For those of us going grey

[SilveryFoxyMe]

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!

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

[suzannecanthecan]

Mine is going white rather than grey

no one has any grey coloured hairs, what happens is that the hair follicle stops producing any pigment so the hair grows with no colour in, it looks white and when combined with other hairs with pigment gives an overall appearance of grey.

[SilveryFoxyMe]

Two lovely pics!

Ok, here's me - if you know me, pretend this is someone else lol.

[SilveryFoxyMe]

I forgot my before

[serenmoon]

You all look fab. Op, I think you look younger with he grey hair. It certainly doesn't age you.

[Duckdeamon]

V nice hair OP!

I am greying at the front and getting comments from friends and acquaintances about "needing" to dye it - grrr! A couple have said that grey hair is ageing or that DH might not find me attractive anymore! He is greyer than me but apart from sibling banter no one has said anything to him about his hair.

I don't want to dye mine due to the cost, chemicals, time and sexism, but might crack!

[crazylady12]

I'm 24 and started to go grey when I was young I tried to hide it as a young girl would, but last year I decided to let it grow out taking a while but really loving it so far.

[blueskyview]

I'm 40, I stopped colouring my hair last year, it's about 50/50 grey and brown and I love it. It's definitely becoming a more popular choice.

[Belleview]

I think the amount of chemicals in hair dye is finally putting people off using hair dye as a long term policy. It's just too much toxicity.
Why on earth should we have an issue with our hair pigmentation shifting? It's like freckles, and moles, just part of our individual picture.

[suzannecanthecan]

?
Hear hear Belle :o
of course it's the makers and purveyors off hairdye that have a vested interest in equating loss of hair pigment with loss of attractiveness.

Not a very hard sell because we are primed to associate getting older with loss and decline.
But if you think about it unpigmented hair isn't pathological in any way, it's not hardened arteries or loss of skin elasticity.
If women welcomed white hair it could come to be associated with positive things. ?

[SkodaLabia]

You look lovely either way, OP, but I prefer the cut in your 'before' pic, it's very Dame Judi, and she looks marvellous.

[BumpTheElephant]

I think grey hair can look lovely.
People in my family tend to go grey very very early so I fully expected I would but I didn't! I'm in my late 20's and have about five grey hairs which aren't noticeable at all (being mostly grey by 30 is the norm in my family).
Having watched other family members dye their hair from the age of 16 and then feel unable to stop because growing it out looks bad I've decided I can't be arsed. I'm just going to let mine get gradually grey (you know like men do and nobody bats an eyelid).

[ProcrastinatorGeneral]

I'm mid-thirties. I'd grow out my grey but I get bored easily. I have been ginger, red and green this year so far and have just gone for a dark colour. I love grey though, it can look superb. If my hair starts to complain about my boredom solving tactics I'll take up knitting again and leave the grey to grow :o

[howabout]

Elsa is always going to be way cooler than Cinderella

I was struck by how odd Martina, Chris and Tracey looked at Wimbledon still sporting blonde locks. In contrast the grandees of SW17 generally looked to be in command as always almost uniformly rocking silver.

[woodhill]

None of the media etc tend to be grey apart from Jamie Lee Curtis. Have you noticed all the dyed hair men such as Alan Titchmarsh, Nathaniel Parker on the outcast last night or that Tim Woolcote or similar name on Antiques programme. It doesn't help.

[brusselsproutwarning]

All the women in the photos look great. Really suits them.
I'm late 30s dark brown hair. Lots of grey ,I'd say 80% ,tried dying my hair with blonde highlights ,didn't suit me at all. So washed out and brassy. Left it for about 9 weeks then succumbed to brown dye. Grey shows so quickly with dark hair, will have to go back to hairdresser in 2 or 3 weeks. Im considering going grey fully thanks to the beautiful photos and comments! My hair is way down my back so might get a Bob to speed up the transition, know my hairdresser will hate idea but I think its because she'll be out a good bit of £££

[ouryve]

Does it look better though if you have darker skin? I'm pasty Irish and am afraid I would look like a corpse!

I have that pale Irish skin with dark hair and blue eyes and my salt and pepper looks lovely. I can wear a wider range of colours with my hair natural than dyed, and I only ever suited red shades, rather than brown (any shade washed me out, whether darker or lighter), when I dyed it, and they became more and more garish and ageing as the proportion of white increased. I just look a whole lot fresher, now, with the cooler colouring.

[manchestermummy]

I'm 36 and noticed the first grey at 31.

I pulled them out to start with but 2 years ago I started to colour it. I get it done in the salon, semi-permanent. I have a shade close to my own mostly and I like it.

I hate seeing the grey. I don't think I'd go a lovely silvery white either.

[ouryve]

Your white is so lovely and clean, foxy. Really suits you.

[Esmum07]

I used to have highlights put in my hair to blend in the grey. Then I realised the highlights were either going brassy - which made my slightly menopausal flush look like I'd had an accident in a tanning shop - or were so light they were almost the same shade as the silver. So I stopped. My hairdresser doesn't even ask me if I want highlights now as she's agreed that the silver is producing a nice highlight on it's own!

And my hair has never been in such good condition. I have just on shoulder length hair, wash and condition in pentene's shampoo for breakages (as my hair was shedding rapidly a few months ago and that seemed to help), blow dry without a brush and it just seems to fall into place now. Wish I'd done it years ago! I'd have been around with world on the money I've spent on highlights.

[Icimoi]

I'd go for it if I could be reasonably guaranteed to go silver or white, or even just have a badger streak of white. What concerns me is that, as my hair is dark brown, it would just go a fairly sludgy grey.

[SewingAndCakes]

I'm 38 (today ) and I've stopped dyeing my hair in the last 2 months. I've had it cut shorter to grow out the brown dye. I've had white hairs coming through from the age of 16 and I've always dyed my hair.

I'm thinking about stripping the dye off my hair, bleaching it if necessary, then putting a silver dye over the top. Not sure whether it'll work but I saw someone with shoulder length silver hair yesterday and it looked beautiful.

[FindoGask]

I am 37 and have salt and pepper hair - currently more pepper than salt. My natural colour is dark brown/black, but I'd been dying it reddy brown for years to hide the grey until I stopped last year because it was getting such a bore. I have very very short hair which stops the grey looking too aging on me, and my husband says he loves my silver hair glinting in the sun!!

I can't wait to go proper grey, at the moment it's still quite subtle and patchy.

[ouryve]

Ok, full of hayfever snot, puffy faced and have been rained on, but these are my natural silver highlights :o

[redshoeblueshoe]

I started going grey in my teens, dyed it for 30 years - then kept thinking I should go grey. What actually pushed me to do it was seeing so many men on TV with badly dyed hair

[Listmaker]

I decided to give going grey a go about 3 months ago too. I am 51 and have been dyeing it for 20 years or so. I used to have very, very dark brown hair and have had to go lighter and lighter over the years to try and disguise the grey slug appearing at my parting! Then last summer my hairdresser said it was no good I really had to give going blond a go.

I didn't mine the blond and had lots of compliments but never really felt it was me and after reading a few articles and things I thought sod it I'm going to give growing it out a go. I have very curly hair that comes to just about the top of my shoulders. I couldn't cope with a pixie cut so am having to brave the transition - reckon it's going to take about 2 years!

Like you OP I think well if I hate it I can dye it again! It's quite white at the front so not that noticeable yet with the blond but further back it's quite salt and pepper so coming through quite dark.

Some of my friends think I'm crazy as does my hairdresser but my DH is supportive and I don't really care what anyone else thinks. As you say I think at first glance it will make people think I'm older than I am but I have quite good skin etc so facially don't look too old. I've invested in some new makeup and when I can be bothered to do the full lot it really looks not too bad!

It's great to be free of the 6 weekly trips to my hairdresser. Luckily she is very reasonable cost-wise compared to a salon but it's right across town and was 3-4 hours out of my Saturday since the highlights came in. So tedious!

I joined a FG group called Going Gorgeously Gray (bit American) on a recommendation from another thread here and the stories there and pictures of women looking amazing have really helped me so join that if you're on FB?

I'm slightly dreading the time when the transition is kind of half and half as it will look pretty bad but I am really hoping the end results will be worth it.

Good luck everyone!!