Is grey the new black?
I’ve been a thinking (see that’s what holidays do for you) and it’s been on my mind for a couple of weeks now – my grey hair.
Now I’m not really the sort of gal who gets too hung up on my appearance, I’m pretty happy with my lot but I am aware that time is slowly changing me and I’m not too sure how I feel about all of that. Importantly how I really want to handle it.
This year saw me turning 45 I also became a member of the bifocal group so now I wear my specs all the time – and I freely admit that I’m hopeless without them. A couple of months ago (when I was up to my eyes and studying and feeling pretty jaded) I wrote a post about my grey hair (which I freely admit was definitely out of control). Fed up with the thought of having to take out a second mortgage to meet the hairdresser’s bill I took the plunge and did it myself. The results were OK, but what a blooming faff!
So I’ve been kinda pondering the idea of just being the colour I am – the real 45 year old me!
As I’ve been colouring my hair for as long as I can remember I really have no idea how much grey is there, but IT is definitely there.
Yellow is NOT a good colour for redheads
When I was younger I was a typical Scottish red haired girl with freckles – the freckles have remained but years of living abroad when I was growing up gradually lightened the colour.
It's official, Madonna ruined my hair
Then came the obligatory excursion into teenage dying crazes. However my years of being brave on the colour front are long since behind me. Frankly I don’t know if I want to carry on dying my hair. The dilemma is will I be brave enough to just be the colour I am and can I stick with it to grow out the current colour?
So folks I’m sort of thinking that ‘my grey period‘ may be my next experiment. Of course it would be great if I could just wave a magic wand and wake up grey and looking fabulous but what if what’s really under the current ‘fake’ colour of mine looks more like the mismatched colour you often see in the animal shelters being sported by loveable but kinda strange little dogs looking for a home?
The alternative of course is to keep colouring it and admit the fact that doing a ‘home job’ is probably not saving much money due to having to practically redecorate the bathroom every time. So that folks is my dilemma.
Its easy Ladies, all you have to do is decide what colour you want to be, follow the 101 easy steps and voila neither your hair or your bathroom will ever be the same again.
Sure on the scheme of it this is hardly one of life’s BIG problems to ponder but it’s still a bit of a milestone in life – well it sort of is for this gal.
So if it’s true that every grey hair tells a story then I kinda want to know what story mine will tell. Sometimes it’s good to sit down and write a list of pros and cons – it really only comes down to two things.
The pros – I figure are looking like this…
Now THIS I could live with
However the reality could also be something along these lines……
The Cons – what if in reality I look like this- a patchy grey person?
Cute on a dog, but on a middle aged Scottish person I'm not so sure
So, have you taken the plunge?
Are you thinking about it?
Are you a ‘No Way Jose I’m Keeping My Colour’ person?
I guess it’s not something I have to do right now, but I am thinking about it.
All ‘encouragement’ / ‘don’t do it warnings’ welcome.
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Great pictures and post, Jacqueline. Had to say that up front.
As for your coloring your hair, I’m not the expert. Don’t get mad at me–I’m still naturally blonde, not a gray hair in sight and I’m nearly 54, so the hair coloring things hasn’t been an issue for me. But I’ve had my fair share of other issues, so I figure the Universe is being kind to me on this one!
But, just looking at this thing pragmatically, coloring your hair seems like an awful lot of work, what with the roots growing out every so often and the chemicals can’t be good for you. I think that if you’re young at heart, what’s on your head doesn’t matter so much. A cute hair cut and a sparkling smile do more for a youthful glow than hair color in my view. But, then, again, I’m not the hair color expert.
You may want a few more opinion before you make your decision!
Thank you – I find the pictures really help me right.
You are so lucky with your hair colour – but I’m with you on cutting down on chemicals bit… will continue to ponder. Thanks for your thoughts.
Now I turned 60 this year. I’ve been having my hair coloured for the last 15 years and I am DEFINITELY NOT GOING GREY!!! My mother didn’t and I’m not going to either!!!
I want to stay looking young as long as I can!!
But I’m not a diy girl. I trot along to the hairdressers (as I did this morning at 7.30!). I now have to have the roots done every 6/8 weeks or so – blessed with thick hair I can get away with it!
Up until about 5 years ago I only had to have it coloured every 12 weeks which wasn’t too damaging to the bank balance.
This probably doesn’t help your dilemma one jot!!
Sorry
xxx
I totally get what you’re saying I just don’t know if I have your dedication. I guess I’ve also spent years changing my hair – growing it then cutting it etc. Maybe this is just something new to do. Kind of intrigued to find out.
I did the diy thing for a while in my early thirties, just to liven it up a bit. Then not for years and to be honest the colour was such that it even made me feel drab when I looked in the mirror. Since 5 years it is usually blonde done by the hairdresser. My mother at 67 still dyes her hair and thinking of gran and her haircolour. Well ain’t changing it my hair dying routine any time soon.
For me it is not about the grey -but because of my boring natural colour. Being blonde makes me happy. Can’t be bad then.
You’ve hit the nail on the head Gilraen – in this life we need to do what makes us happy.
Yellow. I’ll show you why. I am in a wood of beech trees with yellow leaves coming down like snow. A lovely read, caught me in my tracks in an ancient Sussex wood.
Thank you for reading and taking the time to comment.
I’d say – let the dye grow out, see if you really do look like that cute little puppy and if so you could always go back to dying it. Or you could dye it grey (presumably that beautiful long hair isn’t entirely natural) and kind of beat Mother Nature at her own game!
Now Joanna you might have just hit on something there….. mmmm food for thought. Thank you!
Hi “mature”. Are you kidding? I’m old enough to be your mother. I had my hair colored for years so I wouldn’t look older than my younger husband. Damn if he didn’t leave me for a younger woman anyway! I kept looking at my roots and wondering what I would look like if I gave up the color. I finally bit the bullet and did it. Well, lo and behold, my hair is white as the driven snow. Not gray. White. I love it! Hardly a day goes by that I don’t get a compliment. I’ll just have to live with the wrinkles. No surgery for me.
This is my first visit to your blog. I’ll be back.
Hello there and thanks for reading and taking the time to comment. I never even considered the fact that some people have white hair. Sounds fab. I’m with you on the no surgery bit. Pleased you enjoyed my wee blog and will be stopping by again. Many thanks.
Jacqueline
I’m embracing the grey – thinking of it as natural highlights. I’m lucky – the grey is coming through in nice orderly patches around the temples, and I’m loving it!
Of course, there’s no way I’d dye it anyway because I’m far too lazy. My young friend Em dyes her naturally blonde hair a dark shade of plum on a regular basis (there really is no pleasing some people), and I am always bemused by the amount of time it takes up. But then, my hair is cut at the local barbers, and is the kind of style that doesn’t even involve a comb, takes three minutes to dry, and I kid myself that it looks ok.
Thanks “Old Girl at Uni’ for your positive comment! I’m certainly coming round to the idea and actually writing this post and reading all the comments have really helped. I’m going to go for it and see what happens.
Mmm, if you do decide to grow it out, you could use tone on tone colours for a while at home just to give your whole length the time to grow the same colour. Tone-on-tones are easy diy jobs and wash out after a while…
I’ve been dyeing my hair for a couple of years now to liven up my natural dark chesnut into a slighty lighter and redder version of itself, I like it like that way! I do it at home every two to three months and it isn’t too bad so far.
Don’t think I’ll go for the natural grey thing, when my mum does it, it makes her look so much older. But hey, it’s down to how you feel about how you look of course!
Happy pondering xx
Lady E you sound like an expert! If I even knew what tone on tone was I might still be clueless.
I’m growing my chemo bald head out, and I have promised myself I won’t dye anything coming out of it for the first six months no matter what – because I haven’t seen my natural hair color since I was fifteen and discovered sun-in, L’Oreal Preference, and henna, in that order. Ultimately, knowing me, I’m going back to henna – but if you want a growing-ot-out buddy for six months, I will be happy to do it with you. Let’s both get to the root of our hair issues!
)
I saw your post about your hair project – it’s coming on OK. I’m up for a hair buddy if you are
Great post – I’m not having a gray hair issue, but it is refreshing to read someone who is unafraid to put their honest thoughts out there.
Thank you – I don’t know that I’m brave but hey you can only write about your own stuff and this was very much what came out of my head – excuse the pun! Thanks for stopping by.
Grey is not the new black for me. I went grey at the front of my hair from about 18, by 30 I was toning it in with highlights. Now I am 50, there is no way I am letting go of my hair dye. It is my one beauty treatment I am keeping going. I don’t believe I would look great grey, I would look like a witchy hag. I think on some people grey hair with a younger face looks fabulous and Helen Mirren is beautiful. I think it is an individual thing.
BTW Sun-In turned my hair orange when I was in my 20s – vile stuff – what were we thinking in the 80s!
Even with grey hair I won’t manage to come anywhere close to looking like Helen Mirren! I don’t actually know when my hair started going grey, but 18 is very young. I never did the Sun-In thing, but I think I tried everything else. Dread to look back at my 80′s looks.
I thought of this post when this song popped into my inbox just now, so thought I’d send it on!
Rosie – I love it – thank you so much. I’ve never heard this song before but the lyrics are lovely. How on earth did you manage to post this into a comment – do tell. How clever!
I think that this song must go on my page about “My Grey Period”. I hope you don’t mind me pinching it for that. I will of course give you all the credit for finding it. Thank you
Pleasure – I’m glad you liked it! Use it where ever you wish
I’m disappointed to say there was nothing clever about posting the link! I just copied and pasted it!
Great to know, thank you. I’ve stuck it in my page “My Grey Period” and linked it to your blog. Cheers