When will I feel right to let my grey grow through?

[Tolkienista]

I'm 65.....66 in August.
I've got great hair, thick and so easy to manage........ literally wash and go, don't even need to blow dry it.
However, like many women in their 60s, I prefer to have it professionally coloured at a hair salon. I do eke it out, today's colour was after 12 weeks, I do my own root touch ups at home.

Here's the thing.I washed my hair last night to get rid of all the touch up colour, hair products etc and studied the grey around my face and hairline.....it honestly wasn't doing it for me hated looking at it and how it made me feel, could not see myself with that grey all over my head.

Fast forward to 2 o'clock today.and I sprang out of the hairdressers like a new woman, my hair freshly cut & coloured ready to face the world.
Am I deluding myself with hiding behind coloured hair in my 60s, or should I just accept my real hair colour and keep it real?

I'd love to hear others thoughts.

Natural grey is in style at the moment, I see many younger women dying their hair silver/grey. I personally think non grey hair on a more mature woman looks unnatural and I get the impression they feel insecure about ageing however that's only my opinion and shouldn't make any difference to how any other person views themselves or how they feel.

Do whatever makes you happy, if dying it is the look you like and feel confident with, continue with it

Another suggestion, try growing it out for a bit, see what you think and if you hate it, dye it again, hair is something we can change daily depending on how we feel

@ILikePistachios i think you make a really valid point and hopefully in the next few years I'll make the leap (with the help of my hairdresser, to do it gradually) and embrace my natural hair colour.
Thanks for your message.

Also try one of the online tools to recolour your hair grey. Also if you have lovely thick hair, think about a dramatic cut - updated Miranda Priestley equivalent.

I'm incredibly lazy so just never started dyeing again post-chemo, and I rather like it.

Unpopular opinion on here, but I don’t think anyone looks better with grey hair. I’m not talking Joan Collins level of darkness, but why not dye it if it makes you feel good.

My neighbour is 72 and completely gorgeous. She had her hair dyed a mid, glossy brown and she looks fabulous. I have a friend (51) who has gone grey and it looks awful.

“Am I deluding myself?”
If you are, I am too and intend to do so for the foreseeable.

I don't want to go grey either. Each to their own. It's fashionable at the moment, but it's just not for me.

My mum still colours her hair medium brown at 68. She looks great. During covid she didn't bother and she looked dramatically older and she was miserable. So back to colouring it she went. Do what makes you feel happiest OP🙂

I saw something on Instagram (can’t remember the name sorry!) of a lady who does grey blending and it all looked amazing , some had gone blonder and others totally grey and there were even some darker hair examples and it looked really good . Maybe it’s something your hairdresser could do ?

I'm 61 and I am so lucky to have no grey yet but I've no intention of going au natural ever!!

I love the look of light silver grey. Especially with blue eyes. I think if I ever go reall grey I might get ‘grey’ highlights. I think it would blend in better with any darker roots. Not sure if this is a thing though.

I dont think there is anything wrong with colouring your hair, no matter how old you are.
Just so long as you choose a realistic colour! I know someone in their 70s who dyes their hair black....it looks horrible and doesnt fool anyone!

I am a low grooming effort level person by nature.
Not interested in artificial methods to try to be something you're not at all.
I still think a good colour looks better than grey 99% of the time though.
I haven't worked out if it is just internalised ageism, or if it is a valid perception.

I am super grateful I'm not grey yet (48), cos even though I think I would not want to be grey I would detest the necessary maintenance with a passion - would be really caught in a dilemma there!

I expect I'll have to suck it up with all the other annoying things about age eventually though.

Thank you everyone for your replies.
I'm always guided by my excellent hairdresser, my colour does suit me and it's much lighter than my natural dark brown colour that I had in my 20's and 30's......I totally agree really dark hair on someone my age would make me washed out.

Incidentally, my mother stopped colouring her hair when she reached 90! She's now 95.

I'm in my late 50s. Friends of the same age - some have gone grey, others still colour and others have gone for light highlights.

Of the 3 I think those with the lightened hair look the youngest. Probably because hair that's too dark can really drain your face as you age. And grey hair, unless it's incredibly stylish, just makes you invisible.

Keep colouring it! There's no rules saying you have to do anything.
You are not delusional, keep on colouring and feeling fantastic

See I'm exactly the opposite! Same age also no grey. But I'm finding no one believes it's natural. I'll definitely be going grey when it happens. Quite looking forward to a bit of grey

This is me today.......post colour.

I'm 63 with longish mousey coloured hair, I had light blonde highlights since my early twenties, slowly been having less and less over the last ten years, and haven't had salon highlights since lockdown, I decided to grow them out slowly by putting a few in myself along the top parting and some in the back every now and then, I only over the last year noticed a few silvers strands, I'm looking forward to much more coming through so I can finally give up on the bleach. I do often read that darker hair when older can make you look older, but I think if it's your natural hair colour it should suit you.

Everybody I tell is just a bit envious tbh!!😃Everything else has gone to hell in a handcart so I reckon I deserve my hair lol! It's thin and poker straight which has irritated me since forever but at least it's not grey! I haven't been 'natural' since I was 19 either - I have always had blonde highlights.

And me.

Every time a friend has gone grey, it has aged them by at least 10 years. Honestly, none of them look better or "rock the silver". They just look washed out.

I'm mid fifties and nowhere near ready yet.

I think you should definitely keep dyeing your hair if it gives you that level of happiness and confidence.

I'm 57 and allowed my natural grey to grow through about 4 years ago. First greys appeared in my naturally black hair in my late teens😬 I don't look 'washed out' or older or any of the other shit people come off with. I look like a 57 year old woman and I'm happy with that. My friend is a year younger than me and naturally ginger. She has her greys covered with red dye and looks blooming fabulous. Honestly, whatever floats your boat!

Your pic doesn’t show what your hair looks like against your skin tone etc so it’s pointless.

I’m sure it looks lovely, just saying!

I think you just do what you want! I am 45 and a lot of my hair is now grey and 2.5 years ago I decided to grow all the colour out as I was just sick of trying to cover the grey at that point. I currently have all natural hair which is very grey at the front and brown at the back. Honestly right now I don't really care - I have a very messy physical job and look a state most of the time and am happy with that. I think at some point I'll do something fun with it (like go purple) but for now I am happy saving the money and hassle. Do I look older than my friends? Maybe but that really doesn't bother me. If you want to look younger or you don't feel happy seeing grey hair when you look in the mirror then keep dying it.

I’ve had grey hair for 20 years now and I regret stopping colouring when I did. I wish I’d coloured it longer as I’m awfully tired of grey hair after 20 years. Unfortunately, its grown to be quite thin and brittle and I can’t resume colouring it now because it would damage my hair further.

I think the grey hair movement is a bit overhyped. Some women have stunning thick grey hair. I’m not one of them.

Also want to add that when looking at grey roots on coloured hair, the grey never looks good. When it grows out it can look much better.

IMO it's not just about the grey, but the hairstyle. Not wishing to be rude op, but I think your hairstyle in grey would be much more ageing. I think some cuts can suit grey very well - there is/was a poster on here (Cocolepew maybe?) who had a great pixie cut which looked fantastic. My hair is very long and I'm starting to go grey (I'm 50) and under no illusions that unless I tame the frizz I'm going to look witchy when it's all grey. I don't and won't colour it, so the decision for me will be how to cut/style it so it works.