Join the grey transition

[Newmum738]

After many years of dying my hair, I've decided to grow out the bleach and embrace my natural grey. I'm expecting it to be a long and difficult journey. I'm already feeling rubbish about mid-life so going grey seems counterintuitive but I think I need to be comfortable with my real self and hopefully that will be empowering. Many women are making the same decision and look fabulous so I'm looking to see if anyone wants to share this journey with me. Either join me or feel free to offer moral support or encouragement!

@Newmum738 You have a lovely colour there... natural highlights.

I started going grey at 40 ish, my DD who dyes her hair regularly started going grey at the temples and the front at 25 or even earlier. She will be dyeing her hair for a long time I think.

And there's my best friend who is 65 with wonderful auburn hair and no grey. Well.... having said that, she spotted one grey hair the other day and had a fit... yeah, well... welcome to my world! People don't believe she doesn't dye her hair.

Yes I know, the ancient Egyptians used hair dye etc. But the way it's gone mainstream is recent, if only because the techniques are more far sophisticated now than even a generation ago. I'm a little that pointing this out and ok, having a laugh in the process = putting pressure on anyone but just in case there is any doubt, your hair your choice is my general approach.

In general I think women who have gone grey look better than they did before.

My friend who has always been quite a golden blonde but wished for ash, now has pretty much the colour she's always wanted.

Just by letting her silver highlights through instead of paying for blonde ones. And it suits her so much better.

A woman in the office has always been quite blocky dark brown but when she let it grow out she had the most beautiful white silver under there.

I'm hoping for gunmetal myself

I had short hair when I decided to go grey about 4 years ago, so I shaved it to a number 2 and just started growing it in.
It was still dark at the top, back and sides but they have lightened over the years.
Everyone ones hair looks lovely.

I stopped dyeing at 43, (4 years ago), due to allergy to dyes. It’s the best thing I ever did! I did have some wobbles along the way but I’m happy now.

This is mine . I'm 58 now but grew it out from almost black when I was 49 . It's lightened up a lot in those 9 years . Sometimes I add a blue streak if I feel meh which is usually in the winter . I love my silver hair .

@GreyRooted this looks gorgeous!

@Vicliz24 so beautiful

@GreyRooted @Vicliz24 @Cocolapew and everyone else - you all look lovely. No need to fear the grey with you lot as inspo!

@faffadoodledo and @Newmum738 thank you! That’s so kind!

I'm sorry I am going against the grain. I have never seen anyone who suits grey hair unless they are a certain age.
Yes @Silverparting looks amazing but the grey hair makes her look older than 49.
If you are happy to look older then that's fine.

But that IS what 49 looks like! We’ve been conditioned to equate grey hair with “old”. I love that people are feeling like they can give up pretending. The more it is normalised, the less it will be equated with “old”. I looked at photographs and blogs of transitioned and transitioning women for about a year before I gave up the dye. At first I thought I could never do it and they DID look older to me. But gradually I started to see more and more people who looked like me, my age and younger, ditching the dye and looking great for it….certainly no worse than they did with poor dye jobs beforehand. Normalisation will take time…but I do think it will happen. COVID was a big instigator. Cost of living crisis is too.

I have never seen anyone who suits grey hair unless they are a certain age

What is the 'certain age'?

I'm probably it

I think those who have shared photos look beautiful. Younger women are choosing to colour their hair grey and they look fab. The more we do it, the more perceptions will change.

I totally agree. I don’t think I look older or younger than my age, I just am my age. Mind if I did look older, it would be ‘tough’ because there’s nothing I can do.

As it happens, I’ve had loads of compliments since being fully grey. I never got them when as much I was brown haired. I remember walking in a small supermarket one day last year and I thought a woman who worked there was looking at me. Anyway, by the time I’d got to the parcel collection point at the back of the store, her colleague told me that her and the other lady had been saying over the radio how lovely my hair was!! I was so chuffed as it was a period where I was a bit wobbly about it all.

As much as I didn’t really have a choice, I’ve found it so freeing. I was getting my roots done once every 3 weeks and it was costly and time consuming. Now, I get a regular cut and blow dry and off I go!

I’m so jealous of the wonderful looking hair ladies!!

During lockdown the grey arrived - at the time I was embracing it ….2 years later I asked the hairdresser to colour it. I have long wavy hair - all I ended up with was very curly random grey hairs that grew up ( no straighter could tame it) and all around my face hairline was very grey.

I didn’t rock it and it aged me :( especially the fact I was so grey around my face :(

One day I will hopefully embrace, it does seem to be going more of a white colour around my temples - hopefully it will all go that colour rather than the drab curly grey!!

As it happens, I’ve had loads of compliments since being fully grey. I never got them when as much I was brown haired

Ditto. No one ever ever complimented me on my hair until I went grey. Now I do get compliments and people asking me if I have highlights! Nope, it's just me and my grey hair!

I’m 33 and have a fair few greys I plan to do nothing about. They’re so much coarser so don’t know what to do about that and dread to think what a whole head of them will be like?? When grey looks good it looks really good, though.

I was growing mine, although much to DiL's chagrin I'm nearly 60 and have about 10% grey. At the moment though it's purple