Skin & hair · 10 min
Let the greycome in gently
If you are thinking of letting your hair go grey, you can take it slowly, on your own terms, with some kindness for the person in the mirror.
Grey hair is not a problem to fix. It is a change, and like most changes it can be met slowly. Some people colour their hair for life and are happy. Some stop all at once. This page is for anyone curious about letting it come in, who would like to do it gently.
The steps
Four small steps,in your own time.
Decide nothing yet. For one week, look at your parting in good daylight and notice the colour that is growing, without judging it.
If you colour your hair, ask your hairdresser about growing it out gradually, with a softer shade or a shorter cut along the way, rather than stopping overnight.
Choose one thing that suits silver and wear it near your face: a colour, a scarf, glasses, earrings.
Give it three months before you decide anything for good. You can change your mind at any point.
The reason
Why it helps
Changes we choose feel very different from changes that happen to us. Going slowly turns grey into something you are deciding rather than something you are losing. Many people find, once the line has grown out, that the new colour brightens their face and their eyes. Others find they miss the old colour, and that is fine too. Either way, it is your hair and your choice.
A gentle variation
If you have lost hair or colour through illness or treatment, this is a different and harder thing, and you owe no one a decision about it. Wear what makes you feel like yourself, a hat, a scarf or nothing at all, and let the hair come back in its own time.
WE · TRIBE
Try itwith someone.
Tell one person you are thinking about it, and ask them to tell you honestly what they see in three months. Or find someone who has already gone grey and ask how it was for them. Most people are glad to be asked.
Try it today
This week, look at your parting in daylight without judging what you see, and wear one thing near your face that suits silver.
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