What does everyone think of grey hair?

[SilverDoublet]

Over the last 2 years I grew out my hair, it's quite grey but I just couldn't handle the regrowth reappearing every 3 weeks and didn't have time or money to deal with it. My hair was quite dark so I had been dying it dark brown. But now it's pure white in places, salt and pepper on top and still dark underneath. I asked a hair dresser if I should go blonde to hide regrowth but she said Im too dark. And I can't stand the regrowth with brunette. What do people think of grey? Or what does everyone else with hair like this do? I'm 45, don't like looking so old...

I started going grey in my 20s. I just let it go. It is ageing but I didn't care. I'm 61 now, very silver, very many compliments. I've always been happy to go with the flow but then I don't bother with make up either. It has made for an easy life though.!

I love grey hair. I don’t give a fuck if anyone thinks it’s “aging”. (Why is it only women this is applied to?)

I’ve been a hairdresser for 23 years and I honestly believe covering grey with a permanent colour is way more “aging” than letting it come through.

I do the odd semi-permanent on clients to blend greys which can be great, but it’s so refreshing when someone lets the grey exist. A sharp haircut and a moisturiser does wonders.

It's social conditioning we are talking about right - and whether you embrace grey hair or not depends on whether you can break away from it. As a PP said, we don't assume men are "old' if they don't due their hair. We generally accept that dyed hair on men looks unnatural and frequently unflattering. It's just the same for women, the bob with highlights or brunette all over dye; they look unflattering and unnatural but social conditioning tells us it makes us look younger and a lot of people have bought into it. Lots of money and advertising is aimed at us to ensure we think this, so that the dye companies etc can make a fortune from women having to dye their hair. Of course grey hair looks great on some/most people, but millions are poured into persuading us otherwise!

I’m 60 and can’t stand the thought of being grey . It’s the last stand of holding onto youth .

I stopped colouring mine early 40s and am now 50. It’s meh. I am still only just 50% grey, the rest mousy brown. It’s in good condition and sometimes it looks lovely - it grew in as highlights with a streak. Other times it washes me out and drains me.

i stopped dying it as I couldn’t afford the highlights regularly enough and box dye looked crappy. It groes insanely fast and I just couldn’t keep up so lesser of two evils.

I’m 47 and have a decent amount of grey, but still mostly brunette. I don’t dye my hair (did when I was younger but not for greys) and am going to “embrace the grey” as my hairdresser says.

Box dyes always lift to an orange undertone which looks awful on me, and they always look unnatural as the colour is too solid.

I expect I’ll be mid 50s at least before I’m totally grey, at which point I’ll care even less than I do now about how “old” the grey makes me look.

My 76 year old mum dyes her hair blonde and it really doesn’t suit her and does nothing to hide the fact she’s 76!

I think it can look great if you're incredibly polished and have great hair. I am neither of those things so it would just look very aging (which I hate to say but does apply to most people).

I’m nowhere near ready to go grey. With my complexion it would really wash me out. I’m early 50s. I get my roots done at hairdressers every 5 weeks - I hate the expense, but I worry about box dyes looking too unnatural.

I know that at some point I will need to give up the dye, but not any time soon!

A ‘sharp haircut’ does it for me, Mousy naturally, had highlights for years til my hairdresser pointed out I was growing my own. I’m pretty much silvery white, with a short bob. All over dye jobs never looked right on me, now in my 70s I’ve embraced the white for many years. Depends so much on how it looks and feels to the individual.

I don't like it on me so I use a semi permanent to cover. It doesn't help that I seem to have inherited the Count Dracula pattern greying rather than an elegant salt and pepper.

I don't know what I'd do if I became allergic, probably shave my head.

I’m 45 with greying hair. Never dyed it and not interested in doing so. Doesn’t bother me at all. Having said that, my husband cuts it once or twice a year just using a pair of scissors, I don’t own any make up and wear scruffy clothes every day so I’m probably not the norm.

Personally I think people who pretend their hair isn’t going grey by dying it are fooling no one!

I like it. A heavy colour cover up looks more dreary. Use a shampoo for grey hair though. It helps the shine.

Why do you want to pretend to be younger than you actually are? Are you not proud of all youv’e achieved so far in your life? Does your family love you less and less as you get older? It’s so sad that were made to think that getting old is such a negative thing, and that how young we look is the most important thing we can consider when out in public.
Of course, there are things I feel insecure about as I’m getting older - gaining weight, creaky knees, the inability to tolerate bullshit off others (usually men 😂) - but going grey and not dyeing my hair at a huge cost to pretend it’s not grey isn’t one of them.
Changing one’s hair colour for fun is absolutely great - but to do it to pretend you’re a certain age is fooling no one.

I’ve never coloured my hair, I’m late 50s, white grey at the front and rest dark salt and pepper. I’ve got good skin but my hair really ages me, I know people assume I’m older than I am. I don’t care tbh. I have no internalised dislike of older women that makes me afraid of being perceived as such. Having a good/edgy hair cut and nice clothes (I definitely don’t have the latter!) mitigates the ageing effect of grey hair.

The woman I babysat for had the most amazing curly brown hair with proper grey streaks at the front, I always thought it looked so elegant.
I'm sure mine won't grow in like that, but I haven't dyed my hair in a couple of years as I can't afford to get it done at the hairdresser and box dye most of the time goes a horrible red instead of the nice bright orange I want, so I'm just going to embrace the greys.
I'm already pretty haggard anyway so I'm sure a few greys won't make a difference 😁

Ageing as hell on most people. Looks brilliant on a very few.

I've let mine grow out from top to bottom too because my hair was in such poor condition from years of dying blond and the cost. It's £250 every 8 weeks for balyage. My natural hair is dark blonde with white framing my face. It looks OK. I can't face dying it again so I dress well if casually and I'm having a face and neck lift in Lithuania next year.
I don't want to look 30 again but I want to look great for my age. I'm in my 60s.

I have a relative who doesn’t dye her hair, she’s not yet 60 but looks years older, she’s a bad habit of making personal comments to others, she’d be in floods of tears, if l told her what she looked like. I got a glimpse of my grey during covid and believe me, it wasn’t pretty, I carry on, regularly going to my hairdresser.

I wouldn't mind if mine was entirely grey but it's uneven - not 'salt and pepper' which might be OK but grey at the front, dark brown at the back, and it just looks a mess in its natural state, so I dye it fairly close to its original colour. It's not very fast growing so I do the roots about once a month and a full dye when it seems to need it.

I grew out my hair colour during Covid. I’m 59 now so a lot older. I would have been 54 when I started growing it out.
my son got married recently. Total strangers told me they couldn’t believe I was his mother… I looked too young. I fully appreciate it may just have been flattery and I don’t aim to look younger than my years anyway but I do think a lot depends on your skin and how you dress as well.
This is blurry because I zoomed in to show my face but you get the idea

Grey hair don't care. And I am in my 40s.

I've been getting my roots covered for at least 10yrs, every 3 weeks at a hairdresser. I'm not prepared to go grey, I have a lot and I'm mid 40s. I'll reconsider in my 70s or when finances force me to stop.

I’m dark brunette and 54. I have highlights put in every 6 months or so and I really like it. Fortunately there’s still a fair amount of dark hair, but lots of grey too. I think I would be steel grey if it was my natural colour.
i can’t face going full grey yet and don’t need to as the highlights sort it out. Love my hairdresser

I would rather leave it to nature if this is how I am meant to be. Why disguise it? 🥸

Live and let live.