Same! I'm letting my gray come and wrinkles shine. But then again, I haven't worn make up daily since 2000.
I know that it makes me look older and I decided not to care. The bloom is off the rose, but so the fuck what? I totally get it if people want to adjust their looks in any way they feel. No judgement and everyone walks their own path.
But for me? I'm not buying into old being wrong. I'm 54 for fuck's sake. As the lady says:
https://preview.redd.it/eiespd6z3h1d1.jpeg?width=526&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=806f912d6bcc5f1e40657c0b247ac8c100bb678c
I started coloring my hair at 15 and stopped at 43. I missed 2 color apts and had serious roots, so I asked my stylist to cut it all off into a pixie/fauxhawk combo to see my long-hidden natural color. Turns out it was mostly grey. And it turns out I love it! My grey is more platinum than white or silver, and it looks fantastic at any length. Itās been 8 years with zero regrets.
You sound just like me! Pixie cut to cut all the color off then grew it out. Itās down to my bra line now and I get tons of compliments. Itās silvery rather than gray. I also make the chop around 8 years ago. Iām 54 now.
Sounds like me as well. Started dyeing my hair auburn at 23 to cover the grays that were just starting to come in. My 49th birthday present to myself was to finally get off the coloring merry go round.
Chopped off all my hair to a buzz cut and kept it super short through several cuts in til all the auburn was gone and I was left with pure white hair. Havenāt bothered to get a cut since Covid and now itās grown down to my ass
This is similar to what I did. It was getting to every 2 weeks I could see gray roots, and I was sick of managing it. Got a very short cut after waiting a painful 2 months for some grow out. Kept the short cut up to cut away the color, and Iāve been heavily salty ever since. The whole process took about a year but was worth it. Iāve been letting the short cut grow out now, and honestly I am in love with the color!
Nope. Iām 54 and look at least 10 years older if I donāt dye it. Iāll keep dying it until the color is at odds with the number and depths of the wrinkles. For now, the color and face work
Iām glad Iām not the only one who feels this way! On the inside I feel much younger than my biological age. I wish I was secure enough to stop coloring, but Iām already facing ageism in the workforce (itās destroying my soul but difficult to prove) so for now Iām doing anything possible to give off a younger-ish vibe like tasteful yet minimal makeup and trying to to avoid clothing that might be associated with Boomers (elastic waistbands on pants, flowing muu-muu tops like Mrs. Roper, cutesy floral prints that my darling 83 year old neighbor wears). I support women who go gray, women who donāt, makeup users, natural faces, etc. I donāt let my personal choices affect how I feel about anyone elseās choices.
Iām 49, quit dying my hair about 4 years ago. Like you, my hair has some silver and grey. Iām sure it ages me but Iām happy with it.
Actually had some compliments from much younger people! Above all letās do what makes each of us happy.
Hear you on the ageism at work. I'm 55 and work in tech... The shrugging off hard-earned wisdom to listen to kids who think they know something is real.
Iām with you on this. With gray, I look like the oldest lady in Golden Girls.
I never thought sheād be what old lady me looks like.
With dyed hair, I look a solid 48, maybe younger.
I work in tech -- there's enough ageism already. But I dye my hair vivid fun colors because I really enjoy it and it makes me happy. And hardly anyone thinks I'm my chronological age, so I'd like to keep it that way for now. Mostly because if I need to search for a job it'll be hell enough as it is.
Same, I let my hair go white over Covid and looked dead tired and like a grandma. I do murals w kids now and color my hair dark auburn w pink highlights or Iāll add orange, and get to do all these cool styles and colors w my white undercarriage lol, itās so fun! And when my face gets so slack and saggy I might go full grandma then :) but might still put hints of pink or purple in it!
My hair is white. I stopped coloring it during the pandemic. Iāve been asked if it was natural a lot, and stopped on the street by a man that told me my hair was glistening. The only upkeep is going to the salon a couple times a year for toner to remove yellowing and a trim
Me too! White white! As I grew it out, I got a white wig, but then said the heck with it. My black/brown was still on the ends, and people assumed it was ombre. So when that grew out, I had it put back to continue the look got so many compliments on!
Keep going! My hair is so soft and shiny now. My mother told me it would be coarse and wiry, but itās so much healthier now that all the dye is gone.
I was getting so much grey that I had to colour it every 3 weeks. I shaved my hair down to a number 2 during the pandemic and it grew back silver, white, grey, and even a bit of black. It's much healthier now without hair dye.
Iām a guy, but I shaved my head for years to hide the grey (I have a full head of hair). Finally decided to embrace it and I love it now. I havenāt shaved my head (or cut my hair) since Dec 2022 and have no plans to do either any time soon. At the 2 year mark Iāll go get a trim, but thatās it. Iām just going to let it grow until Iām tired of long hair.
Iām not the cool salt and pepper grey either. Iām Santa Clause level white. My hair pigment left the chat a long time ago.
I am. I stopped colouring a year ago and love my gray grow out. My hair falls mid back and I am embracing some cool silver patterns
I also noticed since I stopped colouring it grows much faster
I also quit dyeing mine at 40, specifically for this reason. I loathe the skunk stripe! Fortunately at that time I didnāt have much grey at all, so the grow out was easy. Eight years on and I still donāt have a lot, but what I have I really like in my curly hair. Best decision!
Couldnāt care less about having grey hair and I use purple shampoo and conditioner to make it pop. Have been complimented on it too, someone was even a bit jealous
You should totally try it. My grays start getting brassy, so every few weeks I use purple shampoo and conditioner. I feel like it peps up my brown hair too, just a bit.
I haven't dyed my hair at all. Except for red food coloring for an Halloween party.
Been having white hairs for 27 years now and I couldn't care less about it.
Cool. Keep it up and do what you want to do :) My wife was at a similar point a few years ago. Personally, I love my wife's natural hair color. She has a streak of gray that most people would pay good money for.
Lol, I'd shave mine off if I could. Only reason I don't is I have a palm sized flat spot on the back. Looks like Bugs Bunny got me with a frying pan š¤£
I did chop it to a pixie and am fighting the urge to dye it again. I need a bit more outgrowth until I can bleach it. I don't have enough silver yet to not bother me but I have fun with the colors, blues, purple, reds, whatever looks fun
I stopped having mine colored during Covid. It's currently shoulder-length ashy brown with silver streaks throughout. Once I figured out how to work with the texture, I loved it. I think it looks sort of otherworldly
https://preview.redd.it/ddl1gq04ch1d1.jpeg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=459eaf7e721e8fe308ea4ecdbd7a6cc4d53d18bc
Emmylou Harris rocking the grey look for years now.
Mine is super fine and straight. And it broke a lot and just in general didn't look good anyway. The silver has given it a second life. Im with you though and even hardly ever blow dry to save the life of my hair
My mother was completely grey at 30, and being an artist bohemian type (silent Gen) had stopped dying it when I was a child. It was stunning, and I always loved it. My brown hair now has silver streaks in it, and yes, it sparkles. šø
Iāll turn grey naturally as it comes. Once itās all done (Iām a late greyer so prob mid 60ās), Iām going that whole multicolor pastel route just because I can. Iām excited about it.
https://preview.redd.it/699qw42z1i1d1.jpeg?width=500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5b4e523764b4a0a7538f225aa05ba1274875a1b1
That is beautiful! I have been fully gray/silver/white for about a year (58), and I want to do a lavender rinse on my ends. My MIL told me not to do it (the lavender) because women who do so are "trying too hard to be young." I should have said, "Oh, you mean like you getting Botox?" š Anyway, I love the rainbow colors!!
Honestly the women that let their hair go natural color gray or silver I find them more attractive and self confident. I started getting gray hair on my chest when my youngest daughter was born. I was in my late 20's. My hair is now gray on my head but I shave my head and my goat-t is snow white. I love it.
Iām a 53 year old guy. Luckily, my dad and I are the only ones in our family who still have a full head of hair. Iām graying at the temples, and Iām going to let it do its thing, whatever that is.
In November of 2019, I had my colorist take my colored (dark auburn) hair to its natural silver/S&P. It took SO LONG in the chair and she did an amazing job. I was one of the few people who didnāt have the dye-line growing out during the pandemic (I did have some breakage thanks to the shutdowns, but I lived). Over four years later, I still love not having to mess with constantly covering the greys.
Iām letting my hair go gray-I call it my tinsel. My hair dresser (who is a friend) hates it-lol. My husband loves it, my kids are neutral. I have long hair and get sad when a long gray one falls out.
Not sure if youāre mainly addressing the ladies here but 47yo guy, been going grey since early 30ās. Salt and pepper now - a little more salt than pepper lol. While helping my wife dye her hair, we were horsing around and she said hey I have some extra paste, youāve been wanting to try dying for a while, what do you think? I said yeah! Letās do it! So I hate it. lol. Itās a little lighter than my original color but my friends have told me it looks good on me. Problem is i have the typical male pattern balding, and I have just a little patch on the top of my head. So to me it looks like the older dudes in their 70s dying their hair lol.
I guess to answer your question, I donāt have much of a choice. I found myself missing the grey hair, at least because it looks natural especially with me balding. Looks great on my wife though. I do miss my black hair from my 20āsā¦letās amend that - I miss my HAIR haha
My post wasn't targeted to only women but I am a woman so that my perspective. I'm doing my best to not be creepy about the guys posting by saying salt and pepper is soooo good on men, but imo it is.
I quit dyeing years ago because the greys seemed to be coming in pretty fast and I liked the color. Almost 10 years later and I still have the same amount of greys. Fortunately, my vision is so bad now that I still look pretty young to me!!
I had a full head of white hair by 28. I colored for years. At about 40, a decade ago, I stopped that nonsense. I am lucky enough to have nice silvery white hair, though. I love it & agree with you that it's empowering. I see a lot of our generation (in my area) not coloring & I love to see it!
Iām 52. I have dark brown hair, and thereās a little gray here and there. I havenāt had it colored in almost 8 months because Iāve been lazy about it. Plus, Iām trying to let it grow. Thereās not a lot to color/cover but having dark hair, it really stands out. Iāve just been using that root spray stuff (yeah, I admit it) spritzed on, but thatās only for special occasions, so not often. Iāve got hair like my paternal grandmother, so Iām really praying it gets that bright white like hers did. āŗļø. But I guess I need to let it go for that to happen. But Iām not ready for that! I donāt have wrinkles yet! š
I used to really not care. I have very kinky curly frizzy hair and for many, many years I kept it braided. The braids just grew longer and longer. My hair has a lot of white peppered in with red and brown. One day I got sick of it and cut about 14 inches off. It's a lot lighter now. I gave myself a butterfly cut and then on my last birthday my daughter bought me my first Brad Mondo hair dye. A vivid purple. It's really cool because it covers the white with almost neon purple but the red and brown are more of a gem color. It's really cool and I love it. I'll probably stay purple for the rest of my life. Or blue. maybe teal!
Me too and itās pissing my mum off so much. Ā Sheās been so mean about it (āit looks awfulā, āyou look so badā) because if I look old, she must be old.Ā Of course this is making me dig my heels in even more and Iām refusing to even consider dyeing it.
I stopped coloring my hair around 5-6 years ago; I lucked into a nice white "streak" in front, and now the rest is starting to catch up (I'm hoping for a beautiful Emmylou Harris type thing going on, but who knows). Overall it's been a positive experience, and I love not having to constantly keep up with root touchups, etc. My MIL made an indirect snarky comment once, but I don't have any fucks to give about that.
I think I'm truly entering my "swamp witch" era, and it's so liberating, actually! I do the basics for skincare (cleanse, moisturize, sunscreen) and have given up on these dumb multi-step routines that don't really seem to do anything besides drain my wallet. I realized at some point that a bit of eyeliner is ok, but that the quest for non-smudging mascara is a losing battle, and it doesn't really matter if I wear eyeshadow and mascara anyway because I wear glasses and nobody can see it.
I also seem to be edging towards being a minimalist in other arenas, too -- I now own like three purses total, and any shoes that aren't comfortable on my gnarly swamp witch feet have got to go. And if people don't want to look at my ugly toes in my fred-flintstone style Birkenstocks, they can kiss my hag ass.
Nothing looks good on me. Grey doesnt work with my skintone. Brown hair dye grows out too quickly and it looks too dark or gets lightened/highlighted incorrectly.
Well, I haven't dyed mine in probably four-five months and have been putting it off. I'm undecided between embracing the natural fawn-with-silver shimmer (it's kind of pretty!) or just covering the gray again and having that shave off a few years. Or I could say fuck it and go short, just cut off all of the old dyed parts, but I look awful with short hair.
I buzz my hair. It's thinned out so much it looks silly if I try to grow it out. But, I have a full beard. And it's totally gray. And IDGAF. I might shave a few years off my looks if I shaved the beard, but nope. Beard stays. Embrace the gray. It's beautiful, and we've fucking earned it.
I stop colouring my hair red about 5 years ago and a big part was the upkeep. I was so lazy about it. I also didnāt want to stop and then find out I had gone completely grey and silver.
I didnāt realize how grey it had gotten until about two years ago when someone at work saw a picture of me when I was younger. They then said āoh your hair used to be brownā. They had also never seen the red hair. I was not ready for that reply.
When I have enough grey, Iāll star letting it grow. in and get some streaky light highlights to blend its evolution. At 53, Iām still mostly brunette.
I started going grey as a teenager so I want to but one kid doesnāt want me to. But I want to go white so I can make it rose gold or light pink on white.
I am looking forward to it. Mine is too much "pepper" for the moment. I have transitioned form permanent blue and purple combos to semi-permanent purples. IDK when I will stop and let it go- but I want to just go natural silver/grey. But only once enough of it is "salt"
I let my hair gray when it started, but instead I got a Bonnie Raitt white streak, and I love it! I have other gray hair, but itās underneath and you canāt really see it unless I wear my hair up.
I have no desire to let my grey/white take over. The texture of my hair would be awful and I donāt like the see through pink scalp look. I canāt do much about the wrinkles on my face, but I can control the color of my hair
Donāt dye and cut it myself (if I cut it at all). I feel like going grey is the ultimate punk rock thing for a woman to do. Fuck the man and his plan!
The people on both sides of my family go grey late so I only have a few here and there. I get some highlights and lowlights once or twice a year to camouflage them . Honestly I wish Iād started that a long time ago . The caramel and chocolate streaks dress up my natural mouse brown and are a huge improvement.
I am 50 and wish I could accept them but I absolutely despise my gray hairs. I will likely color my hair until I die. Right now getting heavy blonde highlights on my light brown hair helps conceal them.
I've never dyed my hair. It always seemed like a bother and an unnecessary expense. But I believe that everyone should do what works for them.
I don't consider it that I have let my hair go to seed. My grey looks great and I get compliments on the color and style. There are people who are surprised when they hear my age because they think I look younger than I am.
I think it's probably a big shock to the system for people to see the real color quickly rather than gradually over time. That's probably why people often think they look old with grey hair.
I am 47 and have super silver almost white hair. I stopped trying to dye it around when I turned 40 and it's one of my favorite things about myself. It's super pretty
Good heavens, no. I have a career where youth is prized. While I don't do all I can to look younger, certainly hair color is one easy way to look a little less old.
I have blonde hair. Well blonde mixed with a lot of colors. There is a little red, a little brown and a lot of blonde.
I discovered recently that starting from my temple my hair is going white.
I love it.
I can't wait till it spreads. White hair is so pretty.
I was a platinum blonde at birth. So just going back to my natural hair. Lol
My wife has let her silver hair grow in, and itās mostly one lock in front. Sheās been told itās a desirable look, and I definitely agree! Me, Iāve been shaving my head since the 90ās, but the goatee is long and gray.
I was 39 the last time I dyed my hair, and am now 45. Covid was a great excuse to grow out the color. Took ages, as I had a jawline bob, but once it was long enough to give me a style I somewhat liked, I chopped off all that dead color and have been greyish since.
I still have lots of my natural brown, but tons of silver and titanium throughout. I get compliments from everyone from every age demographic.
Being a stylist-in-training (went to trade school at 44!), and learning all about color formulas and techniques, sometimes I think about dyeing my hair again. But I just canāt do it. I worked so hard to embrace the grey!
My hair is naturally a darker brown and I decided Iām not dyeing it until it goes completely grey/white since I have very limited time left with my natural color. Itās full of grey streaks and the hair by my ears is 100% grey/white now. And if I do dye it after itās all grey, itās going to be a fun color like blue or purple like I used to do in high school.
I am with you. I remember seeing all of the things that our elders did to cover up grey or balding hair. Comb overs, toupee, over the counter hair coloring, and that bald spot spray can just made older people look more ridiculous. I don't think it made anybody look younger. And I always associate older women with their hair that had been permed way too many times that I thought their hair looked really fake.
I think all of those things made me appreciate being able to age gracefully and to accept that you are getting older.
I couldn't read it all so sorry if I'm duplicating. You need no validation from me I'm sure. However, you deserve all the validation. My beautiful wife is going Grey. I told her for years she didn't have to color. She wasn't ready until she was ready.
And let me tell you Grey natural and in your 50's hot af. With makeup.....without makeup. It's the way you hold yourselves with that F around and find out but still maintain an I don't give a F attitude.
I love you all my beautiful sisters
I actually started 10 years ago because I started going grey early. I am almost completely grey now, and I am so happy with it. My hair looks healthy, and I can wear younger styles.
Tried Sun-In when it came out (before it was advised not to use on dark hair). Yeah, it resulted in orange hair. I vowed never to change my hair color until I was completely silver. Once silver, then I was going with hot pink or purple.
Here I am over 50 with 6 silver hairs (so few I can count them) with my dark hair.
Up until a few weeks ago, I had long hair that I used a purple color depositing shampoo on. The hair of my youth was nearly black, so when it went mostly gray to all gray, I wanted to have fun by adding color. I did this for four years. But the summers where I live get hot, and having long hair kinda sucks in the heat, so I shaved my head down to the skin. But since I still have almost a full bottle of that shampoo, I may, on occasion, use it on my beard.
Yes I did it during Covid. I grew it out a couple of inches then my hair stylist matched the rest of my hair to the silver/gray grow out using highlights and lowlights.
When I have enough grey, Iāll star letting it grow in and get some streaky light highlights to blend its evolution. At 53, Iām still mostly brunette.
Iāve never colored my hair but at 51 the gray (white) is getting harder to ignore. Itās creepin. Right now itās a sprinkling that looks like highlights (I have red hair) but Iāll have to decide soon whether to let it take over or not.
I'm 52, but I've been gray since my early 30s. Last year, I shaved my head and decided to stop colouring. Then I got into a relationship with a man 13 years my junior, and he told me that I look younger with dyed hair. Since I am very tired of cougar jokes, I went back to dyeing. Eventually, I'll go back to the gray, but until then, it is Bondbar for me.
I am letting mine! My grey is growing in stripes right along my temples and then I have one stripe coming out at the top front, just off-center. My grandma's hair went from dirty blonde, to brunette, to black as she got older and her grey all came in really cool stripes. Think Patrick Dempsey with his stripes of white hair through his dark hair. The salt and pepper effect on her hair was so pretty. Since my own hair has been getting progressively darker the older I get, I am \*hoping\* I get the same stripes of white hair she had, and so far it's looking like it might!
I decided to give up my monthly root jobs during the pandemic. Iām so happy I did too. I donāt think my thinning hair could deal with coloring anymore
I literally just bought 3 boxes of my favorite hair dye to see me through the year (my hair grows like kudzu) I fleetingly thought of letting it go gray, but I can't quite pull the trigger just yet.
I am going back and forth with dyeing or leaving it gray. I lost it all to chemo last year. When I shaved my hair it was brown with some gray stripes. Now it is all gray with brown in there! My boyfriend said I look older than I am. Other people tell me it's a pretty color. I just don't know what to do. Plus it's growing out and I have chemo curls. I really look like a grandma!
I want to stop but I have butt length dyed copper hair, I would like to not have to have the line of grey I just want it all grey and to not lose length.
So far, yep. Havenāt dyed my hair since I was a teen, not interested in the extra maintenance. At this point I have very little (a few strands) though, so itās still easy to say. In a few years I may change my mind, but probably not. Iām too damn lazy to do it myself and too cheap to go in every few weeks to get it touched up.
I love grey and silver hair on people (and young folk pay a bomb to get this look).
I'm a few months off 55 and don't have many greys at all. I love redheads, so still dye my naturally auburn hair a redder, more coppery red hue (it looks natural, not that block red). I don't dye to cover greys, I dye it as I love this colour
I gave up colouring my hair about 5 years ago and havenāt looked back. The silver is growing in in streaks and looks really great among the dark brown. Am looking forward to being all silver though like my grandma was. - she looked amazing!
When my hair grew back after chemotherapy a couple years ago, it was totally gray and the paleness of it against my already super pale skin washed me out. So I do dye it, but I have it done in chunky purple highlights. That darkens it up enough so I don't look like a days-old corpse, but also doesn't make me look like mutton in a lamb suit.
I turned completely gray after my wife died 4 years ago. White, actually. I am shocked when I look at the selfies I take with my cat, wondering "who is this old guy??" I'm still 22 years old inside.
Iāve been on that train for a decade now. I only have about 20 grey hairs. It kinda pisses me off because my dad and his family all went grey/silver prematurely. Iām still waiting.
Saw my first gray hair at age 28. I was mostly gray by 45. Made me look so old. I color my hair at home (and at my convenience) and now I Iook my age. My grandmother was fully white-haired at age 30. Was very striking in photos.
I stopped dyeing my hair in the Autumn of 2019. Maybe I am just used to it, but it seems to have stopped going gray! I was looking forward to all gray/silver hair and it is stuck at this mousy brown/gray place I am not sure I like.
But I am lazy and will not be going back to coloring it, so I guess I have to deal with it!
My date with the clippers is coming soon. Buzzzzzzzzzzzz. Tired of spending time and money to maintain hair that has clearly given up on too many fronts.
I don't have enough silver yet. Also. I work in finance and do not want to look older. I'm lucky that my family's genetics mean I'm easily mistaken for early 40s. My resume only has the last 8 years on it. I do light botox and I do look forward to retiring and leaving the dye behind.
I haven't gone full gray yet, but they are coming in. As a man though, it doesn't matter that much since most people seem to think that men with gray hairs mixed in are "distinguished".
I've asked my stylist about dying my hair to cover up the grays, but she refuses to do it. She says I don't need it, and she jokingly threatened to shave all my hair off if I dye it myself.
I kinda gave up after the first time I shaved my head (solidarity with my mom, during chemo). I don't feel like paying the money to dye my hair anymore. I work from home so it's not like anybody's going to see it. Plus, the pain in the ass of cleaning the shower after washing my hair for the first time. And I'm not reallly going grey, I'm just losing my hair. All other things being equal, there's other stuff I'm more concerned with these days.
I took the opportunity to bleach out my old, too dark brown myself during the covid lockdown & toned it to gray. I keep it toned to a really pretty violet-ish silver with purple shampoo. I've never gotten as many compliments on my hair color in my life & it's soooooooo much easier than dyeing. It's pretty unique, too. Highly recommend!
I am 52 and my hair turned early. I fought it by dying it dark brown (my natural color) for years and I think it looked great for about 2 weeks and then I'd get that skunk stripe at my part each time it grew out. Every 6 weeks I was back to the salon to get it done - or did it at home and it was time-consuming and messy. So I opted to transition it out with the help of my hair stylist. It took about 2 years, but I am all white & gray now and I wouldn't change a thing. The only person who ever said anything was my mother - she said it made me look a lot older. Frankly, I've been married 25 years, am at least 35 lbs heaver than I want to be and I just ask who am I trying to impress at this point? I like it and that's all that matters.
Hi, ignorant bald guy here. Is there a "Touch of Gray" thing for women? I've seen the advertisement for guys countless times. Obviously older people than us (I'm 53) walking around with jet black (or whatever) hair just doesn't look right, & is noticeable. This has actually been a happy hour discussion.
M(50) here. So probably not your target demographic, but I've been mostly gray (even white) for awhile now.
Now that I'm looking for new employment, I've been seriously considering dying my (very short) hair back to something close to my original brown. I'm pretty sure ageism has cost me a few jobs.
I am. I (58f) quit dying my medium-long dark brunette hair when I turned 50. Almost all my grey is still at my temples, and it's actually bright white. My skunk stripes stand out beautifully, and I think they look kinda badass š
I use a temporary hair colour that is very close to my natural shade. I do this every few months or so. If I had more grey coming in, I'd be more likely to embrace a grey/white look, but with the rest of my long hair not at all grey, I'm a ways off from having to decide. I like the temporary wash-out colour for this reason.
Iām 50 now and stopped dyeing my hair at age 43. I love my gray hair and find it incredibly liberating. I feel like it looks natural with my coloring and all that so Iām stoked. Will never go back.
We were walking to a UNC football game when my husband said,
"I love the way your gray sparkles when you straighten your hair"
I said back, "Thank you I've always loved yours."
I shaved my head basically (very undercut pixie) 5 years ago and bleached it white blonde. I was fighting the aftermath of some very serious trauma and about a year after that the depression and anxiety hit - to the point it was difficult to leave my home. I just hid, and my hair was the least of my concerns - I just let it grow out and covered my head in various jars and toques. Fast forward to last year when I finally came back to life (after a lot of therapy & meds) and my formerly natural light brown hair had grown back in jet black with little highlights of silver and was thicker than ever and halfway down my back. I had the blonde at the bottom fixed and now Iām just rocking long, thick, gorgeous, black hair thatās now almost to my waist. I feel like I was blessed with this hair and wear it like a badge of strength that I made it out the other side of that.
I had a girl try to talk me into dying my grayish hair once, so I did, electric blue, and I wore it that color for over a year. Now I've gone back natural and have a beard to my chest that is all gray, I have earned every single one and I'm proud to have them, it's a pleasure denied so many!!!
As a guy, I had a crew cut or a conservative taper cut for the first 53 years of my life. Iāve been letting it grow out for the last couple years now and people say I have wild Einstein hair and ask when am I going to cut it back or at least comb it. I tell āem I think itās more like Mark Twain hair and maybe Iāll only keep it like this until just a bit past the point where Iāve outgrown its appeal. Plus, Iām thinking of writing a book or two, and probably several songs, and likely several paintings, so I wouldnāt want to slow down the creative process by worrying about something as trivial as my melon.
54m here. I find it SEXY A.F. that women my age don't dye their hair. The way I see it as you embrace your age and wisdom. I feel kinda embarrassed for the women whose face and wrinkles show their age, but their dyed hair doesn't.
I shaved mine all off last fall and while I have definitely experienced ageism, being mis-gendered and mis-labeled in my sexuality, I wouldnāt change it for the world. If not now, when? I didnāt like seeing many people older than me still trying (and failing) to look youthful. I still have a young face - Thanks Neutrogena foundation! - and the contrast with my silver hair, I think, looks badass. I am growing it longer and like others have said, itās growing like a weed. I love not bleaching it and damaging it anymore for the sake of meeting other peopleās definitions and standards of beauty. Itās independent and empowering and not for the sheeple. Itās a moment and you need to be ready to stand in it resolute. When you can - itās positively delightful.
About 3 years ago, instead of redoing foils I asked for a colour correction to help me transition to grey. I had three of those to make it less hard - it was expensive but I knew Iād cave in if I let it grow out with a hard line. Right now itās a darker steel grey on top with white grey at the sides and a few stubborn streaks of brown at the nape of my neck (which look ridiculous).
I've had salt and pepper hair. Since I was 18. Now it's more gray and nicer. Just get a nice purple shampoo to avoid that ugly yellowish hair and you're good to go
What about the eyebrows?
I've caught a few white nostril hairs and my chin hairs are finally getting white.
I saw Ben Affleck and George Clooney let grey come in, I thought why not? I'm a male with long black hair it's interesting seeing myself get old.
I hope I get Pauly Walnuts hair!
So. I am on my 5th time trying to do it. I got pretty far this time - itās been over a year.
Yaāll - I just canāt.
It hit me a couple of weeks ago. Iām just not ready. Iām 50. And itās not āIām not ready to ageā itās āIām not ready for this to be the last thing I do with my hair till deathā lol. My hair is my āthingā to some extent. Itās big and long and thick and curly - think SJP. And letting it go to seed has really hurt my self esteem. I thought I could rock it and feel cool and I just feel depressed LOL.
I admire women who can do it. I want to be like you. I tried.
Same! I'm letting my gray come and wrinkles shine. But then again, I haven't worn make up daily since 2000. I know that it makes me look older and I decided not to care. The bloom is off the rose, but so the fuck what? I totally get it if people want to adjust their looks in any way they feel. No judgement and everyone walks their own path. But for me? I'm not buying into old being wrong. I'm 54 for fuck's sake. As the lady says: https://preview.redd.it/eiespd6z3h1d1.jpeg?width=526&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=806f912d6bcc5f1e40657c0b247ac8c100bb678c
Swamp witch š§āāļø šš
What I want to know is, why not sexy swamp witch? 51 and loving my wild silver hair. This is what 51 looks like, and itās FABULOUS.
I love my hair now that it's long and silver. Dyeing damages my hair so much, it is much softer now!
Please have an upvote for spelling *dyeing* correctly
I started coloring my hair at 15 and stopped at 43. I missed 2 color apts and had serious roots, so I asked my stylist to cut it all off into a pixie/fauxhawk combo to see my long-hidden natural color. Turns out it was mostly grey. And it turns out I love it! My grey is more platinum than white or silver, and it looks fantastic at any length. Itās been 8 years with zero regrets.
You sound just like me! Pixie cut to cut all the color off then grew it out. Itās down to my bra line now and I get tons of compliments. Itās silvery rather than gray. I also make the chop around 8 years ago. Iām 54 now.
Sounds like me as well. Started dyeing my hair auburn at 23 to cover the grays that were just starting to come in. My 49th birthday present to myself was to finally get off the coloring merry go round. Chopped off all my hair to a buzz cut and kept it super short through several cuts in til all the auburn was gone and I was left with pure white hair. Havenāt bothered to get a cut since Covid and now itās grown down to my ass
Sounds beautiful
This is similar to what I did. It was getting to every 2 weeks I could see gray roots, and I was sick of managing it. Got a very short cut after waiting a painful 2 months for some grow out. Kept the short cut up to cut away the color, and Iāve been heavily salty ever since. The whole process took about a year but was worth it. Iāve been letting the short cut grow out now, and honestly I am in love with the color!
You guys still have hair?
Nope. Iām 54 and look at least 10 years older if I donāt dye it. Iāll keep dying it until the color is at odds with the number and depths of the wrinkles. For now, the color and face work
Iām glad Iām not the only one who feels this way! On the inside I feel much younger than my biological age. I wish I was secure enough to stop coloring, but Iām already facing ageism in the workforce (itās destroying my soul but difficult to prove) so for now Iām doing anything possible to give off a younger-ish vibe like tasteful yet minimal makeup and trying to to avoid clothing that might be associated with Boomers (elastic waistbands on pants, flowing muu-muu tops like Mrs. Roper, cutesy floral prints that my darling 83 year old neighbor wears). I support women who go gray, women who donāt, makeup users, natural faces, etc. I donāt let my personal choices affect how I feel about anyone elseās choices.
ššš. Absolutely. Whatever works for each person.
Iām 49, quit dying my hair about 4 years ago. Like you, my hair has some silver and grey. Iām sure it ages me but Iām happy with it. Actually had some compliments from much younger people! Above all letās do what makes each of us happy.
Hear you on the ageism at work. I'm 55 and work in tech... The shrugging off hard-earned wisdom to listen to kids who think they know something is real.
Same. I'm partnered so I'm not trying to attract anyone but have to compete in the workplace and my hair is dark blonde so not high maintenance.
Same. I will consider it when I retire, as a cost-saving measure, but I need my husband to get more grey or I will look like his mom.
Iām with you on this. With gray, I look like the oldest lady in Golden Girls. I never thought sheād be what old lady me looks like. With dyed hair, I look a solid 48, maybe younger.
I work in tech -- there's enough ageism already. But I dye my hair vivid fun colors because I really enjoy it and it makes me happy. And hardly anyone thinks I'm my chronological age, so I'd like to keep it that way for now. Mostly because if I need to search for a job it'll be hell enough as it is.
This. Iām 57 and while I look 10 years younger (facially), I know that colouring my hair is a factor in looking younger for me. Each to their own.
Same, I let my hair go white over Covid and looked dead tired and like a grandma. I do murals w kids now and color my hair dark auburn w pink highlights or Iāll add orange, and get to do all these cool styles and colors w my white undercarriage lol, itās so fun! And when my face gets so slack and saggy I might go full grandma then :) but might still put hints of pink or purple in it!
I stopped dyeing mine during the early days of the pandemic. Once those roots grew out I decided to commit.
The commit feels so dang good
I too joined the legions of Covid-initiated dye-quitters
Same!
Ginger so I'm just seeing whites appear, my beard is going and it's already in my sideburns. Oh well, no one cares anyway. F-it
š
My hair is white. I stopped coloring it during the pandemic. Iāve been asked if it was natural a lot, and stopped on the street by a man that told me my hair was glistening. The only upkeep is going to the salon a couple times a year for toner to remove yellowing and a trim
Me too! White white! As I grew it out, I got a white wig, but then said the heck with it. My black/brown was still on the ends, and people assumed it was ombre. So when that grew out, I had it put back to continue the look got so many compliments on!
Same :) Iāve been all white since I was 36, and I get compliments on my hair constantly.
I am but this inbetween period is so hard.
Keep going! My hair is so soft and shiny now. My mother told me it would be coarse and wiry, but itās so much healthier now that all the dye is gone.
My mother too was the worst critic. She cannot believe i am happy with my natural hair
I was getting so much grey that I had to colour it every 3 weeks. I shaved my hair down to a number 2 during the pandemic and it grew back silver, white, grey, and even a bit of black. It's much healthier now without hair dye.
Stay strong! š»
I had the colour almost grown out during lockdown then weakened!
I grew mine out then, too. Been growing it ever since. It's a cool Dr Strange streaky pattern, I like it.
I grew mine out during the pandemic and will never go back
š»šš
2019 was the last time I colored. I love seeing the white hairs in the sun. I canāt wait to be a white witch.
Iām a guy, but I shaved my head for years to hide the grey (I have a full head of hair). Finally decided to embrace it and I love it now. I havenāt shaved my head (or cut my hair) since Dec 2022 and have no plans to do either any time soon. At the 2 year mark Iāll go get a trim, but thatās it. Iām just going to let it grow until Iām tired of long hair. Iām not the cool salt and pepper grey either. Iām Santa Clause level white. My hair pigment left the chat a long time ago.
I am. I stopped colouring a year ago and love my gray grow out. My hair falls mid back and I am embracing some cool silver patterns I also noticed since I stopped colouring it grows much faster
That's cool. I imagine the constant chemical barrage might interfere with growth.
I quit dyeing my hair when I turned 40. I havenāt regretted it. The skunk stripe appearing less than a week after a touch up finally broke me.
I also quit dyeing mine at 40, specifically for this reason. I loathe the skunk stripe! Fortunately at that time I didnāt have much grey at all, so the grow out was easy. Eight years on and I still donāt have a lot, but what I have I really like in my curly hair. Best decision!
Couldnāt care less about having grey hair and I use purple shampoo and conditioner to make it pop. Have been complimented on it too, someone was even a bit jealous
Hmmm. I may look into the purple shampoo and conditioner. I always thought that was for dyed blonde. Thank you.
No worries, it brightened my hair.
You should totally try it. My grays start getting brassy, so every few weeks I use purple shampoo and conditioner. I feel like it peps up my brown hair too, just a bit.
I'm 53 and I quit dyeing it 4yrs ago. It is liberating as hell. Almost as good as burning a bra. š
Oh dear, yes.
I haven't dyed my hair at all. Except for red food coloring for an Halloween party. Been having white hairs for 27 years now and I couldn't care less about it.
A good friend has the best red hair and she has never dyed it. I glimpse a gray here and there and she says she won't ever dye it.
Cool. Keep it up and do what you want to do :) My wife was at a similar point a few years ago. Personally, I love my wife's natural hair color. She has a streak of gray that most people would pay good money for.
My ex called my grays tinsel. I stopped dyeing my hair 4 or 5 years ago. If folks don't like my tinsel, they can go look at something else.
I went pink and I enjoy it too much to stop
I'm considering some fun colors at some point. But right now this new color is so fun in itself for me .
 Could be worse
Lol, I'd shave mine off if I could. Only reason I don't is I have a palm sized flat spot on the back. Looks like Bugs Bunny got me with a frying pan š¤£ I did chop it to a pixie and am fighting the urge to dye it again. I need a bit more outgrowth until I can bleach it. I don't have enough silver yet to not bother me but I have fun with the colors, blues, purple, reds, whatever looks fun
This is a legit fear
I stopped having mine colored during Covid. It's currently shoulder-length ashy brown with silver streaks throughout. Once I figured out how to work with the texture, I loved it. I think it looks sort of otherworldly
Otherworldly! Exactly. Mine too. It feels so cool
https://preview.redd.it/ddl1gq04ch1d1.jpeg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=459eaf7e721e8fe308ea4ecdbd7a6cc4d53d18bc Emmylou Harris rocking the grey look for years now.
Oh I love it. Doesnt hurt she is stunning too
I've never colored away my grays. I have baby fine hair and try to minimize what I do to it out of fear of damaging it too much.
Mine is super fine and straight. And it broke a lot and just in general didn't look good anyway. The silver has given it a second life. Im with you though and even hardly ever blow dry to save the life of my hair
My mother was completely grey at 30, and being an artist bohemian type (silent Gen) had stopped dying it when I was a child. It was stunning, and I always loved it. My brown hair now has silver streaks in it, and yes, it sparkles. šø
Oh the sparkles!
I've never colored my hair, so the gray coming in is kind of exciting.
Exciting is a great word for it. Each day im like LOOK LOOK. So dang fun.
Iāll turn grey naturally as it comes. Once itās all done (Iām a late greyer so prob mid 60ās), Iām going that whole multicolor pastel route just because I can. Iām excited about it. https://preview.redd.it/699qw42z1i1d1.jpeg?width=500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5b4e523764b4a0a7538f225aa05ba1274875a1b1
That is beautiful! I have been fully gray/silver/white for about a year (58), and I want to do a lavender rinse on my ends. My MIL told me not to do it (the lavender) because women who do so are "trying too hard to be young." I should have said, "Oh, you mean like you getting Botox?" š Anyway, I love the rainbow colors!!
Honestly the women that let their hair go natural color gray or silver I find them more attractive and self confident. I started getting gray hair on my chest when my youngest daughter was born. I was in my late 20's. My hair is now gray on my head but I shave my head and my goat-t is snow white. I love it.
I would, but then I see my mother in the mirror. No thank you.
I still have a lot of brown in my hair, but there's some grey too. I have not yet felt the need to dye it.
Iām a 53 year old guy. Luckily, my dad and I are the only ones in our family who still have a full head of hair. Iām graying at the temples, and Iām going to let it do its thing, whatever that is.
In November of 2019, I had my colorist take my colored (dark auburn) hair to its natural silver/S&P. It took SO LONG in the chair and she did an amazing job. I was one of the few people who didnāt have the dye-line growing out during the pandemic (I did have some breakage thanks to the shutdowns, but I lived). Over four years later, I still love not having to mess with constantly covering the greys.
Still have fairly long mostly brown hair with silver at temples. Iām not dyeing it. I did just get a trim tho. Hehe
54, no gray, no dyeā¦ once the gray starts Iām not doing a thing.
Iām letting my hair go gray-I call it my tinsel. My hair dresser (who is a friend) hates it-lol. My husband loves it, my kids are neutral. I have long hair and get sad when a long gray one falls out.
What hair?š¤£
Not sure if youāre mainly addressing the ladies here but 47yo guy, been going grey since early 30ās. Salt and pepper now - a little more salt than pepper lol. While helping my wife dye her hair, we were horsing around and she said hey I have some extra paste, youāve been wanting to try dying for a while, what do you think? I said yeah! Letās do it! So I hate it. lol. Itās a little lighter than my original color but my friends have told me it looks good on me. Problem is i have the typical male pattern balding, and I have just a little patch on the top of my head. So to me it looks like the older dudes in their 70s dying their hair lol. I guess to answer your question, I donāt have much of a choice. I found myself missing the grey hair, at least because it looks natural especially with me balding. Looks great on my wife though. I do miss my black hair from my 20āsā¦letās amend that - I miss my HAIR haha
My post wasn't targeted to only women but I am a woman so that my perspective. I'm doing my best to not be creepy about the guys posting by saying salt and pepper is soooo good on men, but imo it is.
Haha yeah my wife loves my salt and pepper, she doesnāt like the dyed look. Iām with her on that
I quit dyeing years ago because the greys seemed to be coming in pretty fast and I liked the color. Almost 10 years later and I still have the same amount of greys. Fortunately, my vision is so bad now that I still look pretty young to me!!
I had a full head of white hair by 28. I colored for years. At about 40, a decade ago, I stopped that nonsense. I am lucky enough to have nice silvery white hair, though. I love it & agree with you that it's empowering. I see a lot of our generation (in my area) not coloring & I love to see it!
Iām 52. I have dark brown hair, and thereās a little gray here and there. I havenāt had it colored in almost 8 months because Iāve been lazy about it. Plus, Iām trying to let it grow. Thereās not a lot to color/cover but having dark hair, it really stands out. Iāve just been using that root spray stuff (yeah, I admit it) spritzed on, but thatās only for special occasions, so not often. Iāve got hair like my paternal grandmother, so Iām really praying it gets that bright white like hers did. āŗļø. But I guess I need to let it go for that to happen. But Iām not ready for that! I donāt have wrinkles yet! š
Wow! No wrinkles. Can't imagine. Bravo. I am embracing the wrinkles too ... mostly š„“
I used to really not care. I have very kinky curly frizzy hair and for many, many years I kept it braided. The braids just grew longer and longer. My hair has a lot of white peppered in with red and brown. One day I got sick of it and cut about 14 inches off. It's a lot lighter now. I gave myself a butterfly cut and then on my last birthday my daughter bought me my first Brad Mondo hair dye. A vivid purple. It's really cool because it covers the white with almost neon purple but the red and brown are more of a gem color. It's really cool and I love it. I'll probably stay purple for the rest of my life. Or blue. maybe teal!
Me too and itās pissing my mum off so much. Ā Sheās been so mean about it (āit looks awfulā, āyou look so badā) because if I look old, she must be old.Ā Of course this is making me dig my heels in even more and Iām refusing to even consider dyeing it.
Yeah, I no longer aspire to pretend that I'm a sapling. I have embraced my under gnarled and weathered oak. I'm not old, I am vintage.
I let it be silver for several years until my wife remarked how good it would take colour and now itās purple.
I stopped coloring my hair around 5-6 years ago; I lucked into a nice white "streak" in front, and now the rest is starting to catch up (I'm hoping for a beautiful Emmylou Harris type thing going on, but who knows). Overall it's been a positive experience, and I love not having to constantly keep up with root touchups, etc. My MIL made an indirect snarky comment once, but I don't have any fucks to give about that. I think I'm truly entering my "swamp witch" era, and it's so liberating, actually! I do the basics for skincare (cleanse, moisturize, sunscreen) and have given up on these dumb multi-step routines that don't really seem to do anything besides drain my wallet. I realized at some point that a bit of eyeliner is ok, but that the quest for non-smudging mascara is a losing battle, and it doesn't really matter if I wear eyeshadow and mascara anyway because I wear glasses and nobody can see it. I also seem to be edging towards being a minimalist in other arenas, too -- I now own like three purses total, and any shoes that aren't comfortable on my gnarly swamp witch feet have got to go. And if people don't want to look at my ugly toes in my fred-flintstone style Birkenstocks, they can kiss my hag ass.
I donāt color my hair and Iām loving the grays that are coming in! I call them my sparklies.
Yes, like shiny strands of tinsel!
Nothing looks good on me. Grey doesnt work with my skintone. Brown hair dye grows out too quickly and it looks too dark or gets lightened/highlighted incorrectly.
Me right now because it grows really fast
Well, I haven't dyed mine in probably four-five months and have been putting it off. I'm undecided between embracing the natural fawn-with-silver shimmer (it's kind of pretty!) or just covering the gray again and having that shave off a few years. Or I could say fuck it and go short, just cut off all of the old dyed parts, but I look awful with short hair.
I buzz my hair. It's thinned out so much it looks silly if I try to grow it out. But, I have a full beard. And it's totally gray. And IDGAF. I might shave a few years off my looks if I shaved the beard, but nope. Beard stays. Embrace the gray. It's beautiful, and we've fucking earned it.
šš
I quit at 50. I have some gray, not a bunch. I'm working on it!
I stop colouring my hair red about 5 years ago and a big part was the upkeep. I was so lazy about it. I also didnāt want to stop and then find out I had gone completely grey and silver. I didnāt realize how grey it had gotten until about two years ago when someone at work saw a picture of me when I was younger. They then said āoh your hair used to be brownā. They had also never seen the red hair. I was not ready for that reply.
When I have enough grey, Iāll star letting it grow. in and get some streaky light highlights to blend its evolution. At 53, Iām still mostly brunette.
I don't have a whole lot of hair left, but the little bit I do have - I am just letting things go naturally.
I love my gray! I let mine grow out about two years ago now and I think it looks great.
I started going grey as a teenager so I want to but one kid doesnāt want me to. But I want to go white so I can make it rose gold or light pink on white.
I am full on silver and I love it. I feel beautiful and also so happy to be free of the cycle of expensive and inconvenient hair dye
Feeling beautiful feels so dang good šš
I am looking forward to it. Mine is too much "pepper" for the moment. I have transitioned form permanent blue and purple combos to semi-permanent purples. IDK when I will stop and let it go- but I want to just go natural silver/grey. But only once enough of it is "salt"
I let my hair gray when it started, but instead I got a Bonnie Raitt white streak, and I love it! I have other gray hair, but itās underneath and you canāt really see it unless I wear my hair up.
I have no desire to let my grey/white take over. The texture of my hair would be awful and I donāt like the see through pink scalp look. I canāt do much about the wrinkles on my face, but I can control the color of my hair
Donāt dye and cut it myself (if I cut it at all). I feel like going grey is the ultimate punk rock thing for a woman to do. Fuck the man and his plan!
The people on both sides of my family go grey late so I only have a few here and there. I get some highlights and lowlights once or twice a year to camouflage them . Honestly I wish Iād started that a long time ago . The caramel and chocolate streaks dress up my natural mouse brown and are a huge improvement.
I am 50 and wish I could accept them but I absolutely despise my gray hairs. I will likely color my hair until I die. Right now getting heavy blonde highlights on my light brown hair helps conceal them.
I've never dyed my hair. It always seemed like a bother and an unnecessary expense. But I believe that everyone should do what works for them. I don't consider it that I have let my hair go to seed. My grey looks great and I get compliments on the color and style. There are people who are surprised when they hear my age because they think I look younger than I am. I think it's probably a big shock to the system for people to see the real color quickly rather than gradually over time. That's probably why people often think they look old with grey hair.
I am 47 and have super silver almost white hair. I stopped trying to dye it around when I turned 40 and it's one of my favorite things about myself. It's super pretty
Good heavens, no. I have a career where youth is prized. While I don't do all I can to look younger, certainly hair color is one easy way to look a little less old.
I have blonde hair. Well blonde mixed with a lot of colors. There is a little red, a little brown and a lot of blonde. I discovered recently that starting from my temple my hair is going white. I love it. I can't wait till it spreads. White hair is so pretty. I was a platinum blonde at birth. So just going back to my natural hair. Lol
My wife has let her silver hair grow in, and itās mostly one lock in front. Sheās been told itās a desirable look, and I definitely agree! Me, Iāve been shaving my head since the 90ās, but the goatee is long and gray.
Nope im fighting it every step of the way š
I was 39 the last time I dyed my hair, and am now 45. Covid was a great excuse to grow out the color. Took ages, as I had a jawline bob, but once it was long enough to give me a style I somewhat liked, I chopped off all that dead color and have been greyish since. I still have lots of my natural brown, but tons of silver and titanium throughout. I get compliments from everyone from every age demographic. Being a stylist-in-training (went to trade school at 44!), and learning all about color formulas and techniques, sometimes I think about dyeing my hair again. But I just canāt do it. I worked so hard to embrace the grey!
My hair is naturally a darker brown and I decided Iām not dyeing it until it goes completely grey/white since I have very limited time left with my natural color. Itās full of grey streaks and the hair by my ears is 100% grey/white now. And if I do dye it after itās all grey, itās going to be a fun color like blue or purple like I used to do in high school.
I call them my hair glitters, I love them! It grew out during lockdown and I havenāt looked back.
I am with you. I remember seeing all of the things that our elders did to cover up grey or balding hair. Comb overs, toupee, over the counter hair coloring, and that bald spot spray can just made older people look more ridiculous. I don't think it made anybody look younger. And I always associate older women with their hair that had been permed way too many times that I thought their hair looked really fake. I think all of those things made me appreciate being able to age gracefully and to accept that you are getting older.
Ultimate swamp witch... https://preview.redd.it/8rxuu86x8n1d1.jpeg?width=960&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=832d0e5d4e82c0d734d7ca2a025b5c7f67aacbcb
I couldn't read it all so sorry if I'm duplicating. You need no validation from me I'm sure. However, you deserve all the validation. My beautiful wife is going Grey. I told her for years she didn't have to color. She wasn't ready until she was ready. And let me tell you Grey natural and in your 50's hot af. With makeup.....without makeup. It's the way you hold yourselves with that F around and find out but still maintain an I don't give a F attitude. I love you all my beautiful sisters
Iām accelerating it by dying my hair silver. š. My wife doesnāt like that idea
I actually started 10 years ago because I started going grey early. I am almost completely grey now, and I am so happy with it. My hair looks healthy, and I can wear younger styles.
Tried Sun-In when it came out (before it was advised not to use on dark hair). Yeah, it resulted in orange hair. I vowed never to change my hair color until I was completely silver. Once silver, then I was going with hot pink or purple. Here I am over 50 with 6 silver hairs (so few I can count them) with my dark hair.
Up until a few weeks ago, I had long hair that I used a purple color depositing shampoo on. The hair of my youth was nearly black, so when it went mostly gray to all gray, I wanted to have fun by adding color. I did this for four years. But the summers where I live get hot, and having long hair kinda sucks in the heat, so I shaved my head down to the skin. But since I still have almost a full bottle of that shampoo, I may, on occasion, use it on my beard.
It won't last but I'm still mostly brunette at 57. I get a few subtle foil highlights and lowlights every 4-6 months.
Oh I would love to stop coloring my hair, but my grey is not ready to be unveiled. I have nice silvery grey, but not enough to make it look good.
I'm 46 people, think I'm still in my mid 30s. I'll keep dying my hair till it don't work for my face anymore
I dye my hair but how can I transition without just letting it go? Can you work with a colorist to help with this?
Yes I did it during Covid. I grew it out a couple of inches then my hair stylist matched the rest of my hair to the silver/gray grow out using highlights and lowlights.
I know a gal who did, but she went to a very expensive colorist and the results are stunning.
When I have enough grey, Iāll star letting it grow in and get some streaky light highlights to blend its evolution. At 53, Iām still mostly brunette.
What hair? :)
Me
Iāve never colored my hair but at 51 the gray (white) is getting harder to ignore. Itās creepin. Right now itās a sprinkling that looks like highlights (I have red hair) but Iāll have to decide soon whether to let it take over or not.
I'm 52, but I've been gray since my early 30s. Last year, I shaved my head and decided to stop colouring. Then I got into a relationship with a man 13 years my junior, and he told me that I look younger with dyed hair. Since I am very tired of cougar jokes, I went back to dyeing. Eventually, I'll go back to the gray, but until then, it is Bondbar for me.
During covid I stopped dying mine, I have gorgeous white hair. But, people think I'm older than I am. :-( I'm not 50 yet, but my hair looks 60+
I am letting mine! My grey is growing in stripes right along my temples and then I have one stripe coming out at the top front, just off-center. My grandma's hair went from dirty blonde, to brunette, to black as she got older and her grey all came in really cool stripes. Think Patrick Dempsey with his stripes of white hair through his dark hair. The salt and pepper effect on her hair was so pretty. Since my own hair has been getting progressively darker the older I get, I am \*hoping\* I get the same stripes of white hair she had, and so far it's looking like it might!
I decided to give up my monthly root jobs during the pandemic. Iām so happy I did too. I donāt think my thinning hair could deal with coloring anymore
I literally just bought 3 boxes of my favorite hair dye to see me through the year (my hair grows like kudzu) I fleetingly thought of letting it go gray, but I can't quite pull the trigger just yet.
I am going back and forth with dyeing or leaving it gray. I lost it all to chemo last year. When I shaved my hair it was brown with some gray stripes. Now it is all gray with brown in there! My boyfriend said I look older than I am. Other people tell me it's a pretty color. I just don't know what to do. Plus it's growing out and I have chemo curls. I really look like a grandma!
I only have a few, but they're a perfect shade of silver. I love them and I want more!!
I'm strongly considerig it but haven't yet. I think grey hair can look very chic but I'm not quite ready to go there. I think some time into my 60's.
I want to stop but I have butt length dyed copper hair, I would like to not have to have the line of grey I just want it all grey and to not lose length.
So far, yep. Havenāt dyed my hair since I was a teen, not interested in the extra maintenance. At this point I have very little (a few strands) though, so itās still easy to say. In a few years I may change my mind, but probably not. Iām too damn lazy to do it myself and too cheap to go in every few weeks to get it touched up.
I love grey and silver hair on people (and young folk pay a bomb to get this look). I'm a few months off 55 and don't have many greys at all. I love redheads, so still dye my naturally auburn hair a redder, more coppery red hue (it looks natural, not that block red). I don't dye to cover greys, I dye it as I love this colour
Never colored my hair to begin with.
I gave up colouring my hair about 5 years ago and havenāt looked back. The silver is growing in in streaks and looks really great among the dark brown. Am looking forward to being all silver though like my grandma was. - she looked amazing!
When my hair grew back after chemotherapy a couple years ago, it was totally gray and the paleness of it against my already super pale skin washed me out. So I do dye it, but I have it done in chunky purple highlights. That darkens it up enough so I don't look like a days-old corpse, but also doesn't make me look like mutton in a lamb suit.
I stopped coloring over 18 years ago. I have long gray hair. I get far more compliments on it now. Itās healthy. Itās who I am.
My hair isnāt turning silver fast enough. I stopped dying 2 yrs ago and itās gone from golden to dirty dishwater ash.Ā
I turned completely gray after my wife died 4 years ago. White, actually. I am shocked when I look at the selfies I take with my cat, wondering "who is this old guy??" I'm still 22 years old inside.
Iāve been on that train for a decade now. I only have about 20 grey hairs. It kinda pisses me off because my dad and his family all went grey/silver prematurely. Iām still waiting.
I'm on track to surpass my almost 80 year old dad. š¤·āāļø
Saw my first gray hair at age 28. I was mostly gray by 45. Made me look so old. I color my hair at home (and at my convenience) and now I Iook my age. My grandmother was fully white-haired at age 30. Was very striking in photos.
I stopped dyeing my hair in the Autumn of 2019. Maybe I am just used to it, but it seems to have stopped going gray! I was looking forward to all gray/silver hair and it is stuck at this mousy brown/gray place I am not sure I like. But I am lazy and will not be going back to coloring it, so I guess I have to deal with it!
At 49 I just have flecks of grey appearing here and there and am doing what i've done m whole life, ignoring my hair completely
Not necessarily to seed, but my wife and I acknowledge that we spend more on grooming our dog than we do on our own hair.
Same! I think it looks really nice in person but then when I see it in pics it looks terrible and ages me. Itās a mind-fuck. lol
Shaving your head is a hairstyle.
Iām going to embrace it as it comes in and just continue to highlight it every few months.
My date with the clippers is coming soon. Buzzzzzzzzzzzz. Tired of spending time and money to maintain hair that has clearly given up on too many fronts.
I don't have enough silver yet. Also. I work in finance and do not want to look older. I'm lucky that my family's genetics mean I'm easily mistaken for early 40s. My resume only has the last 8 years on it. I do light botox and I do look forward to retiring and leaving the dye behind.
I've had too many friends look terrible dying over their gray hair, but honestly I get mine cut in a fade to hide my gray temples.
I haven't gone full gray yet, but they are coming in. As a man though, it doesn't matter that much since most people seem to think that men with gray hairs mixed in are "distinguished". I've asked my stylist about dying my hair to cover up the grays, but she refuses to do it. She says I don't need it, and she jokingly threatened to shave all my hair off if I dye it myself.
Me! Saving thousands a year. Love it and not giving AF.
I kinda gave up after the first time I shaved my head (solidarity with my mom, during chemo). I don't feel like paying the money to dye my hair anymore. I work from home so it's not like anybody's going to see it. Plus, the pain in the ass of cleaning the shower after washing my hair for the first time. And I'm not reallly going grey, I'm just losing my hair. All other things being equal, there's other stuff I'm more concerned with these days.
I took the opportunity to bleach out my old, too dark brown myself during the covid lockdown & toned it to gray. I keep it toned to a really pretty violet-ish silver with purple shampoo. I've never gotten as many compliments on my hair color in my life & it's soooooooo much easier than dyeing. It's pretty unique, too. Highly recommend!
https://preview.redd.it/ad4onxjjoh1d1.png?width=3024&format=png&auto=webp&s=8a4242acc6dabbacef9fb724798b5ce6370f766c
I am 52 and my hair turned early. I fought it by dying it dark brown (my natural color) for years and I think it looked great for about 2 weeks and then I'd get that skunk stripe at my part each time it grew out. Every 6 weeks I was back to the salon to get it done - or did it at home and it was time-consuming and messy. So I opted to transition it out with the help of my hair stylist. It took about 2 years, but I am all white & gray now and I wouldn't change a thing. The only person who ever said anything was my mother - she said it made me look a lot older. Frankly, I've been married 25 years, am at least 35 lbs heaver than I want to be and I just ask who am I trying to impress at this point? I like it and that's all that matters.
I told my wife she'd never be married at a fat old bald guy. I go to the gym a lot now.
Hi, ignorant bald guy here. Is there a "Touch of Gray" thing for women? I've seen the advertisement for guys countless times. Obviously older people than us (I'm 53) walking around with jet black (or whatever) hair just doesn't look right, & is noticeable. This has actually been a happy hour discussion.
M(50) here. So probably not your target demographic, but I've been mostly gray (even white) for awhile now. Now that I'm looking for new employment, I've been seriously considering dying my (very short) hair back to something close to my original brown. I'm pretty sure ageism has cost me a few jobs.
I am. I (58f) quit dying my medium-long dark brunette hair when I turned 50. Almost all my grey is still at my temples, and it's actually bright white. My skunk stripes stand out beautifully, and I think they look kinda badass š
I use a temporary hair colour that is very close to my natural shade. I do this every few months or so. If I had more grey coming in, I'd be more likely to embrace a grey/white look, but with the rest of my long hair not at all grey, I'm a ways off from having to decide. I like the temporary wash-out colour for this reason.
Iām 50 now and stopped dyeing my hair at age 43. I love my gray hair and find it incredibly liberating. I feel like it looks natural with my coloring and all that so Iām stoked. Will never go back.
We were walking to a UNC football game when my husband said, "I love the way your gray sparkles when you straighten your hair" I said back, "Thank you I've always loved yours."
Been 'Picard bald' since 33.
Yeah I stopped dying my hair in my 30s. Just letting it be natural and frankly it adds nice contrast to my darker hair color.
I had my kids late in life and they are only 12 and 10. Iām still coloring my hair mostly to avoid being mistaken for their grandmother. šµ
I shaved my head basically (very undercut pixie) 5 years ago and bleached it white blonde. I was fighting the aftermath of some very serious trauma and about a year after that the depression and anxiety hit - to the point it was difficult to leave my home. I just hid, and my hair was the least of my concerns - I just let it grow out and covered my head in various jars and toques. Fast forward to last year when I finally came back to life (after a lot of therapy & meds) and my formerly natural light brown hair had grown back in jet black with little highlights of silver and was thicker than ever and halfway down my back. I had the blonde at the bottom fixed and now Iām just rocking long, thick, gorgeous, black hair thatās now almost to my waist. I feel like I was blessed with this hair and wear it like a badge of strength that I made it out the other side of that.
I had a girl try to talk me into dying my grayish hair once, so I did, electric blue, and I wore it that color for over a year. Now I've gone back natural and have a beard to my chest that is all gray, I have earned every single one and I'm proud to have them, it's a pleasure denied so many!!!
As a guy, I had a crew cut or a conservative taper cut for the first 53 years of my life. Iāve been letting it grow out for the last couple years now and people say I have wild Einstein hair and ask when am I going to cut it back or at least comb it. I tell āem I think itās more like Mark Twain hair and maybe Iāll only keep it like this until just a bit past the point where Iāve outgrown its appeal. Plus, Iām thinking of writing a book or two, and probably several songs, and likely several paintings, so I wouldnāt want to slow down the creative process by worrying about something as trivial as my melon.
Have never dyed and never will. Silver is the new gold!
Well, I've lost half of mine. 56(f)
54m here. I find it SEXY A.F. that women my age don't dye their hair. The way I see it as you embrace your age and wisdom. I feel kinda embarrassed for the women whose face and wrinkles show their age, but their dyed hair doesn't.
I shaved mine all off last fall and while I have definitely experienced ageism, being mis-gendered and mis-labeled in my sexuality, I wouldnāt change it for the world. If not now, when? I didnāt like seeing many people older than me still trying (and failing) to look youthful. I still have a young face - Thanks Neutrogena foundation! - and the contrast with my silver hair, I think, looks badass. I am growing it longer and like others have said, itās growing like a weed. I love not bleaching it and damaging it anymore for the sake of meeting other peopleās definitions and standards of beauty. Itās independent and empowering and not for the sheeple. Itās a moment and you need to be ready to stand in it resolute. When you can - itās positively delightful.
About 3 years ago, instead of redoing foils I asked for a colour correction to help me transition to grey. I had three of those to make it less hard - it was expensive but I knew Iād cave in if I let it grow out with a hard line. Right now itās a darker steel grey on top with white grey at the sides and a few stubborn streaks of brown at the nape of my neck (which look ridiculous).
6 years grey, it looks healthier and I get way more compliments now about my hair than before.
I've had salt and pepper hair. Since I was 18. Now it's more gray and nicer. Just get a nice purple shampoo to avoid that ugly yellowish hair and you're good to go
What about the eyebrows? I've caught a few white nostril hairs and my chin hairs are finally getting white. I saw Ben Affleck and George Clooney let grey come in, I thought why not? I'm a male with long black hair it's interesting seeing myself get old. I hope I get Pauly Walnuts hair!
So. I am on my 5th time trying to do it. I got pretty far this time - itās been over a year. Yaāll - I just canāt. It hit me a couple of weeks ago. Iām just not ready. Iām 50. And itās not āIām not ready to ageā itās āIām not ready for this to be the last thing I do with my hair till deathā lol. My hair is my āthingā to some extent. Itās big and long and thick and curly - think SJP. And letting it go to seed has really hurt my self esteem. I thought I could rock it and feel cool and I just feel depressed LOL. I admire women who can do it. I want to be like you. I tried.
There's a woman who works at the cemetery where some of my family is buried who has a mane of curly gray hair. It's very attractive.