That's it, I'm done with dye!

[BackToTheOIdHouse]

I've been dyeing my hair since I was 15 (I'm now 47). It's been every colour under the sun but dark brown for the last 20 years. It changed from 'dyeing for fun' to 'dyeing as a chore to cover greys' about 16 years ago.

In the last five years or so I've had to dye fortnightly to cover up the roots, and after about four or five days the silver starts poking through so for most of that time I have to use root powders/sprays which are messy and come off on everything. My hair takes about three washes to lose that slippery, dirty feeling after I've dyed it so it never, ever feels clean. It also has an orangey tint which is worse in the summer, and the ends are also always strawlike even though I have regular trims. My calendar is marked with the days I need to dye to make sure my hair is as root-free as possible for whatever occasion (for example, I'd have to dye it on 19 Dec to strike the balance between not feeling slippery/gross and roots showing for Christmas). And it's snapping like nobody's business - the ends are straggly and thin.

Well, I was due to dye it two weeks ago but thought, sod it. I've been building up to this for ages but put it off time and time again for all sorts of reasons - I'll look older (people often think I'm ten years younger than I am, did I want to throw that away?), the transition being too awful, DH being a decade younger than me and how would he feel (unsure when I told him my plan, but after a bit of thought said he quite likes the idea as it turns out). But suddenly something clicked and I thought no excuse is good enough.

So here I am, five weeks of regrowth and nervous about how the next few months are going to pan out! My plan is to use the powders etc for a few months until it's passed the 'she's forgotten to do her roots' stage and looks deliberate. Though my hair is so dark the demarcation line will be brutal!

Anyone else done this, or is doing it? Any words of advice, experience or encouragement gladly accepted. Grombre on Instagram is fab, are there any other accounts/sites etc to inspire me?

Sorry for the long post!

Can you have it cut short into a pixie style? Mine is very short , I do still bleach and colour (pink!) because I have a 'badger' look , grey crown and part sides and still dark elsewhere , but that is mostly due to an head injury and hair growing back white.

But cutting short means that your dye will soon be out ! also dry breaking ends gone in a flash, and you will feel so much better because your hair will be in much better condition

and you can stop using powders in effort to cover up ,.
You can always grow it back later if you want .. and it will be a whole new you !

Heres mine! ..And you dont have to stay grey once you have gone so !

I use Bleach London Rose , its a vegan dye which washes in and fades out in about a week.. you can buy it from Boots and they have all sorts of cool colours
(im over 60 btw... so if I can..)

I couldn't cope with the harsh line when I went from dark brown to now almost totally silver, so I used a colour stripper and lots of toner. It was hard work and stinky but worth the effort. I would never have stuck with the growing out stage and I'm now pleased that I have "platinum" hair which I don't have to dye every 2 weeks.

@Laska2Meryls I'd love to have that as an option but unfortunately I look awful with short hair! It's currently a long wavy bob (just above shoulder blades). In about ten months I plan to have it cut into a shortish Bob, somewhere mid-neck, but anything shorter would look terrible on me. Hopefully in ten months a short bob will only have the bottom few inches left brown, I'm hoping for an intentional dip dye look.

Your hair sounds fab! I'm looking forward to using temporary pastel toners when mine is all grey. It'll be lovely to be able to have fun with my hair again!

@Laska2Meryls sorry, cross post - your hair is indeed gorgeous! DD uses Bleach temp dyes, I'm going to have to steal them in a few months I think

@HerLadySheep I considered that route but my hair is so dark and in such poor condition I don't think it could take it. Badger stripe it is I'm afraid!

I bet you dont look that bad with short hair really ( its just getting used to a new look..) But i can understand its a huge change going short, I just went all brave one day and now it just feels like 'me' and I've never grown it again ..

Anyway have you talked to your hairdresser ? How about maybe a few inches off now and some pale streaks put into the in the darker ends ?

I was very dark brown and like you got fed up. I had a sort of chin length messy bob - and hairdresser put blonde highlights through it which worked well in about the Feb. I left it entirely alone til the beginning of the summer holidays when I went in and had it all chopped into a pixie cut to see what was left - and by then it was all silvery grey. I love it. (Am a couple of years down the line now)

Yes, doing exactly this now. I'm about a year in and although I still have wobbles I am committed! I too couldn't face the double challenge/ change of going natural AND new short hair. So I've kept the length and am taking the slow route.. I'm not the grey I thought I'd be, I'm still pretty dark overall on top but some very white streaks underneath - you really don't know what the pattern/ shade is like until you stop dyeing.
Root sprays totally got me through. I'm over half way now and the end is in sight. Good luck!
For me it was just a matter of when. I agree, you have to tackle the "ageing" aspect at some stage - even if going grey added ten years, I asked myself when I would ever be up for that?! Actually I figured it would only get harder.

OP why don’t you go to a hairdresser and get them to professionally strip the dark and give you a lovely grey colour and fresh cut to make the transition a fabulous new you rather than something you have to groan your way through?

I’m the opposite of most people, I deliberately have dark roots and light ends and I love my hair. Albeit mine is a short asymmetric pixie cut. My roots are 1inch long and are naturally mid brown with about 20 % grey and the rest of the short length I actually dye silver grey!
I had a massive style change last year and went from bra length no fringe to pixie cut in one session, it was dramatic but since it’s been short everyone says it’s taken years off me.
I think that lots of people are rightly scared of going short but with the right cut short hair can look amazing.

This isn’t very good picture as I’ve cropped my face out of it but it gives a bit of an impression of my hair, although at the time I had my roots dyed blue black to make the contrast even greater!
The other side is much much shorter and mostly dark.

Also think getting it stripped and going grey would look amazeballs

I’m doing the same. Most of my grey is at the front, the rest still seems almost dark (according to my hairdresser)

Oops, I meant to say I stripped it once, meant to do more, but ran out of t8me

You'll find lots of great threads on here op, have a look, it's really supportive. The few months/year can be tough and the motivation from the mners who've done this can be really helpful. Personally I did this when I was 39. I wanted to go into my 40s with natural hair. I had no support irl. I thought it wad strange that it brought up such strong opinions from my partner and friends. I'm sure I do look older, but I also get compliments. Get ready to spend ages working out what products your hair will need after the colour is gone though!

I grew out my grey at the grand old age of 32 and it didn't make me look older, the dye looked obvious that I was trying to cover it up so when it grew out I looked younger. I'm not going to lie I hated it for a long time whilst it was growing but since it's all been chopped off I love it. I've even had women in their 20s asking how I dye my hair silver because they're trying to do it too.

Love my new colour

Doesn’t stripping the hair absolutely wreck the condition though?

I'm doing this. I haven't dyed it for a couple of months and I've been using purple conditioner to try to tone down the brassy tones in the supposedly ash brown dye on the rest of my hair. I can't face a short haircut so I think I'm going to go and get it lightened and coloured to match my roots. (First two pictures are my hair now and third is what I'm going to have done)

I’ve kept my grey but get the hairdresser to add a few other colours through it too. I’ve been probably 80% grey for a long time now (started going grey in my teens).

@sheshootssheimplores your hair is gorgeous

I'm here with you. Currently growing out red and hating it. But I hate dyeing it too.

If you're on fb going gorgeously grey/gray ( not sure of spelling I think it's US based) and grombre uk are good for inspiration and encouragement.
I stopped dyeing in March but had a pixie cut anyway, I shaved it to a number 2 and I'm now growing it. First time in years I wanted longer hair but the colour is so shiny I want to show it off

I want to do this but don’t know how to do it with least issues.The badger stripe I can’t live with for six months plus, so will have to find some other solution. I also dread looking much older than I am but can’t face the expense and hassle of dyeing any longer. I wondered about wearing a wig!