I always thought I would never color my hair. Then on a whim I started highlighting before I had any gray.... and kept doing it. As everyone else is saying, it's all about what you feel like doing.

I think it's looking promising. I would try it. Saving all the time and money has got to be a big appeal and if you don't like it in the end, just change it. I think it could go well with your hair style and personal style.

You would look great letting it grow out, especially with the edgy outfits you wear. But you have to feel great too. Perhaps the only way you'll know is if you try it.
I had highlighted my hair for decades and I just got so sick to death of doing it. The time in the salon, the money, the uncomfortable seats, the uncomfortable feeling I felt because I didn't embrace my own reality. So I decided to let it grow out. I had dark highlights put in once to ease the transition, and I had six highlights put in several months ago for a special occasion, but besides that, for more than two years I've had natural hair. It's a little grey at the temples, and I don't mind that. I finally feel like I can be free of societal expectations and just do my own thing. I love it. I might occasionally get a highlight here or there for fun but never do I want to be trapped into the perpetual cycle again. My mother used to call her hair mousy (and mine is the same colour) but I agree with Gaylene. We don't need to adopt this negativity. I'm healthy and happy and my hair is shiny and clean and it's all good.

Well, urm. This is a poser, as for me it had to do with maintaining a youthful and current look for work, which involved a lot of client contact and training. So I waited till that part of the job stopped, because it felt like part of the paid for presentation. But I got, like you,more playful with color. I went prematurely platinum which did contrast with a youthful face and looked punky and fresh. If the poor hair died of this treatment, i could shrug and cut it and grow it out and see what color we had acheived by then. Only came to peace with the grey recently, as it overwhelmed the dark brown and came in different shades in different locations. Changed texture and went straight, too. The hairdresser loved it, and the husband seems OK, and it lends gravitas to the present work....so, it was finally time. About ten years after i started fussing at the stuff.
Got no advice, just had to roll with it. I like yours, seems like you would indeed rock a rocker cut while you are thinking about it.

All of this has me thinking about hair coloring and why we color our hair, and why it's sometimes perceived as more authentic to stick with one's natural hair color than to color it -- the issue of grey and aging totally aside.

For example, my 32yo niece has been coloring her hair since her teens. We joke that we have no idea what her natural color even is! It was a strawberry blonde when she was very little, but I think it darkened and may have lost a good bit of its red tone as she grew up, based on what I see of her hair roots when she has gone a while without coloring. She now keeps it red, and it looks wonderful. It's very *her* and I can't imagine her without red hair now. So who is to say that her natural color is more "authentic" to her than the red hair that everyone associates with her?

Similarly, I feel like dark hair is *me* and it may be quite hard to let go of that someday. Well, at least for the foreseeable future. I have a hair appointment in a couple of hours.

Great points for everyone here. Janet, I think you raise a good question. For some of us hair color is just fun. I'm not worried about authenticity for myself - will never be a blonde, but blue hair isn't inauthentic for my style. I like to mess with my hair - it's just getting to the point where it isn't that easy, and I am not a fan of maintenance.

Here's a pic that better shows the proportion and whiteness along with some faded red that will need to be dealt with...

I would read a few articles on the danger of hair dyes. I believe there are some safer options for hair coloring.

The European Union in 2003 banned a great number of hair dye chemicals after a link to bladder cancer was confirmed. I think in the US coal tar (P-phenylenediamine) is used in many darker dyes.

And yes, it is scary information and many may choose to deny or ignore it or feel that "they've already done the damage" or something. But it's never a great idea to just keep doing something once you know it has serious health risks.

http://www.naturalnews.com/022575.html#

http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/20.....-assessed/

You can look up many products for safety information here:
http://www.ewg.org

No ideea, as it's so personal- but I think the quality of the hair it's also important (you really have good hair, so don't have to worry about). I always found a sharp angled cut very very edgy in silver, no matter the age!

I strongly disagree that grey hair is any more authentic than dyed hair. For me, it was more a matter of not being able to keep up with the roots and feeling poorly groomed when they grew in, combined with a feeling the dark color was not doing me any favors, and a dash of rebellion against the assumption I had to cover my grey. Authenticity comes from within and can just as much be expressed by yes coloring your hair.

I think your grey looks lovely. I've wrestled with to dye or not to dye for a long time and mostly didn't, and don't at all now. My hair's a lot healthier and shinier when it's not colored, that's for sure. When I see a woman of my age (mid-50s) without a trace of grey, especially if she's gone darker (blondes can get away with coloring longer, I think), my first thought is that it doesn't make her look a day younger. It might make her look better TENDED, but it doesn't fool anybody, I don't think. Since you're so far down the road toward not coloring anyhow, why don't you push off your appointment a bit and see what you think in a few more weeks?

Just a note about the texture of grey hair. It may be wirey at first, but the hair follicles actually become thinner, so that it is softer in time. The texture keeps changing as does the color. The one reason I would like to color my hair is to give it more body, but the roots would be way too much to keep up with. The dangers of hair dye also keep me away from it. Maybe, with so many aging Baby Boomers, new and safer ways to color hair will become available.

I wouldn't mind going grey if my new greys didn't grow out so wiry and kinky, unlike my dark straight hair. My greys tend to stick out all over the place and with my dark hair it's so much more noticeable. Hair dying is definitely a personal thing and since my greys bother me, I highlight it a bit lighter.

Joy your hair is so beautiful - you are one of my inspirations!

Here are some of my pinned pics for color ideas.

Been meaning to chime in here, but needed a few minutes!

For me, the hardest part of growing out my hair was the first couple of months, when I was "coming out of the closet". I'd always been so so fastidious about touching up my roots - every two weeks. Since you've already passed that point, I'd be tempted to keep going, and see what you end up with. I think your hair is a gorgeous salt and pepper. And if you don't like it... nothing lost but a few hair appts (and therefore money to spend on something else ) I missed that stage, and kinda regret it. I think you can keep up with "you" and your style by great edgy cuts.

I agree totally with Thirkellgirl in that once you get to a "certain age", it becomes obvious that you are colouring, and it's really important to do it well, if you choose to keep doing it. It's not so much about authenticity, but you can really make yourself look harsh and somehow wrong, if you keep dark saturated hair when your face and skin have obviously moved beyond that. I personally find that far more aging than the softness you get when you let the grey show.

But you have to be ready.

And it's SOOOOO freeing!

I think your hair is wonderful. It will be so unique with your style. You will definitely ROCK it ! If you wear those sparkles with confidence it is unique and can be one of your defining style traits.
Personally I think you have enough to do it. And you have lots of hair... you can try it... and guess what ? If you don't like it.. go back !
Join on Facebook : Going Gray, Looking Great and Going Gray and Loving It, Join Cafe Gray and get some role models with BEfore and Afters that are similar to you. Also on FB... look at the Going Gray Guide and Gray and Proud.
There are lots of resources out there,,, look and understand where you are going and what you have to do and it will be fantastic !

First of all - let me just say that I always look at your WIW posts as you are one of my 'younger' style inspirations - and I'm 38! I cannot believe you are 49! A lesson to me to make my style a little more edgy and modern like you do

I have this same concern. My hair is roughly the same as yours and I have been colouring it for at least 15 years. My concern is that with a golden brown skin tone, white hair will make me look cold and age me. I also have curly hair, which can look witchy if it goes grey, so I have to be careful.

I'll be watching keenly to see what you decide!

Those are gorgeous pictures, Una, and none of those women look "older", at least to my eye. I'd love to think that we are coming to a time when shades of grey or white hair become just another hair color instead of seen as some sort of philosophical statement. If we continue to have fun with fashion as we age, why should hair be any different?

The biggest hurdle, at least for me, in letting my hair go grey was accepting that my appearance would change without my being able to control what, or how, it happened. My shiny, deep-brown hair had always been one of my best features. Going grey was disconcerting because my appearance was visibly changing--without my permission! The woman I saw in the mirror was just fine, but she wasn't me. Since I'd never colored my hair, I didn't have a shade to which I could revert to go back to a more familiar place. My choice was to either work with the change or start, at the age of 65, to figure out the world of hair dyes. The first option just seemed easier and less risky--hardly a political stance.

I personally think the biggest hurdle about going grey is when we realize we can't control how the process will unfold on our own heads. If I don't like the shade at a salon, I can go back and choose another color or technique. Going "natural" means I have to embrace instead of fight--sort of Kibbe for hair--and that isn't easy. I suspect that's why those of us who are letting nature do its thing get a bit psyched up about the process--it's more about keeping up our own confidence than anything else. Transitioning into an visibly older version of yourself isn't easy in a society that puts a premium on youth.

I know what you are saying about control Gaylene. But I felt that about dyeing my hair as well.
When first done... the first week was glossy and shiny. From then on it was steadily down hill, loosing shine and changing from Brown to Red Brown... by the end it was a warm red brown which made my face look red and did not suit me. Even professionally done... I had to keep out of the sun, salt water, chlorine.. all those things affected the color.
Yes... a personal choice. I am the only woman at my workplace with gray hair - and every woman here is over 45 years... I am happy with it though... somedays more than others.

I've had whites since my late 20s and this may be part of my issue - I've been maintaining for longer than most women my age. And it's been fun, but I'm over it. And gravitas would be welcomed in my job.

Gaylene, what you're saying makes sense and resonates with me. At the same time, I don't want to overthink it all to the point of paralysis which would be easy for me to do... It's just hair, after all. And I don't care all that much about societal approval - it's more about trying to figure it out for ME. Love this forum and all the thoughts here and will reread it all as I ponder. My stylist hasn't been able to fit me in any time soon anyway.

I had DD at age 40 and started to color my hair just before she started kindergarten. To her and other kids, gray is associated with *old* and I didn't want to be mistaken for a grandparent. I agreed to color my hair until she graduated from high school. I found the last year a real chore as my hair is quite gray at the temples and probably grows at least a foot per year; at any rate it needs to be cut every four or five weeks. The roots started to show at two weeks and home coloring wasn't cutting it; I would need to go to a salon for low lights to look optimal. No can do.

In front, my hair is probably 50% gray with quite a bit more at the temples. I think the back is tweedy charcoal. Thus, I am more gray than you, not to mention older. People still think I'm younger than I am.

Oh, and DH had his hair colored at a salon several time. IMHO it looked awful. Another reason I stopped coloring is that I wanted him to stop coloring so I kinda felt that my going gray would send him the message that it's okay to stop. Even with the gray, people are also surprised at his age.

It's a personal decision. I think, however, that you might be happier when you stop coloring if your hair were grayer, but my computer may not show your photo accurately.

I think you have plenty of grey/white to stop colouring and for it to look fabulous. But then again, I LOVE steely grey hair on a woman with style (which you are). I strongly agree with DayVies on this. A lot of people who are greying wish they had the strong salt and pepper look instead of a mousy grey. That isn't a reason to keep it if it isn't right for you, but it is a really gorgeous colour.

Like you said, Una, hair colour is fun. You can grow it out, experiment, and if you decide you don't like it you can colour again. Why not try it?

It looks good to me Una, and you are past the hardest initial few months already!

My preference is to color I do it at home so it fits in with my schedule
In my case with my complexion and hair type the result would not be nice and I think I would look a lot older.
Time for that later

Reading this thread with interest! I think your hair is looking sufficiently grey to make the transition. I'd be tempted to keep going and test the waters for a few months. You are already part way there. If you don't like it, you can always go back and colors it. I really love the look of silver hair and hope that mine gets to that color at some point. Right now I just have kinky grey stragglers poking out from my scalp! Good luck