Gransnet forums

Style & beauty

Anyone given up the dye & gone for grey?

(128 Posts)
Kandinsky Mon 18-Mar-19 13:14:57

I’m only 54 ( only she says grin ) but fighting a losing battle.
I’m so tired of having to cover the grey literally every month. Wondering if any of you just gave up & felt better for it!

Thank you.

lovebeigecardigans1955 Mon 18-Mar-19 13:19:31

I used to streak my hair but now it's greying and you know what? I don't care. I really think that the cut is the most important thing - as long as it flatters you and you can maintain it, etc, that's what really matters. There are loads of chic greyed haired ladies around - I like to think I'm one of them!

crazyH Mon 18-Mar-19 13:21:57

I am roughly 16 years older than you and I would never stop dyeing my hair. I am very vain....my face doesn't suit grey...I look awful with grey hair. There's a lady in our club, who is in early 80s, has a beautiful mop of grey curls. If I had hair like that, I would not dye it. Mine is poker straight and dark and looks awful if I leave the grey ?

jura2 Mon 18-Mar-19 13:27:55

same here lovebe - started with streaking in my mid 50s- and when I retired and moved to our rural area - I just stopped. Love my salt and pepper short hair.

Lily65 Mon 18-Mar-19 13:28:12

Funnily enough , I was wondering that myself today. I started going grey in my 30's and now it must be all grey. The thing is my hair ( although I go to a decent hairdresser) looks like dyed hair. Its expensive to maintain.

I think grey is aging though but I am aged!

fiorentina51 Mon 18-Mar-19 13:32:21

At the age of 67 I have decided to stop colouring my hair. I got fed up with the cost and the fact that I was slathering chemicals on my head every 6 weeks also played a part. I had my hair cut as short as I felt comfortable with and haven't dyed my hair for 14 weeks now.
My natural colour was very dark brown, I also have very pale skin so I was often accused of colouring my hair, even in the days when I didnt!
Much to my surprise I have lovely silver hair at the front, not the awful steel Brillo pad look I was expecting.
I'm getting quite excited as to the eventual outcome!
I have to add that several of my friends have joined the Silver Sisterhood and all of them without exception, look years younger now. ?

nanaK54 Mon 18-Mar-19 13:33:27

I am 64 and gave up the dye 4 years ago, I was caring for my very poorly mum at the time and it just didn't feel important any more. My hair is short and I have it cut every 3 - 4 weeks and it looks fine, well I think so anyway smile

Emelle Mon 18-Mar-19 13:35:51

I took the plunge just over a year ago, partly to save money and also because it didn't feel right being careful about what I ate and the household products I used but still pouring chemicals on to my head. I have totally silver hair and a short choppy cut which means I can play around with toners and colours. I can honestly say I haven't regretted it and friends say it makes me look younger.

Ebonyblu Mon 18-Mar-19 13:40:04

Hi I’m new to this I would like to say hello and even though I’m 71 I’m not ready for the grey yet ?

tanith Mon 18-Mar-19 13:42:11

I stopped dying my hair a few years ago it was very liberating not having all that faffing around every few weeks I’d never go back.

J52 Mon 18-Mar-19 13:42:40

Silver hair here! I started going grey in my late 30s, so I gradually went lighter from dark brown until the re growth no long showed up.
I then stopped and let the natural silver shine through. My hairs now in much better condition. I use a silver shampoo once a week.

Bridgeit Mon 18-Mar-19 13:43:37

Apparently Gray is the new Blond.!
Young ladies are having their hair coloured Gray.
I have a sprinkling all over, hairdresser is trying to persuade me to have Gray streaks, I absolutely draw the line at paying to go Gray?

H1954 Mon 18-Mar-19 13:45:51

I'm embracing the greys! My hair is short and although I used to colour it to mask the grey something in the composition of pretty much all the dyes was irritating my scalp, not seriously but enough to cause concern. Even doing a skin patch test showed no reaction but overtime I developed a few sore patches in my scalp. You're probably thinking this was down to something else but since stopping using colours on my hair my scalp is 100% clear.

fairisle Mon 18-Mar-19 14:01:54

I am 54,55 next month,i stopped colouring my hair 7 years ago,last week i noticed i have my very own mallen streak!smile

SarahGransnet (GNHQ) Mon 18-Mar-19 14:10:21

You can find advice and tips the best way to go grey here

We love hearing that so many of you are choosing embrace your strands of glitter!

Kandinsky Mon 18-Mar-19 14:16:10

Oh thank you all ( & Sarah, great link! )
It’s just deciding to take the plunge really. It’s a bit scary for some reason

Mapleleaf Mon 18-Mar-19 14:25:21

I stopped colouring my hair about 7 years ago, and it's becoming more silver grey by the day, but to be honest it doesn't worry me and is saving me a fortune. I hated the greyish roots showing through, so decided to bite the bullet and let nature take its course. I'm not completely grey yet, and really quite dark underneath at the back. As others say, I think the cut is important.
Do whatever is best for you, I'd say. ?

Grandma70s Mon 18-Mar-19 15:47:30

We seem to go grey late in my family. I’m 79 and my hair is still mostly brown, with a very few grey/white streaks. It’s a lighter brown than it used to be, though. I don’t give a damn.

I have never dyed it, and wouldn’t at my age. However well it’s done, it’s not going to go with ageing skin. I see so many women with hair too ‘young’ for their faces. It’s ageing, though they don’t realise it. If you feel you lack colour in general, use it in your clothes. I find pink very flattering, but it depends on your colouring.

Grey hair is nothing to be ashamed of, just as age is nothing to be ashamed of.

PamelaJ1 Mon 18-Mar-19 15:58:41

Thing is that if you don’t like it then just start colouring again.
I like my grey and I love not having to have it done. I was in a theatre last week- behind a lot of heads. The ‘needs doing again’look is not attractive.
Good cut and stylish clothes are important but I’d say that’s important whatever your colour.

Grannyknot Mon 18-Mar-19 16:08:23

Like most of the women in my family, my hair was grey by the time I was 50. Like many of the other posters on here, I became fed up with having a "landing strip" of grey on my parting every three weeks (my hair grows really fast), I disliked the solid colour of dyed hair, I am way too impatient to sit in the hairdresser's chair for hours anyway. And OH used to complain that I reeked of chemicals! So I embraced the grey and I've never been sorry.

Again like many others have found, my hair is healthier and hardly a week goes by when I don't get compliments on my hair, often from complete strangers.

And SarahG mentions glitter - if you want to jazz up the grey there's lots that can be done - a friend has had fine single glitter strands added to her grey hair for a special occasion, and when I went to a wedding earlier this year, I had three beautiful feathers attached to my hair as per the attached pic (that's not me, that's what I took to the hairdresser to show her what I wanted). A whole lot of feathers cost £10 from a well-known online retailer and I have enough for many more occasions!

KatyK Mon 18-Mar-19 16:15:05

I don't have to worry about such things as I have alopecia. However, I have a friend who has beautiful hair and got sick of colouring it. She has let it go grey and it looks beautiful. She has it shoulder length and it's a lovely shade of grey and really glossy. envy

lemongrove Mon 18-Mar-19 16:18:39

I wondered how you still managed to look 17 Grannyknot
grin
A good friend who always looked marvellous ( and not her true age) allowed her hair to go grey a year ago......and immediatley looked ten years older!?
Needless to say, she went back to the hairdresser.
It’s a difficult call, but we each need to do what suits us best.
I have two shades of blonde colour put in (foils) two to three times a year, and that keeps some colour in, and never shows any roots, so it’s easy.

hdh74 Mon 18-Mar-19 16:19:48

I started going grey in my 30s. Stopped dying it at about 50 because the dye was constantly wrecking my hair and I hated the roots. Can't honestly say I love it, because it hasn't gone grey evenly, it's lighter at the front and still darker at the back. I keep it short and if I spike it up a bit and use texture to embrace the different colours it looks better. I actually like the parts that are the most light grey and it's all heading that way slowly, so can't wait to be all silver.

HootyMcOwlface Mon 18-Mar-19 16:26:43

I was wondering about doing this recently too. I use a home permanent dye and was wondering about changing to a semi permanent colour one whilst colour grows out to see what it’s like. Would that work?

I think my natural grey colour is not even, it’s very white at the front, around temples, but darker around the back. If I look like a badger I will be devastated!

BeeWitch Mon 18-Mar-19 16:27:14

I had a disastrous haircut shock over 10 years ago, which got rid of the lowlights I used to have. I gew my hair back, which was and still is a nice silver colour, which I love. So it wasn't a bad thing in the long run. I changed hairdresser though....smile