When I ditched the hair dye in 2018, I despised the skunk line. It was difficult to navigate the journey as I was losing confidence in how I looked. The stares from people around me made things worse. I found myself constantly struggling to appear good and confident at the same time during my silver hair transition journey.
During those days, connecting with inspiring women who were on the same journey or had already undergone the transition improved my outlook. Seeing their lives before and after the transition always uplifted me because many of those women emerged more confident following their grey hair transition. There is a wealth of inspiration available.
It’s only the initial few months that can be daunting and might tempt you to reconsider. But believe me, after that, time simply flows as you begin to love the new silver hair growth and the feeling of a healthy scalp and hair.
Every silver sister has her own unique story and experiences, as well as her own mindset and tricks to get through the difficult phase of growing out grey hair.
I always looked through the inspiring before-and-after pictures and transition stories and tried various tricks and tips that helped me look great and boosted my confidence when I was feeling low or reluctant to show up.
These suggestions are very practical and can be quite helpful for getting through those difficult days. I hope they assist you, too, in navigating the initial four to five months of grey hair transformation.
Here they are:
Tips for Transitioning to Gray Hair:
1. Throw away or gift the colour bottle. Don’t keep it at home.. as if it will be around… you will be tempted to recolour your hair.
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2. I never hide my hair during the transition, as I believe facing our fears more often makes us stronger. I wanted the world to know that “what I am up to is on purpose! Yes! I want to show that I have silver strands and it’s not a mistake or I haven’t taken long to hide my greys with colour… It’s the real me❤️. Still, during difficult days, you can go for various options to hide the demarcation line and keep going (temporary hair colour sprays, scarves, hats, bandanas, headbands, etc..)
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3. Silver hair communities on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest kept me motivated along the journey. I would say the biggest support!!❤️
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4. “This too shall pass!” was the magical line during the difficult days.
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5. It’s quite obvious to get negative comments and suggestions. I just kept ignoring such comments and never indulged myself in any arguments. I kept moving, forgiving such people, as they don’t think like me.
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6. Never underestimate the power of dressing, red lipstick, and high heels. You got this! 💋
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7. Last but not least, keep experimenting, trying new things with your hair and looks during your journey and most importantly, “Keep Sharing” and “Be an Inspiration for others!“
15 Inspiring Gray Hair Before and After Pictures:
Before-and-after pictures are powerful reminders that ageing can be graceful, stylish, and empowering. I am thankful to these wonderful women from Instagram who came forward to share their before-and-after pictures of their grey hair transformation and their words of wisdom with you.
I’m Iris, and I’m 53 years old and from Germany. In my late 20s, after my first pregnancy, I started to go grey. For the last few years, I’ve dyed it every 12 days. It became more and more difficult, stressful, and expensive for me. One day, I saw a couple of beautiful silver sisters online and decided pretty quickly that I wanted to see what would naturally come out of my head. After a few difficult first months, I started to enjoy the whole journey. I didn’t know what the silver sisters were always talking about when they spoke of inner freedom and self-confidence. Now I know. It’s a journey to yourself, a love for yourself that you automatically get as your grey hair grows out.
I will never go back because I have changed inside and out, which has made me much happier than ever.
– Iris @lillygoesgrey_
Being a brunette my whole life with added highlights, one day, I woke up in January 2019 and decided it was time… Time to embrace my natural silver glitter at 62 years old. I went against my profession (which is a makeup artist), against what my friends, colleagues, and society suggested was age-accelerating… that I would look much older than my biological age with grey hair. My journey to grow in gray was cold turkey, with no toners, bleaching, or coloring. I absolutely loved going through every single stage of the growing-out process.
Four years later, my sense of uniqueness, freedom, and confidence was and is most definitely empowering. Six years now, dye-free, and will never return.
– Karen @silvergypsychick
The process of letting my gray hair grow out was both interesting and eye-opening. I’ve had gray hair since I was very young, but because of my work as a model—I always felt the need to keep it covered. Beyond public perception, the challenge was how this transformation would affect my career.
When I made the decision, many important questions came up: How would the transition go? Should I cut all my hair off? That felt too drastic and traumatic. Or should I let it grow out naturally, dealing with the mixed colors during the growth process? In the end, I chose what’s called “cold turkey,” which fit my personality better. I wanted to live the process authentically, observing how I felt as it unfolded.
This journey is definitely not for everyone, but if you feel ready, go for it! The most important thing isn’t just letting your grey hair grow and “letting yourself go,” as people sometimes say; on the contrary, it requires even more attention and care as the texture changes and the process is different. It’s about taking control of your life, allowing your gray hair to grow, and showing it off authentically.
– Keidy @keidymoreno19
Hi, I found my first grey hair at 14. By the time I reached 40, I was dyeing my grays every 2 weeks. It was so stressful worrying what people would think if they saw my greys. I decided to embrace my grey after scrolling through Instagram pictures of beautiful ladies who had the most amazing grey hair. I started my journey by creating an Instagram account so that I could join other ladies in their quest for grey hair. The support I received from Instagram was so helpful.
– Kelly @greyciouslygrey
Hi, My name is Aparna. My journey with grey hair began when I was 18 years old. Many years of colouring and applying henna did nothing but make it greyer. Until 2020, I decided to ditch the hair colors and chose my hair health instead. Was it easy? No. To be able to be oneself in the world is the most liberating thing for one’s own soul, is what I say now.
– Aparna @aps017
My name is Jineen Marie, and I shaved my head over six years ago. I had been dyeing my brunette hair for years and was done with it! I had 5 weeks of roots grown out, and my niece had just been diagnosed with cancer, so I decided to shave my head in honour of her. She is now cancer-free, thank God! I was able to donate my hair to Children With Hair Loss and then began my silver grow-out!
This journey has been so freeing! I love being my authentic self and reminding others that grey is just another colour!
– Jineen @jineenmariesilvery
Transitioning to grey is simply embracing another colour, not a sign of ageing. Every person’s body follows its own journey, some visible and some not. Going grey has added character and depth to my appearance, making it feel like a natural part of my identity. My biggest inspiration has been my parents, who never dyed their hair, and I found strength in their confidence. I chose to focus on the appreciation received—“I want to have greys like you” or “Is that grey highlights?“—while tuning out any criticism, knowing that it takes a toll to meet societal expectations.
– Bhavya @bhavya_iyer
Related Post: Gray Hair Before and After Makeup Pictures
I’m Lisa Lane from California, and I’m turning 50 this year. Growing out my gray hair was a bit unplanned! I used to be a brunette model in L.A. for all kinds of gray root cover-up products, and I constantly felt pressured to look as young as possible. During the 2020 lockdown, I saw pics of @annikavonholdt, and I decided to embrace my natural grey hair (which I first discovered at age 18). It took 2 years to grow out. Nowadays, I still get modelling jobs, but without competing with much younger women, and I love my new look.
Ultimately, growing out my gray hair has not only enhanced my outer appearance but also brought about profound positive changes within, making me feel more authentic and empowered.
– Lisa @shadesofgray75
I decided to let my gray grow out at 35 when I got tired of covering the skunk line every two weeks. With two young kids, dyeing my hair felt like just another exhausting task. The growing-out process was tough, but I used headbands and updos to get through it. Along the way, I learned that people love sharing their opinions—wanted or not—but it taught me to trust my intuition.
Letting my gray grow out was a turning point, giving me the confidence to embrace bigger challenges—best decision ever!
– Chris @chrisbaroncorcoran
I started noticing my first greys in my early twenties; by 26, they were more prominent. Family and relatives constantly pushed me to color my hair, telling me I looked older, but something in me resisted—I wanted to embrace my natural self. When I met my husband, he was one of the few people who didn’t question my choice; instead, he told me I looked beautiful, which gave me even more confidence. The first year of going grey was tough—judgmental stares, unsolicited advice—but over time, I learned to tune out the noise and stand firm in my decision.
After two years of embracing my silvers, I feel more authentic, confident, and free than ever, and I hope my journey encourages others to own their truth.
– Neha @salty_peppery_me
In January 2019, I decided to stop colouring my hair. I wanted to stop the chemicals and be more authentic. After joining ‘silver’ groups online and seeing all the beautiful women who stopped dying, I had the confidence and did it. There is definitely an unknown of what your color will be, and it took almost a year & 1/2.
I always heard “ Mother Nature doesn’t get it wrong” and I do love my color, and it is empowering to be living authentically.
– Lisa @lisawbaker
Hi! I have always coloured my hair since I was a teenager. All colours. I’ve been black since I was thirty, and in June 2023, I decided not to do more and let the silver take over. It was tough. But for the first time in my life, I was complimented constantly on how pretty my hair was!! It took until December 2025 to fully grow out the black, but I love it. I’m still getting compliments, too! Be strong. The journey is the fun bit.
– Sonia @sonia_moisey
You might like reading: Ditch Your Purple Shampoo and Use This Alternative Instead
I’m Sandhya, and I’m 50 years old. Once upon a time, not so long ago, I had a huge resistance to revealing my age. But not anymore! Going grey was one of the stepping stones to fully embracing who I am and showing up as my most authentic self every single day. Covid shut down my colouring options as I was too lazy to do it myself. That’s when I realized that my discomfort in revealing my age was rooted in checking off my tangible achievements against a list I had made for myself based on societal expectations. I felt inadequate about not meeting these milestones by a certain age.
The decision to go gray helped me reflect on what is truly important to me and take away meaningless energy expenditure on worrying about hiding my age and showing up as someone I’m not. And the funny thing is that I now constantly get compliments on my looks from all kinds of people. I truly believe it’s not because of how I look but because they see me for who I am—someone who has accepted herself completely for who she is.
– Sandhya @saroyanatural
When my greys started to come in, it was like I had a white headband that just kept getting bigger and bigger. The demarcation line was very bold, and honestly, it was embarrassing and I wasn’t sure if I should embrace them or cover them up. People had plenty to say about it. The in-between phase was rough, and I definitely had moments where I almost gave up. Then, one day, I looked in the mirror, and it just felt right, like this was me all along. Now, I love my grey hair; it’s freeing, it’s me, and I wouldn’t go back for anything.
– Robin @robins_grey_reals
My name is Pratiksha, and I started going grey at 17. I finally gave up colouring my hair at 41. I was nervous because it’s not normal in our culture to see young women with grey hair, and also I didn’t have many examples to look at. But once I started, I never thought about turning back. The first year was awkward, but people started telling me how much they liked it, which made the process a little easier, and I couldn’t wait to see the full transition. Having healthier hair is so worth not being “normal” and just colouring your hair every 6 weeks.
– Pratiksha @pikaljenkins
My grey hair story began when I was 12. A school friend spotted my first grey strand and was shocked. I was embarrassed and asked my mother to pluck it out. For 15 years, I dyed my hair, initially using henna and later switching to hair colour for root touch-ups. However, the process became exhausting. In July 2023, I decided to stop dyeing my hair and let my greys grow out.
The initial 6 months were extremely hard as the grey patch was growing, and people started noticing. But then, as the months passed by, I started feeling confident and liberated! This journey not only helped me become stronger but also made me fall in love with my authentic self! I’ll be forever grateful to the silver sisters community.. especially Anjana and Irene and so many more beautiful silver sisters for always inspiring me!
– Nikita @simply_graysful
Hi, I’m Viji, and I am 47 years old. In August 2024, I made the freeing decision to go grey and never felt more liberated. The abandonment towards conforming to societal norms has given me a new sense of confidence and happiness. When a man can flaunt his bald head and exert power, a woman can do that and much more with a head of grey!!
There’s so much to gain by not being vain!!! The colour of my hair cannot define my life or belittle my existence. Don’t fray when you go grey!!
–Viji @the_viji_sp
Stories about going gray are a big part of changing what it means to be beautiful. They show that beauty isn’t just about being young or having a certain hair color; it’s also about being confident, being yourself, and expressing yourself.
I hope these beautiful grey-hair goddesses will inspire you to feel good about your natural beauty and confidently rock your silver hair.
Let me know in the comments box how your grey hair journey is going.
(Also, please don’t forget to share this post on social media, as this post can be incredibly inspiring for others who are considering embracing their natural hair colour. Seeing someone else’s transformation can give people the courage to start their own gray hair journey.)
