doctorboo · 29/07/2015 14:20

ouryve Yes, yes yes. I'd be more than happy to spend more on a denxt cut if I wasn't worrying about the cost of colour too.

doctorboo · 29/07/2015 14:21

*decent. Blimming phone.

SwedishEdith · 29/07/2015 14:21

I have never had a hairdresser try to persuade me to get my hair coloured professionally. They ask me what I use, say it looks good/fine/whatever (this bit might be out of politeness) and then just shrug and talk about something else.

ouryve · 29/07/2015 14:21

And a great rebuttal in that article. Unfortunately, NC is showing his age by his words alone. The Noel Edmonds beard doesn't help.

Itsalldramarama · 29/07/2015 14:27

Coco I am also noticing (0bsessed with) other people's hair !!! Especially around my age !! I do think all block colours look aging especially dark browns / 0ver bleached and " Blorange "
They are probably noticing my inch of grey roots and wondering .......,, not one comment yet even from DP but it will come soon ;)

achieve6 · 29/07/2015 15:20

ouryve "A trend for going grey naturally might reduce the call for colourist work, but good cutting and styling will become a lot more important."

ah, I'm probably being optimistic but I was hoping perhaps for some it would be a step towards worrying less about what we look like.

suzanneyeswecan · 29/07/2015 15:33

'but unfortunately it’s the case for women – all women – that until you get really old, you can’t be seen to have any grey hairs. It's different for men. Men can go grey in their mid-50s and still be considered attractive. It's the whole silver fox thing. But it's not the same for women. Kate is such a style icon that even a few strands of grey would be a disaster, so I highly recommend that she cover it up. I hate grey hair'

what utter tosh Nicky 'stuck in the 1980's ClarkeAngry

suzanneyeswecan · 29/07/2015 15:36

but good cutting and styling will become a lot more important

I dont see why that should be the case, unless you think that naturally coloured hair is inherently less unattractive so that we need to compensate by getting an especially good cut?

ouryve · 29/07/2015 15:37

I'm the last one to spend a lot of time worrying what I look like, but I do prefer my hair well cut. I have it very short and many people would just take the clippers to it and a lot of stylists can't resist doing the really ageing Shirley from Eastenders cut, which leaves me looking like a Koala when it inevitably curls up on a damp day.

The worst cuts I've had have actually been at salons that really push the idea that hair needs to be either dyed, aggressively straightened, or both. They've universally ignored the natural colour and texture of my hair and what actually works with it. When a stylist pays attention to my actual hair, they cut it in a way where I can just wash it, brush it and leave it and not have to pay any more attention to it, unless I fancy putting a bit of wax on.

ouryve · 29/07/2015 15:40

And dying tends to change the the weight and texture of hair, so it lies flatter. The wave in mine tends to dominate a lot more when it's undyed.

And my hair is naturally coloured, suzanne so please don't put words into my mouth.