Going grey

[Kim Mild]

I've decided to stop dyeing my hair and I'm going to embrace my greys even though I don't have very many . I think grey hair can look quite striking, I'm a bit envious of it.

Let's all share our experiences of going grey.

 

[mrs.migs]

I’d love to go properly grey, though neither of my parents did. For a while I had my hair bleached white and toned silver and I LOVED it. I’m now quite pepper and salt - started when I was ill a few years ago and my hairdresser says losing colour due to ill health is definitely a thing. I have a broad streak of white at the front (I call it my Mallen streak, which is a niche reference for those of us of a certain age!) and I’m often asked if it’s bleached in.

 

[HowlOwl]

I tried, I really did, but I just felt it made me look older & dowdy I'm envious of those it suits!

I've tried to find a decent dark purple permanent dye for years & not even using professional ranges with developer worked as it faded too quick. Tried a semi permanent on recommendation of my hairdresser, which never worked in the past, but now work beautifully on my grey, perfect shade found

Good luck on your grey journeys

I actually like colouring my hair, don’t find it an hassle, and some red tones look really bright now! I was dark for years, tried to go lighter brown to blend with greys but just felt washed out. I am having fun with the colours.

 

[IfTheCapFits]

I tried, I really did, but I just felt it made me look older & dowdy I'm envious of those it suits!

I've tried to find a decent dark purple permanent dye for years & not even using professional ranges with developer worked as it faded too quick. Tried a semi permanent on recommendation of my hairdresser, which never worked in the past, but now work beautifully on my grey, perfect shade found

Good luck on your grey journeys

 

[cowtastrophe]

I have been going grey since my late 20s. I had blonde highlights for years so didn’t notice how much grey was coming through. Then I had a slightly darker balayage and it was a nightmare. After a year of trying to maintain it, I went back to the hairdresser and burst into tears. Then I started looking for ideas to blend it in and I’m back with blonde highlights but this time with the aim of blending the greys rather than hiding them.

I saw a woman the other day with hair very similar to how I want mine to look ultimately and it’s similar to these.

 

[dax]

I’ll just be here using root touch up sprays until I’m ready. Good luck to you all, I have very (dyed) dark hair but going lighter is going to be a bit harder as my greys are more white around my hairline

These grey blending experts charging £6k for a “transformation” too

 

[Satisfying Click]

I'm about 40% grey, and started growing it out by accident, and then by the time I thought about booking an appointment, I couldn't be bothered. Now that they're coming through, I don't mind them so much, and some of the silvery hairs are really luminous, almost reflective, which I like.

I also really like seeing grey on other women, I saw a woman in my local salon the last time I went, she looked so elegant and striking.

I hope I will learn to love it, my friends who have grown out their grey have been really encouraging.

 

[Sea]

I'm dark going grey in my own cruella de ville way, playing with dying and leaving the grey bits as I want

 

[Catfan2]

Grey hair really suits some people, but I don’t think I’d be one of them and am too nervous to stop having my foils done! Not sure I ever will be

 

[Pesky Tarian]

I went grey in my early 30s as I've always had highlights it's not really been an issue. The nape of my neck is still dark or I would go fully grey. I have one streak that is pure white so much so it's translucent and looks bald if I part it there!. No one tells you about the texture change with grey hair, I use so much conditioner!.

 

[Tangent Tiger]

I don't know really, I think I have a few white strands but it's not fairly noticeable. Or perhaps I'm deluded

It's part of getting older

 

[mrsmcconaughey]

It has taken me 2 years, I LOVE my hair. I did 6 months of grow out to go the salon for blending and he bleached right down the scalp. I was raging, highlighted and low lighted with different ashy tones. I had to be sorted of blonde for about a year. I bobbed it and it's nearly all me now. Colour is beautiful, have a natural moneypeice at the front and it's so healthy.

 

[Closedeyes]

I love this for you but I personally don’t suit it. My hair is a dark cherry shade and I get it chemically straightened, so much work but when I couldn’t get to the salon in lockdown and had some greys come through I looked ill.

 

[Curly Top]

Some of my friends have gone fully grey and they really do look fantastic. They all have thick, wavy hair which has gone a very bright white/platinum. They are delighted to be freed of the tyranny of the salon: both cost and time. As a further bonus, their hair is usually in miles better condition.

Most others go blonde. It really is quite strange to see all my dark haired friends turn blonde. It usually takes a good six months to a year for them to find the right shade and then it looks fine. Never as striking as their dark hair though IMHO but still better than dyeing it an improbable dark.

Blonde or lighter haired women I know usually stay blonde or go lighter. I like the look of highlights in greying hair, it can look very natural and some grey is there. Overall it reads as blonde and can be slowly left to turn white in time. I think this is the route I will take.

 

[Pesky Tarian]

I have been going grey since my late 20s. I had blonde highlights for years so didn’t notice how much grey was coming through. Then I had a slightly darker balayage and it was a nightmare. After a year of trying to maintain it, I went back to the hairdresser and burst into tears. Then I started looking for ideas to blend it in and I’m back with blonde highlights but this time with the aim of blending the greys rather than hiding them.

I saw a woman the other day with hair very similar to how I want mine to look ultimately and it’s similar to these.

I love those styles. For many years I would have blonde highlights and the hairdresser would paint me brown 'roots' around my hairline. Sounds weird but worked. Ultimately I would like mine like the pictures too.

 

[Curly Top]

Some grey hair gets more wiry but it can get finer and straighter. It's a strange business.

 

[Kim Mild]

Some grey hair gets more wiry but it can get finer and straighter. It's a strange business.

I had a grey strand fall out , it was so wiry in my fingers, although I don't notice it on my head.

 

[Onepotatotwopotato]

I've got mousy brown hair. Getting a lot of grey around my hair line and temples. I tried using casting creme gloss dye and it covered nicely but only lasted about 3 washes
My next route might be to get some balayage blonde put in to blend instead

 

[Kim Mild]

Grey hair really suits some people, but I don’t think I’d be one of them and am too nervous to stop having my foils done! Not sure I ever will be

Do you have blonde highlights? My hair is fairly dark . Dark dyed hair with a stripes of white roots looks horrible.

 

[Tangent Tiger]

I remember finding my first white hair at work. I had made a blue tack dice into a cube (well, die) and had just been putting my biro in for the numbers (I was taking a 5 minute break!!) then my hair swung in my face and I thought WHAT. IS. THIS.

And pulled it out and stuck it in my die then put the whole thing in the bin. Happy with any whites now though.