We add colour to our hair in all sorts of ways. We can go lighter, darker, or richer than our natural colour. We can change the colour completely, cover the grey, or throw in a rainbow look just for fun. It is a personal decision. We simply have to weigh up the pros against the cons of the time, effort, and expense involved, and decide what suits us best.

For many of us, one consequence of the pandemic is that we can’t have our hair coloured as often as we did before. As a result, our natural hair colour has been coming through. Pre-COVID, I had a partial foil of platinum highlights added to my hair every six weeks. When the pandemic struck I went without for four and half months. My hair is naturally blonde without any grey, so the grow-out was reasonably subtle.

As soon as I felt comfortable having my hair re-highlighted, I did just that. I’m still not having it coloured as often as I used to, but I’m adding the platinum blonde bits when I can because, to my eye, it’s more flattering with my complexion. It’s dyed to the colour it used to be naturally when I lived in a sunny Mediterranean climate and my hair was bleached naturally by the sun. Since living in grey Seattle, my hair has gotten darker and I don’t like it as much.

Personally, I’m not embracing the natural colour of my hair just yet, but plan to do so when I go grey. I fancy the idea of a natural silver pixie at some point, and am looking forward to it. On the other hand, some of my friends and clients have taken the opportunity during the pandemic to stop colouring their hair alltogether. Many have opted to let the grey come through, hang in there with the grow-out, and embrace their natural colour. This means saying goodbye to the time and expense of root touch-ups every three weeks, which I imagine to be quite liberating.

Over to you. I’m curious to know whether the pandemic has made you feel like embracing the natural colour of your hair more permanently, or at least for a while.