Has anyone embraced the salt and pepper look for your hair?

[Bluewavescrashing]

My hair is naturally mousy brown and I have blonde highlights, grown out by a couple of inches due to lockdown. I'm thinking of stopping dying it. Mid 30s, the roots are about half mousy brown and half silvery white. I'm tired of having to cover up the grey. Would it look awful to have salt and pepper hair at my age? Has anyone done this? I'm using purple shampoo which has helped a lot to lift the brassiness but I might just stop colouring now.

I have very dark hair and really didn't like the look of the grey/white hairs which I would say are about 20%.of my total colour.

I also hated having to do the roots stripe every few weeks.

I tried highlights, but they didn't cover the grey sufficiently and also were very expensive!

During the last lockdown I decided to try henna on the basis that it would give me red highlights.

I love it! It gives me lovely red highlights, my hair is really soft and shiny and it only costs about £15 a year. I colour it every few months.

Try as I might, I just could not love the grey.

However I do appreciate that this only really works for dark hair.

I'm mid growing out my very salt and pepper - its also not even, so pretty white at front and darker at the back. I'm 40s though not 30s. I do think you and I will be in more company of non-dyeing women after this lockdown though, so culturally it will be less surprising.

I think for me it's ageing on one hand and liberating (And does match my skin tone better) - and is nicer quality hair - on the other.

I'm not quite bold enough to cut the brown ends off and have a short cut for a while. Yet...!

I’m trying to post a photo of my hair and possibly failing, but here goes....

Ah it worked 💃🏻💃🏻

I stopped colouring my hair in my 40's because I got fed up of the constant grind of having to colour it very 6 weeks and only havin it look ok for 4ish weeks and spending £££s that I couldn't afford. I had quite a few cooments when I decided to embrace my natural tinsel but I just told them to mind their own, my body, my choice.

I still get comments now but for different reasons as it's right down to my bum and at the moment I can sit on it

When it starts growing in one thing a lot of people say is it's darker at the back, I think this applies to most peope, especially if you're a bit younger.
I'm white at the front and darker as it goes towards the back.
These were taken in the summer before I cut it short and you can see the different shades.
Look on Instagram for #youngandgrey for inspiration.

I stopped dying mine a few years ago except during the first lockdown in April I did small blonder stripes to frame my face - when the whole household was dying its hair. Its largely gone now.

I'm now 56. There is quite a lot of grey but it doesn't really show that much.

Have never died mine and it’s now ‘salt and pepper’.

I dislike how it looks, but would dislike the costs (time and money) and health risks of dying it regularly, and / or having noticeable ‘roots’, much more.

‘Style and beauty’ wise I focus time/energy/money first on things that are good for both my health and looks - mainly getting to and maintaining a healthy weight. Then clothes. Then would be make up in normal times, when had time/energy. If didn’t work and was wealthier hair dye MIGHT make the list!

I cut it a bit 😁 about an inch off all over. It looks OK! Some of the ends were bluish after too much purple shampoo. Luckily it grows really fast too so I think when lockdown ends I'll get a restyle but no more dye. The purple shampoo has made a huge difference to the blonde highlights-not brassy now but ashy.

I'm mid 40s and stopped dyeing in my early 40s. When my hair started to go grey I thought it was horrible, all my principles went out the window and I hennaed it for a while - which I loved and was amazing for my hair but took ages.

But when my hair was more grey, rather than 'salt and pepper' it looked a lot better - my hair is mousy and some people have even thought my grey is highlights

I don't think it's ageing either - I am the age I am, I find women walking around with full heads of brown hair in their 60s and 70s (or 80s!) ageing as it's so obviously fake.

I bought Bleach London White Heat earlier, I thought it was a toner, but it's actually a semi-permanent colour(?). Its really for bleached hair and had to be left on for half an hour.
Its made my white bits really shiny and has toned my darker bits down. It's a faff leaving it on though, I usually use ones that only need left on a few minutes. Its says it fades out in 1-3 washes.

Ooh sounds good @Cocolapew.

It might lighten up your highlights Bluewavescrashing?
Another way to brighten up grey hair is to use Head and Shoulders Classic Clean, its great. It's a pale blue (so was White Heat) so less drying than purple shampoo and doesn't stain your hair purple either.

The condition of my hair is so much better since I stopped dying it. Had to cut it shorter to cut out the dye then grew it again. Love not needing my roots done every 4 weeks.

Finally was able to add my photo

Lovely pics ladies!