Instagrammer @lrdubbs says:

“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 posted saying:

“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 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 took some getting used to for @mildred809k, but she soon saw she was chasing beauty standards that didn’t reflect her true self.

“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 wasn’t worth it anymore:

“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 thanks to 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 weddding, @melissa.gartman says 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.”

@baskinthegray loves her new look:

“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.”

@katiefuria chose to let her greys shine 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 change:

“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 accepting of 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 enough was enough with 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.”

@doneli21060 cut off the last of her color-treated hair before this photo:

“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.”

Social media helped @laurabethsolomon feel like her new look wouldn’t need 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 wishes she 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 never once 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 difficult transition phase, but feels better now:

“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 always loved her hair:

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

@jennifer.annabelle has days where 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…”

The matriarch of @vagabond_family_ had a life transformation involving 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:

“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 chose to downsize her life and cut down on hair maintenance:

“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.”

People feel 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 can’t seem to grow her greys 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 asked all the time about going grey before 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 grew out 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.”

@lcerdinio always associated coloring her hair with old age until she found the pro-grey community:

“It’s part of my culture that only spinsters or grandmas stop coloring their hair. God forbid anyone younger than 60 shows your gray! So true to the pressure I spent years box coloring, highlighting, getting ombré, balayage all the things to mask the gray…Why was I trying to hide what was given to me by nature? So that night I googled all I could, checked Pinterest for how to transition to gray and found this HUGE community that was starting to rise on Instagram. I wasn’t alone and I’ve never felt so relieved!”

@hairscapades has an Instagram account full of hair shots.

“I feel like I read a ‘grey hair rule’ that said to not wear grey … that it’ll wash you out or something? Here is to breaking all of the rules then, because I am discovering that I love the way I look in grey (hair and clothes!)!! And any other color I want to wear!”

@drsusannguyen didn’t want to be one of those COVID hoarders:

“I heard there’s a hoarding of hair dye now with the ‘stay at home’ order due to Covid 19. So glad that’s not an issue for me since I decided to let my natural hair grow out and that is one less thing that I don’t have to worry about.”

@rneubs realized that there was no “right” time, so she just stopped coloring:

“I truly feel that growing out my grey has been one of the biggest lessons in patience that I have ever experienced. I’m at about 16.5 months into the journey now. I spent 20 years dying my hair and towards the end I was doing weekly root touch-ups even as I developed sores on my scalp. I was just never ready to stop. When was the ideal time? Would this negatively impact my life and career? Would I look older? And then after months of indecision, I just stopped. For no real reason… no special occasion. I just stopped out of the blue.”

In her blo, @lavenderwalls shared:

“I realized that how covered up my gray hair was starting to define who I had become and how I viewed myself. The more my TRUE roots were peeking out, the less I felt I had my sh*t together. Even more, the bigger story I was telling myself was that other people didn’t think I had my sh*t together! So at that point, I decided I would stop consuming myself with how much and where the gray was starting to peek out, when my next appointment would be scheduled, and what other people thought my hair reflected about me and what’s going on in my life.”

@growingsilverglitter is embracing the journey:

“Almost 8 months dye-free… it’s been a little terrifying but also so freeing to watch my dark brown hair give way to silver. I’m learning to love it — and the support from my silver sisters makes it even better.”

At the age of 24, @lmidgley chose to stop covering her premature greys:

“As I got older, the grey patch at the very top of my head became harder and harder to cover. My lovely hair dresser convinced me to embrace it and I stopped covering my grey hair at 24. I’ve now been growing it out for 2 years, and get low lights a few times a year to help it blend more since I’m not completely grey. I am learning to embrace it more and more every day. No one ever believes that I am this grey at 26! I am a teacher and my little students are often baffled – ‘you don’t even have kids yet and your hair is so grey!’ I just blame them for stressing me out!”

@ibgreying had enough of other people’s expectations saying:

“I am tired…. tired of feeling self conscious and afraid! …Everyone’s words weighed heavily on my decision to not complete the process. I’d hear ‘you are 37 not 50!’ Or ‘you’re to young to start looking old.’ Why does grey have to define our age?! It doesn’t!!”

@writertrisha used to be embarrassed by her mom’s white hair but she’s had a change of heart:

“My mom didn’t dye her white hair and chose to go natural— though cost and time was likely a factor as she had a full time job as a nurse’s aide and five kids to support. As a teen I really wanted her to dye her hair. I didn’t want her to be different. I witnessed how some women treated my mom like she was old— when oftentimes she was younger, stronger, fitter, smarter— and had been blessed with a beautiful complexion as well as a kind heart.”

After one year, @greyflowsgraceful felt better after deciding to stop fighting nature:

“Last Spring I saw someone close to me taken up to the sky before reaching the age of 50. Instantly my perspectives had shifted, I am not afraid of ageing. Suddenly the reasons to repeat colouring my hair disappeared. It’s clearly to see two choices in the hair salon ‘repeat or evolve’. I chose to evolve. Now one year has gone, I have started loving my natural self. One simple act that stopped me fighting nature, stop altering myself made me to embrace my age. Before this transition, I was thinking my appearance was fading but now I feel it is softening that makes my natural hair with silver sparkles become well balanced.”

It wasn’t always easy for @saltandpepperslay to embrace greys. Butshe’s all about rocking it now!

“My gray journey started at age 21! I started coloring my hair and then at age 30, I developed an allergy to hair color. I HAD to embrace every bit of it, and it was rough at first. There were people telling me to color my hair, and I was growing tired of telling them that I couldn’t. I made the decision to ‘own’ my grays.”