What do you do when you start to go grey?

[caroline29woohooo]

I've found about 15 hairs  I assume I should start to dye my hair now? I've never ever used hair dye before, which at-home kits are good? I have sensitive skin too so always stayed clear of dying hair as never been sure what to use. Any advice appreciated ladies!! Xxx

I swore that the day I would start having grey hair would the day where I would stop using any colour for my hair.
And I did.
At most I would do some highlight so they would gently mix with the lighter colour hair.

It's not an issue with embarrassing it as such. It's the fact it's a b**y pain to maintain plus, once you are starting to have quite of few (or only grey hair) how do you move from your nice coloured hair to one that is grey??

Re the pot of cream. They don't do anything at all so why on earth do you bother with it
Anything I do for my skin is about good nutrition and reducing stress. Much more efficient IMO (plus you can't avoid wrinkles anymore than you can avoid grey hair. You can fool yourself and others re the hair. I don't think you can for the skin)

I'm in a similar position and thinking about Lush Henna, which I've used before.

Although I do know someone who's recently stopped dying their grey hair and looks much better for it. Younger even.

Well, I never want to be grey. I've got friends & family in their 80s who are but others who are a lovely shade of dark blonde.

If you look at slebs some like Judi dench look great with silver hair, whereas others like Jane Asher in her 70s now look great with a bit of help.

It's not a moral issue (holier than thou saying we ought not to dye it) it's personal choice.

Join us trendy people and be grey. My 19 yo gig daughter is currently dying hers grey, mine is entirely natural.

Grey is ageing imo unless you are young then it looks okay :) Otherwise it's just old lady-ish.

I agree, what you do with your own hair or face should be a personal choice. However it was the op who used the word 'should'. I think a lot of posts are reacting to that.

I'll say it again: grey hair doesn't all look the same. Hell even the greys on my own head aren't all alike. I completely get dyeing your hair because you've seen how it looks and you don't like it. If I didn't like mine, I'd probably do the same, although I'd think about it carefully cos I'm a lazy sod and all that maintenance sounds exhausting. But what I don't understand is rushing to dye it at the very first sign of grey, when you can't even tell how it's going to turn out.

I quite like the sparkle of my grey hairs. I don't like the frizz! A third to half of my greys are frizzy and kinky, most swish and wave just like the rest of my hair.

You need to do what makes you feel good, not what you think is expected of you.

I agree with Floisme. I hope and expect that I will embrace the grey and not feel that I have to dye it because of the judgement of others. However, it's possible I'll hate how my hair looks when it's grey, in which case I guess I'll dye it.

Embrace them. I started going grey at 15 and have dyed my hair ever since. I get a very obvious line very quickly and it's a real chore topping it up every few weeks! I'd love to grow it out but it would look stupid with such an obvious contrast.

Re the career suicide comment: unfortunately he's probably right, not that I'm going to be sacked tomorrow because I have a few grey hairs, but women are judged much more on their appearance at work then men. I work in a professional office environment. He has been going grey since his late 20s by the way but is taken for older than he is which is a good thing for men.

That's depressing. Does experience count for nothing?

I will dye my hair until I kick the bucket.
No grey for me. Bollocks to it.

I work in a professional environment. I'm curious what profession places more importance on a lack of grey hair over you actually being good at your job. I do have some greys and sometimes I can't be bothered to dye them but thankfully for me my abilities speak for themselves.

Upgrade your shampoo, conditioner, get a good cut and use treatments to keep it in good condition. I am slightly concerned with a possible link between hair dye and some cancers e.g. leukemia and bladder cancer. I don't think enough is known yet, although I understand hairdressers and those that use darker dyes are more at risk. I seem to remember Mary Archer mentioning the link in an article about her bladder cancer.

I've got dark hair and possibly the same amount of grey. It's only noticeable to me really. However, I've dyed over it and it shows a lot more. I had highlights before and it did blend in better. Do what makes you feel best.

Not all grey hair is permanent. I got quite a bit of grey in a stressful period and it grew out when things improved.
I've now got grey hairs which are age related & permanent. My natural colour is mid to light brown & can look mousy which I found very dull when I was a teenager so I played around with henna & loved the shine you got but it took ages & was incredibly messy so haven't tried it recently. I have sensitive skin & nowadays use Daniel Field watercolours if I want a change - I wash my hour most days & the tint lasts a few weeks for me. Have also had lowlights done a couple of times by my hairdresser & really like the effect they give - she did a patch test first of course - but again you need to have a lot more time than I can usually spare for the hairdresser so only get them done once or twice a year.

Honestly? I stopped looking so closely in the mirror at my hair so in my head I'm not as grey as I really am!!

the bastards ones I do see are wiry little feckers that stand up on end and they get plucked

What kind of industry are you in? 15 years ago engineering didn't demand high heels, thick slap or dyed hair, female staff were treated just the same. Have things gone backwards or do you work somewhere primitive?

I work in a "professional office environment" and I'm greying at my temples, probably a few sprinkled elsewhere as well. I didn't so much decide to go grey as not make the decision to dye my hair. I don't have obvious root regrowth, I don't have to spend loads of money avoiding root regrowth, I don't have hair that looks too dark for my skin tone (skin lightens as you get older as well) and I don't have to worry about which colour to get that isn't too dark for my skin tone.

Dye it, don't dye it. Do what you want with it. But in no way should a woman's career depend on what colour her hair is (with the possible exception of people paid to be hair models).

I find the 'career suicide' comment quite shocking but now I think about it, I'm one of the few women in my workplace with grey hair, (although there are a number of men).

I'm sure it's not an issue for my own job but for certain other roles .... well it's an interesting thought. And yet we are studiously inclusive.

Fortunately for me I'm at that stage in my career where I can afford not to give a monkey's tit but I sympathise with younger women.

I gave up dyeing my hair recently.

I have had a lot of compliments - sometimes from people I hardly know - along the lines of "what have you done to your hair, it looks terrific".

I don't like the frizz! A third to half of my greys are frizzy and kinky

This

They stick up and are annoying and just make my hair look shite !

But dye won't change their texture!

I just started dying mine. Looks good took the opportunity for fancy balyage!

My hairdresser insists it does and also they're not so obviously sticking up separately to the rest of the hair if it's all the same colour