Sick of dyeing hair, but afraid of the grey - confused!

twirlagig · 21-10-2017 09:39PM #1

Hi all, I'm 42 years of age. Got my first few grey hairs as a teenager - not joking! I always had very dark brown hair. In my 20's I used to put in a mixture of mahogany or darkish red colours. I switched to jet black in my thirties maybe and still put it in to this day. It's a full time job though, every 3 weeks or so.
Anyway to cut a long story short, I got some sort of allergy behind my ear lately (totally unrelated to hair coloring)and was afraid to put in a dye so when I went for a haircut yesterday, my hairdresser gasped at how grey I was! I figure I'm 80% percent grey, well white to be honest. Darker near the back of my head.
I do like the kinda grey/pink colour that's popular now. She said if I let it grow out, it'd be fab. I don't know though... I just looked in the mirror with my head held back and all you can see is my scalp! Does lighter hair look like less hair?!!
Has anyone just said fcuk it and tried it out? I've a box of black dye here waiting!
Advice appreciated x

dudara · 21-10-2017 09:41PM

Moved to the Beauty forum

dudara

21-10-2017 09:45PM

Women can look great with grey/silver hair... Its a conformist attitude that has everyone colouring their hair. Same with women putting on fake tan thinking it's necessary when more often than not it's brutal

Icsics · 21-10-2017 09:48PM

I could have written ur post Twirlagig! I'm naturally very dark & have been dying due to grey for about 15 yrs. Like u tho I'm having to dye it very 3weeks, which I am sick of. I'm so dark now that blonde or lightening would look odd. So I'm thinking about tranisitiong to silver! There's great ideas & hairstyles on Pinterest, for sure its scary but I think silver, or salt & pepper hair looks fab.

21-10-2017 09:48PM

Go for it. You won’t regret it. Only problem is changing your wardrobe to suit the new you!

twirlagig · 21-10-2017 09:59PM

Sunjava wrote: »

Women can look great with grey/silver hair... Its a conformist attitude that has everyone colouring their hair. Same with women putting on fake tan thinking it's necessary when more often than not it's brutal

Don't get me wrong, I love the look of grey/silver hair, there are some amazing pics online of it. But I've over a half inch of regrowth now and when I tilt my head back in the mirror, it looks shocking! Just scared me! I feel like I would have the thinnest hair if I let it grow out, thinnest looking I mean - I do have thick hair but the whiteness of it almost looks transparent!

idunno78 · 22-10-2017 12:35PM

Go blonde let it all grow out and leave it! A friend of mine did his and looks great now! Took a while and all the blonde still haNt grown out but she dosent have to touch it now! She was dying it every 2 weeks!!! Go to hairdresser yho to get h blonde hers was done in 2/3 sittings!

22-10-2017 12:41PM

idunno78 wrote: »

Go blonde let it all grow out and leave it! A friend of mine did his and looks great now! Took a while and all the blonde still haNt grown out but she dosent have to touch it now! She was dying it every 2 weeks!!! Go to hairdresser yho to get h blonde hers was done in 2/3 sittings!

This won’t suit everyone. I tried the blonde look and it aged me, whereas biting the bullet and going white had taken years off me.

Addle · 22-10-2017 01:26PM

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Go for it. You won’t regret it. Only problem is changing your wardrobe to suit the new you!

I think this too-what's the worst that would happen? It will grow back.
But I'm still not brave enough to go through with it!

We're putting chemicals on/into our scalps. It's madness really.

I feel the same that white patches look like bald patches to me-but if it was a whole head, rather than patches, it wouldn't be like that.

Addle · 22-10-2017 01:28PM

[Deleted User] wrote: »

whereas biting the bullet and going white had taken years off me.

I always think natural has to be best on each of us.
It's what we're meant to be.

GingerLily · 22-10-2017 02:40PM

Sunjava wrote: »

Women can look great with grey/silver hair... Its a conformist attitude that has everyone colouring their hair. Same with women putting on fake tan thinking it's necessary when more often than not it's brutal

No, more often then not you don't know a women's wearing fake tan as she's done it well.

OP, my sister started dying her hair a plantinum blonde with a silver toner which blends amazingly with her black and 50% grey roots. She only has to top up her T bar regularly but can leave the rest of the roots for every couple of months. If you're not brave enough to try full natural yet, something like this could be a good way to transition.

idunno78 · 23-10-2017 02:05AM

Deleted User wrote: »

This won’t suit everyone. I tried the blonde look and it aged me, whereas biting the bullet and going white had taken years off me.

True but she just did the blonde so make it look better while growing out! She is white now!

tinyk68 · 23-10-2017 08:42AM

One year ago I was exactly like you. I've had jet black hair all my life. Started going grey in my late twenties and have coloured it darkest brown ever since. For the last few years I was really tired of touching up the roots every four weeks but when I told friends that I was thinking of going grey they said I was mad and talked me out of it.
Anyway, last year I decided I'd had enough and I stopped colouring it. At first I was very aware of my scalp showing, just like you are, but that's an optical illusion caused by the contrast between the light and dark hair. Once it is grows out a bit that disappears. I kept my hair tied up all the time as it looked better that way while growing out and then two weeks ago I got it cut into a bob.
I love it now and I'm so happy that I did it. The friends who were against it at the start have all said that they were wrong and that it really suits me. My hair is in much better condition and feels healthier than it done for years.
It wasn't an easy year and I had to put up with a lot of puzzled looks from people but it was worth it and I wouldn't go back to colouring now if you paid me.
You should try it. If you don't like it you can colour it again.
Oh by the way I'm 49 and I'm glad I did it before I hit 50. I think the later I left it the harder it would be.

juke · 23-10-2017 08:31PM

I'm naturally brown-haired and started going gray in my twenties. I always coloured it, various tones of blond, copper, etc. I needed to top up the colour every 3-4 weeks - such a pain. I was also very sensitive to the dyes - gradually getting worse each time, so much so that my head would sting while the dye was on, and my scalp would peel afterwards. Yuk.

The blond wasn't necessarily my colour, but it showed the regrowth the least.

About 1.5 years ago, I decided to go platinum and I haven't looked back. I wasn't ready or brave enough to go gray. I get roots topped up every 8 weeks or so and I love it.

Sick of dyeing hair, but afraid of the grey - confused!

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