going grey - yay or nay

[ClosedAuraOpenMind]

I've been colouring my hair since I started getting highlights at the age of about 14. Am now 47 and was at my hairdresser this am getting cut and colour (all over colour, which is dark blonde)
been getting more and more grey for the last few years and hairdresser reckons growing out the dye and embracing the grey could be a good look......my hair is apparently a nice grey
I could get timers to help blend the dyed bits with the grey while it's growing out, and part of me really likes the idea. Hair is in a chin length bob so it's not too long
But part of me just thinks grey hair = old lady and I just don't feel like that!
anybody out there ditched the dye? what's it's like??

I'm 67 and I haven't ditched the dye yet, and it ain't gonna happen!

and obviously that's totally your choice, but nobody will think it is not dyed or that you don't look middle-aged, i.e. under 40.

I’m tempted to dye my grey in these really pale pinks and purples that are around. Like the old blue rinses. Wash in, wash out.

But my hairdresser was very doubtful☹️

Defo go grey!! I love it and will be doing itin a few years

I think it can look nice - if it is a trendy cut, a 'good' grey, and you have good bone structure.

On most people it doesn't look good. My sister has embraced the grey and it has put 10 years on her.

It depends on the colour of your skin. If you are dark with warm undertones... avoid, the cool gray just clashes with the colour of your skin. (Or at least it did with mine)

I had a few years of wearing grey hair as highlights and loved it. I always said I would start to dye it when I looked like a crazy woman... I got there 2 years ago so I am now sporting a reddish brown which I love.

Aged 62, my hair is greying, quite gracefully I like to think. I spend money on the cut rather than the colour. DH, of the same age, is going bald. And grey.

But it means rethinking make-up and colour, possibly for the first time in 25 years, and that involves time and effort and experimenting more than I have since I was a teenager. I like it but a lot of people don't.

love the idea of 'own the crone' 
And @CoatTails you look fab!
have cool toned skin (I think) so maybe I could pull this off...
Would be liberating not to have to think about roots.
And I also guess my v lovely hairdresser wouldn't suggest it if he didn't think it would look good
maybe I will take the plunge...

i am another who just did it...been mousey dirty blonde with varying amounts of highlights since i was old enough to buy my own bleach!

I gave it up more than five years ago, and now have some lovely grey highlights, including some lovely silver down the front of my fringe ....asymmetric pixie

last hairdresser was very impressed with them and said folks pay a fortune for silver lights like mine and I have had people ask where I have my colour done.

Anoth fb friend had also done it recently, but from very dark, however with a stylsh cut she looks amazing, so I say go for it!

Get a decent cut and embrace the fade!!

I grew mine out a couple of years ago, was dark blonde/mousy and had been highlighting it. Now it has natural silvery highlights and I love it. Agree that it's not a negative thing to look one's age, better to look natural than to have harsh colours against an aging face which usually look terrible (unless you spend A LOT of money at the hairdressers, often).

I think if you have pale blue/pink skin you can start to look invisible with white hair. So, I imagine, you need to really ramp up make-up if that bothers you.

but nobody will think it is not dyed

I don't think anyone dyes their hair thinking it's fooling anyone that it's their natural colour.

I think people are being a bit hard on those who don't want to go grey yet. And not everyone older does go very grey. My Dad died at 75 with a white moustache but brown eyebrows and just a few silver hairs through the brown on his head, as did his father (no, he wasn't secretly colouring it ). My mum was almost pure white by the age of 40 and didn't dye it.

I think if you're still going for a solid block of colour then, it will probably not look great, but highlights mixed in with the natural colours including grey can look fantastic.

Ultimately, it's a very personal choice.

I have warm toned skin, but I still like my grey. I’ve been growing the dye out for a while but there’s still a little left at the bottom.

I have gone grey at the age of 56. I love it. And people often comment on my hair colour telling me it is lovely and asking me where I get it done!

Age appropriate is important. My stylish DSon likes my grey hair and style, because (to him) it looks cool insouciant to not worry about wearing my age. He doesn't do the exercise classes that I do to stay in shape...but I like being reasonably shapely.

Dark dyed hair against an older complexion can be very stark and unflattering.

@CoatTails you look wonderful! 🤩

I think people are being a bit hard on those who don't want to go grey yet.

I don't think people are particularly harsh to those that like to colour their hair; everyone is free to choose how they want to look. I think it's when people say how awful grey hair is, or how everyone with grey hair would look better (younger) if they dyed it, that people counter those views.

I’m 47 and like you have been dyeing my hair since my teens but last year decided to embrace the grey and let it grow out. I had of cut to chin length and I’ve still got a bit of blonde left at the ends but it’s mostly grey now and I love it. I’ve had loads of compliments and people actually ask me if it’s been coloured! My hair is so shiny and in the best condition it has been for a long time because it’s nof full of chemicals

I’ve got a different issue. Very curly, ringletty dark hair. I’ve noticed many women with my hair resist going grey for far longer, because it looks decidedly ‘witchy’. The high contrast between the white and dark hair, the courser texture, the natural ‘messyness’ of the curls. Just very far from a polished or put-together look. It can look very good with even dark colour, but going grey is a bit step away from what our culture sees as ‘good hair day’.

My choice feels like spend time/money dyeing it occasionally or spend loads of time/money styling it every day.

I'm younger than you op, went natural at 38 so that it would be ready for 40th. I love love love no longer faffing. Bonus is mine is a distinguished salt and pepper. I think it's "cool" and "edgy", trend bucking, but it's not everyone's cup of tea. Sorry for the "", they aren't words i usually use!

It really does depend on your age. If you are in your 30s then grey really is going to age you, even with the 'sharpest' of bobs (which seems to be to obligatory haircut if you are embracing the grey). And there is a big difference between natural grey and 'fashion' grey as well. Once you are mid forties or so I think it's easier to do, because more people are more naturally grey by then anyway.

Believe me, I have been going grey since I was about 17 and I have considered jacking in the dye several times, but looking young is one of the things I have going for me and I'm not ready to add 10 years onto my age just yet!

I'm really happy to "own my crone" and I don't think my hair has ever looked so thick and healthy. Far better a head of natural grey tones than an awful colour job, whether home dye kit or so-called professional colour.

I love my silver bob. Tonight, I’ve just had a super compliment on how it looks from someone who I hadn’t seen in a while.
I gradually dyed it lighter from my 40s onward until the grey was matching the dye.
As others have said a good cut and condition are vital. It also helps if you have a good complexion.
A bad dye on aging hair and skin is not a good look IMO.

To those posters saying they're not ready to add ten years to their age yet by going grey, when do you think you might be ready?
Is there an acceptable age and if so what is it?
It's just that I used to feel the same until I decided if not now, when? In my case, admittedly, my genes have dictated that I am greyer than most and it was a faff colouring every 3 weeks. I am in my late 30s. I might look older now I've gone natural and yes, I would be lying if I said there aren't days that that bothers me (though I also like my "new" unique hair now and I feel changed in many positive ways).
It just occurs to me that I always vaguely thought that when I was "older" I would happily go grey, "when the time was right". But actually, I don't know that it ever gets easier. In fact it might get harder. I reckon I might be less happy to "add ten years" in my 40s or 50s or 60s.

I dye my hair as have had white for years. My hair is in good condition but the whites really do add the years on. A friend in her early 40s has left hers and I recently saw pics and she definitely looks so much older. I personally think if you want to go grey, your hair needs to be in great condition, excellent style and the whole make up and wardrobe to be very polished. Just letting it go grey doesn't feel enough.