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Grey hair or colour it?

(119 Posts)
Jan09 Sun 15-Sept-13 21:40:49

I have noticed - mainly in magazines and newspapers but on the streets of London too - that more and more women are letting their long hair go grey rather than colouring it. I'm beginning to be tempted to grow my colour out and do the same. I hate the process of having it coloured and the expense and why can't grey be as attractive as blonde or black? What do other people think?

NannaAnna Wed 16-Oct-13 22:14:46

I agree completely Henrietta! I get compliments all the time now smile
I guess it depends on your shade of grey, and like you I am lucky that mine has grown through silver. (In fact a much older woman last week thought it was dyed platinum!)
I look back at photos and think it is actually much more flattering than the chestnut I used for so many years. No intention of going back, and currently growing it long so that I can swish it wink

Henrietta Wed 16-Oct-13 07:33:57

Never in all my life did anyone ever say anything nice about my hair until I started to let it go grey. Now I get compliments on a regular basis and believe you me, it does wonders for your self esteem at 60. It came through as a lovely silver and I have a great hairdresser who gives me a cut that suits my face. Great! Go grey, I say.
A friend is still colouring her hair with an all over colour. After a couple of weeks she has a white line running down the centre of her head (long hair, middle parting). She looks like a badger, (which is not a good look in my opinion) but she can't or won't see it. Hey ho, each to her own.
Well coloured hair is great if that is what you like and can afford to do it on a very regular basis, go for it, but badly coloured hair is just a mess.

rockgran Wed 16-Oct-13 00:40:37

I gave up trying to cover the grey years ago. It was becoming a losing battle, I hated doing it and my husband never noticed anyway. ( He thinks I'm lovely, bless him.). I do think it can be quite ageing to have dyed dark hair but faded eyebrows and skin tone.

positivepam Tue 15-Oct-13 20:51:44

Mine is I think, what they call salt and pepper and DD usually applies a colour as near to my normal colour as possible for me. I am also not sure what to do, one minute I think I will let it all grow out and then DD will look and well you can guess the rest. I think if I had a lovely silver, white or grey I wouldn't hesitate and let it be natural but I am neither one or the other. My hair is also thick and curly Penstemmon so understand that trying to keep it tamed prob.

merlotgran Mon 14-Oct-13 23:24:31

I had silvery/grey highlights in my hair for a couple of years which blended in with my grey roots and now I don't need to do anything at all.

Saves a fortune thlgrin

Nonu Mon 14-Oct-13 23:18:23

Blonde here, and very pleased about it all .

Many thanks , Mr L"Oreal.

You are a star, although when my roots come through they are brown any way !!!!!!

Tegan Mon 14-Oct-13 13:20:51

I'm growing out the low lights that I've had put in my hair for years, but find that the grey/white hair [or what's left of my hair which is falling out daily and not growing back much] is very dry and brittle. Not sure what the next step is but now that I'm not working I can let myself look pretty messy for a while till I decide what to do [it also saves me a lot of money as, having very thin hair I still had to pay the same as everyone else to have it coloured and cut]. I'm also thinking of finding a way to add a bit of hair where it's thinning badly on top and it'll be easier to just find some white/grey hair [oh the joys of getting old].

Iam64 Mon 14-Oct-13 12:41:59

Pen - I'm also experimenting on similar lines. My hair was very dark brown, I used henna during the 70's. Grey hairs set in when I was in my mid 30's (have first appeared in my early 20's) and I stopped using henna to avoid the dread bright orange streaks that occur when a lot of hair is grey. I had some blond high lights in my early 50's, but got carried away. When I heard someone describe me as 'the tall, blond one', I was off to get some low lights. After that, I gradually went darker again but have gone down a couple of shades, and the Christmas cut will include high lights again. I have regular discussions with the lovely hair stylist about when I'll stop having a colour. I don't feel quite ready, though I love the way a number of friends now have silver hair.

janeainsworth Mon 14-Oct-13 09:01:29

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marryclinton Mon 14-Oct-13 08:41:29

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Penstemmon Mon 23-Sept-13 17:26:04

I am experimenting with my hair at the moment...originally a very dark brown my hair was coloured with henna during the late 60s' & 70s. It then naturally got a bit lighter but since grey has appeared I have coloured it /have it coloured. At the moment I have gone a lot lighter than usual as I am trying to see if that will allow the grey to grow through less noticably until I can stop colouring it once the grey transformation is done!
My hair is naturally thick & curly and not easily tamed (see my profile) so I never achieve a well groomed lookhmm I occasionally, as an ex nail biter, go to a nail place and have shellac nail manicure. It lasts for 2-3 weeks and I always choose a glittery finish! A treat to myself!

MrsSB Mon 23-Sept-13 11:40:12

Definitely no colouring here, mainly because I couldn't be bothered with having to keep doing it.

NfkDumpling Mon 23-Sept-13 06:47:02

Gel nails? What are gel nails? Are they stick on things? I wear varnish as my nails break at the first chance they get and the white bit is all lopsided. My hands are horrible anyway, but I'd like to at least try to keep them reasonable.

Caramac Sun 22-Sept-13 23:11:11

I have bleached, coloured and hennaed my hair since my teens and love a change. My DD has a salon and so she looks after mine for free. I hope my hair becomes the beautiful silver that my Auntys hair is, she never colours it and its very lovely. However, I have only a little grey at the temples and so currently choose to have blonde highlights with a brown all over tint. DD assures me I will never have the harsh, too dark shade for me which is ageing. I think grey hair can look beautiful but if mine looks anything like a brillo pad then I shall continue to colour.
PS I also have gel nails, tinted eyebrows and lashes but usually wear mascara.....shave my legs...armpits.......but not at all vain, not really at all...

Deedaa Wed 18-Sept-13 21:36:03

I've started to grow the colour out of my hair a couple of times, but I always reach a point where my daughter says "Oh, for God's sake colour your hair!" So I go off and buy another pack. Was disappointed to find that the bright violet that Swarchkopv (sp?) were advertising would only work on blonde hair though.

Cagsy Wed 18-Sept-13 12:51:36

I never coloured my hair at all until I was in my 40s when I felt that my dark brown hair actually didn't suit my changing skin tone so started having copperish highlights. As they say once you start it's hard to stop, but I don't regret it. Not sure if it was turning 60 but I got a bit daring and decided to have even lighter highlights and when the hairdresser was finished I was almost blonde, what a shock - but I love it, and so does everyone else. The only thing I don't like are the dark roots showing through, but as I now get almost 1/2 price hairdressing as a 'Senior Citizen' I'm not too bothered about keeping them touched up.
Not sure what kind of grey I'll go, my Mum's was always a very dark grey that I never thought attractive so I'll wait and see, but I'm not giving up the colouring anytime soon! sunshine

Yofab Wed 18-Sept-13 12:43:04

Opinions are divided and individual. My dear mum-in-law coloured her hair right up tp her demise at the ripe old age of 97! I stopped colouring mine a few years ago for budgetary and "can't be bothered" reasons, and am happy with the result!

Judthepud2 Wed 18-Sept-13 11:17:41

My mother had naturally black hair and 'swarthy' skin as a young woman but started to go grey in her twenties. She dyed it once and it went pink! So never again. She had the most wonderful silver hair which looked fabulous with her dark skin. She was a very beautiful woman even when she died. I'm not at all! Started dyeing when the first few grey hairs began to show in my 30s but hated the regrowth halo. Have gone lighter and lighter with a view to eventually letting the silver dominate but not quite confident enough to go the whole way! Will rethink in a few years but recent ill health has left me a bit in need of confidence boosting. I agree....each to their own!

kittylester Wed 18-Sept-13 10:45:50

If my hair was white, I'd leave it natural. Faded rat, on the other hand, is not a good look on anyone. grin

yorke Wed 18-Sept-13 10:39:17

My hair is dyed red & I love it but the dye comes out evertime i wash it which is a nuisance. Also i go to the hairdresser to have it done as i hate the mess of doing it myself. It does cost alot though I should like to see what my normal hair colour is but if it is a salt & pepper colour, I shall be dyeing back to red. Love the pure white/ silver colour!

YaYaJen Wed 18-Sept-13 10:35:33

Have coloured my hair since being a teenager, loved the shine and red highlight henna gave my mid-brown hair. Have been all sorts of colours and styles since, luckily my hairdresser is family so cost is much reduced.

Bez Wed 18-Sept-13 09:12:21

Oh dear Gally not very diplomatic of them!! I used to have highlights/lowlights - darker lights through the really grey front part and lighter colour through the back darker hair giving a more even colouring - then about eight years ago my hairdresser started saying to me how grey/silver hair was becoming fashionable and he would say - think Anne Bancroft- and then I sort of got fed up sitting there with all the foil over my head. So stopped all colouring etc. Now use a dark blue shampoo as my hair takes up a tinge when I use other shampoos.
Lots of French women in the country still go for the bright red colouring or something far too dark for their skin tone and that I think is not a good look. Fairly recent for them to go natural.

annodomini Wed 18-Sept-13 08:42:31

Grey, no! Silver, yes!

Gally Wed 18-Sept-13 08:29:46

The late Mr.G was 7 years older than me but, unlike me, kept his original hair colour and never went grey. About 6 or 7 years ago some neighbours with a similar age gap only the other way round, met J when he was signing up for a new travel pass and asked why I was not doing the same! They were very surprised when he said I was too young. they told him that they had always thought I was the older of the two of us! I was not best pleased shockangry

moomin Wed 18-Sept-13 08:25:41

Hint of a Tint! I'd forgotten about that one. I'm happy colouring my hair which was originally dark brown and as the grey hairs appeared for a while it looked OK. But I decided to go a few shades lighter than my original natural colour a few years ago and for now will continue.

If I had completely white hair, I would leave it "natural".