Anyone using lockdown as an excuse to grow out their grey?

[SelfIsolatingBeforeItWasCool]

I have shoulder length dyed dark brown hair which is naturally 100% silver underneath - I know this because every couple of years I start to grow it out, then chicken out after a couple of months. Last time was just before Christmas - I caved in partially because I wanted to look decent over Christmas but also because I had a few events this spring which I didn't want to look skunky for. Of course now I'm kicking myself because everything's been cancelled anyway!

I also seem to have suddenly become allergic to absolutely everything I put on my face. I think it might be the SPF in my moisturiser/foundation because plain Nivea doesn't hurt, everything else leaves my face burning and red for days after. I'm concerned that as it's come on so suddenly, hair dye might also cause a reaction and I know how serious they can be.

I haven't dyed for 2 months and honestly, I'm not sure I'll bother again. One reason I usually cave in is that there's always something coming up I want to look nice for - wedding, party, etc - not an issue for months, so no temptation. Only fly in the ointment is DH who really doesn't like the idea of me being grey. I'm 47 and he's 36 so I can sort of understand it on one hand, on the other I think he's being silly - after all, he's going grey and I have absolutely no desire to see him dye it, which he has no desire to do anyway!

Anyone else considering doing this?

Noeuf
I’m 51 and have barely any grey. It’s not a freak of nature (thanks), just luck

In regard to comments about friends claiming not to have greys nearing 50, perhaps because they continue to dye it they aren't aware of how grey they are, especially if it's not 100% grey but more 25% or even 50% and they have a naturally lighter hair base colour (as opposed to dark brown for example which would show grey up far more obviously than dark blonde).

But, I am 47 with medium brown hair and I have probably 5 grey hairs which you'd have to look hard to find (I have to look hard to find them!) I know because I don't dye my hair at all. People don't believe my hair colour is natural because they expect it to be grey due to my age. So it's perfectly possible to not have grey hair when you're nearing your 50s.

@Noeuf... what are you on about? I’m 58. No grey yet. As in, NONE.

@noeuf I know what you’re saying. Of course some women have very few greys in their late 40s/50s as pp are pointing out, but most people do. When I’m at work events I often look around to see how many men v how many women have grey hair and it’s almost always most vs hardly any. Most people have substantial amounts of grey by their late 40s. I’m 44 and allowing my hair to grow through and it’s mostly grey. I’m not sure I’ll stick with it as I feel really self-conscious and my hair is long so it’ll take ages to grow out - but I’m so sick of the constant dying.

I am 51 and just have a few great hairs around my temple - not enough for anyone to notice (probably 5 in each side), and the odd one throughout.

My mum is 78 and not yet fully grey - salt and pepper now.

I’m 49 and until the last 18 months I had very few white hairs. I now have quite a few at my temples and scattered along my hairline but I’m still overwhelmingly mouse. I have blonde highlights and my roots look dark, not grey. On my maternal side we take ages to go grey, if my natural colour was more attractive I’d be pleased to be hanging on to it, but I’d actually prefer a proper silvery white head of hair.

My hairdresser says there is enormous variation in the age people go grey, she has a 26 year old client who is completely grey, and clients older than me with only a few white threads. DH was very dark brown in his mid forties, 50/50 at 50,- and now at 58 he is totally silver.
I toyed with peroxiding my hair when we first went into lockdown and dying it a soft pink, but the root maintenance would be massive.

Freshing it was Vit C tablets (about 30) powdered in the Ninja Bullet , some dandruff shampoo . Left it on damp hair about 2 hours .

It didn't leave my hair too dry , I put an hair mask on overnight .

There's a photo of a colour removal I did a couple of years ago ( on the Beauty Hoarder thread) when I took the plum/brown semi permanent colour back to brown.
Photos are 100% real.

I wouldn't do the Vit C too often, it has done enough of a colour lift this time and my hair is longer now so more fragile .

Thank you @70isaLimitNotaTarget.

I will check out that thread, I'm really concerned that I might end up with hair like straw. Some days I contemplate shaving the whole lot off. Some days I think about just being patient, but I don't know if I have the resolve for that. Then I wonder if there's some miracle product out there.

Like most though, for the moment, I am sticking with the grey roots through lockdown as I'm curious to see my natural colour after all these years.

I went blond/lighter last summer especially to do this and i am really going for it in lock down.
I have curly hair. I love the blond but i am unsure about the grey its very ageing, severe and scares me a little especially when wet. But the hair is so soft and i am loving not dying it.

No grey, I'm 49.
My mum didn't start greying till she was 60.
I don't dye my hair and people don't believe me.

I'm late forties with next to no grey - and I know because I don't (never have) dye my hair. One friend the same age, also doesn't dye and is still predominantly brunette. My stepfather is early 70s and has very little grey hair.

I think it's more usual than not to be pretty grey in your forties though - but Noeuf is right: so many people dye their hair they wouldn't know... I'm just thinking around my workplace now and I can't think of a single woman who doesn't have obviously dyed hair. The youngest blonde ones have subtle blond highlights or dyed versions of their own colour, the thirties ones have block coloured brown or black hair, the forty and fifty somethings have a mixture of blonde highlights or block "unnatural" colours and the sixty somethings, too. Oh, I think there's maybe one lady my age who's quite salt and pepper and wears a long plait most of the time.

Go for it, OP. What have you got to lose?

I’ll be using lockdown to grow some grey out like it or not as I’ve missed my hair appt due to lockdown!

I was naturally very dark brown but found my first grey hairs when I was about 14. I’ve been dying my hair pretty much ever since. I’m now 39, and I think I’m probably about 60-70% grey but pure white at the top front of my head.

It got to the point around 4-5 years ago that I was having to dye my hair every 4 weeks and I’d be really conscious of that badger stripe showing through. Dyes made my head sore and itchy and the dye was taking less well and fading so quickly. My hair would start to look patchy and orangey in some lights. I started getting some highlights to break it up but that didn’t really work.

So around 2-3 years ago I stopped the dark dye and started getting more and more highlights/lowlights (still not really sure what!) and I’m now blonde. I find it really weird as my self image is of a dark haired person. I hate seeing people I haven’t seen for ages as they’re always so shocked and I imagine it would be even more so if grey.

But I’ve been having less highlights and having them more spread out so that more and more of the natural colour is coming through and it’s a more ashy look. I’m still quite dark at the base of my head and my eyebrows are very dark.

I’ve probably got around 2-3 inches of undyed growth now. @justasking111 the ladies on the link you posted all look amazing. However I notice with younger people who have grown out their natural grey that they tend to either wear a lot of makeup and be quite well styled. I wear some makeup but hate lipstick and don’t wear a lot of makeup in general. I’m also a SAHM at the moment so live in quite casual clothes. So I’m worried I would just look older and dowdy if I totally grow mine out. But then I don’t love the blonde either so probably haven’t got much to lose by trying it. My family all think I should dye it dark again (parents and sisters) but they don’t understand that I can’t really due to it not taking well anymore and the regrowth.

Since I stopped using all over dye my hair is so much thicker, I think the dye must have been damaging the growth. The good thing about foils is no dye touches your skin so you don’t get weird dyed bits on your hairline or an itchy head.

I’ve been looking at ashy grey toners to tone down the blonde and help blend it all in but I haven’t a clue where to start. I do use a good purple shampoo but it doesn’t have a huge colour changing effect, it just takes the edge off the brassiness for a few days.

I really really miss my dark hair but have pretty much accepted being lighter except when I see myself in photos and can’t really compute it as me. Most of my friends from school days are blonde and it seems weird now that I’m the lightest when I was always the darkest. I feel conscious of having pics taken now.

Ive been highlighting my hair for forty years. Age 56 now and it is coming through dark mouse brown with only the odd grey.

It would be easier to disguise the roots if I was grey.

Not sure why I’m not grey as my sister is Younger than me and completely grey.

I coloured my hair for 25 years. I have always been a brunette. For the past few years I grew tired of going to the salon every 3 -4 weeks. Not to mention the expense. About 18 months ago I had my hairdresser start adding foils but not touching the regrowth. My silver / ash regrowth now reaches my jaw. I love it and get compliments from strangers.
There were many times that I wanted to throw in the towel and buy a box colour in desperation, but I am so glad I didn't.

Not everyone thinks grey is unlucky!

@SunnyUpNorth you and I sound the same. I'm late to this thread and was about to start my own to look for support in going over to grey, or probably more white as that seems to be what's coming through.
@SelfIsolatingBeforeItWasCool my DH is the same, but my adult DC are supportive. I'm in my 60th year and fed up of being a slave to my hair appointments. I work in a young industry and that has snared me to the colour, but now I don't see people because I'm WFH (and could retire soon anyway), it's a good opportunity.
I am going to refresh my wardrobe and go for brighter colours at the same time.
I have just done the Kibbe method to work out my style.
cozyrebekah.com/2020/03/23/body-type-test/
A new era awaits!

This is how mine looks now... my hairdresser has been steadily taking it blonder, so not a huge contrast, but enough to be noticeable.

I’m 54 and have hardly any grey, way less than one percent, only noticeable if you were really close. A few strands at the temples and some along my parting. I have dark brown hair, no grey roots, thick black eyebrows undyed. It must be genes as my dad is not completely grey and mum is salt and peppery. Dad had very blonde hair and mum jet black.

@Timeslikethese2020...it’s infuriating, isn’t it? I have blonde high/low lights and when my roots show, they’re mouse/flat brown. If I had my sister’s grey I’d love it. It’s very brightening for the face!

Hi there SelfIsolatingBeforeItWasCool - your hair situation sounds exactly like mine (and also your reaction to SPF issue). I'm also trying to grow out the grey during lockdown and haven't dyed since 1st March. My hair looks horrible but I'm sticking with it for now. Even if I end up going back to the dye (which i really don't want to as I'm sick of the upkeep) at least it's giving my hair a rest from the dye. I've used semi-permanent medium/dark brown dye to cover roots for about the past 5 years as I was concerned about the damage caused by permanent dye, but it doesn't cover the grey very well and ends up looking orangey soon afterwards.
So far the white looks pretty bad at the temples and crown but weirdly there's a dark brown area at the front that doesn't seem to have any grey roots. I can't see it turning out well, but I'm persevering. If I really can't stand it in a month or two I'll investigate some sort of blondish/ash highlights/lowlights.
Good luck everyone - stay strong!

I'm giving a go too. I haven't seen my natural hair colour since I was in my 20s when my fringe started to get grey hairs.

I have a lot of white but there are dark hairs too.

I've got some colour if I can't stand it but it feels quite liberating

Mine is coming through as dark grey with a few white flecks and makes me think I don’t actually like the dyed colour. The dyed is looking really coppery against the dark grey. I’ve always had semi permanent at the salon but I guess that still stays forever so I’ve a long time ahead in growing it out. I wonder if I could have dyed darker grey bits put in on the original coppery dyed bits when salons reopen. Would that be called a lowlight?
It would be great to find a specialised salon that helped you work out how to grow out grey as gracefully as possible. Sounds like we all need help.

@sunshineandlollypops is there any way you could post a pic of your hair please? I've been having "root touch up plus foils" at the hairdressers for about a year and am thinking about switching to foils only, but I'm not entirely sure what it will look like! I'm 45 and have been going grey very slowly since I was 18 - have maybe got to 50 - 60% grey.

My hair is a very light dyed blonde but the tones in it makes it look as though I've had highlights. My very roots are starting to really come through now and I did think about growing the colour out during lockdown but the grey that is coming through isn't a nice grey IMO. I'm going to leave it a bit longer but have caved in a bought a couple of the lightest blonde dyesI can in case it gets too much.

Noeuf
I don’t dye my hair. At all.
It’s still nearly 100% dark brown. 2 or 3 grey strands at the temples - barely noticeable. I’m 51.
Judging by other answers, I’m not alone.
I know plenty people go grey earlier - But some of us got lucky and didn’t.

My knees are pretty elderly, if that makes you feel better.