Growing out grey - article in UK newspaper

[Loviatar]

This article was in the Daily Mail today. I dont read this paper, but I had forgotten my book on the train :D

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1145987/Would-dare-grey--Linda-Kelsey-embraces-womans-worst-fear.html#comments

I have commented but nothing is showing up yet. I'm interested to see what other people have commented on it. Apparently there were 87 comments.

I for one say rock on and grow it out, I'm tempted to buy the Mail now to watch her journey. I'm not sure her hairdresser is correct in saying that she 'needs a kicka$$ haircut' but one thing at a time, in today's society I think it's awesome she's decided to grow out natural.

Thoughts?

Lovi

ETA: Hmph - they have not even posted my comment yet! Unimpressed

[MemSahib]

Interesting article. Thanks. I also think I would be interested in watching her silver. Are you going to keep up with this, Lovi? If you do, please post follow-up stories.

[Forever_Sophie]

I totally admire that attitude! I can only hope, wish, and pray I can be so cool about greys when they appear. At the moment, they're my biggest fear. I have an albino rabbit and after playing with her and later going to the mirror, I always have a mini-freak-out when I see a teeny white hair along my hairline (courtesy of Mimi, the bunny LOL).

[Xandergrammy]

Well, I'm hooked now, Lovi. If you do decide to buy that paper to follow the story, could you please share it with us? I'm in the process of growing out my grays now and love to read about other women's experiences. Thanks.

[Raederle]

MemSahib, what a gorgeous new signature picture you're showing these days. Just spectacular.

Back on topic, though, count me among what I hope is a huge group of women for whom the prospect of being grey is nowhere near my worst fear. You are Lady Luck's favored child if such is a huge concern. That said, I guess, as a public figure it's some sort of big deal for her. In my case, it was an easy decision.

[Xandergrammy]

Back on topic, though, count me among what I hope is a huge group of women for whom the prospect of being grey is nowhere near my worst fear. You are Lady Luck's favored child if such is a huge concern. That said, I guess, as a public figure it's some sort of big deal for her. In my case, it was an easy decision.



I'm with you, Raederle. Going gray is not only NOT a fear, it's something I decided to embrace almost 3 years ago. I'm actually a little annoyed that my hair isn't graying as fast as my mother's and grandmother's hair!! :gabigrin:

[Amoretti]

I hope you'll be posting her updates, Lovi. :)
I'm also going grey, especially at the temples. Well, mine are more silvery and I like them.

[Katze]

good for her!

My silver streak is coming in faster and faster every day. Maybe it's a pregnancy thing, but I hope not, because it's really nicely placed and compliments my hair color. Some day I hope to have mixed silver/gold, then entirely silver, hopefully LONG hair, and those who don't like it can go...take a flying leap. :D

[Loviatar]

Much as I really dont want to buy the Daily Mail :D I'll happily keep up with the story and post updates for you guys.

Memsahib your hair is looking fantastic these days by the way. People like you make me want to go grey early!

[magpielaura]

I'm just starting to get some white hairs, and I think its unlikely I'll be dyeing them. I'm quite looking forward to having striking, long white hair! It will be years until then though. I think since I'm naturally a darkish shade of blonde they won't be obvious for ages, and I really can't be bothered with the constant unkeep of dye. Or the damage! I've seen quite a few fairly young women with amazing steely grey hair - mostly cut into flattering, dramatic shorter styles though.

[Carolyn]

My gosh I thought some of the comments were nasty and harsh. It's her money and her hair. How dare people judge? I know they do but I hate to read comments like that. The one I liked the best was the woman who advised her to go for it and then if she didn't like it she could color again.

[Lilla My]

In my experience people are a bit scared when you announce you're going grey and that's why you get the comments. Think they're scared about their own ageing really though.

Interesting article Loviatar - shame it's in the Mail! :p

[LaurelSpring]

Great post! Im subscribed for the journey! Thank you for keeping us updated on this. Its always so encouraging to see other women go for it.

[DelynofRhondda]

Thanks for the post link, Loviatar. The author's attitude (for me) is startling. Almost self-loathing on her part. It's rather sad such an otherwise dynamic personality would become so absorbed in others' perception of "aging". Then again, I'm of her generation, and understand the pressures to conform to the "ageless beauty" mantra and the specter of "letting one's self go".

Sigh ... I'm glad I'm short and squatty, all butt no body, and nothing but eyes, teeth and hair. :D (or so I'd been told over the years)

[Raederle]

You raise an excellent point, Carolyn. I assume you're talking about the comments on the article, and not the comments on this thread. I hadn't really gone through them until now. They run the gamut from supportive through mean, don't they? It's hard to see where the anger comes from; the support I understand, because the article is almost a tacit request for support. I guess it's just the nature of online posting. Wasn't there another article much like this one regarding a woman journalist her in the United States??

[Rohele]

It bothers me that women are pressured to dye their hair when the grey starts coming in, and then told to keep it up, or risk looking like they let they are "letting themselves go".

I'm feeling rather sensitive about this issue right now, as I've recently taken the step of NOT dyeing my hair anymore. More for hair health than a conscious decision to "let they grey come in", but at the age of 37, yes, the greys are starting to come in. I was pressured in my late 20s to dye by a friend when my hair started to go darker and a few grey hairs started appearing. Worst decision I ever made, and I hated myself every time I dyed it - I had made myself the promise never to use permanent dye when I was in high school and had a teacher who had obviously dyed hair, with white roots coming in - I thought it looked so unnatural. I'm finding it harder than I thought, though, to accept my natural hair.

I think what how a person presents themselves and how they carry themselves has way more bearing on wether they look "old" or not. I've seen some very chic looking women with grey hair, both long and short.

[Fairlight63]

Interesting article! I know that it is hard when you decide to just let your hair go grey. There are really no good role models out there of older women with grey hair with pretty hair styles. If they decide to go grey they get their hair cut in a short "manly" do or a short poodle cut.
Not too long ago my husband & me went to a meeting of retires, there was about 100 there & their was only 1 lady there plus me with long hair.
What I LOVE about this forum is there are so MANY BEAUTIFUL grey haired ladies here that are role models for me in what to do with my hair in the way of hairstyles.
She needs to come to this forum & hang out for moral support!

[Jim]

I can't really comment on the pressures on women to hide the grey, but I can sympathize with the writer's problem. I started dying many years ago, not because of grey, but because I enjoyed having some change in my looks.... sometimes redder, sometimes blonder. As the years went by, my hair started to grey but it was regularly covered by whatever haircolour choice I made at the time. Now I am thinking of letting the grey loose. It doesn't bother me that I have grey hair. There is just the problem of growing out the dyed hair. With long hairs like us, this can take years unless we go for a chop. I don't want to walk around with a hard line between the older coloured hair and the grey.

So, with my colourist, I have been investigating ways to make the transition. I have to say she is less than enthusiastic about it. And no, I don't think it's because she'll miss the business. She just likes colour. So, we'll see.

Interesting thread.

Jim

[punky]

Hi all, I have gray hair and I'm going (against the grain so to speak ) and let my hair grow long as well.:bow: It will give something for people to talk about don't you think. ;)

[Toadstool]

Maybe if you don't want to buy the paper, you could keep up with it online?
I agree that people are scared of their own ageing and mortality.

[spidermom]

I agree that people are scared of their own ageing and mortality.

That must be it. I think that if the same colors appeared on children, there wouldn't be such a stigma about having gray hair. There are some shades of gray that I don't like (think battleship), but some shades are really pretty. Mine is more of a white gold or platinum blonde than gray, for the most part, although I do have some coarse, wirey white hairs, too. I don't like them as much, mainly because of the texture.

[Loviatar]

I hadnt seen the other comments on the Mail, thanks for pointing them out Carolyn.

Spidermom, interesting points on colour! Personally I'd love to go a shiny battleship grey all over (sort of like the darker parts of Siamese's hair if I recall rightly) but I can see how it might not suit all folks.

Toadstool, good idea to keep up online, I think I'll do that.

[wendyg]

I have never had the patience for something that has to be as frequently renewed as hair dye. I don't actually know when I started getting grey hairs, but I guess by my late 30s, since a friend I met around then said sometime later that it had "always" had streaks. How grey it looks depends on the light and the surrounding colors - in my bathroom, which is full of medium blonde wood, it looks somewhat golden. Photographed in full daylight, it looks completely silver.

A couple of weeks ago, a 20-something woman offered me her seat on the tube. I suppose as grey hair gets less common, people who aren't obviously really young may look "older".

The only person who's ever had anything negative to say was one of my nieces, who in the middle of dinner at a family wedding turned to me and said, "Why did you let your hair go grey? Don't you *care*?" To which ISTR my answer was something like, "Well, it didn't ask permission, you know." With a few more wits about me I'd have pointed out that I can either have long hair or I can have dyed hair, but not both, and I love long hair. Though at the time my hair was still suffering the extremely negative effects of unfiltered London water, and I couldn't have made that case as thoroughly as I could now.

wg