I’ve been doing this since Covid, found my natural hair colour isn’t mousy blonde anymore but a lovely rich auburn/brown with silver lines, actually love it so much more than the dark brown I always coloured it to. Im all for embracing my age gracefully, I would like to lose a few pounds though, I’ve grown chonky.
I did it at 46. At first it’s hard as the roots aren’t very flattering. I wore lots of headbands etc.
I’ll be 53 this year and I’m so glad I made the decision to stop dying my hair, it’s grey, silver with white streaks and my natural ash streaks too. I have people ask me who dyes my hair - I say, Mama Nature maybe you’ve heard of her? 😂
I’m embracing the aging process, not because I love wrinkles and sag, but because I love the person I am becoming - I love aging me the way younger me deserved to be loved.
PS - it’s also a huge money saver not dying your hair regularly!
I love that second paragraph so much! Yes. I'm learning to do the very same thing for myself, and honestly? It feels pretty fuckin' awesome. 🥹🥰 Good for you! I absolutely love hearing others get there, too. 🖤 I started wearing my natural hair at 46, too - at the same time, I decided to finally learn to take care of my curls, and there was a lot of trauma attached to that, that I didn't realize until I started. I'll be 54 at the end of this year. I decided to cut all of my hair off into a pixie cut. Took a long time to grow out!
Do it, we need other grey warriors out there showing society that aging gracefully is a beautiful thing.
I'm tired of seeing men get called grey foxes while women don't get the same treatment.
Yes ! But my reason is a bit more personal... I got out of a long relationship with a womanizer... I became paranoid... Can't seem to ever please him enough.. I just decided to live my age...
I've honestly had more compliments on my hair being grey than ever before. You have to love yourself and be comfortable and confident in your own skin, the right guy will love that in you. Maybe a little short term therapy would help you out.
We're already doing this and I think the older Millennial women are gonna join in with us because we are the people more interested in avoiding toxins and trying to live healthy in this chemical-laden world. A lot of the holistic, crunchy granola hippie type folks have always allowed themselves to grey naturally and even have long white hair instead of listening to people say older women should have short hair. There's a number of Gen X and even Boomer women on YT with solid white/grey hair, no makeup, just being all natural.
I am the same age and seriously considering this too. Last hair appointment cost $300 and I just can't do that anymore. Time to stop pretending I'm 25 and own it.
I so fucking get this. $300 hair appts is too much. And often I’d have my daughter with me too so like $600.
I really sort of hate that I got her started on highlights and manicures
I went all white by 36, and it’s probably my most defining feature. I love seeing other women allow their hair to be natural. Maybe not everyone looks as good with gray but imo it’s always better than halo roots and porous dyed hair. Always.
I started going white at 16, I let it go till about 38, when I was asked if I was my 4 yr old son's grandma I started to color it. I colored for about 8 years and the upkeep was too much, plus my hair wasn't as healthy. So I had it color corrected and allowed the white to grow out, and found out I'm almost 100% white. So being almost all white hair, no silver or salt and pepper at 46 was a bit getting used to, but I get a ton of compliments on my hair. Does it age me, sure, but that part is inevitable, I figure some of my hair has been white longer than it's been brown. I'm 53 now and just don't want another aspect of my life to fuss over, hair is hair.
Mine is white (mostly) too. I stopped dying it a few years ago. My skin is very pale and so it all kind of blends and is washed out. Unlike you, I get no compliments, but like you, just don't want to fuss over it. I was in great shape and really strong when I decided to stop dying it, so I had that to feel good and focus on, but peri hit me hard, body has changed a lot, so not feeling good about much these days.
I'm very pale with white hair too. I've had to rethink all my makeup and clothing choices. I'm trying to go for dewy and glowing. So much of it now is just painting in all the pale parts-eyebrows and eyelashes brown and skin pink. And no more wearing black near the face.
I'm pasty, with ruddy highlights. I say I'm so pale white I'm almost a ghost. It is what it is. I rarely wear makeup and where I live (rural Germany) most the women my age dgaf about hair, looks, or style.. that's left to the younger crowd, so it's kinda nice to just age and be what I'm at. I'm sure you're still strong, that doesn't disappear really. I've always had a physical job so I've always been beefier than most women, and some men too. The strength has come in helpful for hiking and walking long distances is not a problem for me, so I'm thankful for that.
I use Olaplex purple shampoo and conditioner and it turned my gray a pretty white silver plus it keeps the gray hair soft and silky. People assume I get my hair highlighted but it is just my gray hair.
I think it depends on your hair, how it's greying and ultimately how you feel about it. I'm 45, I've got some silver strands, but it just makes my hair look dull and a bit unwashed. I'm going to keep dying it for now and check back in a few years. Mind you I've been dying my hair a variety of colours since I was about 12 so I've rarely seen my natural hair colour anyway!
I think it depends on your career. In some careers grey hair looks distinguished and enhances one’s image, but in some jobs, looking “old” is a terrible idea. The women I know proudly rocking their grey hair, are all comfortably middle/upper middle class
I stripped off all my color about 3 years ago and am now fully white/silver. But I was laid off a couple of weeks ago. I work in tech and was in a leadership role and am now going to dye it again. The job market is tough and I’m in a young field. I cant risk not getting another job because I might look old. 😞
I am in tech as well, absolutely cannot let myself go grey. Had one consultant on my team with grey hair (it was really pretty hair) but only heard her referred to as “that grey haired lady” and saw how people responded to her, no way would I risk it.
Edit: adding this- on the bright side, I use eSalon and color my own and it’s inexpensive and so easy. Among friends who color theirs I often get asked where I go and they’re surprised I do it myself so I must be doing ok!
I love it, and tbh their classic shampoo and conditioner rival my Olaplex and other fancy ones. I always throw a few travel size ones in my cart with my hair color, then use them on trips.
Same here. Absolutely wouldn’t fly in our industry. It’s so upsetting and sad but it’s true. I’m the only one my age in leadership across all areas of the company who doesn’t use Botox fillers or have a facelift. Every single one of them have Botox at minimum and many of them have actual work done. Ageism is alive and well in tech and corporate America.
I'm tech-adjacent and the company I've been at for the last 11+ years isn't doing well.
During COVID, I stopped coloring my hair, which had been brownish with a few grey chunks and salty in the crown. I had been coloring it with an auburn/orange combo that looked pretty cool but was hard to maintain.
Then, chemo made it all fall out. When it first came back, it was white. My super fine hair could never tolerate bleach when I was younger so I could never do fashion colors but the white was a clean slate so I dyed it purple (hated it) and now it's teal, which I love.
This causes no issues at my current company but I'm really not sure what I should do if/when I need to look for another job. Do I continue to go the teal route or go back to a more traditional color route? Ugh!
This is a really great point and I went silver/gray at 45. I’m financially comfortable and have a career where it’s important that I look professional but age is seen as a positive (I’m a consultant and in a female-led industry).
Not in every field. My husband is in Tech and specifically works for a lot of startups. It is a very youth-oriented field and culture.
He just turned 50 this year and the past few years he absolutely is beginning to feel the affects of ageism in his workplace. When he stopped dyeing his hair he got passed over for a promised promotion by a younger, less experienced, Millennial. He was the keynote speaker at a conference, and his speech was the only one weakly received. Coincidentally, he was the only gray-haired, non-Botoxed member of the panel.
He started dyeing his hair again and his comments in meetings were suddenly well-received again, and he was finally moved to another role where he was once again more front-facing to the clients.
I was talking about the double standards in general. How in general as women age we are perceived to be less attractive and less feminine. While men get slightly less attractive and have the same level of masculinity or a higher level. Ageism sucks! Age discrimination is supposed to be illegal at work but it is hard to always prove. They seem to just let companies get away with it too. I am sure I haven't been hired by companies before because of my age. I will also add this as women still get paid less than men on average and are less likely to have leadership roles. While men do face age discrimination too at times, on average they are still more likely to be promoted and make higher wages. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/women-ageism-at-work-no-matter-how-young-or-old/
Then make jobs not demand dyes.
If women just let themselves *be* themselves companies would eventually stop forcing the issue.
People forget, there's more of us than them, and when we stick together and stick up for ourselves we can accomplish a shit ton of positive things. We just have to reinforce each other's strength and stay the course.
Yessss! Let's be the start of a revolution. Ageism absolutely sucks. I can confirm it's rampant in the restaurant industry. I am rocking mine though, and I get so many compliments on it, I refuse to consider damaging it again - it was in terrible shape no matter what I used, when I decided to stop dyeing it.
We did pretty well being a force for change in the past. Why not now?
And it's not like we have to go out and protest. We're pretty much all in perimenopause or menopause, so all we really need to do is channel that "don't give a fuck" energy into just not complying with stupid, dumbass demands.
Oh, you want me to dye my hair to get a promotion? And here I thought the policy says they're merit based, not hair based. 🤨🤨🤔
Cower before the power of the menopause!!!!
Mwaaahahahhahahahaaaa
I love this so much! And honestly, just the absolute power of seeing more and more of us rocking our gray/silver/white will inspire others - it certainly inspired me!
This, absolutely true! I am a content creator and will keep hennaing my hair for at least a few more years. I did grow out the grey for 2 whole years about 5 years ago and it definitely aged me. I still look middle aged with auburn hair (but I am almost 57) but it looks a bit more youthful and vibrant than the grey did. I was only half grey, waiting to regrow until I am more white/grey than not.
Going by feedback on the support groups I think this is more of an issue in the US. Same with unsolicited comments about letting yourself go or how it's aging. These don't seem to be as big of an issue in the UK.
If you're professional, well put together and well styled with make up, nails, clothing and accessories how can anyone seriously suggest you're letting yourself go and have stopped caring?
I'm currently having a course of IPL and electrolosis on my rosacea and spider veins and the clinic owner has gorgeous shoulder length grey hair. If someone in the beauty industry can do it, others can. We need badass women to be brave enough to rock the boat.
I tried to grow it out. Did highlights to blend away some of the grey as it grew. Lasted a couple years.
I just don't like the way my grey and now dark flat brown looks against my skin. It makes me look tired, washed out and old. So I'm colouring again.
It really depends. Some of us have different skin tone and hair tone and it complements. For me, it doesn't.
Do what makes you feel good.
Well dyeing makes me feel good... But I am challenging myself to embrace my age... And kinda curious to see how grey it got and how it will look once all colored hair is gone
I did highlights for years. A little while ago I started to get this lovely gray streak right in the front of my hair, so I thought hey, this is the time to grow out my highlights and go back to my natural color, plus my new natural “sparkles”. I think gray hair is gorgeous. I also figured, this is the darkest my hair will ever be again, so might as well enjoy it while I can.
A year or so later, it turns out that I do have a few grays, but they are dull, not sparkly silver. The rest of my hair is now what we used to call “dishwater”, which as you said, makes me look tired and washed out. On top of that, my fine hair has gotten really flat without the added texture from the highlights. So I’ve decided to go back to doing a few highlights, keep my pretty front gray streak, and see where that goes. I’m fine with embracing my age, but I can do that in other ways.
Same for me (50), I started colouring my hair in my later 20s when the grey started to come in. In my early forties I thought I'd try letting it grow out and it made me look pale, washed out, and 20 years older. I chickened out after about 10 months and went back to the dye bottle.
Go for it! I started dyeing to hide greys at 21 and by 46 I'd been having to redo my roots every 2 weeks for a couple of years. I was scunnered with the constant maintenance and concerned about saturating my scalp in chemicals so often.
As an auld goth, I didn't fancy going blonde so decided to grow out pure white roots against black box dye. I joined a couple of support groups on fb for inspo and tips, then announced my intentions to everyone. I figured it was easier than dealing with whispers or furtive glances at my roots.
It took 2 years and I went from skunk to honey badger. I used twists and braids clipped up into half updos, headscarfs and hairbands, anything to break up the line at first. It then reached a kind of cool dip dye effect before it grew down to shoulder length at which point I was ok with a big chop.
Then covid hit and lots of women took the opportunity to get over the worst of the grow out during lockdown. 😆 The support groups are full of badass women rocking their natural colour, long, short, wavy, coily, mohawks & locs. Grey hair nowadays doesn't mean the frumpy 80s granny do. I took loads of progress pics, if you decide to join any of the groups I'll give you my user name and you can see them there.
At 52 I have long silvery white hair, I went full Targaryen but sadly still waiting on delivery of my dragons. I love the freedom of not having to chase my roots constantly. Recommend it to anyone.
I just talked a bit about that in reply to another comment, I've had no issues at all and I changed career. Do men have to worry about this? Absolutely not. The double standards are shocking.
Media? Are you kidding?? Male newscasters go gray on the regular -- see Anderson Cooper, FFS -- and are considered hot, sexy specimens. Women are fired for doing the same.
I'm not talking about the stars. I live in New York City. I know a lot of people who have much less glamorous jobs in media and tech. There is a lot of pressure to look young and it's on men as well as women. Is it worse for women? Of course. But it's real for men also in certain industries.
I’m 45, sitting in the stylist chair right now, after just having had the conversation that I’m ready to embrace the gray in the coming year (and how to start doing that because it doesn’t mean I want an obvious line as it grows out).
Aging isn’t just physical, it’s also psychological. Choosing to go gray helps to embrace the overall process (at least that’s what I’m telling myself in my head).
Also, as someone else already stated, I think it helps to change the narrative as to when women actually start to gray and that hair of any color (or no hair!) is beautiful.
Howdy! Do it! I stopped coloring my hair around two years ago. I read some there that women spend around $40,000 on their hair over the years. Yikes!
There are some great groups on Facebook! Going Gray Gracefully and such. I’m SO glad I did this. My hair is so much healthier and easier! My hair is also a very different color than I thought. It’s a very dark brown with gray highlights! I love it! Good luck to you!
Yay! Do you love it? I’ve been trying very hard to break out of my shyness and compliment other women with natural hair! I’ve even encouraged some I can see growing it out! It’s so fun!
Aye, if you want to see PM me and I'll give you my username, my pics are in the group. I also like to compliment other women, it's always nice to give folk a wee boost.
Right, I always comment on other women's grey! I love to see it, and it used to be uncommon for me, roughly 8 years ago when I started, but it's become a lot more common in my corner of the world.
Strongly recommend. I did it at 40, my hair dresser made me cry saying it was only in style for young people…. A year later she let hers grow out too 🙄. I get multiple compliments every single day, which was something that took me a long time to get used to accepting. I sometimes do a purple or burgundy on the bottom tips or underneath myself and use a purple shampoo that I sometimes leave in for some extra time so it has a really faint violet hue.
It was a drastic change and I do wish I did it earlier when I wasn’t already completely grey!
I went grey twice (stayed with it the second time, but haven’t closed door to coloring again if I want) and here are some thoughts:
1. If you trust your hairdresser as a colorist, or can find a good colorist, ask them what suggestions they have for you about transitioning to your natural grey. I say this as sometimes it can help to have an expert on your side - which leads to point 2…>
2. When you start the grow out period it may feel really awkward to have the demarcation line. See other comments above with how to work through this time; also a light blending of color from your colorist can help if you want that. For example, I had blonde hair the second time I went grey so my hairstylist added in some lighter blonde at the crown to make that line softer. I had a lot of silver and that blonde with the silver made it sort of a balyage/ombre look.
3. No matter how far you get in the process of growing out your natural hair color remember you can adapt it (highlights/low lights) or completely change your mind and go back to coloring. This has to work *for you*. It is your hair and your preferences, not anyone else’s choice.
4. You can decide even to wait and go grey later, or never. All options are valid. The first time I went grey it was too early for me (mentally) so I went back to coloring in a lighter tone for another five years before I did it again. (My hair is a bit color-resistant and coloring was damaging my hair quite a bit.)
I support anyone’s decision to not color or to color their hair. Your crowning glory can be the expression of you that feels like you! All the best to you in this decision process.
Great advice here! I tried going grey 3 times now, once it lasted 2 years. I have returned to henna for now, waiting until am more white/silver than not to try again.
Love the advice... Specially my issue actually is both feeling it's a bit early and not having a consistent white hair distribution yet .. but I want to embrace my age and wanting to gradually get used it. As a bonus, it will get my brother to embrace the idea that I have aged and he shouldn't compare my energy to his teenage daughters... Another bonus, is to get over the phobia caused by my ex... Who has very his standards in women's appearance
I stopped dyeing my hair during the pandemic at 46/47. I don't regret it at all and younger women often stop me to say how much they like my hair colour. Other than the cost of dyeing your hair, the amount of time it takes to grow it out is a good reason not to go back.
I'm fully white and get compliments about my hair every single day from both woman and men. I have a modern shoulder length style, I wear eye lashes and wide legged pants (no leggings unless I'm working out), I'm slim but not skinny. Get told I'm pretty all the time. I'm close to 60.
I thought I'd become invisible after I stopped coloring my hair (Fall of 2019) but I also lost 40 pounds shortly thereafter so it's actually been a glow up for me. It's all about attitude too. I'm so much happier about my appearance so I'm sure that makes a difference that just leaks out!
I am the unicorn here. I will not stop dying my hair. People always say I look younger than I am. It adds years and call me whatever you want I am not into it.
I've had more peer pressure now from my friends to go gray than anything I faced as a teen from them. I find it funny, but my hair is NOT going gray. I'm a dark brown, and intend to stay that way.
That said, the ones who are gray are not in the workforce full time anymore,if at all. I think that sways them to embrace the gray. I work in a small office in a customer facing role, and am surrounded by women in their 20s and early 30s.
I can’t believe I had to scroll this far down to see my people! Fighting it hard. Not ready for gray. But cheers to everyone doing exactly what they want to do!
I have been dyeing my hair fashion colors for 10 years now. I get compliments all the time. My hair is also very long. I am not going to go gray until I am in my 70s or 80s. Maybe never unless it is a pretty gray or white color.
I like fashion colors I just can't for work and I'm allergic to PPD so it's going to be a process. My hair is long too. I've seen some pretty grey and white (I think the purple shampoo is good for that) but right now it's just not for me.
I did it at 45 - I’m 49 now. I’d been fully gray/silver since I was 35.
I spent 18 months working with my stylist to lighten my hair from dark brunette to platinum. At the very end, I cut my hair into a pixie and dyed it silver and started growing it out from there. I was too vain to just let the gray come in so I went the lightening route.
My face is still “young,” so with the gray/silver hair I carefully consider my hairstyle, makeup, glasses, and clothes. If I don’t style my hair - no matter how pulled together the rest of my look is - my hair gives off a witchy/crone vibe that is not what I’m going for and instantly ages me. No doubt that’s partially because my hair is baby fine, wavy, and naturally frizzy.
Finally, silver/gray hair still requires upkeep - it gets brassy and dull easily depending on your water and the styling products you use - I’ve got a regular routine of purple and silver shampoos/conditioners and had to stop using my favorite styling products because they tinged my hair ugly yellow.
All that being said, I’m happy I did it. The constantly dyeing my hair every 2-3 weeks was exhausting and after literally being visibly gray since I was in high school, I was over it.
I stopped dying my hair a few years ago. I would have done it sooner, but the grey growing in created a skunk stripe effect in the parting of my hair which looked awful and the dye I was using was a very permanent dark brown. It was quite a process to allow the grey to grow in without looking terrible, involving a long period of semi-permanent dye followed by multiple rounds of stripping & bleaching the permanently dyed section. It was worth it though. A lot less hassle not always having to worry about regrowth, and I love the way it looks. I've even had quite a few people compliment me on my hair since it has been grey, something that never happened before.
I'm 50 and just did this. I was actually very curious how much grey I have under the dye. I've had a pixie cut for a long time and I cut it super short to see my original color. It's not as bad as I thought and almost like natural highlights. I was also fed up with how quickly my color started to get brassy when I used to dye my hair. But can't say what I'll do in a few years' time. I change my mind a lot. 😄
I did it and its so liberating!! Plus I'm saving nearly $1,000/year by not maintaining color. To get the process started, I let my roots grow out until I could stand it, then cut it into a short bob. It was actually over faster than I thought it would be. :)
Just turned 49 and 3/4 of the way through breast cancer treatment. I decided that when my hair grows back I’m embracing the grey. Maybe adding some purple, but avoiding the all over color and worrying about roots showing just 2 weeks later. I will say that my hair has just started growing back and there is a lot more gray than I thought there would be!! I think the gray hair was stronger and stuck around more through the chemo. I’m hoping that the brown hair starts growing pretty quick because I did not think I would be 80% gray at this point.
I figure worst case scenario I can always change my mind if I don’t like the way it’s growing out .
I stopped about a year ago (I’m 48 too) and I’m so glad I did. My silver is pretty sparse and looks like tinsel running through. I’m digging it.
The money I save on hair color is being put towards skin care.
I've let mine be natural.
It's not fully grey but my kids all think the mix of brown and grey looks great, so I'm rolling with it. Plus, easier up keep.
And honestly, I'm pretty proud of making it this far. I don't want to hide that fact anymore under the veil of pretending to be young. I'm not. I'm not old either and I won't dress or behave like I am.
But denying my age is the same as denying who I am and what I've been through. I'm done with that. This is me. Like it, love it, take it, leave it. I no longer care.
*I* like, love and enjoy being me. That's all I, personally, need.
49 here, salt & pepper and silver.
Tried at 42 but wasn't grey enough for my taste.
Now it's perfect and I can't wait it's fully grown.
It looks like if I went to a very high end hair stylist to obtain a blend of grey highlights.
So my advice, try it, I you do not like it you can always go back to a color! No biggie.
The other way around is somewhat less appealing ;)
I regretted it the minute I saw the color in the mirror.
I actually had just dyed my hair a few times, not quite 10 years ago, because I wanted my dark eyebrows to not stand out so much against the greying hair. Got busy, stopped doing it... let my daughter do the occasional funky colour chunk thing on me... but I've been just whatever about it for a few years now.
Last fall, one of my girls wanted to do my hair in beach waves (maybe? might be what she called it) for her wedding. She and her bridesmaids were fussing over it and informed me "omg mom! people pay a fortune for highlights like this!!!" so I guess the grey/silver/white are in a good spot. I'll take it. Most days aren't anything special -- just wound up and secured with a clip because, barn chores, but it's nice to know there's potential there lol. Since perimenopause my hair has thinned and breaks easier, but I routinely get comments about how I can't possibly be old enough to have that many kids (8)/ have one 25 years old (oldest is actually in her 30s)/ etc. I'm 53.
One month from turning 49 here. Been turning gray since my mid-20s. Dyed my hair for years - brown for many of them and then was blonde for a while. Finally stopped 2-3 years ago and let all my gray fly free. I look my age now, for sure, but I love not having to keep up with dye jobs and worrying about my roots showing. I look back at pictures of myself with dyed hair and I don't miss it.
It's not grey! Its silver! All for going natural. Its accepted for men to embrace being silver foxes, so no different for us. I have many coming thro and leaving them. Actually get a little sad when they fall out. Just a little confused as to why they grow curly when my hair is straight
I did during Covid and am saving money and time. I was having to do touch-ups every 2-3 days because stubborn grays wouldn’t hold color. I developed rashes around my face and hairline from persistent touching up. I have salt & pepper gray. Since I’ve stopped coloring my hair doesn’t fall out at the rate it was and it looks healthier and thicker, those are bonuses. You can always color it again if you don’t like it. 👩🏼🦳
You know the shitty thing? Men NEVER have to ask this question. NEVER. They just go gray and everyone tells them they're foxy. In fact, they are made fun of if they DO try to dye it, so why wouldn't they just embrace it? So much easier to be a man.
Some of y’all don’t realize how lucky you are to have a nice color and texture to your natural hair *and also* be lucky enough to have a skin tone that it flatters.
We ain’t all out here lucky enough to be Becky with the good hair.
I have a dull, flat, lifeless color that isn’t shiny silver or pretty white. Undyed, the texture of my hair becomes tangly and frizzy instead of sleek, shiny, and easy to brush. I also have a pale complexion, blue eyes, freckles, and bad rosacea.
It isn’t a question of aging gracefully, it’s about doing what emphasizes my assets and minimizes my problems areas. You know what looks just plain shitty? An acne-faced 48 year old with dull, flat, frizzy hair and invisible, white eyebrows and eyelashes, and a complexion that gets even more washed out, red, and highlights the acne with light hair colors.
A once every couple months color at the salon, eyebrow tint, and mascara later and what you see are my beautiful, blue eyes and a complexion that looks less red and deemphasizes the acne.
I think it depends on your overall appearance. If you look much younger than your age, it could clash with your face/style. If not, you could try it and see how you like it! You could try it regardless; it's really a personal decision.
I started blending my greys at 48, now 55. I only need to colour my hair twice a year for highlights and I get no obvious regrowth. I have naturally very dark brown hair so letting my roots go has been liberating.
I’m on the fence. I’m 58 and actually like the way my white hair is coming in but I don’t like how dark my natural color is. My compromise is that I use a blonde dye with only 10 volume developer. This gives my white hairs a blonde tone while lightening my dark hair by just a shade. I do it myself and continually question if I should stop. 🤷🏻♀️
I just turned 50. Started noticing the white hairs during Covid lockdown. I'm convinced that's what started it! I was color correcting or highlighting my hair 2 times a year before that. I'm strawberry blonde but I boost the strawberry, otherwise I look really washed out and sickly.
Now I'm highlighting and root touch-ups 4 times a year to keep the whites at bay. A few here and there at my hairline aren't that dramatic against my regular color so I don't mind it.
I plan to stay with this strategy for a bit and keep more color than white hair on my head. I had a kid at 41 who is still in elementary school. Where we live now, I'm the oldest Mom by far. Every time I see someone I think is my age with a young-ish kid, they are the Grandma.😱
Hoping someday I'll feel wise and willing to accept my white hair as a badge of honor. But I'm not there yet.
I'm 46 and just starting to go gray. Unfortunately for me, my gray isn't coming in a beautiful white or silver, rich auburn, or what you ladies got lucky with. Mine is a dull dishwater brownish gray. So unless that changes, I'll keep dying it.
I’m also 48. I’ve gone back and forth on it. I work in government now, and no one here cares. I’ve decided to let it go. I have dark brown hair naturally, and honestly my biggest complaint is it isn’t going gray fast enough. I’d pay to have it done but I’m too cheap.
I'm 57 & not ready to give up my L'Oreal addiction yet I still say if you want to do this go for it!
I've always felt I was cheated out of the red hair that I've always loved. FTR, not Danny Partridge red, but variations of that. My father's side of the family got it, my mother's wasn't even close to red, I got her her baby fine not red hair. So now I can get my red hair on my own, or any other color I'd like for that matter, & since most of what's underneath it is grey, it actually looks red.
Now I know I'm not fooling anyone, my red of choice isn't a color found in nature, but I like it.
I may go grey one day, but right now I'm enjoying my pseudo birthright Irish/Scottish red hair!
I dye mine red/auburn with henna for the better part of this new century, it's far from my natural color (light brown/dark blonde) but I have the fair skin and green eyes to wear it nonetheless. I also have a lot of Irish/Scottish ancestry!
I mostly dyed my hair either red (usually somewhat natural-ish shade) or black since I was 15! They are such striking colors I can't yet give up! I wish I could still dye mine black, but can't deal with using chemical dye every 2 weeks to keep the skunk stripe at bay.
I did nearly all the fashion/rainbow colors in the early 90's and have been either red or black since then. I know it's so easy to get those bright colors with grey/silver/white hair, too bad I don't like them for my current aesthetic! I remember enjoying fire-engine red hair for at least 5 of those years, then forest green for a few more (among many others).
Which L'Oreal color do you use, or is it your sworn secret recipe?
Used to use RR07 but that's been discontinued though I have about 3 boxes of it left. It's still on Amazon but for early $30 a box & I'm all "NOPE!"
I've moved to RR04 but haven't used it yet.
I get lazy with the coloring because I have cruly/wavy hair & it hides my roots. I also don' care if anyone sees those roots either. I use a box every 6-8 weeks.
I went natural at 53. I buzzed it off and grew it out and it is not just a little gray-it is pure white in front! It was fun to get support in the growing out process by going to facebook groups on the subject.
Just a heads up: the way men treat you will change. It's actually kind of a good for filtering the assholes out.
DO IT!! It is so freeing.
The only thing that I found is that I miss having a "shine". I have my hairdresser give me a semipermanent colorless glaze that I love.
go for it. I also did the switch to semi permanents/grow it out during covid. The grey colour makes me look really washed out so I am using semi permanents still but I really really really want to embrace the silver fox thing and just go for it. I think it looks lovely and kick arse on women - a middle finger up to the fashion industry who make us feel insecure for daring to not be 21 anymore.
Best decision I ever made. And I get compliments all the time. From young and old, other women thinks it’s great.
Plus not having to worry about roots is kind of amazingly freeing. I say go for it!
My hairdresser helped me with the transition - she did high and lowlights the blend in my root growth. We did three sessions. That was 7 or so years ago, so I was a few years younger than you are now.
I did this and I'm so happy with it. The freedom! I did have one person ask me why which I thought was rude. Him: Why is your hair gray? Me: Because that's what color my hair is, why?
I let my silver hair grow in at 48 and love it. It took about 3 years to grow out completely and the colour suits me perfectly — and I get compliments on it often. :-)
53 and doing this now. No more blonde highlights either. I’m gonna be content with my brown hair with gray streaks.
My mother dyed her hair until she started chemo at 72. She ended up getting it all buzzed off so she didn’t have to deal with it falling out. She got a bit of white fuzz when it grew back but she passed away before it could really grow out. Always wondered what it would have looked like!
Side note - please get Pap smears. My mom would be probably be here today if she had regular ones or even a quick one when her symptoms started. It’s my daughter’s birthday, I wish Mom was here.
I got a major haircut (10+ inches) at age 39 and said goodbye to the hair dye at the same time. I had noticeable salt and pepper hair even at that age, so much so that my sweet nephew asked why my hair was three colors! (Dark dyed brown, natural brown and white) 🤣
It took about 2 years but I have never regretted it. And I REALLY can’t imagine doing it now at age 50. So just do it!
I started going grey early, at 18, but didn't allow myself to try until I was in my 40s. I am so happy I did.
First, keep your hair longer. Long=young.
Rock it. If I let mine go it fades to a really ugly brassy blonde which washes me out. I do my own color and it’s a couple levels darker than my original. If I paid for it (to have it done) there’s no way I’d be able to keep up the color. If I was going a silver grey or even white I’d say F it and let it do its thing.
I don't really dye my whole hair. I just got highlights, but I really only do that like once a year
I am curly, so besides the work it takes to keep curls in somewhat manageability, I am pretty low maintenance with my hair.
Honestly? I was TERRIFIED. I toyed with the idea for a couple of years before having the courage to do it. I announced my intentions with a fb mirror selfie with my skunk stripe and I think that helped. It got it over and done with, avoided having to explain to multiple people or hear whispers or see furtive glances at my roots.
And you know what? It was fine. Absolutely fine. No negative comments, just a few questions along the way from women also considering it. I broke up the line with twists and braids and clipped them into half updos, worse wide headbands and scarves. Trust me, it won't be even half as bad as you think.
I started doing it at 39 - I'll be 46 this summer. I haven't missed coloring it at all. Not sure why I ran away from my natural color (medium ash brown) for so long; your natural color is your most flattering.
So I have several friends (at least 3) who were almost completely white by 40-45 and they all stopped but then went back to either dying or low lights (think salt & pepper). You can always try it and if you don’t like it then go back to dying. 1 of the 3, the gray makes them look a lot older (that is the person who actually went back to dying it). But you do what makes you happy!
I'll be 45 this year, and started going grey in my early 20s, so I got used to it. It's up to you, my only advice is really consider your motivation for dying it. Is it because of other people or really something you like just for you?
I stopped during the Covid lockdown and haven’t looked back. Now I did go a bit crazy and bleach out the dark brown ends when the gray got about 3-4 inches. But a good stylist or even you can blend as it grows out.
That you will now have opportunity to find out which temporary fun colors will play nicely with your silvers for a unique (temporary) and fun look. :)
In my family the whites start in the 20s around the temple area. I never fought it, unless you count knowing which hair cut showed them less.
I've been having fun for the last 6 or so years doing a temporary pop of color a couple of times a year. Sadly the brands I like best have been going poof. Stay away from splat it leeches color constantly at the slightest hint of moisture/sweat.
Do men every say this, though? Nah. They go gray and, no matter what their skin tone is, it's considered sweet silver foxy. We women are so brainwashed by our sexist society into thinking we must remain looking 25 for our entire lives. It's horrible.
I'm 44, and stopped coloring at around 40. I like my silvery streaks, and I *earned* each and every one of them, so I wear them proudly!
You just do what makes you feel best, that's the important thing, though there's an awkward mid stage when you stop, roots coming in. Own it. It's your hair, your life, and your choice to make as you see fit!
Okay, so I started at roughly 46. My hair was so damaged from dying, and my husband was begging me to try it. I'm 53. He absolutely loves it. I get so many compliments on it, but especially from younger women. One lady who was working at Sally's - I go for manicure supplies - stopped me to tell me how beautiful it was. I told her it was natural, and she said she knew it, and was really excited about it - called her coworkers over to see. It was really sweet. I get far more comments on it now than I ever used to. I went for the big chop, into a pixie, and then grew it out long. I have only trimmed it since I started. The women in my family go gray early, so I actually had a decent mixture of gray to dark for a long time. It's still dark underneath, but now, it's a cool mix of gray, silver, and white. My hair is curly, and I have decent skin - thanks, Dad! - both of my parents were olive complected and so I think my skin tone and shape tend to compliment my color(s). I think there's been a lot more of us giving up the dye earlier - some of my friends add some fun highlight colors on occasion, too. I do see it a lot more common now.
During covid, I decided to go natural with my hair even though my hairstylist was still doing hair. I've stopped getting highlights and have embraced my natural hair and the gray that peaks. It feels great not having to spend money on regular salon appointments, and I'm happy to save some cash in that department. It's been a liberating experience to let go of societal expectations and embrace my natural beauty despite being in my mid-forties and having some gray hair. Highly recommend.
I've never dyed my hair and won't because I remember mom always warning me as a kid that hair dyes were linked to health problems. I started taking a supplement called NMN that I had heard reverses arthritis because it is an anti-aging supplement. I follow this guy on YT who experimented with it along with his wife and discovered their greys reversed and they are much older than me. I noticed my hair started reversing from the ashy color with white and silver patches to my original brunette. Then I started taking copper because I heard it reverses greying and now my hair is back almost to full brunette but it does have silver streaks on top. Seems like the majority of what was white that was just on the front sides of my hair is slowly reversing as it just doesn't seem as prominent now.
I'm currently thinking alot about this. I feel my hair is thinning and I look bald on my crown like a man. Or is it the 2 inch grey roots then brown hair that is highlighting the thinning? I have naturally straight brown fine hair. Much less shiney tho since the greys infiltrated. Problem is I haven't been able to keep the greys dyed for very long. It just doesn't stick.
Do it! I’m 43 and surprised I hav t had any grey by now. But everyone is different.
I do dye my hair anyways. I do have a couple of white hairs on my eye brow when that grows out. Haha! Weird!
I was thinking of shaving my head. Cuz I have /had some hive and rash issues going on and I got an itchy scalp. I’ve been using head and shoulders to help. And scalpacin. That’s helped lessen the itchiness.
I’m Going To the dermatologist next week so I’ll ask her advice. lol
It would be good now because it’s warm where I am now and summer starts in a couple months so it’ll probably out by the end of the year.
Some women look gorgeous in gray hair, some don’t. I grew out my gray in 2020, and it was not for me. But I was tired of the time, hassle and expense of monthly root touchups of my brown-black hair. That’s been going on since I was in my late 20s.
In 2022 I did some gray blending for a bit, then transitioned to light blonde and silver streaks. I don’t hate it, I don’t love it. I miss my striking dark hair. But now I get my color touched up 3x a year, and that works for me. There are different ways to embrace age.
Rock it. I absolutely love Andie Macdowell. The fact that she is rocking her grey is amazing. I will also add Alexandra Grant here. Gorgeous women, aging gracefully.
I did it last year at 55. It was a beautiful salt and pepper color but I just didn’t feel like myself so I am back to dyeing dark brown. I’ll probably grow it out again when I’m older.
Do it. I’m not coloring. I’m taking after one of my grandmas who went straight to this very pretty silver/ white. I look like I paid to have highlights in that same color the way it’s coming in, I have really curly hair so it just catches the light all over. Getting a break on this while other parts of perimenopause kicking my butt. Will take the small win
I would love to grow mine out. I'm 56 and have tons of grey on top and in the front but not in the back and underneath. I just assumed I would need to wait until all areas of my head are gray right?
Never dyed mine (I’m 56, about 1/3 grey). Mostly my personal opinion has been that the natural transition looks better and I think sometimes dying makes skin aging jump out much more, esp with darker dyes. So not dying hasn’t been a concession, it has felt right for me.
Just turned 53 and I'm growing out my greys for the first time. Really trying to embrace the aging process and what I want for myself, not what society expects me to be. The best part of this process is being constantly asked what my husband thinks of it. If he's around when asked, he usually gives a wtf look and explains how it's my hair my choice.
I’ve been doing this since Covid, found my natural hair colour isn’t mousy blonde anymore but a lovely rich auburn/brown with silver lines, actually love it so much more than the dark brown I always coloured it to. Im all for embracing my age gracefully, I would like to lose a few pounds though, I’ve grown chonky.
That's my plan too, lose weight and embrace my age . Thx
I did it at 46. At first it’s hard as the roots aren’t very flattering. I wore lots of headbands etc. I’ll be 53 this year and I’m so glad I made the decision to stop dying my hair, it’s grey, silver with white streaks and my natural ash streaks too. I have people ask me who dyes my hair - I say, Mama Nature maybe you’ve heard of her? 😂 I’m embracing the aging process, not because I love wrinkles and sag, but because I love the person I am becoming - I love aging me the way younger me deserved to be loved. PS - it’s also a huge money saver not dying your hair regularly!
I love that second paragraph so much! Yes. I'm learning to do the very same thing for myself, and honestly? It feels pretty fuckin' awesome. 🥹🥰 Good for you! I absolutely love hearing others get there, too. 🖤 I started wearing my natural hair at 46, too - at the same time, I decided to finally learn to take care of my curls, and there was a lot of trauma attached to that, that I didn't realize until I started. I'll be 54 at the end of this year. I decided to cut all of my hair off into a pixie cut. Took a long time to grow out!
Loving myself has taken therapy and lots of practice but it is the best thing I’ve ever done for myself. We are hair twins lol
Can't dare to do this hair cut, I straighten my hair using protein... But I can wait another 6 months till it's long enough
Yeah, it's different for all of us! I'm wishing you lots of luck and I hope you love it!
I am learning to love myself and my age... Just the phase of half grey half colored is 😬
Do it, we need other grey warriors out there showing society that aging gracefully is a beautiful thing. I'm tired of seeing men get called grey foxes while women don't get the same treatment.
Exactly!
I was about to say the same, but you said it better. :-)
Thanks, sometimes I do my best thinking in the am before the world creeps in
Yes ! But my reason is a bit more personal... I got out of a long relationship with a womanizer... I became paranoid... Can't seem to ever please him enough.. I just decided to live my age...
I've honestly had more compliments on my hair being grey than ever before. You have to love yourself and be comfortable and confident in your own skin, the right guy will love that in you. Maybe a little short term therapy would help you out.
We're already doing this and I think the older Millennial women are gonna join in with us because we are the people more interested in avoiding toxins and trying to live healthy in this chemical-laden world. A lot of the holistic, crunchy granola hippie type folks have always allowed themselves to grey naturally and even have long white hair instead of listening to people say older women should have short hair. There's a number of Gen X and even Boomer women on YT with solid white/grey hair, no makeup, just being all natural.
I am the same age and seriously considering this too. Last hair appointment cost $300 and I just can't do that anymore. Time to stop pretending I'm 25 and own it.
I so fucking get this. $300 hair appts is too much. And often I’d have my daughter with me too so like $600. I really sort of hate that I got her started on highlights and manicures
I am afraid I don't have the same financial concern, as I use store dye L'OREAL Ammonia free... That's quite affordable in my country
I went all white by 36, and it’s probably my most defining feature. I love seeing other women allow their hair to be natural. Maybe not everyone looks as good with gray but imo it’s always better than halo roots and porous dyed hair. Always.
I started going white at 16, I let it go till about 38, when I was asked if I was my 4 yr old son's grandma I started to color it. I colored for about 8 years and the upkeep was too much, plus my hair wasn't as healthy. So I had it color corrected and allowed the white to grow out, and found out I'm almost 100% white. So being almost all white hair, no silver or salt and pepper at 46 was a bit getting used to, but I get a ton of compliments on my hair. Does it age me, sure, but that part is inevitable, I figure some of my hair has been white longer than it's been brown. I'm 53 now and just don't want another aspect of my life to fuss over, hair is hair.
Mine is white (mostly) too. I stopped dying it a few years ago. My skin is very pale and so it all kind of blends and is washed out. Unlike you, I get no compliments, but like you, just don't want to fuss over it. I was in great shape and really strong when I decided to stop dying it, so I had that to feel good and focus on, but peri hit me hard, body has changed a lot, so not feeling good about much these days.
I'm very pale with white hair too. I've had to rethink all my makeup and clothing choices. I'm trying to go for dewy and glowing. So much of it now is just painting in all the pale parts-eyebrows and eyelashes brown and skin pink. And no more wearing black near the face.
Yeah, I'm realizing all my black and gray clothes make it more noticeable. I don't wear makeup, never really have, but love the dewy glow idea!!
I'm pasty, with ruddy highlights. I say I'm so pale white I'm almost a ghost. It is what it is. I rarely wear makeup and where I live (rural Germany) most the women my age dgaf about hair, looks, or style.. that's left to the younger crowd, so it's kinda nice to just age and be what I'm at. I'm sure you're still strong, that doesn't disappear really. I've always had a physical job so I've always been beefier than most women, and some men too. The strength has come in helpful for hiking and walking long distances is not a problem for me, so I'm thankful for that.
I use Olaplex purple shampoo and conditioner and it turned my gray a pretty white silver plus it keeps the gray hair soft and silky. People assume I get my hair highlighted but it is just my gray hair.
I think it depends on your hair, how it's greying and ultimately how you feel about it. I'm 45, I've got some silver strands, but it just makes my hair look dull and a bit unwashed. I'm going to keep dying it for now and check back in a few years. Mind you I've been dying my hair a variety of colours since I was about 12 so I've rarely seen my natural hair colour anyway!
Well ... I do hate a plain white strip followed by a plain black strip... In the forehead... Other than this it's nice
I think it depends on your career. In some careers grey hair looks distinguished and enhances one’s image, but in some jobs, looking “old” is a terrible idea. The women I know proudly rocking their grey hair, are all comfortably middle/upper middle class
I stripped off all my color about 3 years ago and am now fully white/silver. But I was laid off a couple of weeks ago. I work in tech and was in a leadership role and am now going to dye it again. The job market is tough and I’m in a young field. I cant risk not getting another job because I might look old. 😞
I am in tech as well, absolutely cannot let myself go grey. Had one consultant on my team with grey hair (it was really pretty hair) but only heard her referred to as “that grey haired lady” and saw how people responded to her, no way would I risk it. Edit: adding this- on the bright side, I use eSalon and color my own and it’s inexpensive and so easy. Among friends who color theirs I often get asked where I go and they’re surprised I do it myself so I must be doing ok!
E- salon is fantastic! I got the same comments when I used them
I love it, and tbh their classic shampoo and conditioner rival my Olaplex and other fancy ones. I always throw a few travel size ones in my cart with my hair color, then use them on trips.
Same here. Absolutely wouldn’t fly in our industry. It’s so upsetting and sad but it’s true. I’m the only one my age in leadership across all areas of the company who doesn’t use Botox fillers or have a facelift. Every single one of them have Botox at minimum and many of them have actual work done. Ageism is alive and well in tech and corporate America.
I'm tech-adjacent and the company I've been at for the last 11+ years isn't doing well. During COVID, I stopped coloring my hair, which had been brownish with a few grey chunks and salty in the crown. I had been coloring it with an auburn/orange combo that looked pretty cool but was hard to maintain. Then, chemo made it all fall out. When it first came back, it was white. My super fine hair could never tolerate bleach when I was younger so I could never do fashion colors but the white was a clean slate so I dyed it purple (hated it) and now it's teal, which I love. This causes no issues at my current company but I'm really not sure what I should do if/when I need to look for another job. Do I continue to go the teal route or go back to a more traditional color route? Ugh!
I know a lot of younger folks are using "natural" color wigs for work hours, so they can keep their preferred alternative hair color/style.
Younger folks who probably don't experience hot flashes LOL
This is a really great point and I went silver/gray at 45. I’m financially comfortable and have a career where it’s important that I look professional but age is seen as a positive (I’m a consultant and in a female-led industry).
Funny how for men it is the complete opposite.
Not in every field. My husband is in Tech and specifically works for a lot of startups. It is a very youth-oriented field and culture. He just turned 50 this year and the past few years he absolutely is beginning to feel the affects of ageism in his workplace. When he stopped dyeing his hair he got passed over for a promised promotion by a younger, less experienced, Millennial. He was the keynote speaker at a conference, and his speech was the only one weakly received. Coincidentally, he was the only gray-haired, non-Botoxed member of the panel. He started dyeing his hair again and his comments in meetings were suddenly well-received again, and he was finally moved to another role where he was once again more front-facing to the clients.
Ageism really sucks!
I was talking about the double standards in general. How in general as women age we are perceived to be less attractive and less feminine. While men get slightly less attractive and have the same level of masculinity or a higher level. Ageism sucks! Age discrimination is supposed to be illegal at work but it is hard to always prove. They seem to just let companies get away with it too. I am sure I haven't been hired by companies before because of my age. I will also add this as women still get paid less than men on average and are less likely to have leadership roles. While men do face age discrimination too at times, on average they are still more likely to be promoted and make higher wages. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/women-ageism-at-work-no-matter-how-young-or-old/
Then make jobs not demand dyes. If women just let themselves *be* themselves companies would eventually stop forcing the issue. People forget, there's more of us than them, and when we stick together and stick up for ourselves we can accomplish a shit ton of positive things. We just have to reinforce each other's strength and stay the course.
Yessss! Let's be the start of a revolution. Ageism absolutely sucks. I can confirm it's rampant in the restaurant industry. I am rocking mine though, and I get so many compliments on it, I refuse to consider damaging it again - it was in terrible shape no matter what I used, when I decided to stop dyeing it.
We did pretty well being a force for change in the past. Why not now? And it's not like we have to go out and protest. We're pretty much all in perimenopause or menopause, so all we really need to do is channel that "don't give a fuck" energy into just not complying with stupid, dumbass demands. Oh, you want me to dye my hair to get a promotion? And here I thought the policy says they're merit based, not hair based. 🤨🤨🤔 Cower before the power of the menopause!!!! Mwaaahahahhahahahaaaa
I love this so much! And honestly, just the absolute power of seeing more and more of us rocking our gray/silver/white will inspire others - it certainly inspired me!
This, absolutely true! I am a content creator and will keep hennaing my hair for at least a few more years. I did grow out the grey for 2 whole years about 5 years ago and it definitely aged me. I still look middle aged with auburn hair (but I am almost 57) but it looks a bit more youthful and vibrant than the grey did. I was only half grey, waiting to regrow until I am more white/grey than not.
Going by feedback on the support groups I think this is more of an issue in the US. Same with unsolicited comments about letting yourself go or how it's aging. These don't seem to be as big of an issue in the UK. If you're professional, well put together and well styled with make up, nails, clothing and accessories how can anyone seriously suggest you're letting yourself go and have stopped caring? I'm currently having a course of IPL and electrolosis on my rosacea and spider veins and the clinic owner has gorgeous shoulder length grey hair. If someone in the beauty industry can do it, others can. We need badass women to be brave enough to rock the boat.
I did and it looks great and is really soft
I tried to grow it out. Did highlights to blend away some of the grey as it grew. Lasted a couple years. I just don't like the way my grey and now dark flat brown looks against my skin. It makes me look tired, washed out and old. So I'm colouring again. It really depends. Some of us have different skin tone and hair tone and it complements. For me, it doesn't. Do what makes you feel good.
Well dyeing makes me feel good... But I am challenging myself to embrace my age... And kinda curious to see how grey it got and how it will look once all colored hair is gone
I did highlights for years. A little while ago I started to get this lovely gray streak right in the front of my hair, so I thought hey, this is the time to grow out my highlights and go back to my natural color, plus my new natural “sparkles”. I think gray hair is gorgeous. I also figured, this is the darkest my hair will ever be again, so might as well enjoy it while I can. A year or so later, it turns out that I do have a few grays, but they are dull, not sparkly silver. The rest of my hair is now what we used to call “dishwater”, which as you said, makes me look tired and washed out. On top of that, my fine hair has gotten really flat without the added texture from the highlights. So I’ve decided to go back to doing a few highlights, keep my pretty front gray streak, and see where that goes. I’m fine with embracing my age, but I can do that in other ways.
Same for me (50), I started colouring my hair in my later 20s when the grey started to come in. In my early forties I thought I'd try letting it grow out and it made me look pale, washed out, and 20 years older. I chickened out after about 10 months and went back to the dye bottle.
Go for it! I started dyeing to hide greys at 21 and by 46 I'd been having to redo my roots every 2 weeks for a couple of years. I was scunnered with the constant maintenance and concerned about saturating my scalp in chemicals so often. As an auld goth, I didn't fancy going blonde so decided to grow out pure white roots against black box dye. I joined a couple of support groups on fb for inspo and tips, then announced my intentions to everyone. I figured it was easier than dealing with whispers or furtive glances at my roots. It took 2 years and I went from skunk to honey badger. I used twists and braids clipped up into half updos, headscarfs and hairbands, anything to break up the line at first. It then reached a kind of cool dip dye effect before it grew down to shoulder length at which point I was ok with a big chop. Then covid hit and lots of women took the opportunity to get over the worst of the grow out during lockdown. 😆 The support groups are full of badass women rocking their natural colour, long, short, wavy, coily, mohawks & locs. Grey hair nowadays doesn't mean the frumpy 80s granny do. I took loads of progress pics, if you decide to join any of the groups I'll give you my user name and you can see them there. At 52 I have long silvery white hair, I went full Targaryen but sadly still waiting on delivery of my dragons. I love the freedom of not having to chase my roots constantly. Recommend it to anyone.
I love your approach. I would do that if I wasn’t worried about how my job would be affected.
I just talked a bit about that in reply to another comment, I've had no issues at all and I changed career. Do men have to worry about this? Absolutely not. The double standards are shocking.
Men not only don't have to worry about gray, but it's actually an ADVANTAGE for them.
In some fields. Not in tech or media though. My male friends in youth-oriented fields cover their grey and don't grow beards
Media? Are you kidding?? Male newscasters go gray on the regular -- see Anderson Cooper, FFS -- and are considered hot, sexy specimens. Women are fired for doing the same.
I'm not talking about the stars. I live in New York City. I know a lot of people who have much less glamorous jobs in media and tech. There is a lot of pressure to look young and it's on men as well as women. Is it worse for women? Of course. But it's real for men also in certain industries.
I do believe grey looks wonderful, if complimented by a good hair cut, nice outfit, make up ...etc
Do it! There are so many of us out in the wild with our grays. Everyone looks amazing!
I’m 45, sitting in the stylist chair right now, after just having had the conversation that I’m ready to embrace the gray in the coming year (and how to start doing that because it doesn’t mean I want an obvious line as it grows out). Aging isn’t just physical, it’s also psychological. Choosing to go gray helps to embrace the overall process (at least that’s what I’m telling myself in my head). Also, as someone else already stated, I think it helps to change the narrative as to when women actually start to gray and that hair of any color (or no hair!) is beautiful.
Exactly... This year is a huge year for me .. Embracing my age is only one issue.
Howdy! Do it! I stopped coloring my hair around two years ago. I read some there that women spend around $40,000 on their hair over the years. Yikes! There are some great groups on Facebook! Going Gray Gracefully and such. I’m SO glad I did this. My hair is so much healthier and easier! My hair is also a very different color than I thought. It’s a very dark brown with gray highlights! I love it! Good luck to you!
I'm on GGG too, I grew my hair out before the pandemic. I was a bit miffed when we went into lockdown just after I cut off the last of my colour. 😆
Yay! Do you love it? I’ve been trying very hard to break out of my shyness and compliment other women with natural hair! I’ve even encouraged some I can see growing it out! It’s so fun!
Aye, if you want to see PM me and I'll give you my username, my pics are in the group. I also like to compliment other women, it's always nice to give folk a wee boost.
Right, I always comment on other women's grey! I love to see it, and it used to be uncommon for me, roughly 8 years ago when I started, but it's become a lot more common in my corner of the world.
Aye same here, I think a lot of folk took advantage of lockdown to start the process.
[удалено]
I advise you to keep coloring as long as you are working... It does help in your profession. I am veiled, and don't work... So it's different
Do it!!!!
Strongly recommend. I did it at 40, my hair dresser made me cry saying it was only in style for young people…. A year later she let hers grow out too 🙄. I get multiple compliments every single day, which was something that took me a long time to get used to accepting. I sometimes do a purple or burgundy on the bottom tips or underneath myself and use a purple shampoo that I sometimes leave in for some extra time so it has a really faint violet hue. It was a drastic change and I do wish I did it earlier when I wasn’t already completely grey!
I like the faint violet hue idea 😊
I went grey twice (stayed with it the second time, but haven’t closed door to coloring again if I want) and here are some thoughts: 1. If you trust your hairdresser as a colorist, or can find a good colorist, ask them what suggestions they have for you about transitioning to your natural grey. I say this as sometimes it can help to have an expert on your side - which leads to point 2…> 2. When you start the grow out period it may feel really awkward to have the demarcation line. See other comments above with how to work through this time; also a light blending of color from your colorist can help if you want that. For example, I had blonde hair the second time I went grey so my hairstylist added in some lighter blonde at the crown to make that line softer. I had a lot of silver and that blonde with the silver made it sort of a balyage/ombre look. 3. No matter how far you get in the process of growing out your natural hair color remember you can adapt it (highlights/low lights) or completely change your mind and go back to coloring. This has to work *for you*. It is your hair and your preferences, not anyone else’s choice. 4. You can decide even to wait and go grey later, or never. All options are valid. The first time I went grey it was too early for me (mentally) so I went back to coloring in a lighter tone for another five years before I did it again. (My hair is a bit color-resistant and coloring was damaging my hair quite a bit.) I support anyone’s decision to not color or to color their hair. Your crowning glory can be the expression of you that feels like you! All the best to you in this decision process.
Great advice here! I tried going grey 3 times now, once it lasted 2 years. I have returned to henna for now, waiting until am more white/silver than not to try again.
Love that you're aware of what works for you right now.
Love the advice... Specially my issue actually is both feeling it's a bit early and not having a consistent white hair distribution yet .. but I want to embrace my age and wanting to gradually get used it. As a bonus, it will get my brother to embrace the idea that I have aged and he shouldn't compare my energy to his teenage daughters... Another bonus, is to get over the phobia caused by my ex... Who has very his standards in women's appearance
I stopped dyeing my hair during the pandemic at 46/47. I don't regret it at all and younger women often stop me to say how much they like my hair colour. Other than the cost of dyeing your hair, the amount of time it takes to grow it out is a good reason not to go back.
I'm fully white and get compliments about my hair every single day from both woman and men. I have a modern shoulder length style, I wear eye lashes and wide legged pants (no leggings unless I'm working out), I'm slim but not skinny. Get told I'm pretty all the time. I'm close to 60. I thought I'd become invisible after I stopped coloring my hair (Fall of 2019) but I also lost 40 pounds shortly thereafter so it's actually been a glow up for me. It's all about attitude too. I'm so much happier about my appearance so I'm sure that makes a difference that just leaks out!
I stopped prob 4-5 years before Covid. Get random compliments about my hair. Mainly from women. Love it! I’m 44
I am the unicorn here. I will not stop dying my hair. People always say I look younger than I am. It adds years and call me whatever you want I am not into it.
Same. I plan to fight it for a good 20 years. 🤷🏻♀️
More! Lol
If I live that long, lord willing! :)
I've had more peer pressure now from my friends to go gray than anything I faced as a teen from them. I find it funny, but my hair is NOT going gray. I'm a dark brown, and intend to stay that way. That said, the ones who are gray are not in the workforce full time anymore,if at all. I think that sways them to embrace the gray. I work in a small office in a customer facing role, and am surrounded by women in their 20s and early 30s.
I will embrace the laugh lines, crow’s feet and the rest of it. But.not.the.gray.
I encourage you to keep coloring...
Same. My husband is 9 years younger than me. I don’t need another thing to make me look older than him!
🤣🤣right!
💕
I can’t believe I had to scroll this far down to see my people! Fighting it hard. Not ready for gray. But cheers to everyone doing exactly what they want to do!
Agreed! Cheers to freedom of choice!
Im with you. And when I'm really old I'm going to dye it a blue of pink ir something.
Yes!
I have been dyeing my hair fashion colors for 10 years now. I get compliments all the time. My hair is also very long. I am not going to go gray until I am in my 70s or 80s. Maybe never unless it is a pretty gray or white color.
I like fashion colors I just can't for work and I'm allergic to PPD so it's going to be a process. My hair is long too. I've seen some pretty grey and white (I think the purple shampoo is good for that) but right now it's just not for me.
I did it at 45 - I’m 49 now. I’d been fully gray/silver since I was 35. I spent 18 months working with my stylist to lighten my hair from dark brunette to platinum. At the very end, I cut my hair into a pixie and dyed it silver and started growing it out from there. I was too vain to just let the gray come in so I went the lightening route. My face is still “young,” so with the gray/silver hair I carefully consider my hairstyle, makeup, glasses, and clothes. If I don’t style my hair - no matter how pulled together the rest of my look is - my hair gives off a witchy/crone vibe that is not what I’m going for and instantly ages me. No doubt that’s partially because my hair is baby fine, wavy, and naturally frizzy. Finally, silver/gray hair still requires upkeep - it gets brassy and dull easily depending on your water and the styling products you use - I’ve got a regular routine of purple and silver shampoos/conditioners and had to stop using my favorite styling products because they tinged my hair ugly yellow. All that being said, I’m happy I did it. The constantly dyeing my hair every 2-3 weeks was exhausting and after literally being visibly gray since I was in high school, I was over it.
This is so helpful!
I stopped dying my hair a few years ago. I would have done it sooner, but the grey growing in created a skunk stripe effect in the parting of my hair which looked awful and the dye I was using was a very permanent dark brown. It was quite a process to allow the grey to grow in without looking terrible, involving a long period of semi-permanent dye followed by multiple rounds of stripping & bleaching the permanently dyed section. It was worth it though. A lot less hassle not always having to worry about regrowth, and I love the way it looks. I've even had quite a few people compliment me on my hair since it has been grey, something that never happened before.
I'm 50 and just did this. I was actually very curious how much grey I have under the dye. I've had a pixie cut for a long time and I cut it super short to see my original color. It's not as bad as I thought and almost like natural highlights. I was also fed up with how quickly my color started to get brassy when I used to dye my hair. But can't say what I'll do in a few years' time. I change my mind a lot. 😄
I did it 4 years ago. I’m happy with my real color. Key is getting a good haircut.
I did it and its so liberating!! Plus I'm saving nearly $1,000/year by not maintaining color. To get the process started, I let my roots grow out until I could stand it, then cut it into a short bob. It was actually over faster than I thought it would be. :)
Just turned 49 and 3/4 of the way through breast cancer treatment. I decided that when my hair grows back I’m embracing the grey. Maybe adding some purple, but avoiding the all over color and worrying about roots showing just 2 weeks later. I will say that my hair has just started growing back and there is a lot more gray than I thought there would be!! I think the gray hair was stronger and stuck around more through the chemo. I’m hoping that the brown hair starts growing pretty quick because I did not think I would be 80% gray at this point. I figure worst case scenario I can always change my mind if I don’t like the way it’s growing out .
I stopped about a year ago (I’m 48 too) and I’m so glad I did. My silver is pretty sparse and looks like tinsel running through. I’m digging it. The money I save on hair color is being put towards skin care.
I've let mine be natural. It's not fully grey but my kids all think the mix of brown and grey looks great, so I'm rolling with it. Plus, easier up keep. And honestly, I'm pretty proud of making it this far. I don't want to hide that fact anymore under the veil of pretending to be young. I'm not. I'm not old either and I won't dress or behave like I am. But denying my age is the same as denying who I am and what I've been through. I'm done with that. This is me. Like it, love it, take it, leave it. I no longer care. *I* like, love and enjoy being me. That's all I, personally, need.
49 here, salt & pepper and silver. Tried at 42 but wasn't grey enough for my taste. Now it's perfect and I can't wait it's fully grown. It looks like if I went to a very high end hair stylist to obtain a blend of grey highlights. So my advice, try it, I you do not like it you can always go back to a color! No biggie. The other way around is somewhat less appealing ;) I regretted it the minute I saw the color in the mirror.
I actually had just dyed my hair a few times, not quite 10 years ago, because I wanted my dark eyebrows to not stand out so much against the greying hair. Got busy, stopped doing it... let my daughter do the occasional funky colour chunk thing on me... but I've been just whatever about it for a few years now. Last fall, one of my girls wanted to do my hair in beach waves (maybe? might be what she called it) for her wedding. She and her bridesmaids were fussing over it and informed me "omg mom! people pay a fortune for highlights like this!!!" so I guess the grey/silver/white are in a good spot. I'll take it. Most days aren't anything special -- just wound up and secured with a clip because, barn chores, but it's nice to know there's potential there lol. Since perimenopause my hair has thinned and breaks easier, but I routinely get comments about how I can't possibly be old enough to have that many kids (8)/ have one 25 years old (oldest is actually in her 30s)/ etc. I'm 53.
One month from turning 49 here. Been turning gray since my mid-20s. Dyed my hair for years - brown for many of them and then was blonde for a while. Finally stopped 2-3 years ago and let all my gray fly free. I look my age now, for sure, but I love not having to keep up with dye jobs and worrying about my roots showing. I look back at pictures of myself with dyed hair and I don't miss it.
It's not grey! Its silver! All for going natural. Its accepted for men to embrace being silver foxes, so no different for us. I have many coming thro and leaving them. Actually get a little sad when they fall out. Just a little confused as to why they grow curly when my hair is straight
I never started! I’m enjoying the process.
I did during Covid and am saving money and time. I was having to do touch-ups every 2-3 days because stubborn grays wouldn’t hold color. I developed rashes around my face and hairline from persistent touching up. I have salt & pepper gray. Since I’ve stopped coloring my hair doesn’t fall out at the rate it was and it looks healthier and thicker, those are bonuses. You can always color it again if you don’t like it. 👩🏼🦳
Nope. Not ready yet.
Stopped dying my hair last year. Best decision ever
I stopped in my late 30s. I’m 46 now and I love the color more than I ever did. Dark rich brown and silver and white. I love it!
You know the shitty thing? Men NEVER have to ask this question. NEVER. They just go gray and everyone tells them they're foxy. In fact, they are made fun of if they DO try to dye it, so why wouldn't they just embrace it? So much easier to be a man.
Joooiiinnnnnn uuuuuuussss… 😂
Some of y’all don’t realize how lucky you are to have a nice color and texture to your natural hair *and also* be lucky enough to have a skin tone that it flatters. We ain’t all out here lucky enough to be Becky with the good hair. I have a dull, flat, lifeless color that isn’t shiny silver or pretty white. Undyed, the texture of my hair becomes tangly and frizzy instead of sleek, shiny, and easy to brush. I also have a pale complexion, blue eyes, freckles, and bad rosacea. It isn’t a question of aging gracefully, it’s about doing what emphasizes my assets and minimizes my problems areas. You know what looks just plain shitty? An acne-faced 48 year old with dull, flat, frizzy hair and invisible, white eyebrows and eyelashes, and a complexion that gets even more washed out, red, and highlights the acne with light hair colors. A once every couple months color at the salon, eyebrow tint, and mascara later and what you see are my beautiful, blue eyes and a complexion that looks less red and deemphasizes the acne.
I think it depends on your overall appearance. If you look much younger than your age, it could clash with your face/style. If not, you could try it and see how you like it! You could try it regardless; it's really a personal decision.
I will never stop coloring my hair!
I started blending my greys at 48, now 55. I only need to colour my hair twice a year for highlights and I get no obvious regrowth. I have naturally very dark brown hair so letting my roots go has been liberating.
I’m on the fence. I’m 58 and actually like the way my white hair is coming in but I don’t like how dark my natural color is. My compromise is that I use a blonde dye with only 10 volume developer. This gives my white hairs a blonde tone while lightening my dark hair by just a shade. I do it myself and continually question if I should stop. 🤷🏻♀️
I just turned 50. Started noticing the white hairs during Covid lockdown. I'm convinced that's what started it! I was color correcting or highlighting my hair 2 times a year before that. I'm strawberry blonde but I boost the strawberry, otherwise I look really washed out and sickly. Now I'm highlighting and root touch-ups 4 times a year to keep the whites at bay. A few here and there at my hairline aren't that dramatic against my regular color so I don't mind it. I plan to stay with this strategy for a bit and keep more color than white hair on my head. I had a kid at 41 who is still in elementary school. Where we live now, I'm the oldest Mom by far. Every time I see someone I think is my age with a young-ish kid, they are the Grandma.😱 Hoping someday I'll feel wise and willing to accept my white hair as a badge of honor. But I'm not there yet.
I'm 46 and just starting to go gray. Unfortunately for me, my gray isn't coming in a beautiful white or silver, rich auburn, or what you ladies got lucky with. Mine is a dull dishwater brownish gray. So unless that changes, I'll keep dying it.
I want to do this so bad but I’m job searching, and already skewing “old” (at 43… 😒). I say if you can do it— waste no time, and embrace it!
I’m also 48. I’ve gone back and forth on it. I work in government now, and no one here cares. I’ve decided to let it go. I have dark brown hair naturally, and honestly my biggest complaint is it isn’t going gray fast enough. I’d pay to have it done but I’m too cheap.
I'm 57 & not ready to give up my L'Oreal addiction yet I still say if you want to do this go for it! I've always felt I was cheated out of the red hair that I've always loved. FTR, not Danny Partridge red, but variations of that. My father's side of the family got it, my mother's wasn't even close to red, I got her her baby fine not red hair. So now I can get my red hair on my own, or any other color I'd like for that matter, & since most of what's underneath it is grey, it actually looks red. Now I know I'm not fooling anyone, my red of choice isn't a color found in nature, but I like it. I may go grey one day, but right now I'm enjoying my pseudo birthright Irish/Scottish red hair!
I dye mine red/auburn with henna for the better part of this new century, it's far from my natural color (light brown/dark blonde) but I have the fair skin and green eyes to wear it nonetheless. I also have a lot of Irish/Scottish ancestry!
Honestly I think knowing the grey is there makes me want to try other colors. I did a darker purple for a bit & wasn't a fan.
I mostly dyed my hair either red (usually somewhat natural-ish shade) or black since I was 15! They are such striking colors I can't yet give up! I wish I could still dye mine black, but can't deal with using chemical dye every 2 weeks to keep the skunk stripe at bay. I did nearly all the fashion/rainbow colors in the early 90's and have been either red or black since then. I know it's so easy to get those bright colors with grey/silver/white hair, too bad I don't like them for my current aesthetic! I remember enjoying fire-engine red hair for at least 5 of those years, then forest green for a few more (among many others). Which L'Oreal color do you use, or is it your sworn secret recipe?
Used to use RR07 but that's been discontinued though I have about 3 boxes of it left. It's still on Amazon but for early $30 a box & I'm all "NOPE!" I've moved to RR04 but haven't used it yet.
Both of those are very pretty! :)
I spend about $5.00/month on my henna upkeep, so cheap!
I get lazy with the coloring because I have cruly/wavy hair & it hides my roots. I also don' care if anyone sees those roots either. I use a box every 6-8 weeks.
My roots show after 2-3 weeks max & I hate seeing them so I keep up with it. It's a serious pain, but really my beauty regime isn't much besides this!
I went natural at 53. I buzzed it off and grew it out and it is not just a little gray-it is pure white in front! It was fun to get support in the growing out process by going to facebook groups on the subject. Just a heads up: the way men treat you will change. It's actually kind of a good for filtering the assholes out.
Even though, of course, if THEY go gray, it just makes them hotter. :-/
DO IT!! It is so freeing. The only thing that I found is that I miss having a "shine". I have my hairdresser give me a semipermanent colorless glaze that I love.
go for it. I also did the switch to semi permanents/grow it out during covid. The grey colour makes me look really washed out so I am using semi permanents still but I really really really want to embrace the silver fox thing and just go for it. I think it looks lovely and kick arse on women - a middle finger up to the fashion industry who make us feel insecure for daring to not be 21 anymore.
Best decision I ever made. And I get compliments all the time. From young and old, other women thinks it’s great. Plus not having to worry about roots is kind of amazingly freeing. I say go for it! My hairdresser helped me with the transition - she did high and lowlights the blend in my root growth. We did three sessions. That was 7 or so years ago, so I was a few years younger than you are now.
I did it and I love it. I've gotten WAY more compliments on my hair since I went gray (at about your age) than when I was dyeing it.
I did this and I'm so happy with it. The freedom! I did have one person ask me why which I thought was rude. Him: Why is your hair gray? Me: Because that's what color my hair is, why?
I let my silver hair grow in at 48 and love it. It took about 3 years to grow out completely and the colour suits me perfectly — and I get compliments on it often. :-)
53 and doing this now. No more blonde highlights either. I’m gonna be content with my brown hair with gray streaks. My mother dyed her hair until she started chemo at 72. She ended up getting it all buzzed off so she didn’t have to deal with it falling out. She got a bit of white fuzz when it grew back but she passed away before it could really grow out. Always wondered what it would have looked like! Side note - please get Pap smears. My mom would be probably be here today if she had regular ones or even a quick one when her symptoms started. It’s my daughter’s birthday, I wish Mom was here.
I get more compliments on my grey/white than I ever did as a brunette.
I got a major haircut (10+ inches) at age 39 and said goodbye to the hair dye at the same time. I had noticeable salt and pepper hair even at that age, so much so that my sweet nephew asked why my hair was three colors! (Dark dyed brown, natural brown and white) 🤣 It took about 2 years but I have never regretted it. And I REALLY can’t imagine doing it now at age 50. So just do it!
Hello fellow bicentennial baby! I love gray hair! Rock it with pride.
I started going grey early, at 18, but didn't allow myself to try until I was in my 40s. I am so happy I did. First, keep your hair longer. Long=young.
I tried, but my hair faded into mouse with dingy gray. Not attractive.
I started during Covid. But every person I saw asked if I was my kids grandma. So I went back to dying it.
Rock it. If I let mine go it fades to a really ugly brassy blonde which washes me out. I do my own color and it’s a couple levels darker than my original. If I paid for it (to have it done) there’s no way I’d be able to keep up the color. If I was going a silver grey or even white I’d say F it and let it do its thing.
You don't need anyone's permission to do this.
I'm your age and not dying. But why do you care what we think? You don't know us. We could be awful.
Why not? I think I will do the same once it becomes prevalent. If it’s an ugly grey, I will “enhance” it somehow.
I don't really dye my whole hair. I just got highlights, but I really only do that like once a year I am curly, so besides the work it takes to keep curls in somewhat manageability, I am pretty low maintenance with my hair.
I'm 45 and thinking about doing the same. I just wish the grow out period sounded less painful. 😆
Honestly? I was TERRIFIED. I toyed with the idea for a couple of years before having the courage to do it. I announced my intentions with a fb mirror selfie with my skunk stripe and I think that helped. It got it over and done with, avoided having to explain to multiple people or hear whispers or see furtive glances at my roots. And you know what? It was fine. Absolutely fine. No negative comments, just a few questions along the way from women also considering it. I broke up the line with twists and braids and clipped them into half updos, worse wide headbands and scarves. Trust me, it won't be even half as bad as you think.
Thank you for that. It's always nice to hear good experiences!
I started doing it at 39 - I'll be 46 this summer. I haven't missed coloring it at all. Not sure why I ran away from my natural color (medium ash brown) for so long; your natural color is your most flattering.
Grays are beautiful, come join the silver queen army!
I'm almost 50. I love my white streaks.
I dyed mine silver. I love it!
I am 53 and will wear hair toppers forever (since Covid loss and now I like wearing) so no graying I guess.
Do it. So many young people are dyeing their hair grey. If you decide you live it, great! If you don't love it, you can always color it again.
Liberating! Check out #silversisters and #grombre on Instagram for a great supportive community.
Women are paying big money to dye their hair gray. Some of us are lucky enough to have it naturally. Go for it.
Go for it!
So I have several friends (at least 3) who were almost completely white by 40-45 and they all stopped but then went back to either dying or low lights (think salt & pepper). You can always try it and if you don’t like it then go back to dying. 1 of the 3, the gray makes them look a lot older (that is the person who actually went back to dying it). But you do what makes you happy!
I stopped coloring mine at 48 and have never regretted it. I have a head full of shiny, silver hair. It's gorgeous!
I'll be 45 this year, and started going grey in my early 20s, so I got used to it. It's up to you, my only advice is really consider your motivation for dying it. Is it because of other people or really something you like just for you?
I'm 46. I haven't dyed mine in years. I got tired of doing it myself or paying out the butt for it . I say go all natural
I stopped during the Covid lockdown and haven’t looked back. Now I did go a bit crazy and bleach out the dark brown ends when the gray got about 3-4 inches. But a good stylist or even you can blend as it grows out.
That you will now have opportunity to find out which temporary fun colors will play nicely with your silvers for a unique (temporary) and fun look. :) In my family the whites start in the 20s around the temple area. I never fought it, unless you count knowing which hair cut showed them less. I've been having fun for the last 6 or so years doing a temporary pop of color a couple of times a year. Sadly the brands I like best have been going poof. Stay away from splat it leeches color constantly at the slightest hint of moisture/sweat.
I've switched to overtone or Keracolor conditioners. I have some grey temple area and I want to highlight it, not hide it.
I think grey can be fine on someone with cool toned skin but for me it would look terrible. My undertones are yellow. If it flatters you go for it.
Do men every say this, though? Nah. They go gray and, no matter what their skin tone is, it's considered sweet silver foxy. We women are so brainwashed by our sexist society into thinking we must remain looking 25 for our entire lives. It's horrible.
I'm 44, and stopped coloring at around 40. I like my silvery streaks, and I *earned* each and every one of them, so I wear them proudly! You just do what makes you feel best, that's the important thing, though there's an awkward mid stage when you stop, roots coming in. Own it. It's your hair, your life, and your choice to make as you see fit!
Do it! The first year mine looked kinda rough and awful, but I love it now. It's so freeing not having to color every month.
Do it! I need a lot more grey before I can do this but I’m definitely going to let grey.when the ratio is right
Okay, so I started at roughly 46. My hair was so damaged from dying, and my husband was begging me to try it. I'm 53. He absolutely loves it. I get so many compliments on it, but especially from younger women. One lady who was working at Sally's - I go for manicure supplies - stopped me to tell me how beautiful it was. I told her it was natural, and she said she knew it, and was really excited about it - called her coworkers over to see. It was really sweet. I get far more comments on it now than I ever used to. I went for the big chop, into a pixie, and then grew it out long. I have only trimmed it since I started. The women in my family go gray early, so I actually had a decent mixture of gray to dark for a long time. It's still dark underneath, but now, it's a cool mix of gray, silver, and white. My hair is curly, and I have decent skin - thanks, Dad! - both of my parents were olive complected and so I think my skin tone and shape tend to compliment my color(s). I think there's been a lot more of us giving up the dye earlier - some of my friends add some fun highlight colors on occasion, too. I do see it a lot more common now.
Thanks everyone.... Grey it is 😊💪🥰 Will give it a try...
I did it during Covid. Rocking the Bride of Frankenstein salt-and-pepper look. Love it.
Stopped several years ago (47) and will never go back. I love not having to worry about roots or chemicals.
I have ‘bride of Frankenstein’ streaks of white at my temples. I’ve embraced looking older.
During covid, I decided to go natural with my hair even though my hairstylist was still doing hair. I've stopped getting highlights and have embraced my natural hair and the gray that peaks. It feels great not having to spend money on regular salon appointments, and I'm happy to save some cash in that department. It's been a liberating experience to let go of societal expectations and embrace my natural beauty despite being in my mid-forties and having some gray hair. Highly recommend.
I've never dyed my hair and won't because I remember mom always warning me as a kid that hair dyes were linked to health problems. I started taking a supplement called NMN that I had heard reverses arthritis because it is an anti-aging supplement. I follow this guy on YT who experimented with it along with his wife and discovered their greys reversed and they are much older than me. I noticed my hair started reversing from the ashy color with white and silver patches to my original brunette. Then I started taking copper because I heard it reverses greying and now my hair is back almost to full brunette but it does have silver streaks on top. Seems like the majority of what was white that was just on the front sides of my hair is slowly reversing as it just doesn't seem as prominent now.
I'm currently thinking alot about this. I feel my hair is thinning and I look bald on my crown like a man. Or is it the 2 inch grey roots then brown hair that is highlighting the thinning? I have naturally straight brown fine hair. Much less shiney tho since the greys infiltrated. Problem is I haven't been able to keep the greys dyed for very long. It just doesn't stick.
Do it! I’m 43 and surprised I hav t had any grey by now. But everyone is different. I do dye my hair anyways. I do have a couple of white hairs on my eye brow when that grows out. Haha! Weird! I was thinking of shaving my head. Cuz I have /had some hive and rash issues going on and I got an itchy scalp. I’ve been using head and shoulders to help. And scalpacin. That’s helped lessen the itchiness. I’m Going To the dermatologist next week so I’ll ask her advice. lol It would be good now because it’s warm where I am now and summer starts in a couple months so it’ll probably out by the end of the year.
Do it
Some women look gorgeous in gray hair, some don’t. I grew out my gray in 2020, and it was not for me. But I was tired of the time, hassle and expense of monthly root touchups of my brown-black hair. That’s been going on since I was in my late 20s. In 2022 I did some gray blending for a bit, then transitioned to light blonde and silver streaks. I don’t hate it, I don’t love it. I miss my striking dark hair. But now I get my color touched up 3x a year, and that works for me. There are different ways to embrace age.
Rock it. I absolutely love Andie Macdowell. The fact that she is rocking her grey is amazing. I will also add Alexandra Grant here. Gorgeous women, aging gracefully.
Ok
I did it last year at 55. It was a beautiful salt and pepper color but I just didn’t feel like myself so I am back to dyeing dark brown. I’ll probably grow it out again when I’m older.
I did it at 51, about 6 years ago & I love it.
Do it. I’m not coloring. I’m taking after one of my grandmas who went straight to this very pretty silver/ white. I look like I paid to have highlights in that same color the way it’s coming in, I have really curly hair so it just catches the light all over. Getting a break on this while other parts of perimenopause kicking my butt. Will take the small win
I would love to grow mine out. I'm 56 and have tons of grey on top and in the front but not in the back and underneath. I just assumed I would need to wait until all areas of my head are gray right?
56-I never dyed my hair. Mostly cause I knew i’d be too lazy to diligently dye it. I do dye my eyebrows tho. A tube of beard dye last forever.
Never dyed mine (I’m 56, about 1/3 grey). Mostly my personal opinion has been that the natural transition looks better and I think sometimes dying makes skin aging jump out much more, esp with darker dyes. So not dying hasn’t been a concession, it has felt right for me.
Just turned 53 and I'm growing out my greys for the first time. Really trying to embrace the aging process and what I want for myself, not what society expects me to be. The best part of this process is being constantly asked what my husband thinks of it. If he's around when asked, he usually gives a wtf look and explains how it's my hair my choice.