Aveda Blue Malva Product Review

Hello!  I made another video.  This time it's about my first impressions of the Aveda Blue Malva shampoo and conditioner, and - possibly most exciting of all - it contains a cameo from my cat.  

In case you were wondering, Malva is another name for Mallow, picture here:

Here is a link to the Wikipedia page.   Here is a picture of me with the shampoo:

If you don't have time to watch the video, basically the message is that it's purple, smells interesting and I quite liked it.

The Silver Snooper: My Interview with Mimi

I met Mimi on Instagram, and asked her if she would mind answering some questions for my blog.  Her answers are extremely eloquent and insightful.  Happy reading!

How old are you? 37

When did you first start going grey? I remember my Mum's hairdresser shriekingly telling all his colleagues to come see, he'd found some white hairs on my head when I was about 15. Hilarious! (Not.)

What made you decide to stop dyeing your hair and go fully grey? About 3 years ago. We were at a party with about a dozen friends. All the men (those that still had hair) were starting to go gently grey around the temples. Two of the women had naturally brown hair with little or no grey yet, and the remaining women (including me) had very obvious, very dark, very dyed hair. Don't get me wrong, everyone looked great, but it just felt a bit unfair. I wondered why it so unusual for women to go down the silver fox route naturally? What are we frightened of? 

Was it a difficult decision? I'd been thinking about it for a while, so not really. I was sick of wasting so much time, money and effort to look like a woman with obviously dyed hair. To look like a woman who has to spend so much time, money and effort to cover up what she really looks like. And the dye and highlights were only really convincingly smart for about 10 days, then there were always a few weeks when I had to hope the wind didn't blow from behind and expose my tramlines to the person walking behind me. Seriously, life is too short for all that. 

How did it work logistically?  Well. Cautionary tale. I have dark brunette hair. Therefore almost impossible to blend white in to. My hairdresser suggested going blonde and then gradually reducing the quantity of blonde highlights over time. It looked horrific, wrecked my hair, and of course I'm still growing out the frazzled straw ends several years later. To be fair though, she was faced with an almost impossible task, because I wouldn't allow her to crop my hair at any point, and blending white into dark brown hair when it's long, is never really going to happen quickly. The blonde saved me from the infamous skunk stripe to an extent... I guess. I'm nearly done now, and my hairdresser and I are still friends. So I'll just shred any photos from the early stages and we'll talk no more about it, 'kay?

How have people responded?

Back when I was still a full-head-o-highlights-plus-all-over-tint, I visited an old uni friend and mumbled something about needing to get my roots done. She said, without hesitation "Yes, you really do." Nothing that I've heard since going grey has been as hurtful as that. Around about the same time an Australian hairdresser told me that people go grey younger and younger these days because, in her opinion, "kids eat so much shitty processed meat." I was 29. The scientist in me wanted to scream at her about evidence-based research, but the human being part of me just said "Thanks for insulting me." I asked her to finish up as quickly as possible and never went back. 

Since going grey, people just say stupid stuff, not hurtful stuff. I've had the usual "Are you going grey on purpose?" (such a weird question I can't even figure out the answer). I've had a stranger tell me it looks lovely, only to follow it up with "I couldn't do it, I'm not as brave as you". Hmmmmmn. If you think I have to be brave to look like this, then you clearly DON'T think it looks lovely, but whatevs. I didn't say it of course, I just smiled and thought of actual brave people, y'know, like refugees giving birth in camps. The oddest one, which I have heard over and over, is that my skin will start to lose pigment now that I've gone grey. Firstly, from my brief research, that's not a thing - the cells that moderate colour in your hair and skin have different triggers. But also, as we've already ascertained, my hair was starting to go grey in my teens so if it were true (which I don't believe it is) my skin would've been, what, fading (?) for 20 years already. My skin won't start losing pigment just because I've stopped using dye. Dumbos. 

Most people I know are sufficiently intelligent that they haven't responded at all. My friends and family really couldn't give two hoots what colour my hair is. The loveliest response I've had is a kind of strange one. I was chatting to a mum at the school gate - someone I see every day - and she complimented my bright shirt. I said something like "well, I try to steer clear of my grey clothes now that I've let my hair go grey." She replied "Why would you let your hair go grey?". Sounds strange for me to say that's the loveliest response. But it is, because I see her every day and she hadn't even noticed. 

How do you think that having grey hair will change your makeup/wardrobe, if at all?

I do try to dress more colourfully than I used to, and just this year I've started wearing a bit more make up. But it's a chicken and egg thing. I would say that I feel more confident in my 30s than I have at other points in my life, so I'm happy dressing more brightly and more like the true "me". But maybe I feel more confident because I have my own hair and I'm not trying to conceal it. So I don't know if brighter make up and clothes came before or after the grey hair - d'you see what I mean? Either way, bright colours do help to give me some corners - stop my face fading in to my hair. I also often wear heavy black Rayban specs now, which I love. Again, they help with definition.

What do you think that going grey means to women vs. men?

I think it's a huge divide. I've only known a few men that conceal their grey hair. I think that in this respect (and I'm sure I'm not alone) they're totally unhinged. Naturally greying hair is absolutely acceptable for men, even young men, and society accepts that it looks fantastic and it's, well, normal. And yet society has almost exactly the opposite expectation for women: "let yourself go" grey when you're young = unkempt and a bit weird, whereas a phoney ebony or mahogany barnet for the next 40 years = totally normal, in fact, de rigeur. Baffling. Maybe I'm reading too much in to it, but I can't think of any other reason for the clear distinction at that party three years ago.

Mimi can be found on Instagram on @mimi_hammill.  Mimi is also a pattern designer, and you can buy her fabulous patterned silk scarves here http://mimihammill.com/shop/.

Thanks for reading, as always!

Hell is Other People

Just quoting Jean-Paul Sartre there.  This isn't just a blog about going grey, you know.  You get the odd philosophical quote thrown in as well!   What JPS meant when he wrote this is that our opinion of ourselves is intrinsically linked to other people's opinions of us.  We cannot figure out who we are without taking into account other people's judgements of us.  This is hell in its truest form.  

Now, I'm not saying I agree with him *sideeye*.  However, in my experience, a lot of people eventually reveal themselves to be idiots who are unable to keep their opinions to themselves.   This presents all manner of problems for one's self worth.

I have spoken to a lot of people in the course of writing this blog, most of whom are going grey themselves.  I would say that 90% of them have received some sort of negative reaction to their choice (although it's not always a choice, of course).  I have been pretty lucky so far.  As I mentioned in another post, my mum told me that I needed to put some colour on my hair, but otherwise I've had nothing but positive and supportive reactions.  Either that or people simply haven't noticed.  

Other people haven't been so lucky.  People's mums have told them that going grey will make them look old, or that men won't fancy them anymore.  People's colleagues have told them that it's indicative of the fact that they don't care about their appearance.   Other people's acquaintances have told them that they think it will look terrible and they'll eventually go back to dyeing their hair.  

Now, as someone whose life mantra is 'don't be a dick' (except when I'm being a dick, of course), I am astonished by this level of rudeness.  I am astonished by people's rudeness on an almost daily basis, but unsolicited comments on people's appearance really get my goat.  The level to which people pay attention to what other people are doing is unreal.  People are obsessed with other people.  Maybe it helps them to feel better about their own insecurities.  Maybe they're just nosy parkers who can't keep their mouths shut.  Maybe it's the rise of social media, whereby people now have a forum to voice their opinion on everything, and carry this over into everyday life.  Whatever it is, it has to stop.  I was always taught that if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all.  Perhaps people should start remembering that.

Another thing is, most men don't have to deal with this level of criticism about their appearance.  But that's a different rant blog post entirely...

Mothers - Who'd Have 'Em?

I saw my mother at the weekend.  Never one for dishing out compliments at the best of times, within minutes she looked at my roots and said to me 'ooooh, you need to put some colour on your hair'.  There's really no-one who can get to the crux of one's insecurities quite like one's mother.  I calmly explained that I was in fact going grey on purpose, and was growing out the grey because I was fed up of having to dye it all the time, it was damaging my hair and so on.  I stopped short of saying to her that if anyone was to blame for my premature greyness it was her and her genes ;).  We actually ended up having quite an interesting conversation about the perils of going grey (she still dyes her hair), and how when she started going grey in her early 30s she absolutely could not face it, and there was never any doubt in her mind whether to dye it or not.  I explained that I was fed up of the fact that it is such a stigma for women, and that I actually thought it would look quite nice when it had fully grown out.

I should think myself lucky really.  It was the first negative (and really not even that negative) comment that I have had about my hair, aside from my friend (who doesn't have a grey hair on her head and therefore has no idea what I am dealing with) telling me that she would rather 'grow old disgracefully'.  I am expecting more comments as the roots start to grow out further, but we shall see.

On another note, today is pretty much the two-month anniversary of the blog, so here are a couple more photos of me not smiling for your delectation:

As you can see, the roots are really starting to show through now.  I haven't done anything about trying to amalgamate the existing hair colour with the roots yet, and don't intend to for the time being.  Aside from the fact that it looks a bit untidy, I really don't mind the colour of the roots at all.  I have been trying to take good care of the condition of it to stop it looking dry - coconut oil is good for this - and it actually looks quite nice on some days.  As you can see from the top pic, they roots are considerably whiter at the front which is a bit annoying.  This seems to be a pretty common pattern for greyness.  I wonder why that is.  I am also considering having it cut a bit shorter, so watch this space...

The Silver Snooper: My Interview with Carrie

I met Carrie recently on a forum, on a discussion about going grey.  As she is about my age, I thought it would be interesting to get her thoughts.  Usual format - pics and a few questions:

How old are you? 33

When did you first start going grey?   I got my first grey hair when I was a teenager (a friend's dad 'kindly' pulled it out stating "that's what happens when you dye your hair") but I'm not sure when I started properly going grey because I never really saw my natural hair between then and now!

What made you decide to stop dyeing your hair and go fully grey?  It was a culmination of a couple of things  that made me think about it carefully.   Firstly, I am very particular about what goes onto my skin and scalp but I was still dumping dye on my hair every 6 weeks and that made no sense. Especially because it would make my scalp itchy and even flakier than normal. Secondly, and more of a cliché, I wasn't doing it for me. When I first started dyeing my hair, it was to try out fun colours (which I loved!) but then it was all about faking it. Faking it made me anxious because grey roots showed through very quickly, so I was constantly aware of how my hair looked to other people. I didn't want them to think I was lazy. Finally, I thought I might as well try and grow it out whilst I still had some colour in my hair to avoid the classic badger look.

Was it a difficult decision?  Yes.  A few years ago I managed four months without dye but caved in because I was interviewing for jobs at the time. I didn't want employers to think I didn't look after myself or take pride in my appearance. This could be a coincidence, but I dyed my hair the night before an interview and got offered the job. From then on, I continued dying my hair for another 18 months or so because I had then set the expectation for work (and myself) that I dyed my hair! I think the main thing I've learned about myself is that I'm far too worried about what other people might think.

How did it work logistically? I just went 'cold turkey'. One month I got to the point where I needed some new dye. I began doing research about more gentle/ natural looking ways to blend grey (professional treatments aren't in my budget) and essentially learned that there wasn't one. So, I picked up some semi-permenant dye but just never got around to putting it on my hair.   There wasn't much I could do to disguise the short roots and initially the lengths of my hair went through an incredibly brassy stage making my natural hair look more dramatic than it is. Also, the roots looked darker which often made my hair appear greasy. Now, the old dye has calmed down a lot. I had my hair chopped into a messy bob and mostly just leave it. My biggest concern was managing the coarse, wiry nature of my greys. These days I generally co-wash, use lots of coconut oil and keep my straighteners to hand!

How have people responded?   No one said anything initially, and I didn't make a public declaration about what I was doing.  Once it was obvious that I'd made a conscious choice not to dye my hair, I got a few comments, mostly positive although my mum has said that she feels old when she looks at my hair!

How do you think that having grey hair will change your makeup/wardrobe, if at all?   There are some things in my wardrobe that I'm slightly more aware of - I make more of an effort to look smart/ put together but nothing drastic has changed. I don't wear much make up, but I haven't stopped using any of my current products because of my hair.

What do you think that going grey means to women vs. men?   I'm not sure - I know that because I'd spent so many years colouring my hair I was worried that I would be perceived differently but a part of me also thinks that I was projecting my worries onto other people. I know that I was stuck in a catch-22 situation: I set the expectation to dye my hair so I kept on dyeing my hair and I wonder if this is true of other people too.

I'm on YouTube!

I now have a YouTube channel!  I'm not sure how useful it will be, but I just wanted to post a quick video to say hello, and talk you about my recent haircut.  Please watch me here:

What an attractive thumbnail that is!  I mention a couple of pics in the video, and I couldn't work out how to insert them into the video (I think you probably need some sort of editing software, or at least some technological prowess, neither of which I have!), so they are below.

Here's me with a pixie cut, nearly FOUR YEARS ago - I was really shocked to find that out:

And here is the photo of Karlie Kloss that inspired my cut:

I hope you like the video!

One Month Down...

So it's about a month/6 weeks since I last dyed my hair - can't remember the exact date, but it has definitely been a while.  My roots are mostly covered up in this pic, but you can see them quite clearly at the front.  I would usually have panic-dyed by now, but I have stuck to my guns and I am feeling quite proud of myself for that, even though I currently HATE my hair.

I still haven't decided what my next step will be.  I've read a lot of articles and spoken to a lot of people - some professionals, some fellow grey newbies - in order to make as informed a decision as possible.  

I thought I would take this opportunity to share a few of those articles with you here:

http://styleblueprint.com/everyday/how-to-go-gray-gracefully/

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/beauty/hair/how-to-go-grey-gracefully/

http://www.more.com/beauty/hair/back-my-roots-diary-going-gray?page=2

The Silver Snooper: My Interview with Sherry

I met the lovely Sherry on Instagram, after following people through hashtags like #greyandproud, #greyhairdontcare etc.  She has been documenting her journey growing out her grey, and has just had the last bit of dye cut out of her hair.  I was very inspired by this and she kindly agreed to let me interview her.

How old are you (if you don't mind disclosing that!)?  50, 100% natural and loving it!

When did you first start going grey? In my 30's they began to creep in through my dark brown hair.  I wasn't ready for it, so I decided to dye my hair dark brown to cover up those unsightly roots until about seven years ago.  I then started dyeing my hair caramel with blonde highlights on top to blend in with the gray and hide it.  So during the past seven years or so, I basically was only growing out the blonde highlights on top, which made the  process easier and quicker.

What made you decide to stop dyeing your hair and go fully grey? Was it a difficult decision?  How did you think it would work logistically?  How have people responded?  I have had a goal for the past seven to eight years that when I was 50, I was going to let all of my grey/silver/whites grow out and be 100% natural.  No more dyeing!  The decision was not difficult for me at all because I had that  goal for so many years and knew when I turned 50 that I was going to accomplish it.  It has been one of the greatest decisions of my life and it has been just for me!  I work in an office and our clients have been very accepting of it. There were definitely days that I felt "drab" but then I would just amp up the makeup or change the color of my clothing and all was good.  People have been all across the board with their responses. Most have been extremely complimentary and very few (negative people who I don't listen to anyway) have been not so complimentary with their "opinions" and those can only be counted on one hand.  People's opinions and comments don't steal my joy and affect my decisions in life.  At 50, I'm very confident in my own skin.  It took me many years to get there, but I can say that I am there now.  Overall, the experience with other people has been very encouraging and I've even been able to inspire quite a few women to let their gray grow out.  That thrills me!  I love to be an inspiration and help other women gain  confidence in who they are and not hide their authentic self.

How do you think that having grey hair will change your makeup/wardrobe, if at all? I have noticed that some colors just don't work as well anymore.  Cooler colors seem to make my silver "pop" but it's kind of tricky because I have somewhat of an olive skin tone, I really don't let that keep me from wearing what I want though.  I live in a very casual laid back beach town on the Outer Banks in the USA and wear a lot of colors.  Summertime, you will see me living in sundresses and beach cover-ups (when I'm not working) and they are all wild prints and very colorful!  I LOVE color! I'm pretty much a laid back beach-bummin, seashell lover, island explorer and grandson lover and don't give a whole lot of thought to colors in my wardrobe.  I'm drawn to my favorite colors and wear what I like and I think that is important, that we wear colors that we love!  We may have to tweak the shades of the colors we love but our clothing is an extension of who we are!  I do tend to wear too much black and grays in the winter, but am a turquoise, purples and burnt orange lover and accent with those through jewelry, kimonos, and shoes.  These colors tend to compliment my silver really well.  Huge bohemian style lover here and with that style, color definitely plays a big part of my wardrobe!  So yes, my silver locks do affect the colors I wear, but I haven't gone out and bought a new wardrobe because of it.  I'm pretty organic and natural in my lifestyle and am not a big makeup wearer and kind of just go with the flow with my wardrobe style.  

I have been re-working my makeup a little bit...felt my eyebrows needed a lighter shade of pencil to match up with the silver/grey/whites, but other than that, I haven't changed too much else. (I've switched over to a medium brown eyebrow pencil rather than black.)  I'm not a lipstick person and only wear eye-shadow when I go out on dates and have changed those to grays and purples, but other than that I stick to mascara, eyeliner, eyebrow pencil, concealer under my eyes and bronzer....oh and gotta have my lip balm!  I'm sure down the road, I will investigate make-up a little more and tweak it a bit. 

What do you think that going grey means to women vs. men? Men are distinguished when they turn grey and for the most part don't let the grey get them down by stressing about their appearance, as women often do. It seems to be more acceptable for men to grey and let it show. Sadly, women go grey and they freak out.  Letting one's grey hair grow out is a big decision for women.  It completely affects our identity!  Our society has put so much pressure on women to stay young forever with hair dye, make-up, Botox, face lifts, breast implants, moisturizers and on and on.  I have never been one to jump on the bandwagon with any of that.  I've used a simple inexpensive moisturizer all of my adult life that has 15 SPF in it and that's pretty much the conclusion of my "staying  young" routine. I do strive to eat healthy, power walk and soak in Vitamin D sunshine and ocean salt air.  My life's motto for aging is to "grow old gracefully"...silver hair, wrinkles, laugh lines and all!   I'm very comfortable in my own skin and feel I've earned every silver strand and every wrinkle on my face and there's no need to be ashamed of any of it.  They each have their own story to tell.  I feel my natural hair is a work of art and I love and embrace it!  I'm thankful for all that life has brought me along my journey that has made me who I am today.  

It seems more and more women are gaining the confidence needed to step out from society's norm and break the chains of bondage that hold them down from letting their authentic selves shine through and of these ways is through their silver locks!  It's exciting to see this movement among women.  Gray is now the new blonde!  I love it!  Becoming 100% natural has been freeing and liberating and I hope my journey can be used to inspire and encourage other women!

Sherry can be found here:

Facebook: Sherry Hurst and SeaGypsyVintage

Vintage online etsy shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/SeaGypsyVintage

Instagram:  seagypsyvintage

Update

So I went back to Bleach London for a follow-up chat after my disastrous strand test.  I was pretty disappointed that I won't be able to just dye my hair grey and be done with it, but that's life.  Aside from trying to bleach my hair a few times and see what happens, there's not much that they can do aside from bleaching my roots every few weeks, so I end up with some kind of upside-down ombre look.  Once that has grown out and I have cut all of the old dyed ends off, then we would be able to dye my hair grey and assimilate it into the roots.  

I am not sure that I like this idea.  I think that it would look very strange, and wouldn't be all that different to just growing out the grey roots - just a lot more expensive.   I really don't know what to do.  I am not sure that I have the confidence to just grow out the roots, as I don't think it would look very nice.  

I asked about my hairdresser friend's idea to put highlights through it and she said that it was a terrible idea, because if and when we did come to bleach it, we wouldn't be able to get an even colour.  

A Professional Opinion

So I went to Bleach on London's Kingsland Road last night to ask about the best way to approach the dyed-to-grey transition.  While it is tempting to eschew dye altogether, I do think that as my roots start to come through in a more noticeable way, it is going to start looking less than ideal.  Bleach is a rather intimidatingly trendy salon, but they have an excellent reputation as bleach experts.  There was a cute dog in there as well:

I rather naively assumed that the hairdressers at Bleach would just be able to dye my hair the same colour as my roots, and after about a year of having the artificial bits cut off every so often, I would eventually have hair that was all my natural colour.  As with most things in life, it is not as simple as that.  I have been dyeing my hair every couple of months for about 15 years, and it has been every colour of the rainbow, from jet black to bright red.  This means that there are layers and layers of dye on my hair follicles, that would need to be broken through before there would be a good enough base colour to take a grey dye.  The first thing that they did at the salon was take a few strands out of my hair in order to perform a bleach test on it.  Then they did an allergy test by putting some dye on a small area behind my ear, and then I went on my merry way.  A few hours later I had a text from the stylist who did my consultation, with a picture of the strands that had been bleached.  They were orange.  Unfortunately this means that it would probably take several attempts to get all of the colour out of my hair, which not only would cost a fortune, but would also be very damaging to my hair.  They've invited me back in to discuss other options, so I will keep you posted on that.

Lucky for me, I have a very good friend who is a Vidal Sassoon trained stylist.  I told him what happened and he wasn't really surprised.  Until very recently my hair was pillar-box red, which is apparently 'the devil', as it is a complete pain to get rid of on the hair shaft, which is ironic as it fades very quickly between dye touch-ups!  What my hairdresser friend suggested is to start with some highlights - just low peroxide and a small amount of bleach - to start lifting the colour out of my hair, and to help the roots to blend with the rest of my hair a little better.  This would be more of a gradual process, and it would look artificial at first, but hopefully over time I would be a nice natural silver-grey colour.  It would probably work in my favour to chop some of it off as well.  The alternative is to just let the roots grow out and stop being a wimp!

The Silver Snooper: My Interview with Sarah

When I started this blog I thought it would be nice to interview as many people as possible, so that I could present a range of viewpoints and experiences.  I started following Sarah on Instagram recently, and when she commented on the blog I decided that she could be my first victim interviewee.  

 

How old are you (if you don't mind disclosing that!)?  I was 41 on Wednesday :)

When did you first start going grey?   I started going grey in my mid twenties I think - maybe a little later.

What made you decide to stop dyeing your hair and go fully grey? Was it a difficult decision?  How do you think it will work logistically?  How have people responded? I decided to go grey for several reasons. Firstly, I'm quite health-conscious. Since having my son in 2012 I've suspected I'm suffering from hormone issues and possibly thyroid problems. Having read up on this I don't want to keep using unnecessary chemicals. Also, being brunette means greys reappear really quickly and I can't afford to get my hair coloured every few weeks in a salon. Doing it myself is such a faff. I've realised as I get a bit older I'm caring less what people will think of me, and on the whole my friends and family have been really encouraging. To my face, anyway! It has been a long decision in the making but having looked up amazing-looking women like Sarah Harris and Caryn Franklin I'm willing to give it a try. Logistically, giving up the dye will make life simpler and I'm going to use the money I save on hair colour to buy myself the odd treat instead! The whole growing-out process does scare me a little bit and I'm dreading the stage where my roots are several inches long but I'll deal with it.  I'm really comfortable with my decision and even announced it on Facebook. I was tired of people talking to my hairline in a not-very-subtle way. Now I find I'm looking in the mirror each morning and cheering on those silver strands!

How do you think that having grey hair will change your makeup/wardrobe, if at all?   I'm really excited about the changes I'll make to my makeup and clothes. I think grey will look really good with red lipstick and denim (I'm a big fan of indigo). Not sure what happens with the eyebrows though...

What do you think that going grey means to women vs. men? Going grey is such a big thing for women. It's seen as a sign of ageing, which in turn means we're suddenly less desirable or even noticeable. You're often seen as being washed-out, of having 'let yourself go'. I do worry that when I pick my son up from school (he starts in September) I might be mistaken for his grandma. Of course, with men grey hair's seen as a sign of being distinguished and worldly-wise and attractive; the George Clooney effect. Someone commented on my blog that they were looking forward to the day when there are as many grey-haired women on TV as there are men.

Sarah is a blogger, writer and photographer, and you can check out her blog here http://mitenska.blogspot.co.uk/.  

Sarah Harris

OK yes, I'm obsessed with the woman. I basically want to be her. Here's an article she wrote about going grey: 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/beauty/hair/grey-hair-is-the-ultimate-sign-of-fashion-confidence/

Fabulous Grey Women

I just wanted to publish a few photos of young (by which I mean under 50. I know 50 isn't old but it's not a young age at which to go grey) women looking great with naturally grey hair. It was quite tricky to find photos as most were of the current trend for dyed grey hair. I don't know who any of them are (apart from Sarah Harris from Vogue-the first photo), but they are all rocking the grey. It's inspiring. 

Week 1

Hello! Apologies, I posted that last post and then buggered off on holiday for a week.

Anyway, I just wanted to post a couple of photos of myself so that you can see the current grey levels.

A couple of qualifications:

I look like a snooty cow but I promise I'm not. It's just my face. 

My hair is actually greyer than this in my view but not showing up very well. The rest is not my natural colour. 

I didn't have that nose piercing a week ago. Must be having some sort of quarter life crisis. 

I spoke to my friend/hairdresser Archie and he suggested that I go grey gradually using highlights. I'm not 100% sure how that would work so I'll update when I know more. I'm also going to go for a consultation at Bleach London for a second opinion. 

31 and Grey

My name is Alex, I'm 31 years old and under my dodgy packet-dyed hair, I am totally grey. I have been dyeing my hair regularly for about 15 years. Given that I haven't been my natural colour in all that time, it's hard to say exactly when I started to go grey, but I think it was when I was about 22. I am now sure, given the colour of my root growth, that I would be 100% grey if I weren't dyeing my hair. For a long time, I was horrified by this prospect, but as I am getting older (and lazier), I am coming around to the idea of going fully grey. Personally I think grey hair looks fabulous, and can look very chic and modern. There are a few naturally grey young'uns in the public eye, such as Sarah Harris from Vogue who is 35 and looking fabulous, but you don't see many women below 45 who have embraced grey naturally.

 So anyway, this is a big decision for me, and after a bit of googling, it looks like there is a lack of information for women my age(ish), wanting to go grey but not knowing how. Going grey is obviously a fact of life for most people. However, the average age for women finding their first grey is 33. So there aren't many women in my position, finding themselves almost totally grey at an 'uncomfortable age'. I am hoping that by starting this blog, I may be able to help other people who want to embrace grey hair at a young age. In the short time since I decided to take the plunge, I have asked myself a lot of questions:

Should I just let the grey grow out and put up with a band of grey roots until all of the dyed hair has been cut away? - probably a year plus. 

Should I use a dye stripper? - probably terrible for your hair.

Should I dye my hair grey, and then maybe the re-growth won't show so much? - probably quite pricey, and also you run the risk of the re-growth looking dreadful.

What makeup will suit me with grey hair? Will I still be able to wear my favourite hot pink lipstick? - personally I think this will look wicked with grey hair, so I intend to keep wearing it no matter what.

What colour should my eyebrows be?

What colour clothes will suit me?

Will having grey hair make me look older/washed out/etc?

Will I be confident enough to pull of what many would consider to be quite a daring look?

See - I told you there were a lot of questions. Personally, I am erring on the side of taking the plunge and dyeing it grey. I am sure there are disadvantages to this, and luckily for me (and you!) I have a friend who is a hairdresser, who may be able to shed some light. Watch this space!