Grey hair

[Sexentric]

I am 46. I used to have very dark (almost black) hair but started to go grey very young. Noticing strands in my teens. Obviously as I got older there were more and I started dyeing ut when I was probably early 20s. As time went on my roots got more and more obvious so I had to dye it every 3 weeks or so which was a nightmare. So I gave up in lockdown. I've been grown out salt and pepper for a few years now but I dont think I like it!
I do think it makes me look older - at least from the back. I think im pretty lucky with my skin and I dress reasonably fashionably which helps. A lot of my colleagues are MUCH younger and I have had a couple of them seem to be genuinely shocked when I've told them my age. Saying that I 'rock'grey hair and they thought I was younger. I do think though that's less because of me looking young and more them sort of thinking their colleagues are roughly their age.
So my questions are:
Do you think grey hair gives an 'old lady vibe'
And also is there a way I could colour it to make me look younger or even 'warmer'as I used to.be an autumn colouring, without having to retouch every 3 weeks or so. I just can't handle that sort of commitment or cost.
And if you got that far then thank you!

I think grey hair adds around 10 years but I also think if people want to rock it, then more power to them. I don’t mind looking my age but don’t want to add ten years so I’ll keep on with the highlights.

So out of interest you had dark hair that went grey and you add highlights to that? How does that work? Does it mean you don't have to colour very often? Surely with highlights you still see the grey?
I think the thing that ages the MOST is grey roots on dark hair. God i used to hate that so much. I might look older with grey hair than I did with dark. But I look younger than I did when it was dark with the roots showing

I don’t think it matters. According to some posters grey hair adds 10 years which would put me at approaching 70! However, if you saw me planking at the gym or pushing a sled with over 100 kilos on it then it’s probably unlikely that I’m 70.
i don’t care how old people think I am, I care what my body can do, not what my hair looks like. If people thought I was mean spirited, nasty or unhelpful that would bother me, but looking older - who cares?

There's a young woman working at our chemist she has hers coloured blue rinse style. It looks amazing.

I started going grey in my 20s, but kept dyeing it until 2019. I was touching up my roots every 2-3 weeks at that point - expensive and time consuming. For me, one of the hardest things about growing my natural colour out was having to change my personal style. Once my hair had grown out, I no longer suited some of my favourite clothing styles and colours, and in fact my favourite retro clothes made me look a bit Miss Havisham 😂

But the great thing about all of this is that you get to decide who you are now. How creative you can be, how you can wear colours you couldn’t before (orange for me).

i guess it depends on what you want OP - lots of good advice upthread if you want to mask your greys. But if you don’t, this is a great opportunity to try on lots of looks and see who you are now when you look in the mirror.

Very blanket rule you have there. It’s not a fact. It’s your opinion

You might think that but my experience is that more than a handful of younger women have asked where I had my hair done and what I asked for.

they assumed it was coloured

Me too. They've asked for my hairdresser

I have very dark hair and most of the roots grow out white. They are obvious and you can see them after 3 weeks but I can probably stretch to 6 weeks before touching up the roots with a box dye at home.

Clairol Nice'Easy Creme Permanent Hair Dye - 2 Black

Although the bottle is for the whole head of hair, I use half (or possibly 1/3) each time just for the roots. This stretches it out. Takes me about an hour each time and about 9x and 30 pounds a year.

It is not very time consuming nor expensive, so I am going to stick to this.

I guess that scenario is possible in some individual cases but in general grey hair equates to looking older in most peoples eyes that is just a fact, there is even research on the subject Frontiers | Gray hair influences perceived age and social perceptions

You are pretty, you’ve lovely skin ! And your hair is really nice.

I recommend using Nice and Easy root touch up kit, it costs about £5 and you only need to leave it in the roots for 10 minutes. The kit come with the perfect size brush to use.

Yeah, I got the Nice N' Easy touch up kit with comes with the brush and little plastic bowl at first. Then after that, got the one for the full head of hair (which does not come with a brush or bowl) but used half of it each time for roots. More cost-effective that way. Appreciate it is just a pound or two worth of savings 😁

I was more thinking you only need to leave it on for 10 minutes so it’s a bit more gentle on your hair than the price aspect.

I never said it was a fact. It's my opinion.

Im 48 and I'm so happy I gave up the hair dye. It was getting me down having to colour every 4 weeks and then paying £70 for the privilege. My hair is really resistant to taking colour. Home dye wouldn't touch it. Images attached hopefully!

Most people seem to think grey hair ages you, although it really suits some women. Olive skin with a certain kind of steel grey hair looks very cool, for example.
With naturally dark hair gone grey, I've tried the following:

• blonde highlights - looks ok, a bit meh, doesn't really hide the grey much and the beach ruins your hair after a while.
• lowlights in the same colour as your natural hair - works well, doesn't fully hide the grey but sort of complements it, and your hair looks more "done". Problem is, because they colour different bits of hair every time, your hair ends up darker towards the ends than at the top. Any kind of high/lowlights will have that problem though.
• Natural dyes, like henna and indigo. Better for your hair, and you can do them at home. Holland & Barret has natural hair dyes based on that, ready-made. I now use indigo powder mixed with water as a hair mask, once every week or two, and it covers all the greys. It is a bit purplish to begin with, then it settles to dark brown, so it works for me.

Natural dyes, like henna and indigo. Better for your hair, and you can do them at home. Holland & Barret has natural hair dyes based on that, ready-made. I now use indigo powder mixed with water as a hair mask, once every week or two, and it covers all the greys. It is a bit purplish to begin with, then it settles to dark brown, so it works for me.

Ooh this is interesting - do you have to pre-henna for the indigo to stick? I currently henna to cover my greys but I fancy going dark brown.

No, I don't pre-henna and it works fine for me, even though I've read that you need to. I just experimented with it. It may not work for everybody though, and it's a bit of a trial-and-error process. I found that if you add a bit of vinegar to the indigo, the colour holds better. If you add a spoon of yoghurt, it's more nourishing.
I like henna, but it gives it a warmer tint which doesn't suit me that much.

I dont think you look older than your age because you have quite a young looking face.
I think it makes most people look older though

Hi this sounds interesting, can you give some more info on what’s involved? Thanks

Go blonde

Only you can know or make that decision, I know some people look younger with dyed hair because it gives them a lift, they felt old with grey. Grey hair doesn’t suit me, it makes me look absolutely tired out but I’m not up for maintaining so I dye it only twice a year and feel great for the few weeks after I do. My friend rocks it- it suits her and she embraces it. It also on suits my mum but it’s definitely brought her mood down

i use this shampoo from amazon called polar. you have to put it on with gloves onto dry hair, coat the hair you want by rubbing it into roots (i would guess you would need to bring it down to coat whole hair for first time) and leave it to work its magic.

i have dark brown hair originally - was using medium brown and now use light brown. it covers most greys and has a natural look.

things i have learnt through trial and error -

1. you need to make sure you putting on dry hair
2. it needs to be left for 15-20 mins
3. rinse not shampoo
4. intensive treatment after

it’s not perfect BUT it seems to be natural looking and fairly easy to do yourself at home.

Yes I agree. I’m a warm colouring, wear warm tones, suit gold jewellery not silver so cool grey will not lift my skin so I’ll stick to my warm blonde/ caramel foils.