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"I was sick of trying to keep up." Meet the women embracing half grey hair.

 

 

There comes a point in everyone’s life when they notice their first grey hair.

It’s often followed closely by the second and third grey hair, an indication for many women to start spending hundreds of dollars at the hairdresser to cover them up.

Meanwhile, men get to save all that money and then get called silver foxes for their natural ageing.

Five ways to lift your hair game. Post continues after video. 

This is why so many women are rejecting the idea that they are meant to look eternally youthful, and are making the conscious decision to embrace their grey hairs.

Introducing: Silver foxy ladies.

In the name of self-love, we invited women from the Mamamia community to share their grey hair transition photos.

Kate, 35.

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"I have been going grey since my early 20’s like all the women in my family. Around six months ago, I decided that I was sick of trying to keep up with my greys – dying my hair was ruining my hair, I didn’t like how dark it was when I dyed it darker but blonde didn’t suit it either. I work in an industry with brilliant women and noticed that they weren’t covering their greys and it had never really occurred to me that this was actually an option! I’m growing out a little colour on the ends but my hair is so much healthier and it’s a relief to not have to think about how to cover it anymore."

Kee, 31.

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"I'm fully grey on the top! You can't see it all because of my curls but I can't wait to go grey all over! I started to go grey at 18. I wasn't surprised as my mum always said she had gone grey at that age and being half black I knew that our hair type typically goes grey quicker. At first I hated it, but now I'm really excited to eventually be grey all over. My mother-in-law is fully grey and is such a spunk!"

Elise, 28.

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"I got my first white hair when I was around 21. As I natural brunette my reaction was to bleach the ever living heck out of my whole head. Eventually the bleaching started to ruin my hair and the regrowth line was too much for my lazy self to bother trying to upkeep. After a few years of being box-dyed red and brown and anything that would cover the wispy wiry white suckers I thought I’d revisit my blonde days, but this time with the purpose of prepping for all-over-white-hair-domination.

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"I’m looking forward to being completely grey and white – it’s just this damned in-between stage where my friends/siblings/mum keep pointing out 'ooh that’s a fair bit of grey you’ve got there'. My mum has also been dying over her greys for the better part of 30 years and, while it’s her head and her decision, I literally do not have the time or dedication for that anymore. Plus it’s a mad vibe to walk around feeling like Rogue from X-Men."

Simone, 51.

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"I'm 51 and have been going grey for a while now. I got sick of colouring! The purple in my hair is De Lorenzo shampoo, which I use sometimes. This is at my son's wedding recently. I'm very silver/white at the sides underneath. My grandmother was completely grey in her mid-20's."

LISTEN: Meghan Markle has a single grey hair and is getting no presents. Post continues after audio.

The Instagram page Grombre has likewise started a movement encouraging women to celebrate their grey hairs.

Described as a "radical celebration of the natural phenomenon of grey hair", the page encourages women to submit images of their greying hair.

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“Last week was my 24th birthday and marks a year since I ditched hair dye. I started going grey at around 14 and always hid it, never speaking to friends or family and pretending the little silver streaks didn’t exist. Always thinking it would make me seem old or somehow not as beautiful. All the women I saw around me, on the TV and in movies had flawless coloured hair which made me think that was the norm. It was not until I met my boyfriend almost 3 years ago, that I realised this “flaw” was actually a gift. Our grey hair is a beautiful highlight, a natural gift that only accentuates and not deters from our beauty. I can’t wait for the day that my hair is a radiant, beautiful array of grey and silver. The Grombre page helped me so much in accepting my natural hair, letting go of my dark brown locks and embracing this new and exciting change. It’s still hard to be grey his young but I am trying my best to rock it confidently, I hope other girls my age feel they can do the same.” @meganbonsor #grombre #gogrombre

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"I’m 6 months into my grombre journey, and I’ve never been happier in my own skin. I started getting grey hairs at 18 years old, and I was taught to be ashamed of them. I started fighting against them - my hairdressers appointments went from every 8 weeks to 6 to 4, and even then I noticed silvery roots atop my dark brown locks in every photo taken of me in the last 10 years. It got to the point this year that I couldn’t afford the maintenance, so through necessity I had to embrace them. But that’s when my whole perspective transformed, because it was then that I found the grombre community on Instagram and it was such an inspiration. I wasn’t prepared for how liberating it would feel, to be able to sweep my hair back and not be frozen in self-loathing because of my “roots”. That feeling has completely vanished and in its place is self-acceptance, love and pride. I have found it so exciting to discover what my natural hair looks like and - especially when it’s shimmering in the sunshine - I can’t believe how lucky I am to have naturally silver, unicorn hair!" @_dani_lani #grombre #gogrombre

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“One year ago today I decided to stop coloring my hair. At the time it seemed like a BIG decision because I couldn’t conceive of letting my silvers shine free. I’d been fighting/hiding them for so long (every two weeks to be exact) I didn’t know any other way of being. The superficial side of me worried about what people would think? Would I look older than my 46 years? Would I look like I had “given up” and didn’t care anymore? I kept having visions of my Grammie’s silver hair in rollers and wondered if that was where I was headed? . I started thinking about hair dye and why it is we even do it? When/where/who said our natural hair color isn’t good enough or that gray or silver hair needs to be hidden. It’s strange if you REALLY think about it. Mind you, I’m not judging anyone who dyes because I did it for 20+ years and nothing felt better than a freshly dyed do. And I get wanting to mix things up out of boredom. Because let’s face it, it’s FUN to change your hair color. But when it gets to the point that it’s a drag and it feels like a have-to then I think it’s time to reassess the reasons for doing it. . People say to me all the time “if mine looked like yours I’d do it.” How will you know until you try? I had no idea what mine would look like but I knew I could always dye it back again! I say have fun with it. Going gray/silver doesn’t mean you’re old or going to look like your Grammie. It’s all perspective and how you choose to rock it.” @mightywithin #grombre #gogrombre

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“A friend of mine found my first gray hair while we were sitting at the lunch table in 9th grade. I found more and more as time went on and in my early 20’s I became self-conscious and starting dying my hair. This went on for ten years. I spent thousands of dollars and countless hours at the salon. My mom started transitioning to gray from dye in her 60’s and she has this beautiful platinum color. Because of that I started getting interested in the idea of going gray and because of a co-worker who did the same in her late 30’s. The idea appealed to me so I started researching and THEN, I found an amazing community of beautiful, strong women of all ages who had ditched the dye too! This is what made me make my decision—no more dye! The silver sisters community has been supportive the entire way and has been an inspiration to me. I’m over the moon that I’m about to be fully transitioned after a big haircut coming up ????????‍????” @silver_strands_34 #grombre #gogrombre

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“Last year, my world was turned upside down. On February 28, 2018 my mother was given the news that she had stage 3 (primary) peritoneal cancer - a very rare and aggressive cancer that affects the lining of the abdomen. Given her age (78) and preexisting health issues, the cancer spread rapidly and by April 2018 she was in stage 4. After hearing the news of mom's diagnosis I decided to put my very busy life in San Francisco on hold to be with my mom in Manila, Philippines to care for her in her final weeks. They were the most precious yet heartbreaking weeks of my life. Mom passed away on May 11, 2018, just two days before Mother's Day last year. The pain and stress of caring for my dying mom and then ultimately losing her to this horrific disease resulted in me losing large amounts of hair which was very long at the time. It reached my waist. When I returned to San Francisco after mom's funeral and helping my dad settle into life without her (they were married for 50 years and she did everything for him) my first order of business to put my life back in order was to cut my long curly locks in the hopes of making my hair loss less obvious. After a few weeks, my hair stopped falling out and I was ecstatic to see new growth coming in! Except, it was coming back grey. I have been dying my hair since my 20's - initially to keep up with trends and then in my 30's to cover up the bit of grey I had. I'm now in my mid-40's and I found myself having to dye my hair every 4 weeks to keep up with the new greys that were coming in FAST. In December 2018 I decided it was time to stop dying my hair and trying to cover up my greys. It was tough at first but I quickly embraced my silver locks, new hair norm, just like I've accepted my new reality of life without my mom. I miss my mom terribly every day but I DON'T miss having to dye my hair every 4 weeks! Thank you for creating this lovely community! It has helped me on my journey on so many levels and I'm forever grateful.” @aimeetvilla #grombre #gogrombre

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“When I first started to go gray I would sometimes pluck out the gray hairs. One time my then seven-year-old daughter walked into the bathroom and saw me doing that and asked me what I was doing. I told her I was pulling out gray hairs. She asked me if the gray hair fairy would come and leave me money under my pillow, since that’s what the tooth fairy did for her when she pulled out a loose tooth. Not only did that make me laugh-it made me think about how ridiculous it was to pull out my gray hairs. I have since stopped and now that I’ve actually accumulated some gray hairs I really like the way that it looks. It adds a lot of light and movement to my dark hair. I wouldn’t change it for the world.” @nikiblack #grombre #gogrombre

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“‘Don’t be ridiculous!”’ ‘Why would you do that to yourself?’ ⁣ Just a couple of comments I received in the beginning stages of letting my gray grow out at the age of 38. Funny, because now the comments sound more like:⁣ ⁣ ‘Where do you get your hair highlighted?’ ‘Omg, I can’t wait for my hair to start graying.’ Or the one I just received checking into my hotel, ‘Do you get your hair colored that way? It’s amazing!’ ⁣ Something that wasn’t so popular from the get-go has created a following of close to 5K on a Instagram account I started less than a year ago just to have a place to document without spamming my main social account with my hair progress. ⁣ ⁣ It’s a great reminder that people will always question you for being different, going after what you want in life or not living up to society’s standards but later deep down they wish they had the courage to do the same. ????” @gracegritandgray #grombre #gogrombre

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But it's not just the girl next door who is embracing grey hair. Celebrities such as Jamie Lee Curtis, Meryl Streep and Sally Field are bringing silver to the red carpet, helping to normalise grey haired women.

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Get it, Meryl. Image: Getty.
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We love it. Image: Getty.

Bravo, ladies.

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