I’m trying to remember a time when my mom wasn’t a blonde. I look at older pictures of her and she had really dark hair just like me when she was young. I’m not sure when her transition to lighter hair was but she was definitely way younger than I am right now. I never really noticed her grey hair roots coming in. The blonde seemed to camouflage the grey hair. That was only a few years ago and she is 85 now. I convinced her to finally stop colouring her hair and let it go grey. Now, her hair is thicker and a beautiful silver-grey. Absolutely no one noticed when she made the switch. To be fair, all of her friends are her age and their eyesight isn’t the best. lol
Related Post: 7 Signs You Are Ready To Go Grey
Fascinated with women that have had the guts to stop colouring, I talked to a woman at work one day that had let her hair go completely grey. She is slightly older than I am. She said she did have dark hair like me too when she was younger. She keeps her hair in a pixie cut, so for her, the complete transformation did not take long at all.
So, here I am again, staring into the mirror and all I can see is the grey hair roots advancing. What is it with the one day it’s fine and the next day your bangs are too long and the grey roots look like they’ve gained an inch. Off to the stylist I go, thinking this it, let’s go blonde. I could do with a change and I think blonde is the only colour I didn’t try out when I was a teen. This will be awesome!
“Really? You want to go all blonde?” my hairdresser asks.
“Yes, I’m tired of noticing these grey hair roots just one week after colouring!” I reply confidently.
“But you have no grey at the back of your head at all. It’s all in the front.”
“That’s ridiculous! Is that normal? Why?!”
“So you can see it.”
“Same again please and I’ll re-book for six weeks”
Sigh.
UPDATE 2019: I wavered for an entire year after I originally wrote this post but officially transition to grey hair at the end of 2015. It has been almost 4 years since the change and I admit there have been times that I have wanted to go back to colouring. It is short-lived though as I remember how bad I was at the upkeep and honestly, being totally grey haired is not as bad as having grey roots literally all the time. I love my grey hair but I know that deciding to embrace grey hair is a very personal decision. You should do what makes you feel good. If that means colouring until your dying day, then go for it. No one should tell anyone how to live or look. As a woman over 50, you have earned your right to do as you please.
If you are thinking about letting your hair go grey, check out my other articles and products I recommend at the bottom of this post.
Elena Peters December 2017
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The following are a list of products that I use on my gray hair. It needs special care to make sure it doesn’t go brassy or really coarse and frizzy.
Recommended Products:
Pantene Pro-V Silver Expressions Shampoo 13 oz
Pantene Pro-V Silver Expressions Daily Color Enhancing Conditioner for All Silver and Gray Shades, 13.5 fl oz (400 ml)
One n Only Shiny Silver Ultra Shine Spray 4 Fl Oz
Heavenly Hair Coconut Oil Hair Serum – Chemist formula heals, protects and returns your shine!
Marc Anthony True Professional Bye Bye Frizz Keratin Smoothing Blow Dry Cream Cream, 4.7 fl. oz
For more information, check out my other posts about transitioning to grey hair:
- 5 Helpful Tips To Easily Transition To Gray Hair
- Grey Hair:When Is It Time To Let Nature Take It’s Course
- 7 Signs You Are Ready To Go Gray
- 5 Fashion Mistakes That Make Grey Hair Look Dull
- 5 Fashion Faux Pas That Make Salt & Pepper Hair Look Old
- Hair Do Or Dye:Embracing Change & Putting Down The Bottle
Snap..RebeccaHave hair to my bottom and 2 inch grey/white. Embracing the grey now!
Yay!
I don’t understand. What did the new hair dresser do differently?
I decided about 6 months ago I wanted to go back to my natural colour which is now brown and grey after over 35 years of dying it. I’m 51 and for the over 20 odd years I have been dying my hair black. My hairdresser had started off the process by gradually lightening it and adding streaks. However she said the only way would be to grow it out which was hard to think about. It’s now 27 April 2020 and I am in lockdown and not been able to see my hairdresser since beginning of February, so here goes, now I feel is the perfect time to grow out. Have to be brave, wish me luck
At 48 I got tired of going every 2 weeks to get root touch up and every 2/3 months highlights. I hate seeing my grey hair coming out and told my hairstyles that I wanted to go grey. She said it would take 1yr to do the transition. Well here I am almost 1yr 1/2 and not even started the transition. Went somewhere else now and in 2 weeks going to start the transition. Too bad my old stylist couldn’t do it or wouldn’t do it. She lost me after going to her for over 10 yrs as a client.
I decided to let my gray come out about six months ago. I was brownish red so my hairdresser recommended highlights to make the change. I knew it would be a pretty silver because of my mother. Now I have just the tips in the beige blond highlights. As soon as is grows a bit it will be all me. Being gray is not bad, being gray with a haircut that is outdated just makes you look old.
Im 59 and blonde ..i have apot of grey in my hair well really white..lol…but i have never dyed my hair but i have bern thinking about it to either a grey or a white..so ready for a change…crazy what i been told…
I’m 52 and stopped dying my hair 13 months ago. I’d been thinking about doing this for a few years. Turns out, I have a serious silver streak in the front, and just a smattering of silver and grey throughout the rest of my head. I have long hair, and will keep the length. I’m doing a natural grow out! I wanted to do this partly because I grew tired of the maintenance and partly because ALL hair dye is super toxic…even “green” brands. My hair has stopped falling out as much, and the texture is so much healthier. I agonized about “looking older” for years when I thought about doing it, but am SO glad I did it. No going back for me. I love it.
Deciding to be grey actually means more hair coloring than before. The women in our family grey very slowly (don’t wrinkle much either) so at 65 I have two little patches at my temples. Hate my natural color, love the silver, so decided to go all out. My daughter and I are just about to do the second and final bleach and then color. I wanted pure silver white so it’s taking some work. After this though, we’ll do upkeep with foils, letting some natural come in to provide contrast. My husband loves the silver (but at 81 he’s been silver for years) so I get a lot of support. Wish me luck!
I am Almost through my gray transition at age 57. I started 15 months ago. I have a long bob. I receive compliments on my hair daily. I am totally enjoying the rebel mentality that goes with going gray and keeping it on the longer side. I have always been the classic nerdy good girl. This new freedom trend setter style is liberating for me! As you can tell it doesn’t take much to make me happy!lol.. not having to worry about hair appointments, gray roots, over processed hair is very nice. I don’t think I’ll ever dye my hair again….. but being a women.. who knows! I say what ever makes u happy. It’s just hair.i loved your article.
I made the decision to stop dying my hair just over a year ago. It was my second attempt, as heading to uni at 50 two years earlier had me dashing to the hairdressers for fear of looking like the ‘old girl’ in class. Fast forward to today and I have shoulder length, wavy grey hair (still slightly salt & pepper, darker at the back) and I love it. There are perhaps a few more silver sirens on campus amongst the academics, but as a former brunette the year of dealing with the multi-colours was worth it! New hair, new make-up and wardrobe colours, new style. Be bold, it is fabulous 🙂
You got me thinking again! Lol thanks for sharing.
Haaa love this, I will never dye my hair, let the grey shine. I’m already blonde and the grey is actually a rather pretty white.
I like it.
I was going to title this “Blondes have it easy”. You just proved my point.
Lol!!!! Damn!
I love white hair so when I wa dying my hair blonde I noticed that I didn’t have to color the front of my hair since it was white. So this last year I quit coloring my hair and it is more white than grey. I am very happy that I quit dying and have gone natural!