Being Grey: Happy Without Hair Dye

In 2010 when I created my first incarnation of this blog I was inspired to adopt Lovely Grey as my ‘pen name’.  I chose it to counter the almost exclusively negative portrayal of what it meant to have grey hair. The bad vibes about greyness pervaded the media at that time.

Fifteen years later times are definitely changing. Grey hair rocks. There’s plenty of positive stories now. Go and do a Google search to find celebrities who’ve embraced the non dye culture. There are loads, male and female. I haven’t named them because superstars are a fickle bunch and could reach for the bottle again at a whim.

What Causes Grey Hair

Amongst other things greyness can be caused by stress, autoimmune issues, vitamin B-12 deficiency and smoking. Most commonly, as in my case it’s hereditary. My loss of melanin is seemingly governed by a dominant old gene I got from Dad. He was thirty three when I was born . I can’t remember a time when he had dark hair except when he disastrously experimented with ‘Just for Men’ before a job interview. He thought it would make him look younger. Instead it turned his hair a weird graphite colour and he looked like a human pencil.

Two generations on, my twenty one year old son has more than the occasional silver strand in his dark brown mop. No doubt he will probably metamorphosise into a proper silver fox within the next few years. Actually his hair is long and he’ll be more like the twin of our friends’ scruffy lurcher.

My Prematurely Grey Story

A friend found my first grey hair. We were having a study period in the library of my sixth form, a bit of a loose term that involved lots of chatting.   I was horrified ‘Pull it out!’  I ordered her. That became a bit of a mantra every time someone spotted one or two for the next two couple of years. When I was about nineteen my boyfriend at the time admitted defeat.  ‘There’s just too many of them.’ he said.

For many years after that home hair colouring became part of my routine. I never went to a salon. That thrifty streak has been around for decades and anyway I always felt uncomfortable at the hairdressers. Everyone in there was always so groomed. I’ve never been that bothered by primping and preening.

The aim of the dye was to restore my hair back to its natural colour, a mid brown.  But it was never entirely satisfactory.  Whatever shade I chose seemed to revert to a reddish hue after a few washes. It didn’t suit my skin colour and made me look exhausted and washed out.  So in my thirties, I grasped the bull by the horns,  let my roots show and then shaved my head with Wahl clippers to let my own silver vixen emerge. I’ve never regretted it.

Moving On

I’ve always loved my funky hair because it matches my skin tone perfectly. In my younger days I was always getting compliments, even in the street from passers-by. That’s not so much the case these days as it doesn’t look such a mismatch with my age. And it seems that a few more people have joined me in ditching the dye. For many years I wore it close cropped. For the last few years I’ve grown out my curls. Both styles have been low maintenance. I literally do just wash and go.

I hope that I’m living proof that all that negative hype is bollocks.  Embracing premature greyness does not equate to being old beyond my years.    It’s now so intrinsic to my personal style that I’ll never change colour again.  And my bathroom thanks me for that too.  That dying was always a messy old process!

Disclaimer

This post contains links to companies and organisations just because I’m happy with the products or services that they supply or I’m spreading the word about what they do. There may also be affiliate links to Amazon for books and other items that I am personally recommending. If you decide to make a purchase from them, I might get a little bit of commission at no cost to you.