Hi, April. I'm a few years older than you (have hit the 60s!) and as you know, I've let my hair go natural. As you also probably remember, I've worn my hair short for most of my life, although when I joined YLF it was a sort of mid-length dark blonde. (Pic 1) Angie encouraged a cut, which I went for, ending up a few years later like Pic. 2
In any case, the idea of shearing it very short to grow out the grey was not overly threatening to me. First I stopped the base colour. I continued to highlight for a few appointments. But I didn't much like that effect on me (it worked great on Mainelady -- so your mileage may vary!)
Anyway, I started getting impatient and decided just to cut it off to speed the process. When I first cut it, it looked like Pic 3. I think Smittie describe it as "coyote coloured," which I loved! Four months later (Pic 4) it had already grown in. Next two photos show my recent colour/ cut.
As you can see, it's a kind of blue-ish silver, totally natural. I don't even use lavender shampoo in Vancouver where the water is soft. (I did use it in Kingston occasionally -- hard water left a yellow cast.)
I love the ease of it. But I had a good idea of how it would look -- my brother, who resembles me, was going grey, and also both my parents were fully grey in their mid-50s. Incidentally, my hairdresser did not think I was "there" yet -- i.e. she didn't think I was fully grey -- but she was clearly wrong.
By and large, I love it. Yes, it makes me look my age (or maybe older?) but it suits me more than the fake blonde did. I love the authenticity of it and I also feel it adds a bit of "edge" to my look. I did have to change up my wardrobe a bit. I already wore cool colours but I have found myself moving towards more grey and silver, and brighter, more saturated versions of certain colours. I also prefer patterns that include white now (none that are "all colour") and I can wear black and white terrifically well now as long as it's in scale for me.
You know your own receptivity to change better than anyone, so only you can say whether a major shift is right. I will say that for me, the decision came after a big life change (my mother's death). My brother and I both found that our greying accelerated markedly after that (sudden) event, and there were psychological shifts as well.
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