It doesn’t look bad like that. Just keep trimming and it’ll be over before you know it. BTW, it’s not that gray.

You don't think it looks awful? Sometimes it looks passable to me, and other times I catch a glimpse in the mirror and it just looks BAD. Like I've just stopped caring or something! It's more white than gray, and a bit on the mousey side where it's darker, but I figure anything is better than the brassy yellow-blonde.

I would use a temporary, non-peroxide color a bit lighter than your dark roots (because the ends of our hair are usually naturally lighter than the roots), but not in the front where that beautiful blonde/gray/white hair is coming in. You could either do it yourself or have it done. You could have it low lighted with the same type product if you prefer. You may have to do it frequently because with no peroxide it will wash out fairly quickly, but it won't hurt your hair or change the growing in part.

Your hair is always pretty and this is going to be beautiful when grown out, too. It honestly doesn't look bad right now; I'd likely just leave it as it is.

eta, you can also just use a bluing shampoo or rinse to tone down the yellow, which might make it bearable to you.

Hmmm. Hadn't considered a temporary product, but I may look into that. Thanks for the suggestions!

This is so strange to me... I haven't seen the real Ida in decades.

Beware of temp color. The last time I colored my hair it was a lot shorter than yours. When I had about as much new growth as yours I tried the old temp color trick. It not only never came out of my colored hair, it didn’t come out of the new growth either. So although it wasn’t as dark as the dyed hair, it was still something I had to endure till it grew out.

I can't tell you how long it'll take, but I can testify that it is quite liberating not to have to deal with coloring every few weeks!!

Temporary color. You have to be careful to get nothing that will change your natural color. Nothing with peroxide or lightener or ammonia or developer. Sometimes people get tricked into buying semi-permanent color. NO SEMI-PERMANENT. That does change your natural color. You only want a wash - a temporary color. It's been too many years since I worked in a salon, so am not really familiar with what is available retail these days. I've been searching for something you could use, but all the temporary colors seem to be reds, purples, blues, greens, etc. instead of a nice softer dark blond or light brown, lol.

Roux Fanciful rinse has been around for years, is a bit of a pain and washes out every shampoo, but can either brown up the ends or (if you use a blue wash- White Minx) neutralize the brassy a bit.

I cannot seem to find ANY temporary colors in natural colors, but I'm sure they are out there. I'll keep looking and post something if I find it.

I stopped coloring my hair, I grew it out, my hair is about your length. I was advised by my hairstylist not to use temporary color. After a few years of grown out color I felt drab. I now get highlights and/or lowlights a few times a year. Much less maintenance than full color.

I think lowlights on your colored section would be great.

I agree that some low lights in the colored section.. but i'd probably do a FEW highlights in the top as well-- not to fully highlight it but to fool the eye. This from me-- not a professional! A good colorist can accomplish what you need without adding highlights that you need to chase every 4 weeks!

Have you asked your colorist or do you do your own color? I've been going to the same stylist/colorist for over 20 years and I've heard her advise other clients on how to minimize the transition period. Several women opted to let it go but there were others in the corporate world who wanted a less obvious change. I don't know what the products she used but the clients seemed pleased with the process.

Because of the color of your hair, I think it looks fine growing it out. I had posted similarly about this probably in the late fall.... My "natural" color was as close to black as a caucasian can get so very very very dark brown. When I started going gray I colored it for many years, at first to match the dark color, then at times somewhat lighter but still quite dark. With people with lighter hair or highlights the gray does not look as abrupt.

I last had my hair colored for Thanksgiving. It is very curly kinky not lovely hair. My hair grows very slowly. When I pull it back to wear a high up pony tail, I get complements that the hair framing my face is various shades of gray; some more white and some with some black but mostly medium gray. (The pony tail is black). At this point, it does look like I am being deliberate and letting my hair go gray. Before this, if I didn't wear my hair pulled up, it just looked kind of sad.

I have stuck with it, and mostly I like it but at times I still think about coloring it. I think I maybe have about 3 inches of gray ( such slow hair growth). The back and sides are surprisingly still not as gray as I assumed. I think in time when I have more and more gray and trim away the black, I might consider doing low lights or highlights or whatever. A beautician I saw for a trim was the one who suggested I NOT do any color as she said she could not be sure just how the hair would take to anything. Again at any point I can go back to color.

So that's my long-winded way of saying that it takes a long time, and unless you do some different lowlighting there is bound to be an "awkward" time.

From what I see in your photos though, honestly, it looks pretty good and not very noticeable. Oh and editing to add, I retired last year. I suspect that if I were still working, I would not be so comfortable going totally natural and would have entertained highlights lowlights transitional temporary color. Ageism is real.

Yeah, that's the thing -- I'm still working, in a high-level corporate environment where business dress is de rigueur, and while most of my direct colleagues are close to my own age and I have no need to try to look a lot younger, I still don't want to look like I've gone slack on my personal grooming. That said, I AM apprehensive about doing anything to my color at the moment, although I do think some good options have been discussed in this thread. My stylist has suggested that I just let it keep growing and come back at some point for some subtle highlights. She says many of her clients who embrace their natural color / gray do this and only have to come in for touch-ups a couple of times a year. Now that's a plan I could get behind! I suspect I may very well feel drab once all of the natural color has grown in (well, it remains to be seen what this white streak in the front will do!), and if that's the case, I won't hesitate to have some highlights put in.

The mention of Roux Fanciful rinse really took me back! They've been making that stuff FOREVER, haven't they! I remember my mom using it when I was just a little girl, and I've also used it at various times in my life.

I appreciate the comments that my hair doesn't look too horrifying in this state. It may as it continues to be darker on top and "yella" on the bottom, but I'll try to keep telling myself that it's "ombre" for the time being. I do think it will be quite liberating to be rid of the color as it currently exists, though. I've been DIYing for years, and have never been completely satisfied with anything I've used. Too, I tend to think that older women with yellow-blonde hair just don't look quite right. There's a balance with the complexion that no longer exists, and I'm so tired of that look for myself.

I don’t think it looks bad at all. I would not do anymore color at all. It only adds to your problems. Since you have already gone short, it will be grown out in no time.

Mine is chin length and most of it was grown out in about 6 months. It took a while for some of the longer bits on the ‘long side’ of my parted hair to be fully gone. By then it was pretty well-blended except those ends that could sort of blend in. And it’s weird, but my hair in back is much less gray than the hair on the sides.

Eat lots of salad greens. That seems to make my hair grow like crazy for some reason.

When I was growing mine out, I was advised just to keep my hair as healthy and hydrated as possible. Also a great cut helps. I needed to rethink the colors that I wore and revamp my makeup. I had dark brown hair and had white hairs sprouting everywhere. The white hair drained me of color and I had to up my game, wear bolder colors (solids not prints as my hair added pattern enough lol) and darker lipstick, paid closer attention to my eyes / eye brows.

Isn't that a new style of hair coloring I'm seeing on TV and in magazines - dark roots showing? Some look better than others, yours is fine.

Aside from one time in the late 90s, I pretty much left my graying hair to its own devices. It's naturally dark brown. There was a time when I felt it looked faded and sad, neither shiny dark hair or twinkling gray. One of the hardest parts of going gray was discovering I couldn't wear the colors I'd been accustomed to my entire life. Throw in no more sun bathing and tan skin and I felt like a total frump.

Then I embraced my limited color palette (essentially black and red) and my hair became a nice silvery gray. I get random compliments from total strangers. I've been asked at the MAC counter if it's natural. Haha, kids.

You're just trendy, Ida. That look is all over the place. :)

I never knew that evaluating one's hair color, makeup, skintone and clothing was a thing as we age, but, yes, I'm getting to that point, too. I need to find a good colorist.

Maybe someone has said this already, but would it be possible somehow to darken the lower already-colored portion of your hair a shade or two, to match your new natural growth?

Yes, dark roots are the trend at the moment. Embrace it or wear a hat!

I’m sporting about an inch and a half of gray roots. Off to the hairdresser tomorrow.

I think you are on Instagram? there are a lot of women growing out gray on IG.

No advice but interesting to hear how this is going for you. I remember you mentioning doing this and I was thinking same. Right after I retired I tried skipping color once to see if I could go natural and I despised it. Even DH who never notices anything commented on the gray. Yours isn’t really gray though so a different situation in my opinion. I agree with those who said to just stick it with it until it grows out and then maybe high/lowlights occasionally.

How short are you willing to cut your hair? I read once about letting hair color grow out. The advice was semi-permanent color (which others have said didn’t work for them) to blend roots with colored hair and a short hair cut.

I like the suggestions for low lights in the colored portions to make it blend better.

I am probably about 30% gray. I’m a brunette so the gray is noticeable. I was going to let mine grow out, more from laziness than anything else. The entire family vetoed the idea, so every 5-6 weeks I truck off for a half day at the salon.

If yellowing is your biggest problem, try a purple shampoo for blondes to tone out the yellow. The best I have found is Nexxus.

I did highlights and lowlights for about a year on all the hair and it really helped blend the “barcode”

Thanks for all of the excellent advice! I've been looking a bit online for photos of women who are going through this transition (not on Instagram though - I eschew social media with the exception of this place and TripAdvisor ;-)), and have found a number of inspirational, encouraging pics. My stylist is out of town, and I'm not due for another trim for a couple of weeks, but I think I'll ask her at that time what she thinks about low-lighting the "yella" portion. She's good, so I think she would be able to blend it nicely. I do use purple shampoo, and it helps considerably. I have to be careful, though, and generally use it only on part of my hair as it tends to really turn the natural whites a purple shade, and I'm all for funky and edgy, but I don't want that.

LOL @ the "barcode"!

I confess I've never had my hair professionally colored. For a while I had highlights/streaking, and when that started oxidizing, I covered it with a shade or 2 lighter than my roots then just let it grow out and tried not to notice. I keep my hair pretty short now, so it didn't take a long time. I've had it uncolored for years now, and it's stayed pretty dark with scattered silver strands and some natural highlights from the sun.