Do or Don’t: Grey Hair

I feel like not embracing the gray hair is an attempt to stay looking younger and *that* is the part I find myself struggling with the most. I wish I was happy to see gray hairs as a sign of getting older, a gift not everyone gets. (Maybe getting gray hairs young is like getting breasts first among your friends though? You are terrified initially and then they become part of who you are and a source of pride.)

I do have a smattering of grays and for a night out I will give in to vanity and cover them with Greyfree Professional Temporary Hair Color, but the rest of the time I’m struggling to embrace them. I want to be aging and I want to model to younger women that going gray is part of that life transition.

Hi!
I have some questions. I have been dyeing my hair for 30+ years. I’m ready to embrace/rock my grey hair. I’m 100%..
Anyway, I have reddish/brown in hair.. Length is middle back. Not cutting hair. How to grow my color out without the dreaded demarcation mark. All replies would be appreciated.

Thanks!

I’m in my late 50s and have been grey since my late 20s. I have never colored my hair (except for one disastrous episode that turned all my grey purple!!) and I never plan to. Yes, people tell me that I would look younger if I had darker/lighter/brighter/frosted/streaked/chunked/or just plain different hair. Do I care? No. I’m an intelligent, college-educated, college librarian. I like who I am and how I look, grey and all. I’ve been asked if my husband doesn’t mind that my hair is grey. Mine turned grey; his turned loose. So, no, he doesn’t mind. And besides, my hair identifies me as a member of my family. People look at me and say, “I know you are one of the XXXXX clan just by that hair. ” Grey hair rules!!

I have been home dying my hair for 30+ years. I am natural auburn (Irish roots) but have had a clump of grey in the crown since around 16. Plucking them out does not breed 3 new ones :)
My hair also dulls a lot in winter so I liven it up with a brighter tone. The best home dye I have used is Herbal Essence, the red’s (45 i think?), but all the herbal essence one’s I used were really nice to my hair. They don’t sell that in the UK anymore, so I go with Live colour, real red. I have had pretty much every colour the other side of blonde from brown to black to bright pink and blue! I always get compliments on the condition of my hair from hairdressers, having no break from dying and I put my hair through some real stress.
I have no choice but dye my hair these days, I wish i could even remember and embrace the colour i used to have.

I’ve been getting greys since I was 25 (I’m 33) and for a long time I was plucking, but now I find I can’t keep up!

I dye every three or four months, and I’ve started using root touch-up dyes in between. Not ready to let it go.

I love the idea of having a head of silver when I’m older, but at 24, I’ll let a few come in and then I go to dye it! (I’ve been going gray since I was 14, and with dark brown/black hair, you really notice it…) I recently used a box dye for the first time, and it’s worked even better than when I had it done at the salon – wish I’d tried the boxed dye sooner! (If only I could remember which one I tried!)

I had to stop plucking once there was a sort of critical mass because my head had all these shorter grey hairs that stuck up and were not cute.

Have you tried lowlights at the salon? It doesn’t completely eliminate them but it reduces and you can do it much less frequently since it is more subtle. I only do it 3 times a year, which probably isn’t something anyone would recommend but is my reality.

For the longest time I could do a side part and just hide all of the grays that were creeping in over my late 20s. I’m in my early 30s now, and there’s a definite (but very thin!) stripe happening and it is visible with the side part now. I’ve just decided it is best to embrace it and deal. Dyeing it is such a hassle and expensive. Maybe now people will stop carding me at least?

I’m in that same place… and still thinking what to do about it. so far only 4 or 5… I like grey hair, but it must take extra care to look good.

I’ve got a lot of grey hair amongst my mousey brown head of hair. So many that people think I’ve dyed a strip of grey in my bangs. Embrace the grey!

I started getting grey hair my freshman year at college… now I’m REALLY “going grey.” For now I’m embracing it.

I started going gray about a year and a half ago. I tried dyeing it myself, which is a HUGE pain. The dye stinks, so you really have to do it in a well-ventilated area, and you don’t want the kids around while you’re doing it. It is worth EVERY cent to find a good salon and have it done professionally. It’s also a good time to experiment a little with color and highlights. Make it fun. Plus, sitting in the salon gives you some reading time!

Read the book Going Gray, by Anne Kreamer. Really thoughtful, and definitely encouraging if you plan to embrace your grays.

Of course your post made me smile because I’m in the same boat. At 32, I currently pluck. My advice is only look at your hair in a dimly-lit bathroom. Never look at your hair in a car dashboard mirror – the light is too good and the grays seems to multiply!

My hairdresser says semi-permanent color will do the trick, but I’d love to find a cheaper option!

Of course your post made me smile because I’m in the same boat. Currently I pluck. My advice is only look at your hair in a dimly-lit bathroom. Never look at your hair in a car dashboard mirror – the light is too good and the grays seems to multiply!

My hairdresser says semi-permanent color will do the trick, but I’d love to find a cheaper option!

This is so timely for me. I spent the better part of the weekend researching Lush henna for covering my greys. I’m still torn. I have a handful of grey or rather white hairs and am struggling with the embracing. The henna seems like a great conditioning treatment that would add some subtle color as I am starting with dark virgin hair. I just wish I could keep my original color and get rid of only the grey. I guess that probably what everyone wishes though, right?

Don’t touch your greys! I started going grey at 28 and, looking round an editorial meeting of stylish older women with not a grey hair in sight, had them covered up. Now I wish I hadn’t – I’m so locked into an expensive, time-consuming six weekly habit! Now that I’m 44, I’m really very grey but still not totally ready to embrace it – my hair is curly and messy and I know that there’s going to be an element of crazy witch when I grow it out… But I’ve started leaving a bit at the front white so that I can get used to it – it’s a start! Also, I actually like the way that my friends who have just left their hair are looking – it looks classy and wise (though admittedly none of them are quite as grey as I am!) You have lovely hair – it’ll look great with a smattering of grey!

Honestly I do love my silver hairs.

I say embrace the grey. I will be 40 this summer and have loads of grey hair. Every time I go to the stylist to get my hair cut she asks if I am going to start to color. Nope! It is who I am, I love the way it looks, my husband thinks it is sexy… hip hip hooray for grey!

I LOVE the look of grey hair! I think it makes a woman’s face look so young and bright, and it just really pops in a crowd. When I see a youngish woman with long grey hair, I seriously can’t start staring. I’m in my late twenties and haven’t seen so much as one white hair yet, but I kind of can’t wait until it starts. :)

I’m over 50 & still can’t get used to it. But the salon is prohibitive at the moment. A friend stopped the salon (not because of money) & started using a natural plant dye company. She did my hair & while it isn’t perfect, it’s very nice. I use a combination of henna & indigo for medium brown. She is a dark blonde & uses a combination of four plant dyes that I forget at moment. The place she ordered from is called Mehandi (I think) in Ohio. It uses plants from small farmers around the world. She did a huge amount of research about the history of this…I balked at first saying NO I DO NOT WANT THAT RED HENNA FRENCH THING. (I was scarred early in life from this by living in France. :) Anyway, the boxed dyes have problems apparently, & aren’t as “natural” as they’d have you believe.

You have few gray hairs (I know it doesn’t feel that way, though.) so maybe a rinse will work. I have hard to color gray & a lot more now. I will say that this takes 5 HOURS on my head to color them. I do it on a day I will be at home. It takes some planning.

Okay, I just looked it up. The place is Mehandi. Don’t be put off by the very basic website. I was & my friend went ahead & purchased about 6 months of stuff from them as one of my Christmas gifts. I urge people to check this out. And also for Mehandi to do a better website. My friend says they are just wonderful on the phone.

Perhaps a story there? The founder seems so interesting.

Cheers.

I haven’t started greying yet, but I’m a redhead and redheads notoriously go grey early, so I know it’s coming. I have refrained from coloring my hair my whole life because I’ve got such a unique shade of red and I know if I wanted to go back color matching would basically be impossible. When I do go grey, I’m going to take the opportunity to finally do some of the wild stuff I’ve always dreamt of – purple ombre, maybe. :) And when I get old enough that the grey starts to feel appropriate, I’ll embrace it… maybe. :)

i’m only 27, and the other day i thought i noticed some grey but it was just shoddy bathroom lighting. i was disappointed! my hair is this not-really-brown-or-blonde dull color and i think grey will look good on me! i’m probably getting ahead of myself (and pinning too many photos of grey pixie-cutted future-mes!)

omg these are amazing tips!!!!!! cannot wait to pore over these.

I´ve been plucking my greys for more than five years now, and I´m only thirty. Luckily I´ve got lots of hair and can spare some :) My husband says that plucking is stupid but I don´t want to give in just yet. Dyeing is not an option since I love my natural dark brown colour. The problem is that even random grey hairs are noticeable amidst the brown. And I don´t even want too remember the silver streaks in my bangs. I´ll probably continue plucking the greys even if it seems to be a loosing battle :(

I’m 40 and absolutely hate the 10 or 12 greys I have on the top of my head!!! Hate them!! But I don’t want to spend a lot in a saloon. It would be to much asking for a product sold at my local pharmacy to be used at home?!?

This is very much where I am at right now. I have dubbed 2015 ‘the year I will accept I am going grey’.
I hope I can keep up my ‘I refuse to dye’ regime

And let’s face it – grey hair can be beautiful!
:)

Oh the dreaded greys! I started going pretty grey at 30 and I dye my hair. I hate dyeing my hair though. It is expensive and the roots come up so quickly. In order to combat how quickly the roots show I’ve gone lighter, I miss my natural hair color. I look forward to the day where I feel comfortable or have the courage to just accept the grey and let it flow. I am not at that point yet though.

Y’all – specifically brunettes – Aveda has a toner conditioner called “Clove” that smells amazing and has just enough color in it to take the edge off the greys without being full out dye. I. LOVE. IT. I do it once a week – for that shower, it replaces my regular conditioner – and you leave it in a little longer (maybe ten minutes? I actually don’t even rinse every bit of it out!) It really seems to give vibrancy to my curly locks. I’m twenty eight and have been seeing greys for five years now and this is doing the trick for me…for now! Hope this helps. Xx

I started noticing the odd silver hair a few years ago (I’m 33) and would pluck them. Now I’m suddenly noticing a lot more (thanks toddler!) and I’m still trying to pluck what I can, but I think I’ll just eventually embrace it. I know deep down that I’m too lazy and cheap to keep up with coloring. My husband says not to worry about it because he’s been gray for years. I’ve tried telling him it’s different for men, they just get more handsome, but women feel old and undesirable. I felt this way until I discovered pictures of Linda Rodin through Instagram. She’s beautiful and looks amazing and has such a youthful vibe. Now I’m not dreading my inevitable silver mane.

I just can’t let it go. I have been going grey since my late 20s and I am almost mid-30s now. I use semi-permanent for less harsh chemicals and do it every 2 months or so. I only cover the top of my head, greys in front. Then just run my fingers through for highlights, but the color is exactly my hair color, so I don’t need to put it on my whole hair. I really can just cover my greys. Here’s my wishing you luck that you could find a color that matches your hair so you could do this too! Also, I don’t cover them completely. The color just give enough tint that they appear lighter, but not grey. It is very natural looking.

I’ve been having grays since 25, I’ve found a low cost/low maintenance solution for me, I’m a brunette, my solution has been doing a ombre with a few blond highlights, it normally lasts me 6 months with no maintenance at all.. which is awesome! saves me on hairdresser.. as I only go twice a year :)
I’m not really to embrace the grey :SSS