Going grey - new here

I was a very red redhead and started having it coloured as I went grey for a few years.
During lockdown I went white and have kept it that way. Being red haired, it usually turns a nice creamy white and I do have lots of compliments on the colour.
I just have a dry cut every few weeks, so no expensive colours or blow dries.

Henna cream in copper. Literally 1 minute whilst in shower then rinse off. Cut off a bit of hair and do a test on a bit of grey and coloured hair first to check. Uou might need only 30 seconds. Turns greying hair blinde red if not over done by too long

i was at the hairdresser last week, he said you have some grey, would you like to think about getting it coloured, he seemed a bit shocked when i said no, i have never dyed my hair, now and again i used harmony wash in wash out as it gave my hair a really good condition, i am happy to go grey, i am 62 and still have plenty of colour in my hair but i like it with the touches of grey.

I have my hair coloured as my hair is awful - unruly and wavy. If I went grey I would look 20 years older as I have pale skin and grey hair drains the face. With unruly wiry hair I would look absolutely dreadful. I would love to go grey if my hair was thick and straight.

Natural ginger hair is very hard to emulate with a dye and always looks odd on an older woman, I see that colour quite regularly 😬
A shade of light brown would look better and even better with some hi lights worked in to help hide roots.

Bumble3, I can imagine that losing that glorious colour must be hard to accept. But, looking at a friend who has obviously had wonderful red hair, the dye combined with the grey roots really doesn't work so well.
At 80, I'm longing for my hair to go white but it persists in staying pepper and salt. I'm like you, Magenta. However, there's plenty of it and if it's well-cut and well-conditioned, it looks okay.

Norah

Perhaps blonde balayage. My hair is silver, blonde foils are added.

Your hair looks lovely Norah, sadly my grey isn't nearly so attractive and is patchy,

I've been dyeing my hair since the grey started showing, I find that the home dyes leave my hair in poor condition - my hairdresser comes to the house and does it every 8 weeks or so, leaving me with enough professional dye products to do my roots between her visits.
My mother was a redhead and used one of those wash out colours which really worked very well, she was a pale strawberry blond for years. I think that might be the best solution for you as you don't get any build-up. It wouldn't work for my hair I'm afraid as it doesn't take colour very easily.

But not everyone progresses to a full head of silvery hair. I am in my 80s. All the toplayer of my hair is still dark brown, while underneath is various shades of grey in patches.

It is a family trait and I see it on other family members and it really isn't attractive. I have been dyless for the past year, but, as I said, it doesn't become me, so I think I will start colouring my hair again.

Just a packet from Superdrug, the same colour as my brown hair, every 4 months or so. What difference does it make whether my brown hair is natural or enhanced. everyone assumes I colour my hair even when I don't.

It's a hard decision but after dyeing my hair since 11yo - I was a punk and had lots of colours over the years but mostly black until my mid 40s. I have now grown it out at 56.

It has been so hard and I've felt so old and drab, and almost ashamed of my appearance but now I'm coming out the other side I feel younger. It's everyone's choice, however I think dyed hair works against you eventually and having healthy natural hair looks better ... Again, eventually.

Some people I know took advantage of lockdown and grew the worst out during 2020. My daughter's a hairdresser and she's said she will grow hers out when the time comes because the grey blends cost a fortune and fade to yellow quickly. Instagram is not a true representation of how it is once you wash it yourself.

But it's hard, and everyone's choice of course.

Go lighter using highlights, as a journey towards embracing your incoming white hair. I stopped dyeing my hair when I retired, fed up of the roots showing through increasingly quickly. Had two full heads of highlights, which were many shades lighter than my mahogany hair, then allowed nature to progress. It was painless. Within two years I had a full head of beautiful silver hair which I love every day.

That’s just silly of her. Do what you like best. Your hair. I have known people say hair colouring is not good for you.

My sister, 19 months younger, says she’ll kill me if I stop colouring my hair. I do use a hairdresser I trust

I started to go grey in my late teens and fully grey in my early thirties I wear it in a pixie cut I get compliments about my hair colour.
I would embrace the grey .

My natural colour is a dark red started to go grey which I didn’t want. Would never attempt to colour it myself hair is not so forgiving as you age. My natural colour has been toned to a lighter shade by my hairdresser who sorts the roots out every six weeks or so and she blends the colour in. Funny enough if I tried to have it dyed my natural colour it would not suit my aging skin.

At around 60, I used henna to restore my reddish gingery hair tone. However , I soon got tired of having to cover up roots etc.

Grey, silvery or white hair is something that comes to most of us. To start off with we probably all feel "Oh, dear, am I so old?"

However, if you, like me, soon give up on hair dye, try re-assessing your wardrobe. Not all colours that suited you as a red-head, will suit you now, but others will.

An aunt of mine, who had never worn pink, found it complemented her steel-grey hair, where it had not suited her dark brown hair, nor her earlier skin tone.

My friend had lovely red hair. She is now a blondish colour which looks very nice. She is 70. I used to use Superdrug semi permanent hair dye and it worked very well for a long time. As I got older I went to a professional hairdresser who now colours my hair and the colour is always lovely. I didn't realise blondes had more fun till I was in my 60's! Ha Ha.....wish I had known earlier!

Believe it or not I still have [short, curly] dark hair at 77 [Similar pattern to Prue Leith]. Close inspection will see some grey at the temples and some grey hair dotted in the rest but 90%+ is still dark.

My Grandmother was the same and her hair only looked grey when in her 80's. My Mother and Aunt went completely white in their mid 70's.

I do expect to go white quite quickly when it does change though and it won't bother me. I know people who have tried the colouring shampoos with no real results - and dyed their hair but it looked un natural. Best leave it all to nature.

My hair is naturally silvery blond mouse now (86), slightly wavy, and I would never dye or colour it. I’d rather look natural, not spend the money or the time and, like a pp, have it just on the shoulders so I can have it up or down. Can’t believe the time and expense some people regularly go to, but each to their own of course.

I am longing for my hair to go white. At the moment it is a sort of dull, beigey grey, I think it is called greige. My hair used to be naturally golden blonde, everyone thought it was dyed. Not any more.

Norah

Perhaps blonde balayage. My hair is silver, blonde foils are added.

Norah, your hair looks lovely.

I met up with a friend I hadn't seen for years, she showed me a photo of her younger sister,whose hair was now almost white
and she looked lovely.

Balayage is tricky DIY Norah as the OP requested no hairdresser, it’s also pretty expensive.

I think thatvyou have to experiment.
I had very dark brown hair with blond streaks in the front.
I don't know how white /grey I am .
There's a halo.
When it appears people say that I look really ill -totally washed out .
I've tried dark brown dyes and looked like a witch.
Then paler browns without success.
Then a deep red by Nutrisse and that looks very pretty according to everyone .
It looks best put up and not loose.
I don't know how much longer I'll dye my hair .

Two of my friends are a bit younger than ne -one goes for her natural almost black colour . It looks a bit too dark. The cut on her very curly hair is perfect. The last time I saw her she was having the lighter colour darkened I didn't have the heart to tell her that her very dark hair is ageing . She extremely underweight and that doesn't help .
The other has blond hair with highlights .
The colour looks great,but it only looks nice when put up and not left loose .

It's trial and error.

You’ve got lovely hair Norah.

I have my hair done at the hairdressers, darker underneath, with highlights, so I’m not much help. I’ve never been brave enough to dye it myself since I used henna in the late seventies.