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??

It's not pressure to look younger as such, just to look my actual age. I am in my 30s and have absolutely tonnes of grey. Going grey would easily add 10 years onto me, largely because people of my age just don't have as much grey as I do. I have quite a young face and, shoot me, I would rather look younger than older, so I colour my hair.

Absolutely your call rocky and in your shoes I would do the same. I just think it’s a shame that we think of grey being older. If no one dyed their hair ever then we would soon realise that being grey isn’t as much of an older thing as we think, plenty of people are grey in 30’s or even 20’s but we never see it

I think we’ve lost sight of what 40 or 30 actually looks like as we spend so much time effort and money making ourselves look different. I’m as guilty as the next person but I do think its a problem

Going grey would easily add 10 years onto me, largely because people of my age just don't have as much grey as I do. I have quite a young face

I'm 10 or more years older than you, don't dye my hair and have very little grey. But I'm sure I look older than you because of the wrinkles. Hair colour only makes someone look younger at a cursery glance from the back (and assuming the person is a healthy BMI with reasonable core strength, fat is more aging than grey hair). If anyone looks at your young looking face they are never going to think you are in your 40s.

I am 50 and stopped dyeing my hair about 4 years ago. Reason was I was starting to get white around my temples and the hairdresser said I'd need a full colour to hide it, not just highlights. I was concerned about allergic reactions as I have sensitive skin, thought about henna but decided it was to messy so just stopped dyeing. I always used to look younger, now probably look my age (I don't have too many wrinkles as never smoked or sunbathed. It looks ok, but i'm probably one of the rare mums at school pick up with very hair. But I just don't care really. Nobody has commented either way.

I am 41 and gave up dyeing my hair about four years ago. I have been going grey since I was 13. I have stripes of grey at the front and sides, and my natural brown everywhere else. My hair has never been in better condition. I wear it long to my shoulders. I think I look my age, no more, no less.

Looked awful on me but it was a few years ago so was still pretty dark not properly grey

I would love to show you before and after pics but don’t want to put myself!
If you want to see some incredible transformations, join ‘Going Gorgeously Gray’ Facebook group.

My mum is 74 and always had her hair very light blonde. Her hairdresser told her about 5 years ago that her regrowth was pretty much the same shade as her hair and to try growing it out. I think she is quite lucky because it still looks platinum blonde, she regularly uses a silver shampoo so it keeps it bright.
Me, I'm 37 and been getting a skunk strand of silver right down one side for the last few years. It looks odd in contrast to my natural warm brown hair so I use the powder touch up to hide it as I don't like dying my hair. I am toying with having some highlights in the grey areas though , to mask it. It definitely depends on the individual whether it's ageing or not!

My dad's hair just gradually lightened en masse until it was a nice shade of platinum. My mother only started getting greying temples in her 60s, she's in her 70s now and still only about 20% grey. I suspect I'll take after my father but I'd be more than happy with that.

I stopped dying my hair a few months ago. At 43 I just got fed up of the roots 3 weeks in! My hairs in better condition and its just a relief not to be doing it any more!

Once you get all the dye out you will be amazed at how much better the condition is. My hairdresser always said that grey would be dry and frizzy and yes the dyed grey is bit once it had all grown out my hair is really soft now. It s so liberating ot to have to keep up the dye and the roots coming through every few weeks.

I was forced into it as I started having reactions to almost all dyes and the badger phase was the worst of both worlds. You have to stay strong. My eyebrows have stayed dark which has helped frame my face. I went short bob length but misss my long side plait so might try and grow it.

I'm 48 and I think underneath the caramel/blonde highlights mine is really white now and not just grey.

I want to stop dying it but I don't want to cut it short.

I really would like to not dye it for about 2 months or so (and use root touch up) so that the hairdresser could see the natural colour really well (grows really fast) then see if she could dye it all the natural colour so that I don't have to have it cut but don't have to dye it.

She did this years ago with my daughter - dyed the whole hair the colour of the roots but nobody ever seems to do this with grey - just cut it all off?

My hair is a sort of long bob shoulder length - do you think this would be possible?

So sorry about your daughter adverse I'm 3 months in after 25 years of salon dye jobs and sporting a 2 inch white skunk/badger line on top/front of head but curious to see what it will look like as it grows down. Back and sides still mostly dark brown. Hair is bra length and wavy/ frizzy so this may look super weird as it grows. Meantime, an using eyebrow pencil on the stripe to help blend it in a bit. I'm 58 and hair's been very resistant to dye lately so nothing to lose. Feel privileged to get to this stage in life and have hair, to be honest.

I wouldn't. I have dark hair that I have dyed regularly to cover grey. No way I'm letting those wiry little fuckers stay on my head. It's a personal choice.

Mine is very grey in early 50s. I go for a quasi dye rather than a permanent which spares me that awful regrowth line which was so irritating as you get a bright contrast.

Some people think I am younger but I don't know. Just glad to be healthy etc.

MIL dyed here hair recently and sent a pic, just looked awful, dark and false - in her 80s - why bother

There is definitely an expectation that women will dye their hair - there is a lot of pressure to look young, even in this day and age. Now I have stopped dyeing my hair and am completely grey in my forties. I look at photos of me with dyed hair and it looks so fake.

If anyone looks at your young looking face they are never going to think you are in your 40s.

There will be that confusion though, that disconnect between my face and my hair. And I don't want people thinking 'god she looks young but then her hair says different....'

I know I sound totally vain (and also keep going on about my young face- like, I'm not saying I look like a teenager or anything and think part of the lack of wrinkles is to do with my chub filling it out a bit!) and very unfeminist. And in order to see what 30s and 40s really look like, I know that women need to give up the dye and then people's perceptions will change, but I'm not really willing to do that right now!

Yes, I do think the semi permanent dyes etc look better on grey than that very stark dark block colour.

We had photos scrolling on our t.v. for out dds birthday the other day. Photos from 4 years popped up and u was shocked at how dark i had my hair. I'm pretty sure I liked it at the time but looking at it now it looked terrible. Far too dark and draining. My going-grey looks much better than that!

I know that women need to give up the dye and then people's perceptions will change, but I'm not really willing to do that right now!

Women really don't need to give up the dye, they just don't need to feel pressured to keep dyeing their hair if they don't want. There's a difference.

There will be that confusion though, that disconnect between my face and my hair. And I don't want people thinking 'god she looks young but then her hair says different....'

There's a young woman at work (late 20s/early 30s) who deliberately dyes her hair grey because it's fashionable. If you have a really young looking face and use those purple shampoos to keep it bright then people will assume it's a trendy thing, look how many people on here have been complimented on their highlights when naturally grey.

I really don't care what people think of my grey hair. It is liberating not to have to keep getting the roots done and worrying about the skunk stripe down the parting!

That's what i'm telling myself wowfudge, that one day it will so worth it. Like going back to the days when dyeing your hair was only ever for fun, not an absolute necessity. Plus grey/silver/white is such a trend at the mo! Gonna stick with growing it out n focus on the end result. Up my makeup and rock some brighter lips. Hoping to keep it beach wavy still but worried it might end up witchy. That's my only fear.

I love my grey and get loads of compliments on it. Shoulder length blunt bob, very thick. But I do find you have to put more effort into clothes and makeup if you want to avoid feeling plain, nondescript and frumpy. It can look really great but only if you have everything else to showcase it.