Grey hair regret

[raffle]

I've been growing out my grey...only now I don't think I like it! I'm so very very reluctant to go back to dying it dark brown (it literally needs roots doing every fortnight)

So, could I dye the whole lot a dark blonde? Obviously this wouldn't show on the remaining dark bits, but would it cover the white parts?

I'm a bit sad to be thinking about doing this as I've grown out over half of my bra-band level hair, but I just can't get used to it!

Get your colours done ( house of colour) and get thee to a good makeup counter. Maybe start with benefit for the brows?
I got amazing advice from a Dior makeup lady that I found unexpected.

Leave your lovely hair alone!

Well I think OPs hair looks great in the photos (and you look in your 40s, not 60s). I’m a similar age and my brunette hair is going grey, not to this extent yet but I have a lot of grey at my temples and maybe 25% everywhere else. I hope my hair is a simple grey to the OP when it becomes more obvious. I stopped dying my hair six months ago.

People think it’s just a case of letting the grey grow out, but I see very few people with grey hair that aren’t aged by it. It needs to be the right shade, a good cut and with considered clothing otherwise it just looks frumpy. Now and again you see someone who gets it right but they are few and far between. I think having a colour often makes hair shinier as grey hair can look quite fragile. I know I’ll get a load of people telling me that they look great with grey hair and it’s really liberating to embrace it.

Are you using shampoo specifically for grey hair? Made a huge difference to mine. Provoke shampoo is good. https://provoke.co.uk/products/?hair-colour=silver

I think it looks great OP! Maybe it'll just take a bit of getting used to.

Men generally seem to go grey without worrying it makes them look older or doesn't suit their skin tone.

I like it x

Join the Facebook group Silver Sisters they will lift you up on your grey journey.

khadi do natural dyes that stay in for a few weeks. Not 100 per cent coverage, but great for a bit of warmth.

I see a lot of stuff on TikTok about using demi hair dye to blend grey. Not sure how it’s different to semi permanent hair dye….is th8s just the latest word for semi? But it’s certainly not permanent.

I do sometimes wonder about sticking a crazy bright purple manic panic hair dye on my dark / grey hair and I assume the dye wouldn’t touch the brown hair but might take on the grey a bit?

I'm in a similar position. I watched a tik tok video of someone growing out their grey successfully. She only dyed a side parting. She used that parting until all the greys grew out, then flipped it over to the centre parting! I'm thinking of doing that too!

I started going grey at 17! At 23 I decided to stop dying it, went to a new hairdresser and she asked me how old I was because 'you have a lot of grey'. Immediately went out to buy a box of L'Oreal and haven't stopped.
Frankly, the only people I know who successfully rocked the grey look had super sharp haircuts and were very stylish - they either went down the rock chick look or super tailored. Otherwise it's just aging (the 60s comment above). My MIL looked great with her white bob but she was well into her 70s when I met her (and slim with great clothes - like Jane Fonda in Gracie and Frankie). Everyone else just looks a decade older than their years.

I truly love to see hair silvering naturally. To me it is magical and I actually have to stop myself from staring. I find the different grey patterns fascinating. Yours is lovely Op, a very beautiful scattering.

But I also hear you, as when I first grew mine out about the same time as you, I could not get used to my reflection, it was always a bit of a shock to me. Photos even worse. And my grey pattern is weird - I thought I would be completely grey, but stubbornly just the front, so I am two tone. When I wear it down and blow dried out, it works, but I can so rarely be bothered. Through laziness, indecision and a terror of spending too long in the hairdressers I haven't changed it, but the good news is, six years on, I am now completely used to it 😂. Although I do very much feel the odd one out when out with my peers and weirdly I get this vibe that I am letting the side down, but that might be my own insecurity.

I am watching this thread with interest though. My holy grail would be to find a rinse which just really hydrates my grey, making it shiny and taming it a bit. Moroccan oil tends to stain it. Serum seems to only have very short effect.

Mine is a lot like yours and I'm not terribly keen on it either.
I've fairly recently gone to a new hairdresser and it's been great. They've taken out the warmer tones of blonde I was having and put all cold toned blond and light/dark brown in. It's brought it all together, doesn't hide the water grey but looks much more stylish. It's been cut much shorter which works well with the colour.

I have (had!) very dark hair and also got sick of doing the roots every 3 weeks. I've had blonde highlights at the salon and I do still do the roots, probably monthly, but I choose a dark blonde colour instead of dark brown and I think it looks better- yes I still have greys at the temples etc but they don't show up nearly as much, the blonde diffuses it and you don't get that horrible 'stripe'. I use clairol roots touch up for in between hairdressers (only get blonde done 2 x a year).
Go for it with a blonde temporary colour and see how you feel.
PS I think the grey looks great in your hair!

Yes definitely! Maybe pop in when you make your appointment and say you’d like to have a chat first so you can go away and think about the options before your appointment. Definitely go to a colourist rather than trying to do something at home with a box….

@dontcryformeargentina has given good advice. Ditch the dark brown and go for something like that pic. Forget all the crap about warm/cool. Go with that and if it needs a tweak you can do that later.

Once you’ve got that sorted and settled, go back to box dyes but go for a lighter brown.

IMO, grey suits very few people (unless they’re very old). It looks draining, ageing and sucks the colour out of your skin.

I love it too.

I use to have dyed hair red and brown though not at the same time. I didn't care about going grey but didn't want to keep colouring it so I went blonde with the idea it was less noticeable. My friend told me off so I have been dyeing it lighter blonde. There are so many different shades of grey which do make a difference.

From what I can see of it I think it looks lovely but it’s what you want that matters. I’d love to have silvery hair, I think it can look stunning but my mum is nearly ninety and still not grey so it’ll probably not happen.

Lots of opinions here (and I've stolen some ideas for myself!)

I ditched the dye at about 37 years old. Luckily my face still looked youthful enough to carry it off. My grey is mostly at the front and comes through in stripes, so one friend nn me Badger, which I think is hilarious!

Now I'm 46 and looking older and more tired (long term health issues) but apart from purple shampoo once a week I don't do much to it. A cut every six months (I like my hair long) and I protect it with heat defence before using a dryer or tongs but that's it. My hairdresser thinks it's in great shape and that's good enough for me.

My mum has a lot more grey than me and has a toner put in every couple of months which really makes her hair shine.

We either like things or we don't. Mu mum and I both had dark brown air. When her's went white she went blond. I'd always dyed my hair auburn but wanted to be natural for my 40th so stopped, and I love my natural hair colour now.

My hair is going grey though sometimes I look in the mirror and think "Oh still a good % of brown" other times I see a photo and I'm 90% grey !

I really don't want to go back into dye or henna . Personally I think blonde would look so false on me . I have quite Celtic colouring .

Those purple dyes are good to brighten then condition well .
I had massive hair loss a couple of years ago and it has grown back (thankfully) but very wavy . The grey hairs are coarser but with intensive conditioner I embrace the grey !

It looks beautiful! Why don't you get some white/ blonde balayage highlights in it? Then you won't need them so often.

That’s a beautiful colour choice. Love it

Oooh I like that a lot too!

I am the same colouring as you OP, and this is the answer. Step away from the grey clothes, go for brighter colours with some depth, silver jewellery - and rid yourself of the tyranny of bloody two week root touch-ups!