Confidently embracing the grey
Amy mentioned a while ago about letting her hair go grey, and it really stuck with me, especially because over the last few months my daughter keeps pointing it out and asking, “Why is your hair getting so grey?” 😅
I think it looks particularly odd to her, because a lot of the other women she sees are dyeing their hair and covering their greys, so I probably look like the only person with grey hair that she really notices.
I haven’t dyed my hair since I was about 19 at uni (which now feels like a lifetime ago… and was a bit of a red halo disaster), and looking back I think a lot of that came from wanting to change how I looked, or somehow make my face look “better”. When actually, it wasn’t my hair that was the issue at all… it was the colours I was wearing. But that’s a conversation for another day.
And just to say, before we go any further, if you do dye your hair, whether that’s to cover greys or simply because you enjoy it, that is completely your choice and this isn’t one of those preachy posts telling you to stop (obviously!).
But I do think there’s something really lovely about starting to see grey differently — not as something that needs fixing or hiding, but just as another part of how you look now, and something you can actually work with rather than against.
If you are starting to think about embracing it, even a little bit, it’s worth knowing that your colour season doesn’t actually change when you go grey, but the way colours sit against you can shift slightly, and you might find yourself naturally drawn to a different part of your season or a different sub-season.
There are a few small things that can help it feel more intentional and less like it’s just “happening” to you:
Pay attention to the colours you’re wearing near your face, this is often the moment people realise their old go-to shades don’t feel quite right anymore.
Notice the contrast in your overall look, as your hair softens, you might prefer slightly clearer colours or a bit more definition in your outfit.
Don’t assume grey means “muted”, for a lot of people it actually makes certain colours look better, not worse.
Give yourself a bit of time to adjust, it can feel strange at first simply because it’s different, not because it doesn’t suit you
If you don’t want to go fully “cold turkey”, you can speak to your hairdresser about blending your greys, there are ways to soften the grow-out so it feels more intentional and less like a harsh transition
I’m not saying never, because who knows how I’ll feel in the future, but for now I’m just letting mine come through, even if it does feel a bit random and all over the place at the moment. I talk a lot about being more myself, and for me that doesn’t mean “natural” in every sense, I will always love a bright lipstick, but it does mean not feeling like I have to hide parts of myself either.
And actually… I quite like the idea of learning how to work with it as it is, rather than feeling like I need to hide it.
And if you want some inspiration online, here are some brilliant women embracing their grey in a really intentional, stylish way.
(click on the photo to follow the link through to their accounts)
This is also a really cool account as it lets women submit photos of their grey hair.
More joydrops to remind you just how fabulous you are and how to capture it!