Dare I go grey??!!

[rosinavera]

Ok, I'm 53 and originally had dark brown hair but to keep it that way I've been dying it since my early twenties. I'm really tempted to stop dying but am quite worried about it too!! :-0 My natural hair colour now is white - would that look awful? Do I just get it dyed white or should I go for grey highlights? Any recommendations please?

Do it! - mine is now grey bar the very tips remaining from a set of 'parting highlights' back in July. I can't tell you how many compliments I've had since I've had the vast majority of the dye cut out. (50 here, said I would dye it until I was 50 and then embrace the grey.)

The highlights just along my parting and then a reasonably short cut 6 months later actually made it remarkably painless to grow it out. I love it.

Watching! I have white badger stripes. Currently at about 2 ,inches grow-out with a dyed brown pony tail. It's quite painful!

It depends on if you have a cool or warm complexion. If cool, you'd probably look fab, a warm complexion however doesn't usually work so well with white/grey.

Do the cool/warm test with some pink and orange items. If pink looks better = cool.

I do have a very pale cool complexion and very short hair! Am I going to scare everybody though if I suddenly go white??!! :-0

@Whitney168 - did you get any negative feedback at all??

I am 46 and have white hair with a bit of grey at the back. I love it and get loads of compliments about how my hair looks.

If you have very short hair, I'd just get it all bleached with high lift bleach and then use a purple toner to white it out so it blends in nicely

Do it. I have a couple of colleagues who did it. Both very different types of grey and both look great.

Thanks @CMOTDibbler and @thedevilinablackdress - I am really tempted!! I'm just so fed up of dying it!! The other week I'd just dyed it and thought everything was fab but went clothes shopping and in the changing rooms noticed that I'd missed some grey in my crown!! It would be bliss never to have to bother with it again!

The only negative comment I've had was just before I got the dye cut out, when one person said grey hair was ageing (general comment as there were a few of us in group going grey) ... but as soon as the dye cut out that person came back and said they loved it. This person has zero filter on their gob LOL, so I have no doubt they genuinely do.

My cut to get it out was very good (Mark Anderson, for those who remember my post about it) - and feedback has been hugely positive. I do think you need a decent cut.

Go for it OP, it will no doubt look great if very white. I've got more pepper than salt - wish mine was more white! But it's very liberating not to have to bother with dyeing.

As with all things, when you're doing something like this you really start noticing others - was at the theatre last night, and saw a fair few 'younger than traditionally grey' (or looked it) people with great grey hair - it really is a bit of a revolution at the moment, I think.

I’ve left mine since May last year and apart from a balding male hairdresser have received only positive comments. My hair couldn’t keep the brown dye, it kept fading to red/orange. I have blue/green eyes & I far prefer it, wish I’d never got tangled up in dye in my 30s.

Oh & I agree with @Whitney168, older women are continuing to dye & younger are letting the grey show. The women in their 60s at my gym are the ones who have no grey showing.

I started going much paler as I was heading for the 50 deadline to grow it out, and looking back at pics now when I was still dyeing it the dark brown with red tinges I prefer (and think of as 'me'), it really didn't suit me towards the end at all. Your whole skin tone changes.

I think white hair with a really sharp haircut looks great.

Or you could go blonde? My MIL, who had mid brown hair, is now ash blonde, I presume because that's close to her actual hair colour.

My hair is very very dark and also grows quickly so I'm going grey naturally as there's no point in dying it, I'd have grey roots showing within a week. But it's also curly so no sharp 'do for me, I shall have to commit to looking like a dandelion.

You've convinced me!!!! :-)

I stopped dying 5 years ago, just grew it all out. Took a while, even though I had a short bob at the time.

I'm now 80% white, with darker 'underlights' I recently changed my glasses (due to eyes changing, not fashion) and went for dark frames, and I wear bright lipstick so i don't look invisible. I am pale with husky-blue eyes, so with white hair on top of that, I liked like Casper's mum

I have had some negative comments from a (German - they're very honest!) friend, but otherwise positive. DH was very sceptical and didn't like it at first...but bollocks to him!

When I was a teen I had blue hair, red hair, pink hair, black hair, green hair. I feel the same kind of rebelliousness I did as a teen, with my 'but you're not a granny' white hair at 44.

EMBRACE THE GREY

I’m in my 60’s and have had short grey hair for the past 20 years. It’s quite a silvery grey that catches the light, and I think looks a lot nicer than the dull brown I used to have. Dyed hair looks increasingly unnatural as you age, and can draw attention to wrinkles etc by looking incongruous.
Grey hair gives an air of authority and experience, which I found useful in my profession (hospital doctor!)
Go for it, OP. I think you’ll find it looks fine and is so much less hassle to maintain. I just get a cut every two months to keep it tidy.

I have blue eyes too but always wear lipstick so I suppose that will stop me disappearing!!! :-0

I stopped highlighting about 5 years ago, as I felt I was looking like so many 50 year old who just cling to the safe blonde highlighted look.
I now have very tonal grey/white/light brown hair and lots of people say it’s a lovely colour, I use purple shampoo and every now and then use a wash in grey/silver toner just to see how it looks.
So glad to not be doing highlights anymore !
I probably look my age (55) but that’s fine by me

Go for it OP! A head full of white hair can look amazing! (I'm hoping, anyway!) I'm 14 weeks into serious skunk-line territory but no intention of giving up coz my hair g is in so much better condition since giving up the dye and way less down the plughole when i wash it too. Had noticed each time i'd been getting it coloured i seemed to come home with a thinner head of hair generally and i'd been doing this on repeat for 25 years. Also, the white, which is only on the top of my head, had become so resistant to the dye, often needed a return visit for it to take properly. I'm just so done with it all! Have no plans to cut my long dyed wavy light brown hair off til the white grows way a decent way down tho. I wanna rock a reverse ombre at 58 Pinterest images my inspiration each time i waver!!

I am mid 50's and stopped dying my har about 18 months ago. I love my colour and people often ask me where i get my colour done! Mine is now a mellow blonde shot through with silver.

Just very scary to contemplate!! I suppose if I hate it I could just dye it brown again!!! :-0

Here we go... Hopefully incognito enough!

My hair is longer now, this was 3 months ago.

That's lovely @elQuintoConyo - it looks ash blonde!