That's it, I'm done. I'm going grey.

[Occasionally]

I colored my hair auburn when I was in college, but when I started to discover (in my early 20's) that I was going gray, I stopped coloring. No way was I going to feel like I *had* to color. I'm stubborn that way :001_smile:

 

Mostly I've gone salt-and-pepper though, so less gray that I had anticipated, but those "pepper" strands are as wonky as the "salt" ones. I'll be 38 next month.

[serendipitous journey]

I've been coloring since the first DS was born; but I don't like the maintenance of the coloring or the way it looks (we are talking drugstore color here). DH prefers it colored. So far. Well, I'm starting to show roots again and just decided yesterday that I'd make an appointment to get it all hacked off super short. It's at my mid-back now. I haven't told DH but I did check it with DS :) , he thought it would be fine (he's super sensitive, and needs lots of warning before big changes).

 

I figure that after seeing me shorn, DH will prob. be happy with long locks even if they're grey. :lol:

 

and odds are the short cut will work well for me; I look so much like my mother and aunt, who were lovely with short hair (and who dye). so maybe I'll keep it short ...

[HLDoll]

I got my first grey hair at 19 and at 33, I have more than my mother. Her mother (70s) is just now going grey at the temples. But I seem to be taking after my father's side of the family, who all went grey very early. I just live with it. I don't have the interest, the time, or the money to hide it. When I go in for haircuts, they ALWAYS ask me if I want "to do something about all that grey". And when I say no, they ALWAYS follow up with, "Are you sure about that?" I feel like the only person on the planet that doesn't color! I'm glad to know there are more out there!

[Bang!Zoom!]

Oh boy, am I ever at the other end of this.

 

I've been coloring since about 14 yrs old, and I'm headed toward fifty now. For my life, I will never wear short hair or go uncolored if I can help it. I'm a bleach blond, experimented with many colors over the years..from black to red. I feel best as a bright white blond.

 

Ironically I carry the hair genetics of Native American, all my sisters are jet black. I have no idea what my natural color is; but did start noticing gray hair about five years ago after a hysterectomy. I'm sure that's just hormonal stuff.

 

Those random hairs really freaked me out with the texture and uncontrollable zinging straight up like Albert Einstein!

[UnsinkableKristen]

I'm 29 and I have known my whole life that once they turn 30 the women on my Dad's side start to go gray and they women on my Mom's side grow beards :lol:

 

 

I will happily go gray without a care in the world - it's already started, in fact. I wear those little hairs loud and proud.

 

But you can bet your bottom dollar I will also happily pluck every last hair from my chinny chin chi . One must draw the line somewhere :D

[beezus]

I'm just letting nature take its course. It bugs my mother more than it does me. For that reason alone, it is worth not coloring the gray. I don't use make-up either. Gosh, I don't even wear a bra unless I think I absolutely have to.

[Guest]

I'm 40. I don't pretend to be 20, or perpetually "29".

 

So, if I'm really 29 and totally grey, I should continue dying it? :tongue_smilie:

 

Sigh. I have been going grey since I was 16 (or maybe 13, I can't remember :lol:) and I am SO sick of dying my hair. So sick of it. My husband says he doesn't care, but I just feel like if I stop, then I've "let myself go". :glare:

[serendipitous journey]

but I just feel like if I stop, then I've "let myself go". :glare:

 

... I'm hoping to make up for it with elegance in other areas, since I am not a very granola person. A bit of tooth whitening; silver accessories; pretty greys in my clothes; and, since I'm pasty-complexioned, probably frequent touch-ups with blush. I'm inspired by a beautiful, exotic ballet teacher I knew as a child; she was stunning, and had uncolored grey hair. Also, the owner of a nearby chic boutique is greying naturally and she is so well-put-together that it's impossible to imagine that she's letting herself go. Both these women had lovely olive skin, however; I don't have any pasty role models, unfortunately :glare:

[Guest]

 

... I'm hoping to make up for it with elegance in other areas, since I am not a very granola person. A bit of tooth whitening; silver accessories; pretty greys in my clothes; and, since I'm pasty-complexioned, probably frequent touch-ups with blush. I'm inspired by a beautiful, exotic ballet teacher I knew as a child; she was stunning, and had uncolored grey hair. Also, the owner of a nearby chic boutique is greying naturally and she is so well-put-together that it's impossible to imagine that she's letting herself go. Both these women had lovely olive skin, however; I don't have any pasty role models, unfortunately :glare:

 

Now just stop this! (I'm laughing) My dentist just told me today how much I would benefit from teeth whitening. :lol:

[vineyard]

I totally second happygrrl's suggestions! Get a rocking haircut that fits your personality & YOU love.

 

Expect some stares & maybe even aversion from friends/family that think you should still color. They may color or think you should because they have issues with aging. It will be a long year & at times you will hate, but it is freeing to not have to worry about "the roots".

 

The one thing I would definately recommend is shampoo for white/gray hair otherwise it can get yellowish/dull. You can get it at Sally's -maybe do 1-2 weekly.

 

I wish you the best HTH.

[mom31257]

I'm 44 and have never colored my hair in my life. I'm getting gray around my face (temples mostly) and a little sprinkled throughout. So far the color looks very white, so I think it will look nice. I wear my hair below shoulder length, so what is around my face is more difficult to see.

 

One think I'm refusing to do it cut my hair short. I remember a professor's wife I knew in college that had stylish, shoulder-length gray hair. It looked great. It convinced me that you don't have to cut it if you don't want to do so.

[The Girls' Mom]

I too refuse to color. I'm not engaging in that never ending battle to keep the skunk stripe from forming along my root line. My hair is going grey oh so quickly...and I'm only 35. But I just don't care. I call them my natural highlights. :D And I think of my next door neighbor who is a gorgeous white-hair. Or my friend who just finished chemo and has a beautiful head of silver hair growing back in.

[justamouse]

I'm going to hit the big 6-0 next week.

 

:blink: :ack2: :svengo:

 

I don't know how on earth that happened.

 

 

Happy 60!

 

 

People are nicer to you when you look older. They think it's so awesome if you carry your own groceries out. I go to yoga and they are like, "Hey, just do what you can, it's so great you are here to try." lol.

 

:lol::lol::lol: that has me totally cracking up.

 

I feel guilty dyeing my hair because I want to teach my daughters the same thing.

 

But ...

 

I dye my hair purple and black and blue and stuff like that ... so ... I'd be doing it even if I weren't going gray.

 

Tara

 

Now, that is totally different and totally awesome.

 

 

This is my biggest problem with the grays I get-- they grow in a completely different texture and thickness from the rest of my hair. It sticks straight up like little alien antennae (the rest of my hair is straight and smooth). The gray hairs grow very slowly too, making them even more noticeable. I've often wished herbashine sold a "clear" color that would just smooth those suckers down!

 

This is me! They are insane! They stick out, curl, kink-they have a total mind of their own.

 

 

... I'm hoping to make up for it with elegance in other areas, since I am not a very granola person. A bit of tooth whitening; silver accessories; pretty greys in my clothes; and, since I'm pasty-complexioned, probably frequent touch-ups with blush. I'm inspired by a beautiful, exotic ballet teacher I knew as a child; she was stunning, and had uncolored grey hair. Also, the owner of a nearby chic boutique is greying naturally and she is so well-put-together that it's impossible to imagine that she's letting herself go. Both these women had lovely olive skin, however; I don't have any pasty role models, unfortunately :glare:

 

Now, see, if I were that put together it would be OK, but I'm the kind that looks like she ran though a sprinkler and got loved by the cat and then fell into a bush.

 

I aspire to put together as I grow up. Maybe I should focus on that.

 

 

The one thing I would definately recommend is shampoo for white/gray hair otherwise it can get yellowish/dull. You can get it at Sally's -maybe do 1-2 weekly.

 

I wish you the best HTH.

 

Now that is interesting. I had no idea. I mean, if I'm going to do it, I want sparkling grey and white.

[Colleen in NS]

Have any of you gone grey gracefully? How did you do it?

 

I'm 43, and let my colouring grow out once. Then I couldn't take anymore that most other 40-somethings in my realm had coloured hair, so I coloured it again. But now I'm growing out the colour again. :D

 

I have a couple of (faraway) friends who grew out their grays in their 40s, and they are beautiful.

[LibraryLover]

I'm 44 and have never colored my hair in my life. I'm getting gray around my face (temples mostly) and a little sprinkled throughout. So far the color looks very white, so I think it will look nice. I wear my hair below shoulder length, so what is around my face is more difficult to see.

 

One think I'm refusing to do it cut my hair short. I remember a professor's wife I knew in college that had stylish, shoulder-length gray hair. It looked great. It convinced me that you don't have to cut it if you don't want to do so.

 

 

I also have long hair that I do not intend to cut. Put up, sure. Cut? Nope. It's past my shoulders. I like it and so does dh.

[Desert Rat]

My momma turns 59 today and has no grey hair. She's the only person I've ever met that wishes for grey hair. I'm 40 and have none either. I'm glad I take after by mother and do not share in her desires. LOL

[Violet Crown]

I went completely gray by my mid-30s, just like my mother and her mother before her. Like my grandmother, I've never colored my hair. I'm not ashamed of it; I've earned those gray hairs!

 

On the other hand, just this afternoon the cashier at Target looked at the party stuff I was buying for dd3 and said "Oh, you're the grandmother?" :glare:

 

ETA: When I was very pregnant with dd3, a woman came up to me and said, in a very sincere and Up-With-the Sisterhood enthusiastic way, "I just wanted to tell you how awesome it is that you're willing to have a baby at your age." I stared at her and said, "I'm 38." Then I stared at her some more. She slunk away.

 

I mean, really. Why would one even make the guess?

Edited July 15, 2011 by Sharon in Austin