Hair, and there. Comparison photos.

The grey pixie is two weeks old now and I couldn't be more thrilled to have gone this route. Do I think the cut itself is perfect? Of course not, but I knew it wouldn't be. The instructions were simply: "Get rid of as much dye as possible," not "Give me the most flattering haircut I've ever had." Having said that, I actually love having a shorter pixie again. This one is a bit extreme for me, but I do feel like myself in this general type of cut. I'll be growing the bangs a bit and tweaking it to eliminate a cowlick, but I think I'll keep a dramatically short cut going forward for the next little while. I like where it seems to be taking me. 

Do I love the colour? Yes -- or I will, as soon as all this darned brass gets cut out of it. I'm feeling impatient for my pure natural colour. 

Do I feel older? NO. I guess superficially it might make people think I'm older but I think it is more flattering to my skin tone and therefore "youthening." 

But it is a change, and I'm learning that I need to make a few adaptations to my wardrobe. Not a huge overhaul but definitely some tweaks. Some things work now that would not work before -- and some things that were slam dunks before just look or feel "off." Drama is part of it, yes, but there are also other factors at play. I'll go into some more detail about that in future posts I hope. 

Reactions on the whole have been very positive apart from that one group of women I mentioned. 

I haven't managed to get a ton of photos, but I thought it might be fun to compare a few FFBO that I've worn now both with blonde hair and with grey(er) hair. These are a few of my "out to dinner" outfits from my weekend in Montreal, and also what I wore to teach on Saturday. It was a super hot weekend but the teaching room had AC so I needed my jacket for part of the day. 

I actually think all of these work perhaps even better with grey than with the blonde. You might or might not agree. 

Anyway, I hope this is helpful to anyone who might be thinking of making this transition to grey. I've been so inspired myself by several here on this forum including Shannon, Claire, Joy, Elizabeth P, Lantana, Caro, Sharan, Staysfit, DonnaF, Donna, and more (thank you!!!) that I figured I'd like to put myself on that illustrious list. :) 

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51 Comments

  • MuseumGal replied 7 years ago

    Honestly Suz, I think you look even more beautiful with the short grey hair - it's gives you a sort of very appealing, youthful, genuine energy, and makes me think, "I want to be friends with that woman!" 

  • Dottie replied 7 years ago

    Gosh, you look so beautiful and CHIC! I prefer your outfits with your new hair as well.

  • Nadya replied 7 years ago

    I love your new look - and i think your hair color is smashing with these black, white, grey and blues!

  • Style Fan replied 7 years ago

    Suz your short grey natural hair looks beautiful and you look gorgeous.  I especially love the last outfit.  You look very chic.
    I can see how your natural hair colour flatters your skin.  Makes sense.

  • carter replied 7 years ago

    Whoa! All 3 were great before, but now they're really stunning. Can't wait to hear about the ones that you don't think work as well with the new 'do...and why.

  • Lyn D. replied 7 years ago

    The black and white is so striking with your new hair- the white reflects the silver so well!

  • texstyle replied 7 years ago

    This is so cool!  Love the comparison and love the new you!

  • viva replied 7 years ago

    So so so damn chic!!!! It's amazing what a couple of weeks will do - I think the hair settled in and you did too. You are simply smashing, as my lovely mum would say. :)

  • Angie replied 7 years ago

    I'm on my phone, so have to be brief. You look sooooo perfect with grey hair Suz, I can't even stand it! You look even MORE radiant and pretty. And youthful! A few weeks of growth and things have really settled in. Absolutely brilliant.

  • Elle replied 7 years ago

    Your natural hair color is amazing.  And these outfits do look great with your "new" hair color.

  • replied 7 years ago

    I agree about the outfits looking better with the grey!
    You look less cute and more beautiful, but I feel like there's even something more to it, as though you stepped into a new state of mind and are deeply refreshed.

  • replied 7 years ago

    I think all the outfits look better with your grey colour. I think you're right that the grey is nicer for your complexion.
    (Good news for this fellow not-yet-grey summer!)

    I love this montage of pics. It's so neat to see the two hair colours side -by-side!

  • marianna replied 7 years ago

    Really gorgeous. The new hair just screams STYLISH and confident. I love it!

  • replied 7 years ago

    Yes, infinitely more sophisticated a look, and I agree that these outfits are even better on you with your new hair.  I'm not sure it's to do with looking younger vs older, as much as it's to do with looking more sophisticated and elegant.  Very interesting . 

  • Suz replied 7 years ago

    Thank you all. Yes, I think the hair itself lends a bit of drama. Which is a good thing. Elizabeth P made a comment on my other thread to this effect -- that maybe the drama I'd been seeking from my clothes (and failing often to find) was waiting all the time for me on the top of my head! ;) 

    But it does mean some things really won't work any more. And some formerly beloved items will be leaving the closet. 

    Lisa, I'll bet you've had similar revelations with colour changes over the years and this new one might be interesting for you as well. 

    ETA, maybe the "sophisticated" bit was just because I was in Montreal!! 

  • dakotacheryl replied 7 years ago

    Pretty, approachable, youthful... Simply wonderful!!

  • Jaime replied 7 years ago

    Ooh! Excellent comparison. You look more chic. I think that is the thing. And black and white looks even better. I love the shorter cut as well as the color. 

  • replied 7 years ago

    You look amazing, I dare say better, now than before.

  • Aida replied 7 years ago

    Thanks for putting the images side-by-side Suz! You know that arty thing you keep trying to get in your style? Your hair is adding it, without any wardrobe tweak. I get an arty sense from each of the "updated" outfits that I don't see with the blonde.

  • Helena replied 7 years ago

    Beautiful before. Beautiful after. Suz = beautiful. That is all!

  • Dee replied 7 years ago

    I love it! The next cut makes all of your looks extremely modern.

    And I hope someday I can look half as chic as you do at your age.

  • Sal replied 7 years ago

    It is more fresh and youthful and chic.  I liked your hair before but this seems more unique somehow.

    I am pleased you show this as I am an unnatural blonde now (rather than a natural mouse) and I have wondered if my grey hair would grow in rather muddy, this gives me hope!!

  • MTBGirl replied 7 years ago

    Suz you look so beautiful! I love your natural hair color on you so much! The biggest difference to me is your shorter bangs. They open up your face and let the wonderful you shine through! <3

  • replied 7 years ago

    Thank you for the comparison.  Now that I have had the chance to get use to the new hair, I actually prefer it.  You look happy and gorgeous. 

  • Janet replied 7 years ago

    What torontogirl said. :-)

    It is really interesting to see these side-by-side photos. I think all of the outfits work equally well with your new hair. The new cut does have a bit more drama, which adds a little extra distinctiveness to your look.

    I saw my sister recently, after months apart (she lives 800 miles away), and since I last saw her, she had cut her hair short and stopped coloring her grey away. I've always said, semi-jokingly, that I can't "go grey" before she does because she's a decade older than I am. Well, now I guess I have the green light! ;-) It's interesting to see her hair now, because I suspect my hair will do something similar, since we have very similar hair color and texture. Her hair looks nice, but I'm still not ready yet. ;-)

  • Marilyn replied 7 years ago

    Love it!  The side by side comparison is great.  You were beautiful before but now you look like authentic Suz.  No fake colour or whatever.....just the true and vibrant you shining through.  Quite honestly, I look forward to the day when I have enough gray to do this myself.

  • Suz replied 7 years ago

    Sally, this what also what I feared. I watched my mother (a dark blonde in her youth) turn mousy brown, then grey. It seemed she had "no colour" hair for decades (all my childhood). She was a very pretty woman but as a child I could not see it because of her dull hair. To her credit, she had the confidence not to dye in the face of repeated demands from others. Her sister dyed her hair and I thought it looked awful and fake. I used to dread adulthood because it looked to me as if I would have two untenable choices!! 

    In her 40s my mum was salt-and-pepper. In her 50s, she turned iron silver. And in her 60s/ 70s she turned the purest white. It was absolutely stunning on her (the white, especially). 

    My dad's pattern was a bit different. He was a tow-head in early childhood. Then turned a sort of weird dark charcoal? Hard to identify the colour, really. Darkest mouse. Some would have said he had black hair! Yet it wasn't. It just reflected rather dark and very, very ash. I think mine is similar. And then he greyed, first at the temples and on top, then back. It took him much longer -- he had a mix of his no-colour brown-charcoal and grey for longer than my mother. It also took him longer to turn white. 

    My brother and I seem to have a different pattern again. My brother's colouring was maybe more like our mother's -- his hair was always fairer and more unidimensional than mine. It seemed to turn completely grey in a matter of months. Seriously! He wears it super short and if anything it is greyer than mine. (He is younger than I am.) 

    I got my first grey hairs in my 30s but not a lot happened for many years. Then it just looked blah in my natural colour for a long time. (Maybe like my mother?) I asked about going grey, but hairdressers kept telling me I wasn't "ready," wasn't grey enough, wouldn't look good, etc. 

    Finally I got fed up with it. I could see that my silver roots looked good on me. I look great in light grey (as clothing). I looked great in charcoal, too. So I figured -- how bad could this be? Off with that dye!!! After all, what was the worst that could happen? I'd have a short haircut that I would want to dye back! Big deal. 

    It turns out that my pattern is a bit like my dad's (lighter on sides and front) but the overall silvery tone is different from both my parents. I daresay I like it better than either of theirs. There's quite a lot of depth (like my dad's) and shimmer (like my mum's). My brother's is similar to this except -- as with his younger hair -- less variegated and more one-dimensional. A beautiful soft grey, though. 

    Anyway -- I say, look to your parents if they have their natural colour, but know that yours will be unique. 

  • Momo replied 7 years ago

    It looks really lovely. Elegant and beautiful.

  • cobaltblue replied 7 years ago

    Wowzers, Suz! Number two about blew me out of my chair. I love where you are going with this cut and natural color.

  • replied 7 years ago

    I agree with Aida's comments.  And no, I can't say I've ever had that same experience - I'm not sure what I do with my hair would make any difference. 

  • Vix replied 7 years ago

    Hi Suz --

    Great before, better after! But then I do like visual repetition and all these looks echo your hair. 

    If you ever return to coloring I do think the shorter pixie should stick around; the lighter look "up top" definitely suits you!

    Am definitely curious about what's no longer working. I could see camels, tans, champagne/gold not playing well but you don't have too many things like that IIRC.

  • Suz replied 7 years ago

    Haha, Vix, keeping you in suspense....

    No, seriously, i just don't have a camera to take pics. And with no full length mirror I don't trust my own eyes. I want to do a side-by-side comparison which I think will interest those intrigued by pattern and colour and their relationship to personal characteristics. 

  • anne replied 7 years ago

    Suz - like everyone has been saying - great before - wonderful after!  What a success!

  • Sal replied 7 years ago

    Thanks Suz.  I am much more like my Dad who is now grey at 76 but almost looks blonde!!  I have his olive complexion.  My Mum had glorious auburn hair which she still colours to a more strawberry colour, and she has fair skin and light blue eyes. 

    I am certainly showing signs of aging (harsh NZ sun has created broken vein and age spots) but I don't have very many whites yet. DH on the other hand is going grey in a George Clooney type of way.  I think he will end up a "Silver Fox".  

    You do look terrific and I look forward to more pics;)

  • Tanya replied 7 years ago

    You looks stunning both ways, but the new cut looks especially modern.

  • Maneera replied 7 years ago

    You looked really pretty before, and you look chic & elegant now. I love this side-by-side comparison. A great way to illustrate the power of a different hairstyle!

  • rachylou replied 7 years ago

    Smooth sailing, man ... :)

  • catgirl replied 7 years ago

    You know I'm a million percent on board... You set a new standard with this hair!

  • Runcarla replied 7 years ago

    So glad that YOU like your natural colour, Suz.

  • Beth Ann replied 7 years ago

    Oh yes!  What a glorious reward for your courageous chop!  

    And....do I spy bold earrings in the afters?  That's an interesting development.....and I like it!

    Keep sharing.  You look beautiful, and we're all learning!

  • Eliza replied 7 years ago

    Suz- you look beautiful. I agree that your hair color plays beautifully with your outfits and skin tone. Glad you are enjoying the process.

    Savings this for future reference. You are indeed inspiring. Thank you.

  • goldenpig replied 7 years ago

    I love this so much! You look great both ways (and thank you for the before and after outfit pics, love the symmetry of it) but I think the new look is so much more dramatic and clean looking. Kind of like how I prefer silver jewelry over gold. The new hair makes the outfits sing.

  • Astrid replied 7 years ago

    Thanks for posting these for comparison - I think you look fantastic with the new hair. I like the shorter cut too. That sounds silly, but I feel like the second person pictured is the more confident one.

  • replied 7 years ago

    Just WOW! I love you in your new 'do'!

  • Ledonna N. replied 7 years ago

    Just a natural beauty. It's another evolution of self.

  • Inge replied 7 years ago

    I was thinking *exactly* what Aida said!
    Your new colour and 'do are beyond gorgeous, Suz!

  • Bijou replied 7 years ago

    The lovely paradox with natural grey hair worn like yours (and the other YLFabbers) is that you are not trying to look young by covering over your grey hair and in doing so, you look more vibrant and youthful than if you had dyed your hair. 

  • jenanded replied 7 years ago

    Elegant assured sophisticated dramatic... looks brilliant!

  • lyn67 replied 7 years ago

    I loved to see the comparison pisctie!!!  LOVED your hair before, and l LOVE it after BUT, and I really cannot explain, the new silver grey pixie is more edgy to my eyes-you are such a stylish girl, no matter what you're doing to your hair!:-) 

  • replied 7 years ago

    What a great idea to do these outfit comparisons. All these outfits look fabulous with your new pixie--as do you. I agree with everything you said in your post and comments and look forward to seeing the looks that you think don't work so I can learn some lessons myself. (Despite having worn my hair grey for a couple of years now, I still make mistakes with colour or picking items that are too girlish for me).

    Off topic, but curious: how are your students responding to your new hair? It seems like teaching is one profession where grey hair is a plus. Mine is the reverse and I'm wondering what to do as I prepare for the inevitability of job interviews.

  • Suz replied 7 years ago

    First, thank you all for your kindness. I know that we have had lots of debate and discussion here on the forum and going grey is not for everyone! I think many of our forum members look fantastic in their (un) natural blondes, reds, and brunettes. (Or blues, pinks, and burgundies, for that matter.) Just to make that clear! My post is more for those who might be considering/ wondering/ ready to make a transition. Not for those who are happy as is. 

    Aliona, first off, your name should have been one of the first on my YLF inspirations list!! Thank you for asking about teaching. Term is over so I'm not working at the university. The teaching I did in Montreal was with adults, and I'm also mentoring a teen, which is a slightly different relationship. 

    In North America, grey hair could be a negative with most high school students /teens. In fact, I delayed the transition for a while specifically because my teen daughter was worried about it. 

    I hope you are wrong about how it will affect the interview process. I think you look so interesting and edgy with the new cut that this should obviate any potential risk. But it's always tough to predict. 

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