Mum has gone lockdown grey...

[GreenGreenGrassofSloane]

From dark brown and if I saw her in the street I seriously would not recognise her, I can't get my head around the change. Granted, I've only seen a few pics but it's truly shocking - she's 87 years old and this is very new for all of us!

How grey can your mum have got in a few months? Hair grows on average half an inch a month. Assuming your last salon apt was Feb/March, for most of us it’s a couple of inches regrowth.

ILikeYourHairyHands mine is mid-dark brown with an ever increasing number of random greys. I don’t dye it as such as I straighten it and don’t want to dry it out too much, but I occasionally do a 4-6 wash colour.

They are in full glory at the moment. Funnily enough I feel more confident about the hair around my temples which is more grey but I think it is because of the texture and the colour is more eavenly blended. The hair three is fine and soft.

The greys along my parting are really thick, course and neither curly nor straight. They just stick up no matter how long they get

That was a particularly good hair day for me! It's about 25% grey. Salt and pepper with some streaks developing at the front. Transitioned from dye about 5 years ago because it just looked too harsh on me and I CBA with highlights and too fair skinned for them to really work, anyhow.

This is it down IHate, I did find once I stopped messing around with it the texture improved massively.

The yellow is just the lamp-light bouncing off.

It is gorgeous. Such a shame that hair like yours isn’t as prevalent in the media. I think having something natural to aspire to would be quite freeing to women.

I'm going for the lockdown grombre too. I'm just so sick of the dying cycle. I'm using vosene to strip some of the dye out so it doesn't look as harsh as it did at the beginning. I'm actually quite exciting about embracing the real me. I've come a long way in my personal life in the last few years and this feels part of the journey.

I don't really understand why it's not, I certainly don't feel any less attractive than when it was dark. I think so much of women being allowed to feel beautiful is tied into youth. The idea that a woman could be 47, grey haired and find herself beautiful is quite threatening maybe. Because a woman owning how she looks and being confident doesn't fit the narrative that we're sold, that we're never quite good enough.

There's probably a PhD in there somewhere...

@SpokeTooSoon How grey can your mum have got in a few months? Hair grows on average half an inch a month. Assuming your last salon apt was Feb/March, for most of us it’s a couple of inches regrowth. 😂 so I’ve made it up? Timeline if you need it!
Mum fell in January, broke her arm went into a care home as she couldn’t walk without her arm for support.
I live overseas - saw her in the care home at half term in Feb with a bit of a regrow then, nothing unusual. She was released from the care home on the first day of lockdown. I have not seen a photo of her since. She has very short hair, the ends of her hair are faded brassy blond and grey is the dominant shade. Who knows when she last saw a hairdresser - before Christmas? I won’t ask, I’m guessing she might find that enquiry about her hair a bit unnecessary and upsetting. When I speak to her I’ll tell her she looks great and healthy (and she does) ...it’s just not recognising my mum is very unsettling.

Thanks Hairy, me and you are like the unofficial cheerleaders for grey hair on MN .
I'm v jealous of your length. I've had a pixie for years but have decided to try to grow it.

I'm growing mine out. Have been since last November. Plan was to keep it short and well maintained whilst growing it out so it looks like a work in progress rather than the unkempt look but that's gone with CV. Looking forward to getting it tidied up now! I've got an amazing white streak at the front though.

I'm 44.

I only have a very small percentage of grey at the moment, salons being closed has really been my only chance to see how much (or little) grey I have. I'll keep dying it while the greys are in such minority, but as soon as I have grey or white like the photos up thread I plan to embrace it. I think it looks fantastic.

So glad I have seen this thread! I had dark brown hair and have been having it coloured for years, but have been tiring of the root touch ups for some while.

Since lockdown I’ve only touched up my “Mallen streak” a little bit to avoid frightening people on Teams calls, and I quite like the salt and pepper inch of hair now. It’s probably 50/50, but fairly white at the front.

My hairdresser (I have been going to the same one since my late teens) is going to put up a fight 😁, but I’m going to let her experiment in other ways. I am aware that my yearning for purple hair is a) insane with green/hazel eyes and b) clearly a mid life crisis thing.

I'm using vosene to strip some of the dye out

Tell me more... will Vosene plus purple shampoo still avoid the yellow?

Great post I love your hairy hands

Ps my mum complains about my hair when too grey. Which is a shame. But I appreciate her being honest too.

I am quite grey now at 58, I have a small number of highlights too, but obviously these are not happening much in lockdown.

I really liked “going grey” overall. Suited my skin tone. Less faff.

I'm grey. I posted a while ago as i was bored and felt frumpy. Turns out it was the cut.

Now look amazing.

You'll have to take my word for it.

I'm intrigued to know how grey i'll go and when, I had the odd grey hair at 30 but don't really have many more at 40. I'm far too lazy to dye my hair so I'm glad that embracing the grey is becoming more of a thing

Funny how people's mother's hate them being grey, my mum has less grey than me (she was a redhead and her hair just turned brown with age) and loves to lord it over me (*lighthearted, she knows i don't give a shit!)

I'm growing out my dye too. I have three months' regrowth, coming through at about 20% grey, mixed with 80% dark brown. The rest of my hair (shoulder length bob, so about 10 inches) has a reddish brown permanent dye, so I'm expecting 'the orange' to make an appearance over the summer.

To be honest, I don't give a fuck. I don't care what it looks like, I'm going to tie it back and get a short bob in about 12 months.

My sister will hate it when I'm fully natural. She dyes hers a strong red and sadly it looks a bit orangey and doesn't suit her after a few washes. Plus her reddish brown with lots of white streaks in really show up. But she thinks she cant carry off going lighter with her skin tone. Mum was 70 when she finally stopped dying it dark brown. It was a shock as she is pure white, but I like it now. And it suits her.

Going lighter first was the best choice I made. Thanks to the poster who said they liked it and the poster who said the merge of the grey from the blonde doesn't really show. That was my hope!
It's in great condition and not coarse at all, which I was worried it would be.

I was apparently the talk of the local park when I decided to go blonde from a mid brown...all my class gossiping about it. And one boy even asked his mum of I was still the same teacher. So I wonder what they will make of it when I'm back and grey!

My favourite ever moment was when one of my y4s stood next to me when I was sitting and the very sweet girl said "Oh, Mrs Maxwelll, your hair is twinkling!"

Here’s mine. I stopped dyeing it 2 years ago, and I love it! I’m 55.

I am 57 and I grew out my highlights a few years back. It turns out my natural colour colour - sort of blond/grey is much nicer. I will go take a pic.

It is great not having to get it coloured all the time.

@ILikeyourHairyHands

There's nothing wrong with grey, I've been grey for years and I always post a photo on these threads. So much negativity about grey. Grey is great.

I hate the idea that women that go grey 'don't make an effort', such a negative view of the world. What's wrong with being oneself?

You look beautiful in the photo but you can't see much of your hair.