Gray Hair - No longer something to hide?

My dream is to one day have my love with a long gray braided pony tail, who likes to go for long walks.

Nothing is more sophisticated than a lady in gray.

Re: Going Gray - It all depends on the person but I love my gray highlights and have no intention of coloring my hair -ever! In addition to going gray with grace, most women need to update their 'do' and makeup. Gray hair can wash out your skin tone and long, straggly hair is not flattering to anyone over the age of 20!

Another very important ingredient in the ageing process is how you feel inside and how you project those feelings. Some of us are 'old' at 25 and others seem young at 90. Attitude and thinking of others can be a big plus in the 'battle' to maintain our youth.
ongoing battle of ageing.

I love your blog!!!

I have seen the beautiful older models in the Eileen Fisher clothing ads. The message is to stay strong and keep healthy. It seems strange that what passes in men as "distinguished" is considered "sloppy" in women. I am very happy that some personalities like Rosanne have quit coloring.

Thank you for this article! I would like to see more photos,of everyday ladies and how they wear their beautiful gray hair I,m 56 and have decided no more dye for me.

thanks Lee

Thank goodness for sensible and intelligent woman embracing growing old gracefully. I am having a hard time understanding why in a world where increasing numbers of us were flower children and believe in the environment and eating locally, organically, etc., we are buying into coloring our hair.

When we were girls there were many more role models for older women--and whatever happened to Adolfo, Shrader sports and Castleberry Knits? How come my grandmothers were such elegant old lladies and we are all running like scaredy-cats for Garnier & Clairol?

Anyone out there letting the grey come in under 50? I'm only 42 but am tired of the maintenance of coloring the grey I started getting at 19. It's amazing how many people have said "Don't do it! Keep coloring it!" I would love to hear the experiences of anyone else who has let it grow in and still looks/feels fabulous.

I have been coloring my dark brown hair to cover grey since I turned 40; I'm now 50, and from the looks of the roots it seems that I'm pretty much all grey now. I'd like to stop the coloring, but I don't know how. Am I doomed to waiting while a solid wall of grey marches down the sides of my head, chasing a solid block of brown?

4 yrs ago I walked into a salon and requested a hair cut. My gray roots were about 3 inches long at the time. The hairdresser about had a heart attack when I asked for every inch of dyed hair to be cut off. My hair was long and 42 inches of dyed hair hit the floor that day. I always had long hair, love it being long, but dying it was a nightmare and what dying did to the texture of my hair was no longer enjoyed.

Now my hair is about half way back in growth. The color is varying shades of white, silver, gray, and black. Black was my natural color to begin with. I love it, I love it, I love it. I will never go back to dying my hair ever again. The funny part is I have been asked who dyed my hair this color. My answer...God.

I love the color and the wonderful soft texture I always enjoyed with long hair is back.

I have notice a definite difference in gender remarks to my hair color and length. Women mainly say, color it and keep it short as you get older. Men say, love it natural and long. Go figure.

Personally I say, do whatever makes you feel wonderful no matter what anyone else says, be it friend, foe, or media. Love your locks, your way. After all it's only you that must live with your hair 24/7.

I forgot to say, I was 41 when I quit dying my hair. *Smiles*

I'm 57 and sick of coloring too!! I actually stopped a couple of years ago with the low-light method from my hairdresser and I liked the results but for some reason I started coloring again!! Stupid-stupid!!! I could do that again but it was costly so here's what I'm thinking of trying: you know that Clairol root touch-up? If I just choose random strands of root to touch up will that give a more natural look instead of that straight line of grey? If I was retired or could just wear a hat until it's grown in I wouldn't care but I have a job where not one woman in the whole building has natural hair and although I WISH I didn't care what people were thinking - I do.....

I have been pondering the question of "should I stop coloring" for months now. I am 44 and have been going gray for years. But now I have this "pure band of gray" as my brownish dye grows out. So I guess I am all gray now. I am so excited to stop coloring and embrace my gray. But my mom, family, friends and colorist are all saying "no". Even my 4 year old daughter told me to paint my hair brown as she sees I have an inch of gray coming in. My husband is all for it. Not sure if I should try the lowlighting techniques, cut it, or live with the band. Any thoughts. I am really going to do this. I hate the maintenance and hate the idea of going every six weeks for the rest of my life to a salon. I am psyched to have found others who are going through the same thing. GRAY IS BEAUTIFUL....RIGHT?!?!

I found my first gray hair when I was 12. I think I started coloring it in my 30's and, now at 54, it's just too high maintenance to try to cover the new growth every 3 weeks. I decided a couple of months ago enough was enough and, with trepidation, abruptly stopped coloring it. I did have it highlighted to try to calm the contrast between the almost white it really is and the brown it's dyed. Frankly, it looks strange (for social occasions where the skunk look is inappropriate, I use a Roux rinse which works fine temporarily), but I finally feel free ...free of the time it stole from other activities and free of desperately trying not to look "old." I'm a fun, hip and active fifty-something and the hue of my hair will never change that. Sexy vitality is an attitude, not a color.

I am 58 and have been coloring my hair brown for 21 years. I hated doing it EVERY single time. The idea of putting chemicals on my body never felt right and over time, my shiny, soft hair became dry and unmanageable. I tried different shampoos and conditioners, but nothing worked. For the last 8 years, I've thought about going natural, but was scared of the growing out phase, but in Aug. I decided to try. I am going cold turkey, no lowlights, rinses, etc. and it is the scariest thing I've ever done. I now have almost 3 inches of very white hair. I've cut a few inches off to get rid of the dyed brown hair, but since my hair is still at my shoulders, I am walking around with two distinct colors and it is shocking. I've noticed that women stare and men don't seem to care. My husband and 27 year old son are very supportive and are cheering me on, but the females in my family, esp. my mother ( who at 91 STILL colors her hair )think I'm doing the wrong thing. At times, I feel depressed and want to color it immediately,but mostly, I feel empowered and proud to be my authentic self. My gray hair is shiny and soft and so much healthier. I am determined to see this through.

I wrote a post about going gray a few months ago. Out of all my 160+ posts, this one gets the most attention:

http://mhlcoaching.typepad.com/the_health_and_life_mixin/2007/09/gray-hair-is-in.html

I want know about color no more gray I want know what kind color please you can tell to me about no more gray I am black person do you understand yes or no ? I don't like gray hair I am old I want know about I can get pregnancy I am very upset today

sincerecly
anita prentiss

I must say! I commented up above in March 29th! I let my gray grow out for a few months, and then chickened out because I had a job interview. At the time I thought it was very dark and it really contrasted with the colored ends.

Well, I started to let it grow out again, and gave it more time this time. It is a very vivid and shiny like SILVER. It looks almost Chrome! It is so Metallic! I have never seen this color!

I actually think it looks prettier in its natural gray state.

I think everyone ought to grow her hair out gray once and see how it looks. If it's uniform, it usually looks great. If it's between, you might have to wait a few years. On balance, it is how you feel with it that counts.

I think women would be surprised by how many men actually liked a women with grey hair. The problem is we live in a very image conscience society and to go against the norm especially with something like grey hair is considered wrong by many. If a man says he likes women with grey hair he is often considered odd and it is often branded as a fetish. It is wrong that this should happen and if it didn't I believe that you would find a lot more men saying that they actually prefer women with natural hair. I am 23 and can honestly say there is nothing more beautiful then a women who chooses her natural hair colour rather than colouring it. So don't let anyone tell you otherwise, grey hair is beautiful and should not be hidden.

I am 64 years old and dyed my hair since the age of 15. I had figured out that my natural haircolor was a mousy blond so I kept it dyed. I have been every color. Blond, all shades of red, auburn, brown, and dark brown. People used to place bets on what color my hair would be the next time they saw me. About 6 months ago I decided I was done with coloring my hair and told family and friends. They were all dismayed, even my 87 year old mother was unhappy, (she was still coloring her hair golden blond). They all said, "But it will make you look like an old lady!" I replied: "But I am an old lady." And so I let my hair grow out about 2 1/2" and told the hairdresser to cut it all off. Now everyone complements me on my hair color, (it is salt and pepper in the back, and silver white in the front) and many women want to know how I got my hair that color. I love my hair, and love not having to touch up roots every 2-3 weeks. But I have discovered that I must keep it shiny clean and well trimmed in order to keep from looking dowdy. I also changed my wardrobe colors and make up colors to more of the roses and pinks. I am very fair, and have to really watch it that I do not look washed out. Now my mother has decided to let her hair go grey also, after seeing mine. Hurrah!!

I am a beach living girl who has self-streaked colored her hair for years. The salt and sun helps too. i usually kept it neatly trimmed about shoulder lenght and just long enough to put in a pony tail for swimming. Everyone loves my hair and color. I used Revlon Color Silk hair color (light ash blond) which worked well for me (my hair is light mousey brown) and foiled it my self with great success. I just foil a little and the sun does the rest. Now, I have decided not to do it anymore. I am going to be 64 years old in August next year. I have not colored since October. I think the roots look promising: more shiny but definately more silvery than gold streaks. I will have to wait and see. I wanted to put a rinse or something less permanent on it but all I have found suggest not using it on color treated hair like mine. My husband who has completely white hair and has had that for 30 years is not happy. He liked my totally blond hair years ago was upset when I went from all blond to highlighted blond. Now he says, it is my hair and he will be happy with what ever I want. But will I be happy? I will let you know in about a year. You can barely see the grow out (but it is Winter here in Florida so it is normal to be a little darker at the roots now). I was very selective in the coloring process, just doing a few strands of hair on each side in the part in the middle and on the edges around my face and nape. I think that is why it is not that noticable that it is growing out. I think I can live with this for a while. I am looking forward to seeing how it finally turns out. My hair is very long so it will take a long time for it to really be all natual but I think I will like it. If not I will just go back to the very subtle foil treatment i did before which just add a few golden highlights in my hair.

I recently noticed I have a gray streak starting in front,I have been dyeing my hair for fun since high school ,but I am loving my little streak and am online looking for hairstyles and ways to enhance it.Most sites are for how to cover it up its nice to find this one.I LOVE Merryls hair from "prada" BTW I am 37

I am joining the tide of women saying 'no more dye'. I'm 44 and found my first grey hair at 15. I've been dying it back to brown for decades and enough is enough. I now have 4 weeks of dye free growth which is a lovely, shiny, silvery colour whereas the rest is flat and fried looking drab brown. My partner is all in favour - in fact it was his idea. When we first got together he was regularly hiding his grey hair with Grecian 2000 but I encouraged him to stop. Now he has done the same for me. He tells me it will look sexy and stylish. The main voice of objection has come from my 67 year old mother who is a slave to the 3 weekly touch ups as I have been for years. I'm expecting to look strange for about a year as the old dye is gradually cut off but am very excited about the process. I'm also delighted about the hours of time and the money I will save.

I'm 43 with naturally very dark brown hair, and have been dyeing my hair shades of dark brown, red brown, and auburn since my gray first started becoming noticeable when I was about 25 years old. My last coloring was around 6 weeks ago and my gray has already grown out about 1 inch. I'm sick of being a slave to my colorist and having to go get a dye job every 5-6 weeks to avoid the "skunk stripe." My gray is coming in now at about 75%, and it's so silvery! I would love to see what I'd look like with my hair all that color.

I told my husband of my thoughts and he about freaked out saying it would make me look 10 years older immediately, and "DON'T DO IT!" He just doesn't understand: I NEED to know what it will look like! And, if I'm wrong and I do look 10 years older or I hate it, then fine, I'll color it again. But, honestly, I think that once he sees the silvery mane I plan to grow, he'll change his mind and we'll both love it.

My problem is that I work a full time job and don't feel comfortable with the idea of going to work each day with my hair displaying an obvious delineation between the salt-n-pepper natural color hair and the brown-n-red dyed ends. I'm considering growing it for a few more months until it's long enough to go with a really short sporty cut that would remove almost all of the dyed ends (I used to wear it really short when I was younger and it was a good look for me then, so why not now, right?), but how do I minimize the line in the meantime?

Wouldn't it be great if you could just strip out the old hair color? After all, the "red" hair in my "brown-n-red" hair is really just gray hair underneath the dye anyway...

Suggestions/advice welcome.

I stopped coloring my hair last year. It's almost all salt and pepper with a couple of chunks of grey streaks on either side of my forhead. Everyone I talk to loves it! My husband loves it!

I do have an interview in a few days and have no intention of coloring it. I will however dress up to date and have up to date make up. I think it can show confidence or laziness, depending on the person.
If you go grey and dress like you just rolled out of bed...bad choice.
You can look awsome and have greys. I'm sick of "who ever they are" dictating what's acceptable and will continue to swim in the gene pool I inherited!!

I have been wearing my hair short for about seven years. To keep the
style of my cut,I have to have it cut every three weeks. This means coloring as well. I turned 50 years old eight months ago and said,
enough is enough! I wear trendy glasses,trendy earrings and dress up to date and am very proud that I am my own person! I have gotten alot of compliments on my hair. Some people say," I love your highlights."
I tell them thanks there natural highlights. If you look in the mirror
and you don't like what you see change it, but do what feels right for
you. I did!

Hi - I am 50, wear my hair short and choppy. I am about 50% gray. I started using a bleach blonde color, which turns only the grays blonde and the rest reddish brown. I also want to stop dying/bleaching once and for all. All of my friends and love ones say "are you crazy, do you want to look like an old woman". Anyway, need some advice. Since the ends are bleached, should I try the low-lights, or just get a few more cuts, since it is fairly short? Thanks = great sight for support

how can i see what i would look like with grey hair before i take the plunge?

I am so angry with myself! I had decided finally to go gray, went to get my haircut - told my stylist. She went off on me telling me how horrible I will look, to talk to her again in about 20 years (I am 50). She said I would have salt & pepper, not all gray, and it would wash me out. So home I went and bleached my hair - it turned out ORANGE! Called the hot line they had me put red then brown on my hair. It looks ok, but very damaged. So, here I go again, this time I do not care who tells me what - I am letting it grow out - I am just grateful I wear my hair short.

Hey girls, I am 38 years old and gray. I started getting gray when I was 16 years old. Three years ago, I decided to let it grow out. For a couple of reasons: allergic to the dye's and tired of spending all of that money every three to for weeks. My hair grows extremely fast so it wasn't long after having it colored I was having to go back to the salon to have a touch-up on my roots. Everyone at that time said "you want like it" but little did they know. Let all those people keep spending their money. They will change their minds in time to come also. I have never loved my hair as much as I do today. There is no way I would go back. About 6 months ago my husband and I went to my 20 year class reunion. Everyone there accused me of coloring it--to get the award for the most gray. Little did they know I did not color it and it would cost a fortune to have it colored 90% gray & 10% black. There was also a lot of my classmates complimenting on how great I looked. And that makes you feel really good especially to be 38, gray and to ahve a 4 year old. So, all of you foxes out there let it go and become "silver foxes".

P.S.----I would love to see picture's of younger people and their hair styles.. Mine is in a short style now and I am wanting to let it grow out into a long shag style. But, at the same time I don't want it to make me look older.

I had been coloring my hair since I was 15 years old, now 55. Early twenties showing grey which could have past as highlights. I have colored my hair every color possible. Blond, all shades of red, auburn, brown, and dark brown. People used to place bets on what color my hair would be the next time they saw me. Stop coloring hair the beginning of 2004, with a very short hair cut, getting it cut every 4 to 6 weeks. Now my hair is past my shoulders and is multi-hues of silver, white and grey. I love it and happy not having to spend the time and money to color my hair anymore. I get compliments from strangers, just about every where I go. And my family loves it too.

From a guy's perspective - I started going gray, myself, at about 16 - today I'm 49 and 90+% gray. I've always worn my gray hair proudly and continue to do so. For me, gray hair on a younger person is downright attractive; on a young woman, it's totally sexy. On an older person, it's also very attractive when the person takes good care of themselves, is youthful in their outlook, etc., and uses their hair as an accessory, rather than making it the focal point of "getting old." In other words, if you take care of the whole package, hair included, gray can be wonderful.

By never coloring my hair, I've "never aged." People who've met me after 10 years, or more, insist that I haven't changed. If you color your hair, then abruptly stop, you can't help but age overnight.

I just turned 69 and have had short, spiky grey and black hair since the Summer of 2007. Same story, tired of fighting roots. My mom had her hair dyed light auburn two weeks before she died at age 89 and would no doubt be horrified at my grey.

I like it fine but am planning to try some low lights soon just to see what they look like; may not continue with them. I use silver shampoo a couple of times weekly and find it helps to keep the grey sparkly white. It is also important to keep grey hair moisturized; have a good cut and keep the cut in shape, no procrastinating on going to the salon. My friend with grey hair said as she gets older her hair is going right along with her. I like that too.

I received my first grey hair in ninth grade. A girl Merri who was sitting behind me pulled it out of the back of my head. We were in history class. I stood up told the teacher what had happened he was intrigued so we went across the hall and interrupted the science class and indeed it was a grey hair. I dyed it until about 10 years ago than I said screw it. More chicks dig than not. Keep your heads up grey haired peeps. No pun intended but its all in your head. If you don't mind it don't matter. Peace and love everyone.

I am now 35 years old. I received my first grey hair in ninth grade. A girl Merri who was sitting behind me pulled it out of the back of my head. We were in history class. I stood up told the teacher what had happened he was intrigued so we went across the hall and interrupted the science class and indeed it was a grey hair. I dyed it until about 10 years ago than I said screw it. More chicks dig than not. Keep your heads up grey haired peeps. No pun intended but its all in your head. If you don't mind it don't matter. Peace and love everyone.

What a great support group!! I am 45 and have been covering gray hair since my early 30's. I've decided to stop doing this. It's been 2 and 1/2 months since my last all-over color, and I have about an inch of natural growth now. I had a consultation yesterday with a stylist, and he said that I am 70% gray. My natural color is a very dark brown (almost black from what I can remember). I decided to stop trying to hide the gray because I love what I'm seeing growing in now! I love the natural color instead of this "brown from a bottle". The stylist yesterday recommended lowlights. He explained the process, but after I got home I realized I have so many questions. I understand that the lowlights are to help soften the demarcation line I have. If I get lowlights, will I still have gray showing? I hope so!! I really don't want to loose the gray I'm seeing now. What I do hate is this brown color I have everywhere else. I've always worn my hair long (it's about an inch passed my shoulders), and I can't think of cutting it at this point. Also, do lowlights wash out? Do they not leave ths same line of demarcation as all-over color? Thanks for any reassurance and guidance provided!!

Hi there to all,
Dose anybody know of a hair dye that gives a good coverage to corse gray thick hair
Please let me know

Hi all,

Hollywood hair guru Romi Cortier has posted lots of tips for achieving fabulous gray hair on RealSelf. I highly recommend checking out his Q&A on this subject - he talks about everything from the best styles for gray hair to recapturing your pre-dye natural gray color. Click here to view Romi's answers.

I did it!!!! I just loved reading all your comments and questions and I am here to tell you, you can go grey and love it. I did what many of you said about going a few months and then just not able to take it or the comments from Mothers/Daughters/Hair Dressers etc. and ended up either with a temporary color or low lights, then highlights. I am 53 and have had some grey hair since my twenties. I finally went to a hair stylist, from may years ago, and she was positive about giving it a try. What did I have to lose, I could always color it again. But now after about four months and a new short hair cut that just shows the slightest hint of color on the tips. I have the best looking hair for me in years. It's definitely white in the front where I now have it parted and spiked that spreads over the daker salt and pepper areas and it gets darker towards the back. I had shoulder length hair for years so this is really different for me. My friends and Husband are very supportive and think I look great. My 23 year old Daughter hates it, the cut and the grey. She says it makes me look older. But listen,
every time I look in the mirror I SMILE!!!!!! I love styling it with gel and shine and I don't even need a hair brush. I trick is to let it grow out as long as you can stand it and then get a really great cut so people know you meant it. You did this on purpose. Before my really great cut it looked like I just let myself go. I will never color my hair again. Go for it.

Personally, I'm against gray. I have issues with chemical sensitivity and I'm getting this salt and pepper looks which just looks old. Nothing makes a woman look older than gray hair. There are some people who can pull it off, but not many. It dates a person and beyond. You barely see one newscaster (male or female) with more than a touch of gray and these people are well in their sixties. Face it, we all want to look as young as we can. Hair color is any easy way to achieve that. Unfortunately because of my sensitivities, I can't color my hair. First I tried a nice short stylish cut (which I think is important with gray), but finally realized I still looked old. Now I've grown out my hair to a nice style but the salt looks like more than the pepper. So, I really want to lose the gray. Salt and pepper is just awful looking. Remember when you look at celebrities with gray, these are people who have stylists and very expensive haircuts, etc. Then look in the mirror and realize that you just look old. Anderson Cooper does look great though. It's rare.

Hi Lisa,

I met with my stylist again today, and we both came to the conclusion to let Mother Nature take her course with my hair. He didn't want to put additional color on my hair when my goal is to stop coloring. He said that he felt I wouldn't be happy with the results. I really appreciated his honesty. He seems to know me pretty well after only meeting me for the 2nd time. So, I trimmed 2 inches from the ends and told him I'd see him in 8 weeks for another trim. I did receive my first compliment this week from a co-worker regarding my silver hair. It really made me smile.

Hope your transition is going well!

Melody

What wonderful suggestions and information is found here!

I am 52 and have been coloring my hair a light blonde for years. I now have over 50% gray coming in so I'm going natural and hopefully this will eventually be white or silvery white.
I am using two products to help me with this transition rather than going with low lights or any more bleaching.
I am using Paul Mitchells Color Shampoo for Platinum Blonde and also Artec Loreal White Violet Moisturizer which will be about slowly losing the yellow tones which can look so weird in gray/white hair. This is the purple stuff that others have mentioned. I'll have to see how these two work.
Artec (which is now L'Oreal)does a shampoo for gray hair that brings out the light and this is what I would like to use once I've gotten more gray.
I'd love to hear from anyone who has used these products or something like them... I've heard that Artec is the best.

I'm 47 and I've been letting my hair go naturally gray for about 3 years now, but I had a striking silver streak in the front of my hair for a couple of years before that. I'm about 40-50 percent gray now, mostly the whole front half of my hair is silver. The back is still mostly dark brown. It seems everyone has an opinion on my hair. Mostly I get compliments on it, even from strangers; but there is still the occasional person who tells me I should color it because I'm too young to be gray. Frankly, I believe the latter to be narrow minded people who follow stereotypes. I have noticed recently a few new friends I've made who use to color their hair have suddenly started letting it go gray after getting to know me. So about hair products, I use Clairol 'Shimmer Lights' shampoo about once a week and leave it on for about 3 minutes, and I also use a finishing product such as Bed Head 'After Party' to add shine once my hair has dried. I think having my silver be shiny silver makes it much prettier. There are some products that specifically say for shine, but those are usually too oily and my hair won't hold any curl then, and I usually add a little curl with a curling iron, but the Bed Head 'After Party' gives a beautiful shine as well as helps to tame my hair. My brown hair was always very fine and now my gray is coarser and much fuller than before. My silver hair also gives me a much softer look now that I am 47. I hope going gray goes as well for you as it has for me!

Hi all,

There is an entire website dedicated to gray hair--to colour or not, how to transition etc. It's a fantastic resource. Check it out!

Lisa

http://goinggraylookinggreat.com/

Well, it's been three weeks since my first post and I can tell you the response has been very positive. I have seen almost all my friends and they all love my new unprocessed hair. I still look in the mirror and at first I am shocked. But every time I see it I like it (me) more and more. The more the silver grows in, the better, and my scalp really appreciates it too!

Don't be afraid. We have been fed a lot of bull____ about how our natural color makes us look older. I don't look older or younger, just better......

I am so grateful to read everybody's comments.

I am 34, greying since age 9. I now have a perfect skunk 95% white hair 6 inch strip on top of my head with very few white hairs anywhere else on my head. I am naturally raven haired and I skipped my last dye appointment 3 weeks ago. My roots are about an inch long.I am going for it! No more dye in my locks!

My hair is very long so I must admit I am scared by the whole process. Should I cut it really short? I have had short hair before but I have a very long neck so I am not sure this is right for me...

Thanks again to all of you for your wonderful insights. I will keep you posted. I am at the point where I am really considering shaving my head.

Loving all the comments on this page. Very supportive and encouraging! I started going grey with a few hairs at the back of my head from the age of 40. By 42 I started using LOREAL EXCELLENCE SEMI-PERMANENT honey brown on my short curly dark brown hair. This completely covered my existing greys. But after 3 years of colouring every six weeks, I suddenly developed a sensitivity to all hair colourants after doing the back of ear test. Itching and burning.

Not wishing to show my greys, I decided to try using a dark brown Henna produced by BODY SHOP with no allergies or sensitivity at all. After 2 years I noticed that I started reacting badly even to the henna as well. I'm an allergic type anyway so this was on the cards for me. My doctor told me I was not alone on this henna reaction.

Recently I have read a few scientific articles on the the toxic elements that are natural to the henna plant. So in the last 6 months haven't coloured at all.

I feel better with no allergic reactions etc. Men still find me attractive because I take care of my skin, fitness, and grooming. You have to be more careful on what colours you wear as you go grey slowly. It's true if you allow the grey to come in gradually no one else notices it but yourself when you look in the mirror. Eventually you get used to it and it's fine, no problemo....

Keep the hair nicely cut, styled and conditioned. Shape of hair around the face more than actual colour is important. So go for it everyone. It's time that women liberated themselves a bit for a change. The guys don't really worry about it so why do we?

I'm one of the those where the hair went gray very early in life. I first recall the comments about it when I was about 12. Judging from my roots, I am 100% gray now. I am so very tired of coloring my hair and the color always being wrong, even when done professionally. I work with all men and each time I color it they give me a hard time about "The science of hair color" and how they need to explain it to me.

The last coloring (my hair color would be med brown) turned almost black and that makes the roots extremely obvious when the slightest gray starts showing. That and my hair is now thinning and when the gray roots pop up, it looks even thinner.

I have decided that since I get so much grief just coloring my hair, I may as well go ahead and make the transition. I am going to get my hair cut extremely short!!! I thought about shaving it but not sure just yet. I think I will not be able to look good with short hair because of my round face and thick neck (no neck) so I will cover it with a wrap or something until it grows out.

I am going to be criticized no matter what I do, so why not just go for it?

So glad to find this blog. Great support. I'm 53 and decided yesterday to go natural. My hair is shoulder length. The natural color was brown but I've been doing blonde highlights and lowlights for almost 15 years!
I've got about an inch of roots now (brown and white).

I just don't feel like myself anymore with long blonde hair. I know it is a very personal thing and even just a year ago I wasn't ready to do this, but I am ready. I am finding it's a very emotional thing.

Reading all of your comments has been great. Thanks!

To: Skunk Haired Frenchie,

First of all, you need to find a more positive name(LOL). I know how hard it is to go thru the process and stop coloring your hair. I look better with longer (shoulder length) hair, but I did cut it short after growing out for about 3 months and now I am growing it longer again. I am also white in the front, so as I grew it out I changed my part to the side and this helped alot. I did use temporary color and gave myself some lo-lights in the side part so I wouldn't have the skunk look. The shorter you can cut it the quicker the growing out process will be. Everyday I get more compliments and women constantly tell me they wish they could stop coloring, how they wish they had the B__ls to do it. We have heard it for so long how it will make us look older. I just know that when I was in Europe last year, I saw the most faboulous looking women in their 50's, none of them colored their hair and they did not look older to me, just better. Their natual graying and silver hair went better with their complexions. They didn't look like they were trying to look younger, but all had great hair cuts. You could tell they take great care of themselves.

It's just hard to get thru the in between part. Get a really great haircut. This is most important.