Talk to me about going grey if you a brunette please

[RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie]

Just dyed my hair with a different dye to usual, and it's not covered the grey at all (Clairol Nice & Easy; I usually use John Frieda). I'm sick of dyeing it every four weeks but also really can't face just trying to grow it out for months and months and months.

Has anybody managed to go grey gracefully? Or find a way to look half decent without dyeing it every few weeks?

I don't mind going to see a hairdresser. In fact, I'm half tempted to go and ask somebody to just dye it all grey for me!

@birdandsparrow Thanks! That looks good ie. not too yellow or brassy- I also have fair/pink skin so thought ash shades would be good.

MIL mentioned at Christmas that I need to start thinking about going lighter at my age. Very irritating but she may have been right! Will speak to the hairdresser next time and see what's possible..

The Reef, that works unless, like me, all your hair is grey. Lighter with highlights is good if you aren't completely grey.

I don’t dye my hair or do anything to it. It’s a light russet brown colour. The grey is coming in as random silver strands. I think it’s better (for me at least) to let it stay natural because it will be gradual shift to silvery hair. I keep my hair long as it is very thick, if it’s short I look like a hedgehog. Not going to go blonde or bob my hair like (almost) every other 40-60yr old woman out there.

I just can't imagine myself going blonde. My eyelashes are dark.

Eyebrows even!

I just left it, although its not that long. Chin length Bob.

It's grown through a sort of ashy grey and most new people describe me as blonde, though it is very definitely grey. I'm 38 and got sick of the dyeing and orange cast.

Get it cut regularly. I wear stronger lipstick now and try to wear more oranges and pinks and blues near my face although I am not that consistent with makeup wearing.

It is very liberating!

(My eyebrows are not grey and I think it looks fine)

Mine are too. That's one of the reasons it works. I did it in the end because I reckoned if it was a disaster I would just die it brown again.

I'm going cold turkey and it hasn't been a walk in the park (people talking to my roots at the start, wondering what's going on and if I KNOW, that horror of horrors, my natural colour is showing through).
But it was the right course for me and I like it now. Above all my perspective has changed. People will think I'm too young to do this, that it's ageing, that going grey is letting go.....
I know they will. I used to be one of those people "dye till I die". Now I see the beauty in going natural. I don't miss the scalp burn or ending up with slightly the wrong shade - too dark, too warm etc.
The other surprise is the pattern of your grey/ white. Mine looks so different in different light conditions. So I could no longer see grey as boring.

Finally, in my case, with my genes, I'm going grey- I just thought I'd bite the bullet now. It wasn't going to get any easier/ less ageing in five/ ten years time, in fact it might get harder. In a way I'm young enough for it to be a surprise to people and I think it exudes an inner confidence that I could never exude before.
Plus it's a bit of a 2 fingers up to the tyranny of women's beauty standards, always having to aspire to looking young with no grey hair even in old age. But that's another story.......
And actually if I'm 100% honest, I still love make up, nails, tan, looking groomed.

Remus, from your picture I truly think your hair would look great natural- looks like you have dark silver mixed in with brown. It seems glossy and the colour variations could even add interest and the appearance texture. Very fetching, but mine is similar so I would say that! I have white streaks underneath too though, particularly at one temple and I'm not going to lie, I do still get a shock when I go to tie my hair up.
Secondly, from my various Facebook groups on the subject, it appears to be quite rare though not impossible to find a supportive hairdresser for the cold turkey approach. Stands to reason, I guess. Many just discourage the idea of going grey full stop. Others might be keen on the highlights route which sounds like it was a success for some previous posters but can lock some others in to a lesser tyranny of highlights (expensive?). Good luck with whatever you choose. I consulted 4 friends for their opinion- only one thought I should. It definitely can feel like a big deal.

I stopped colouring in my mid 30’s. I’d been colouring my greys for 15 years, naturally dark brown with cool colouring: going blonde would not have suited me. Cold turkey was the route for me, with regular trims so at least the cut and condition were as good as possible. I’d say the first three inches were the hardest. Purple shampoo to tone out the brassiness of fading dye helped too, and going as short as I dared (chin length bob) too.

It’s been 7 years since I coloured it. It’s very liberating, I get many compliments. At 42 I dress very casually: skinny jeans trainers and hoodies. Possibly a bit “alternative”. My skin is good (I look after it) but don’t generally wear make up. It’s a real 2 fingers up to what is conventionally attractive these days. I please myself. Because there’s more to me than that. I’ve got a skilled, professional job where my appearance is irrelevant.

I was determined to go grey gracefully. But sadly my grey is a dark steel which on my dark brown hair just makes it look constantly dirty.

So at age 50 I had half head foils in the same colour as my natural brown, just to thin out the greys. Especially as I have a big clump on one side that looks idiotic.

I'm 51 now so I've been having it done about a year. Lighter colours really don't suit me, we tried two colours in summer with one being a bit caramel and I hated it. I thought it went brassy too (I also use the smurf blood blue shampoo).
I don't want all the grey covered and this way I don't really get any noticable root regrowth, I have it done about every three months and it's £83. More annoying is that it takes two and a half hours.

Funnily enough, my hair dresser is now trying to talk me into growing it out. She has suggested some kind of wash to soften the grey tones so it's not so steely. I will talk to her about it again when I'm back in Feb.

I am really keen that my hair doesn't look dyed as I actually think that is more aging than grey, particularly if it's done badly. And I don't think mine does. Friends and family never even noticed I'd had it done and people always think I am at least ten years younger than I am (and as I do short term contracts for my job so am going to interviews at least once a year, this is actually quite useful because age discrimination does exist I'm afraid).

I'm not there yet, but my plan will be highlights along the parting!

I'm a dark brunette who had had the of strand of grey since my teens. I stored during mine about 6 years ago, simply because my greats would not accept any color st all. I am fortunate that my grey is white silver in a cap at the top, so I have really dark bits underneath and white on top, sounds bad but looks ok. I had a pixie cut but am thinking of letting it grow for a bit and see what I feel like!

I'm exactly the same, dark hair/eyebrows and olive skin. I can imagine being blonde and I really hate dying it every three weeks!!

I've got a hair apt this week actually so I might see what the hairdresser says about it...! I'm 37 and hate having so much grey hair - I'm blaming the kids 🤣

*cant imagine

My hair is dark brown with grey through it. Stopped colouring my hair this time last year. First three or four months were difficult because I felt very self conscious, thinking everyone would be looking at my roots. After that has been fine it all blends well even though I still have a few inches of dyed hair. I like it.

Yorkshire - yours is really lovely.

Thank you😊. Its actually really white on top, that picture doesn't do it proper justice! I use a purple shampoo once a week to keep it white, my hair is on the best condition it has been for years! My skin tone is lightening as my hair gets whiter so it all kind of goes together.

@Marmelised - Great user name. My Mum used to use this word when I was a child. If I was misbehaving then she would say: "I'm going to Marmelised you." I've never read or heard the word used by anyone else.

In the spirit on this thread I'm 100% grey and I love the liberated feeling it gives me. It's taken me a year to grow into a shoulder length blunt cut bob. The front of my hair and the underneath is white while the rest is steel. I've learnt a couple of things: dyeing my hair blonde wrecked the condition of my hair and if I use any protection spray on my hair then it snaps when I brush it. I've stopped using protection spray and now my hair looks 100% better.

I went cold turkey. My hair was in a very short pixie cut at the time and all the colour was gone in two cuts. A good cut is the key.

Better pic. There's still lots of red in it, even with the (crap) brown dye on top. I'm going to try using a blue toned shampoo (Aveda maybe?) and leaving it for a month to see how I feel about it then.

I’m a dark dark brunette and last year I had had enough of 2 weekly touch ups and the fakeness of the colour . I got mine stripped & dyed a straw like blonde. Hated it and it all started snapping off so I got 10 inches chopped off & just grew it out cold turkey. Best most liberating thing ever! Now ironically people think I’ve dyed the grey bit to look trendy! Still got about 4inches left of dyed to keep trimming out then I may grow it long. Sooo interesting to see what’s under there!

I tried to do this last summer. I had gradually used lighter dyes going from a level 4/dark brown to a level 7/dark blonde. I then used a professional hair dye stripper to get to a level 9/10.

I looked absolutely ridiculous and stayed inside for 4 days until I was able to dye it again It just did not suit me at all, especially as I have black eyebrows - it was just too much of a contrast.

I'm going to dye it for a few more years and try again later. My general colouring with very dark brows, olive skin needs to tone down a bit.

I stopped dyeing years ago and just embrace the grey. I'm lucky in that I think it's going to go pure white. A relative told me that they think that it's more likely in a brunette.