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]

Hester, I' understand that naturally red hair with white hairs running through looks especially lovely, I think your hair will continue to be asset :)

But dont pull them out
surely that could eventually damage the follicle so that you end up with more sparse hair?
(in the same way that using an epilator on your legs damages the hair root and they stop growing or at least fall out very easily)

[Milllii]

I had the same reaction when I went very blond for the first time. Men looked and noticed me more and people treated me different, better. Maybe it was because I felt more confident, don't know. Im probably silver now underneath but have kept the blond for over 20 years now and loved it. Never felt this good when I was a brunette. Wish I had done it when I was much younger.

You look great in your photo though.

[IReallyAmHephzibah]

Do you think it would be possible to use ' colour b 4' or whatever it's called to strip off the colour? That would avoid growing out the colour?
Or am I being terribly nieve????????

[suzannecanthecan]

you can use colour b4 to strip out dye but then your hair will (probably) be a shade of ginger (rather than the natural colour)

This is because the peroxide and ammonia in the permanent dye will have bleached out the natural blue pigments and lifted your hair to ginger.

that is my broad understanding anyway.

[IReallyAmHephzibah]

Oh, I won't do that then ! !

[Tobeemoree]

I've had a minor epiphany, having read this thread and trawled through the FB group.

I've got 85-90% grey/silver hair, and it's been pretty rampant since I was early 20's (43 now). My mum has pure silver hair and has had for an awfully long time...... I'm going to go for it. I've got a major badger stripe going on (it's currently dyed red/brown). But I'm SOOOOOOO fed up with the dye process, the irritable scalp because of the dyeing, and the perceived pressure to do it in the first place.

Anyone up for a mini badger-stripe-survival thread? Sigh. Will be going to a few events this year and not prepared to chop it all off, so will be very stripy.

[HiccupHaddockHorrendous]

Tobeemoree - I had/have a few events this year (including a good friend's wedding) and it really has been far less traumatic than I ever could have imagined. I had considered a final dye before the wedding in May but I'm so pleased I didn't.

I've bought a selection of stretchy hairbands...thought I'd need them if things got bad but only use them if I can't be bothered to dry my hair after swimming, to help control the frizz!!

[Tobeemoree]

Hiccup (brilliant name!) that's reassuring, thank you. I suppose I'm at the very self-conscious stage, and going to festivals and gigs this year will kind of add to it. Good tip on the hairbands - am actually wearing a buff now, need to stock up!

Sod it. Will go for it. It's been a few steps forward and five back for a while now, I need to commit.

[HiccupHaddockHorrendous]

Thanks! My Ds' favourite books!!

I felt more confident about it if I told people what I was doing rather than worrying that they may think I was just letting myself go. Fortunately, that only lasted a couple of weeks until I stopped caring what people thought (most unusual for me!!).

[CainInThePunting]

Yep, it would be fun to share the pain with others!

[Tobeemoree]

It's ridiculous, isn't it? The concern of what others may/may not think. My Granny would be hurtling around in her grave (if she had one).

Of course, she also dyed her hair red for several years.

[HesterShaw]

Thank you suzanne :)

Don't worry about my follicles, it was only one or two! I'll stop now.

[Tobeemoree]

Cain Really? If you're willing, so am I :D

[TheMotherOfAllDilemmas]

Thanks for this thread! I have been pondering about dyeing my hair for years but to be honest, I really don't have the time or inclination to take care of the roots.

White hair runs in the family, my father was pretty white before 30, so when I got my first white hairs I thought I would go white pretty soonish, instead, almost 20 years later I only have some strands a la Cruella De Ville.

As other posters have said, the trick is to keep a nice tidy haircut and make sure the make up is spot on. My hair looks great when straightened, but if I let it be its curly self... I look like a mad woman.

[KinkyDorito]

I'm going grey because I am too lazy to keep dying it.

Started age 19. Now at 36 it's very noticeable.

[HesterShaw]

Liking the idea of a badger club.


Badger badger badger....

[KinkyDorito]

I am most definitely a silver badger.

[CainInThePunting]

Yes, I have curly hair with a tendency to frizz and if left to my own devices will fully embrace the Worzel Gummage look. So I'm up for it.

[Tobeemoree]

Oh hell, that's stuck in my head now Hester

Right. Let's go for it. I've told DH, he has always expressed the preference for long dark hair, but he can quite frankly lump it now. He doesn't get the blistered scalp.

[hiccupgirl]

I found my first grey hairs around 35 and now at 43 there are patches which are about 30% grey and I particularly hate the ones on my parting.

I have a t section of high and low lights colour done at the hairdressers every 6 months or so which blends the grey in so it doesn't scream grey at you, plus it really lifts my natural mouse colour.

One of my work friends recently went from a shoulder length bob with grey roots to an amazing short crop cut with natural salt and pepper effect. She looks stunning and her hair just suits her so much more than before.

[butterfly133]

I dyed my hair once to cover a few greys
Now I pjust think, no, if everyone let the grey show it wouldn't be ageing. It's just perceived that way because we don't see thirty something's with grey or see people go grey over a long period.

[TaliZorahVasNormandy]

I'm 32 and I can see the bastard greys popping out above my ears like a silvery torch through a flame (Red hair)

Need to do my roots actually.

[SilveryFoxyMe]

So glad that so many of you like this thread.

I got my first grey hair at 14, but didn't get greying hair till my 30s.

My DD had her first solitary white hair at nine, so I suspect she may follow the family trend.

Should we ask to move this to style and beauty?

And Nan, you look lovely.

[BadgerCain]

new hair, new name!

Is very hard to take a badger stripe photo in this failing light but unnatural light makes all my hair look yellow!
I got my first grey at 15, by my mid thirties I had long, mostly brunette hair with a silver Cruella streak and foolishly decided it was time to start covering it up...
I have about an inch of roots at the moment.