'Aging Gracefully' Inspiration Board for Going Grey

Anonymous

So fab! Such beautiful women! Thanks for sharing Claudia.

Angie

Great board.

After hearing Isabella Rossellini's quote - I now prefer to use the expression, "aging comfortably". It's a better word on so many levels.

9 years ago

deb

Veteran

Thank you.

9 years ago

judy

Veteran

Beautiful board!

9 years ago

Staysfit

Veteran

Your timing is perfect for me. I just had my first no hair color cut in my going grey transition. It's inspiring to see all these beautiful women. My hairdresser thinks I will be platinum/silver mix in front, and still have dark hair in back. We will know soon enough!

9 years ago

kerlyn

Veteran

Gorgeous! Thank you for sharing this!

9 years ago

catgirl

Veteran

Love the inspiration! I did notice that most of these women are quite a bit older than me (49) and their beautiful faces match their hair... Honestly, the comment I've gotten most is that my face looks too young for my hair color. I don't know if that's cognitive dissonance or what. How can my own natural hair age me? Should I be concerned about it, in the same way I am concerned about not wearing dated styles? My grey is close to grown out so I am pondering these questions.

9 years ago

Sheila

Veteran

Do not be concerned Una ! Your hair is gorgeous -superbly striking! Evaluate it in six months. And no your natural hair does not age you... people are trying to put it together. Take the face comments as a great compliment and run with it !

9 years ago

Anonymous

Gosh, Alaskagirl, you make a wise point about grey hair and dated styles. I need to ponder that new-to-me idea: I don't think it's an issue right now because grey hair is so "on trend." But that could change in future. I think as long as one's hairstyle is edgy or current enough, it's not an issue -- and I don't go on what others think given that *everyone* told me not to grow mine out and now those same people are liking it. But I also have a couple of years on you age wise.

ETA: You were the model for my darker extensions, so please don't consider the above as a comment on your hair -- more my musings on my own. Your hair is a stylish inspiration to me!

9 years ago

jenanded

Veteran

Una, Have you see the Highland Fashionista blog? She looks, well, just HER if you know what I mean.... I think she had similar pushback to yours originally...

9 years ago

catgirl

Veteran

Thanks - will look it up! And Aliona, you are so sweet. Here's me as of a week ago... Almost there! It's still a little shocking.

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9 years ago

Lyn D.

Veteran

Thanks! I love all the pics.
The natural hair colour just looks 'right' to me.
I often think that dyed hair and over-white teeth draw the eye to just those parts rather than the face as a whole.

9 years ago

Anonymous

Alaskagirl, you look BEAUTIFUL. FWIW, I like the contrast of the grey with your young face. Back when I started work 35 years ago I had a style crush on a woman in her 40s with starlight white hair. Like you, she had beautiful skin, and her hair just highlighted that fact. I think I also craved her confidence. You are stunning.

9 years ago

Jaime

(website)

Veteran

Thank you for the inspiration board. I am the same age as Una and am navigating similar waters. I have been told that my hair makes me look younger, I have been confused for my children's grandmother, I have been asked for my hairdresser's number, many people assume I am at least 5 years older than I am. I have found that younger people are more accepting/admiring and older people are more likely to assume I am older than I am. Sorry for the slight detour/hijack!

9 years ago

Summer

Veteran

Thank you, Claudia. It just goes to show how diverse and beautiful grey hair can be.

AG, your hair is stunning. I wouldn't worry about your "too young" face. I agree with Aliona that you should take it as a compliment.

9 years ago

Claudia

Veteran

Una, I truly think you look beautiful with your natural hair color. It also speaks to me on complex and emotional levels that have little to do with just pure superficial beauty or how young/old you look.

I posted this pin board here because after stumbling across it, I remembered some of the comments about the photo examples on Angie's blog post 'Beautifully Grey' about the twenty-somethings looking good with their dyed grey hair only because of their young faces, that curly/kinky hair doesn't look good grey, that warm complexions don't look good grey, that you must have a certain hair texture, be a certain percentage grey (70%!!!), have a certain cut/style/length, etc.

Some of the older (meaning longer term) members may remember several years ago some heated discussions and highly negative forum and blog comments about going grey and whether or not to stop dyeing one's hair. It has been interesting to see a big shift in attitude towards natural greying hair color and in embracing it on YLF as a viable choice.

9 years ago

dakotacheryl

Veteran

Beautiful inspiration board.
My pet peeve (aside from the fact that men can go gray with no qualms), is the gray stripe along the part line that goes with covering up grey hair.
I get my own hair highlighted because when I was in my 40s, folks would ask me if I colored my hair....stylist told me that as we age, we lose many of our natural highlights, and my hair was just an all over brown.
I am getting some whites/grays along my temples now, but at almost 58, that's just normal. I will continue with highlights until nature takes over, and my hair has enough natural whites and grays to look interesting.

9 years ago

Ornella

(website)

Veteran

Wonderful, inspiring board. What strikes me is that on every single photo of those fabulous women I see the woman herself first - everything else is just supporting act: their clothes, the background that I had to consciously pay attention to. Their personalities glow.

Thank you Angie for pointing to Isabella Rossellini's phrasing. It's new to me and I'll adopt it, I too find it so much more suitable.

9 years ago

Vix

Veteran

Hi Claudia --

Thanks for this. I'm one who's creeping ever-closer to trying to stop dying with demi-perm and see how it looks. [Mid-40s, greying since 17, and am apparently at the 40% mark.] I do rather wish I'd never started...I work with a brunette who has gorgeous silver "highlights" but mine ain't looking like that will be the story, ha.

>>>Some of the older (meaning longer term) members may remember several years ago some heated discussions and highly negative forum and blog comments about going grey and whether or not to stop dyeing one's hair. It has been interesting to see a big shift in attitude towards natural greying hair color and in embracing it on YLF as a viable choice.

Can't remember lots, but remember this. Agree re the shift!

Una --

Your natural color is gorgeous! I've seen a few of your transition photos and thought it looked highly promising. Do you have a thread somewhere re how long to get from A to B -- and did your hairdresser do anything to smooth the skunk stripe issue? Every article read on the latter is so unclear, grump grump.

I wish I could just wake up with mine "done" and then vote with my eyes and wallet. Esp as I really don't want to go short (cheekbone length) again to help it along. TBH if I go natural I think it'll be easier for me than my eternally coloring mother!

9 years ago

catgirl

Veteran

Vix, I'm at about 60%, and honestly I just let it go at a certain point (specifically last December). It was very much a "grit my teeth and bear it" process. I have been trimming the ends every month or so to speed up the process from the bottom up. A huge plus in growing it out has been that I do not have skunk stripes or patches at all - my silver is quite shot through and evenly distributed, so although it gives me more of an overall grey, it isn't as much contrast as stripes would be. I am planning to dip dye the very ends, possibly dark violet, red or black, when it's all grown out.

The money I've saved is quite an eye-opener, as is not having to worry about washing color out or having it fade, and my undamaged hair feels so much healthier. I'm also noticing a change in the colors I want to wear - although it's not so much which colors as wanting more of those colors.

You can do it! Sorry to hijack this thread!

9 years ago

Gaylene

Veteran

Well, I think I'd prefer a "too young a face as compared to my hair" comment than a "too old a face for my hair" one.

Seriously, though, I'm heartened to see more YLF support for gray hair as a choice, even if a commenter prefers to color. I remember that earlier discussion and found it upsetting to read comments that gray hair wasn't as aesthetically pleasing as a color from a bottle, unless certain, rather strict, standards were met.

9 years ago

Echo

Veteran

I am surprising myself to find myself torn about whether to continue to let my hair do it sown thing or to colour. I have had natural hair for many years, since it is a dark auburn, but now I am seeing a fair amount of grey at the hairline and some sprinkled in the rest. Whatever is there now is shorter; It naturally must have changed when the hair follicle last stopped its growth cycle. But not knowing where it might end up, I am a little more troubled than is comfortable. I fully embrace grey hair on others, and Una's looks fabulous, but why am I hesitant about my own?

I'd like to THINK that my face is younger than my hair, but then I only think that's because so many women don't have their natural hair, so my perception is skewed. Will my hair age me? Will it be harder to grow it out later if I colour it now? Why does my natural hair colour bother me? Disturbing questions coming along with age...

9 years ago

Vix

Veteran

Echo, I hear you.

Also must say that the YLF members who've embraced their silver/white/platinum do look noticeably more...the way I'd like to look...than a lot of the women I see IRL, where it's about a 50/50 split. It's not just clothing but I've yet to figure out the difference!

AG, thanks much for all the detail. From this end seems like you came far fast, but I'm sure time crept a little slower for ya. How lovely that your pattern ended up the way it did. Will look forward to your clothing color experiments!

9 years ago

Anonymous

Alaskagirl: You look so young (about 25!) so of course you'll get comments like, 'your hair is too old for your face'! I think you look 'fabber' with grey hair, btw. The dip dying sounds great!

I want to look like this lady from the pinboard when I'm older. I don't think she's wearing much makeup either.

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9 years ago

deb

Veteran

Una, I love your hair!!! To me you have a softer look, maybe more approachable is a way to describe what I see in the photos.

9 years ago

Janet

(website)

Veteran

Thanks for posting. I'm now following that board even though I think I'm a long way from deciding to make that transition. I just don't think I'd grey so "prettily." My face is most definitely NOT younger than my hair, and I'm not ready to look "older." Older than what, I don't know exactly -- maybe just not "older than I look now." I have yet to have anyone tell me I would look better with my greys showing, but if someone made a compelling case, I would listen. Hubs says he would support whatever I want to do.

I still maintain that is such an individual decision that there are no rules.

9 years ago

catgirl

Veteran

Janet, totally agree - no rules, no pressure! It just feels weird to me to have people disapprove of my real hair. I will say that YLF has been nothing but supportive, and I'm so thankful for that. I also think there's a big difference between just letting go and embracing grey intentionally, kind of like BF jeans.

9 years ago

Lyn D.

Veteran

Yes Una- someone very close to me 'disapproves my real hair' and it is quite hurtful. Especially since they are as grey as I am...
But I am sticking with it- it feels so much more authentic for me.

9 years ago

MsMaven

Veteran

As far as hair condition, I can vouch for what Una says--my grown out hair is in much better condition now, shinier and easier. One reason I started on this adventure is that my hair was getting dried out and frequently it would get snarled and tangled, even with conditioner.

I don't use much conditioner now, except for leave in. Saving water here, you know.

9 years ago

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