How did you transition to grey hair

[justsayso]

Over lockdown I'd grown out my hair dye and had gotten more comfortable with my grey hair. It's quite noticeable, all around the front of my head and is white with salt and pepper areas.
Went to the hairdresser 6 weeks ago for full highlights and colour, and now I'm back to square one again with a ridiculous inch of regrowth. Of course I anticipated this but am wanting really to embrace my grey hair and stop trying to live a lie!
So my question is this, did anyone go cold turkey with the dye or did you get a sort of transition colour to blend them through.
I'm only 34 so need to get used to my grey hair, if I get it right I think it could be a 'look' - fierce silver fox vibe maybe??

[quote ChrisOnTheBeach]@justsayso

Ooooh, no, I would never do it at 34! Far too young to be grey!

Maybe re-think it in 25 years![/quote]
If your hair is turning grey at the age of 34, then you're not too young to be grey.

Do you regret the effort you went through in covid, by having it dyed recently.

I'm always surprised so many people go cold Turkey. It may work for some whose hair has gone very very grey and grows quickly, but what about for those it doesn't?

What about a grey dye. Do you fancy that?

I was a dark brunette and chose balyage and went blonder, which blended in the greys nicely.
A couple of years later mine is a shoulder length blonde and grey combo.
I like it.

I haven't dyed my hair for about thirty years.
My hair is brunette, naturally, but has a hint of salt and pepper. I'm late 50s.
I'm a strong believer of not dying/chemically altering your hair. ( briefly flirted with it in late teens, early twenties) as it kills your follicles hence , grey hair.
Still predominantly brunette.

48 yrs old. Been going grey at the front for several years. I’m dark blonde, but have dyed it lighter for years. When I stopped I just told myself it looked blonder (it didn’t). Getting it cut regularly helps tolerate the increasing greyZm.

So do you think dyeing makes your hair grey in the first place?

At 37 I went from shoulder length brunette hair to an ash blonde pixie cut, which i grew out into a grey bob. My hair is about 90% grey

I've been saying for years about going grey and that I want to embrace it, but I've never had the balls to do it. After reading this thread I'm going to go for it. Currently I'm a very dark brown after having to cover up my dodgy purple lockdown hair (it looked shite).

I wish I decided to go for it back in March/April 2020. Its too late to just grow it out now. I can't afford proper hairdresser appointments with dye etc so do it myself. So how? Should I dye it lighter and lighter each time? Should I do the semi permanent idea? ooh decisions decisions.

I'm the sort of person who is happy to just change overnight rather do it all gradually, but since my hair is so dark I don't think that is an option for me. Shame really I was blonde before lockdown and I dyed it purple.

I've used lockdown as my cold turkey - since last March I've had it trimmed once (by my dd1) and it had got to past my shoulders, half-dyed and half-natural.

First thing I noticed was that my actual brown hair is much darker than the colour I've been dyeing it for years. Secondly, I don't have as much grey as I thought, it's not quite 50:50 and I'm 50.

So yesterday I went to the hairdresser, a new one as mine shut down over COVID. He cut out all my dyed hair so I now have a short Bob with quite a lot of bounce as he cut in layers to make my curls show up. It's got rid of the frizzy ends and the tired mid-brown and I'm delighted.

With the new cut I honestly look at least 5-6 years younger, rather than old with the grey being more prominent.

I was surprised that nobody had come on to tell us they were too young to go grey yet. I see it didn't last.
Wonder how long it will be until we're told it's soooo aging

Cut it short (having had it very long!) and just let it grow. I’m lucky: I have transitioned from a rather fat-faced young adulthood to reveal, in my 40s, cheekbones and a decent facial bone structure - which REALLY helps.

Oh, and a fantastic hairdresser, whose suggestions for shaping my short hair I really take on board.

I’m 37, I’ve been getting my hair dyed an ashy silver blonde to blend in the greys at my roots. It’s worked quite well for the past 2 years. I only need it done once every 5/6 months and I keep it looking fresh with a good purple shampoo.

My mum got hers to a platinum blonde and then went the silver dye route until her real hair took over. Everyone comments on her natural grey hair now.

I spotted it starting and stopped colouring. Currently I only have one noticeable streak but there are others starting to creep in. I love them actually, and am happy to welcome going grey. Am 42

^I was surprised that nobody had come on to tell us they were too young to go grey yet. I see it didn't last.
Wonder how long it will be until we're told it's soooo aging^

Same @Cocolapew

I've been given more compliments on my badger streak than I ever had on numerous expensive coloured looks. I'm 42.
I've also had compliments on my skin, which was a shock tbh!

The only thing I would say is that I do think I need to start looking after my eyebrows better (they're v bushy and I tend to be v slack at plucking them). I have noticed that I am naturally wanting my face to look better than I've previously cared about!

The only thing I would say is that I do think I need to start looking after my eyebrows better (they're v bushy and I tend to be v slack at plucking them). I have noticed that I am naturally wanting my face to look better than I've previously cared about

My eyebrows had also gone grey so I had them very discretely micro bladed and they really do just look as if I’ve pencilled them in a bit. I also had a very thin line of eyeliner micro bladed on and it just makes me eye stand out a bit more. In fact it’s so thin you really do have to look to see it but it does make a difference.

My eyebrows are still mostly black, I pluck out the white ones .
I have noticed I don't think I need to wear as much makeup though. I'm not sure if that's a grey hair thing or getting older thing.

Started going grey in 20s
I don't like going to the hairdressers
I just didn't dye it
It has never stopped me doing anything
Most of it is white now

I think that it is odd to see quite a few couples, where the male has white hair & the females hair is clearly dyed

People have different priorities

@EvilEdna1

I had my hair cut into a short pixie when I stopped by getting it dyed. That was nearly 2 years ago. It's less grey than I thought I would be but I am happy I did it.

Same here, I used to have reddish/blonde highlights BC but it now has taken on a silverish look that I quite like.

Have you considered highlights/lowlights rather than cold turkey? Eg ash blonde mixed with the grey could soften a ‘fierce silver fox’ look as could some darker streaks.

I think grey hair really suits some women, but on others it ages them 20 years. Maybe it’s to do with grooming and hair texture/type. Eg frizzy grey with a yellowish tone is very different to shiny swishy grey cut in a flattering style?

Have you tried out any apps to see how you’d look totally grey?

Personally I wouldn’t want to go full grey in my early 30s. I’m in my late 30s and have a few greys, but I get highlights and balayage so they blend in rather than a visible regrowth.

@Gingernaut

If you're using permanent dye, start using a semi permanent dye.

As your greys grow out and are cut away, the permanent dye goes with it.

When you're confident all the permanent dye is cut away, start to lessen the semi permanent dye, allowing it to fade out.

At some point, you'll eventually be grey.

I would caution against this I’m afraid, I used a semi perm hair colour (box dye, I forget which one but something like nice and easy) and it permanetly changed my hair colour, wasn’t semi perm at all and didn’t wash out even though the box said it would wash out after 24 washes.

Fortunately, I have always been comfortable with a very short (approaching cropped) pixi cut. I noticed that my regrowth was universally white on my parting and around my hairline at the front. I mentioned going natural a couple of times over a year to my hairdresser. She looked horrified and said “don't do it” (she’s become a friend over the years, so it wasn’t due to loss of re-colouring money). Eventually, I decided to go for it no matter what. I went into the salon with my shoulder length hair and grey regrowth and set “cut it all off into a very short pixi cut. I’m growing in the grey”. Everyone loved it (including aforementioned hairdresser) when it was done. It’s the easiest and fastest way to do it!

I'm really annoyed with myself that despite coping really well with the transition during our lockdowns ... and considering the improvement in condition, the money saved and the time saved ... as soon as they opened I was one of the first queuing up for bleach ! The weird thing is I have it toned silver lol my own natural is not that attractive or tidy but I still regret it should have kept going and as I have a really short pixie it wouldn't have taken much longer

Shaved my hair down to a no 3.

I have been going grey albeit slowly since my mid-20s. I have a double process colour, 3-4 times a year.

I had my hair coloured and cut at the hairdressers about 10 days before the first lockdown started. I did not colour my hair until mid-April this year. During the 13 months of not visiting my hairdressers, the grey really started to come in at my temples although not so much in the section in the middle. By the time I returned to my hairdressers, my hair was about 5-6 inches of virgin hair with heavy streaks of salt and pepper, white at both temples although the middle of my forehead remained dark.

My colourist added a few very ash blonde baby lights in the middle section and left the temples, she did not touch my roots either. My stylist chopped around 6-7 inches off the length which was mostly faded/brassy colour, and the remaining inch or so was coloured to match my virgin colour. It looks so much better now. The grey looks far less noticeable now the faded ends are gone. When my hair is pulled off my face, you can see the grey and it looks wonderful. When my hair is down, you just notice a little salt and pepper.

Am actually due back at the hairdressers today to thread a little more ash/white blonde through the front section. Then I will leave it for another six months to see how things look.