How much do we love this hair AND this shirt?!

Bright and vibrant are the words we’d use to describe this woman, not old and grey.

Instagrammer @lrdubbs said of her photo:

“For over the past 12 years, I’ve spent countless hours constantly dying my hair to cover what I thought aged me. I got tired but never wanted to take that leap, afraid of how I’d be perceived. It wasn’t until last year while pregnant with my second child, that I decided to embrace my natural hair color…”

@elynnc78 said of her photo:

“I was unsure at first as the silver slowly began taking over my head. I had been covering my grey for the last 20 years and it was as if I was seeing the real me for the first time in a long time.
…Each silver strand I saw claim its place gave me so much more of an appreciation for my hair…”

]Mom@donnasubroto was encouraged to embrace her grey by her daughters:

“Last week I had a working trip abroad and to my surprise, some people stopped me midway to ask whether this is my real hair colour and they complimented me for it (one even asked to take a picture with me, like oh-wow-I’m-flattered!). It’s nice to know that more and more people are embracing their natural hair colour, the all grey and come what may. My daughter (left), along with her older sister, thought that I look nice with grey hair and they encouraged me from day 1.”

Going grey can be an adjustment, and it wasn’t something that @mildred809k felt comfortable with at first. But she soon realized that she was playing into an idea of female beauty that wasn’t her own.

“8 months of transition have not been easy…for those who see me wrong. I have been mocking a system that I don’t know who invented it.”

For @nilamjohnson, the upkeep simply wasn’t worth it:

“I am going to embrace my grey/ silver/ white whatever color this new hair is. Not because I want to prove something. Not because I am against chemicals.
Simply because it’s a hassle to dye my hair every 3 weeks. I was also embarrassed by the grey roots that would sprout out and nearly impossible to hide longer than a week or so.
It’s exhausting, I am exhausted!”

@enyart333 felt empowered by communities like “Grombre” for making the transition mainstream:

“In February 2019 something just clicked. I was done. I was ready to accept whatever was under the dye and make it work! It also helped that there is so much support and inspiration online. I read a lot of blogs, articles, and watched a lot of videos that helped give me courage…I was scared of feeling old and frumpy. But, grey hair doesn’t make you old! It’s just a color!”

After dying her hair brown for her wedding, @melissa.gartman decided enough was enough:“In high school I had white streaks in my hair, earning the nickname “Rogue”. In my late twenties the story changed; I was poised to become a bride and didn’t want my salt and pepper hair overshadowing me…At 36 my silver is shining again and I’ve been rewarded with hair that looks like ME and all the superpowers that go with it.”

This isn’t the first photo @ninamourette has posted online to encourage other women:

“Today is my 2-year of ditching the dye anniversary! This little picture is specially dedicated to all the women hesitating before taking that decision, or the women struggling during the transition and who’d like to know what a 2-year “silver growth” might look like.”

Love is in the hair for @baskinthegray:

“It’s been over a year and a half since I last dyed my hair and I couldn’t be happier with that decision! Leaving the stress, mess and frustration of the relentless dyeing cycle behind has been incredibly freeing. I love my hair. I have watched in fascination as the silver slowly weaves through the dark.”

When@katiefuria decided to let her grey shine through at the age of 32:

“I’m approaching my 2-year anniversary of no dye. This week a man told me that my hair was ‘gorgeous’ and ‘stunning.’ He’s from Southern California and says he never sees younger women with hair like mine. Granted, he was also mostly silver-haired and may have just been flirting with me, but it was the first time that a man had voluntarily complimented my silvers out of the blue. It’s not easy to embrace gray hair at the age of 32, but I’m so grateful that I have.”

@maxrestore went through a head-to-toe reinvoration:

“My journey to grey was a Transformation of my body and hair. I at the age of fifty walked away from an unhappy marriage, the kids are on their own, and I did not like me. I dyed my hair for fifteen years before I stopped. I started to dance and lost 136lbs, in this I saw a lady wearing her grey and I thought I want to look like that so I stopped dyeing my hair. I feel authentic, sexy, and more beautiful than I ever have in my life and it reflects out.”

@jmscherbs wasn’t always so graceful with her greys”

“When random grays started peppering my dark brown hair 25 years ago I would ask my 4-year-old daughter to pull them out. Back in December, I decided just to own it. It’s been an adventure watching the gray reveal itself…I’m looking forward to that day when I chop off the last bit of camouflage.”

@checomyhair decided she had had enough maintenance:

“My grey journey started when I noticed that special spark of silver. It was so shiny and would creep up again in 2 weeks right after my henna application. I loved my henna, it strengthened my hair and grew it down to my back. It had been 5 years of continuous application and I was ready to wear my own sparkle hair color.”

“This has been quite cathartic. I actually cried at the salon. I experienced a lot with the hair that I let go of today and over the last 10 months. It is amazing how much of your self esteem and identity can be wrapped up in your hair.”

A social media reaction helped @laurabethsolomon feel like her new look wouln’t need much explanation:

“I am 4 months into this process, 50, recently divorced, in love with a new man who not only supports me in this process but encourages me. I changed my Facebook profile picture to this photo last weekend and received so much love. It feels amazing to be happy, secure and owning my true self.”

@piranha_rihanna wish she had accepted her greys earlier:

“I had my first grey hair when I was 11 and I started colouring my hair black later in my teens. I never actually hated my greys; I merely loved the colour black and I wanted to fit in – I wasn’t aware of anyone at my age having grey hair. However, I was lacking the confidence to expose my true colours until I turned 30 – just over a year ago and I wish I had ditched my dye earlier. I feel liberated for not having to hide my silver waves (plus tones of money and time saved) which I adore and make me look unique.”

@kaella_kay has never tried to hide her greys:

“My mom noticed my first grey hair when I was in about elementary school. I have never dyed my hair and have always embraced my grey streaks. While I have gotten pressured by family and friends to dye my hair, I never have. Some people even think I have professional highlights! I love my hair and the compliments I get make me feel beautiful and unique.”

@happykopacka had a tough transition phase, but feels better than ever:

“Greek ancestry on my mother’s side destined me to gray early in life. I developed a gray streak in my brown hair at the top of my head during high school. Silly me, I dyed my poor hair for three decades. Finally, in my 50’s, I got a crew cut and endured an Ugly Duckling stage for a year. I’ve had fun with white hair well into my 60’s and I’ll never go back to dye. Now, I’m That Swan.”

@sthrnbimmerchic has always loved her hair:

“I started going gray at 15 and wouldn’t have it any other way. 💜”

@jennifer.annabelle still has days when she wonders what it would be like to dye her hair again:

“I stopped coloring my hair on my birthday five years ago. I’m 47 now and am often surprised to realize that I’m still only about 85% of the way to accepting my hair…This process has forced me to confront my own fears and prejudices relating to aging but, more importantly, it has made it clear to me that I still care too much about what other people think about my hair and my perceived age…”

For the matriarch of @vagabond_family_, a life transformation involved more than just hair:

“Last year, my husband and I quit our jobs, sold our home and all our possessions and bought one-way tickets to Asia to travel around the world with our two daughters for a year…I knew that I would not be able to keep up with dyeing my hair while traveling, so I stopped dyeing right before we left. But as I moved through the transition process, I struggled a bit with deeply ingrained notions about ‘going gray’ in our culture…Part of this process has involved letting go of others’ opinions and the cultural narrative that has told us that women aging is a negative thing.”

@jettalynn21

“I started going grey in my late 30s for a while I would dye my hair back to its natural grey. When I turned 40 I decided to just let my grey come through. I am now 51 and I love my all natural grey hair. I have completely natural hair which means I don’t use any chemicals. My grey hair makes me feel strong and confident. I like to show that a woman can have grey hair and still be sexy, beautiful and stylish.”

@revelina.tokromo faced her fears in the mirror:

“My choice to go naturally grey had to do with that specific moment almost 3 years ago. I took a good look at myself in the mirror wondering what would happen if I quit dying my hair. At first, I couldn’t bear the thought of ‘looking’ older. But once they came through and I embraced my greys like I do today. I even felt more confident than during the time I dyed my hair. Whenever I get the chance to convince others to embrace their greys, I also tell them that they always can dye their hair again.”

@cowdogblue decided to downsize her life and cut down on her hair maintenance hair:

“I live in an off-grid cabin during the summer months, and dying my roots every two weeks became almost impossible. This past summer however, I decided enough is enough, and took the opportunity to stop dying my hair once and for all. It’s been 8 months now, and while it wasn’t easy in the beginning, and I had a lot of doubts, I quickly embraced it and never looked back.”

It seems that everyone feels entitled to an opinion about @themeditationfactory’s hair:

“I got yelled at by a man in a deli for supposedly dying my hair gray. He said it looked so unnatural. I just laughed. I went gray in my 20s and kept it. My young students really love it. They think I’m a character from Frozen.”

@silvereverysunday also can’t seem to grow her grey in peace:

“You know, those well-meant suggestions to just chop it all off… queries as to whether I’m ‘old enough’ to do this yet… an actual: oh wow aren’t you brave from a consultant at a dress shop. If I own that I think it is beautiful they don’t know how to respond. People are much more comfortable with comedy… I called this my year to be princess glitter skunk and that made it easier… like people can relax knowing I know it looks different.”

@melissaschellinger gets questions all the time about going grey before age 40:

“3 questions I get asked the most: ‘Do you feel older?’ Nope! Still feel like 25 inside even though I’m 37. (Won’t lie though, the first few months seeing myself in the mirror took some adjusting of my mental lens on age and beauty!) ‘I wish I could be as brave as you! How’d you finally decide to do it?’ (this question is asked the most) First of all this decision has *nothing* to do with bravery. Bravery is an honorable word devoted to those deserving it, not for us growing out our gray hairs…”

When @laurelharmon got sick, she took the opportunity to grow in that grey streak that runs in her family:

“…I had fun with color once or twice a year. I didn’t intend to hide anything, just to satisfy my itch for something new now and then.
All that changed when I developed a serious bacterial infection while traveling…I was isolated, unable to work, running out of money and unable to visit a hairdresser…I saw a meme the other day about all the gray roots we’ll see after Covid-19 and I was thankful. Thankful I’ve been through the growing-out already. And thankful to know that all difficult things eventually grow out.”