Happier Grey Podcast

In this episode I'm chatting to Victoria Wright, who didn't have any noticeable white hairs at the point where she decided to stop dyeing. For her the decision was driven by concerns about the impact of hair dye ingredients on women's hormones. Like many women, her greys started coming in round the front, and she now has noticeable streaks. She's loving this stage of her life, seeing embracing her greys as part of embracing her natural self, and who she is.

In this episode I'm chatting to Sarah Faulkner, unlike most of my guests, her grow out was a lighter to darker transformation, as she had been dyeing her hair platinum blonde before her grow out.Sarah chose to ditch the dye, because she wanted to move away from her long, bleached blonde hair to a natural look that she would feel more comfortable with. It took a bit of adjusting to, but she now loves the colour of her hair.

In this episode I'm chatting to Julie Kelly who chose to ditch the dye 10 years ago. Initially, her hair was still darker at the back, which she didn't love. Over time the back has lightened, to the more even shade she has today. She's also chosen to grow her hair, and embrace it's natural curls.Julie has to be one of the most active guests I've ever interviewed, having completed a London to Paris cycle ride, and a coast-to-coast paddle board trip, in the last few years raising money for cancer charities.

In this episode I'm chatting to Sally Wilson, who decided to embrace her greys at 44. She started the process with grey blending, which gave her a much softer demarcation line for the rest of the two year grow out.Since going grey, she's started posting hair tips and hairstyling tutorials on Instagram. And she loves the sense of community she's found there, with others who are in the grow out phase, as well as those who have totally transitioned. You can find her at @silverbysally

In this episode I'm chatting with Helen Hirsh Spence, who ditched the dye during Lockdown. She'd started to challenge her inner ageist before she started the grow out, and saw the transformation as a visible demonstration of her new mindset.Helen has done lots of things in her life, and in keen to continue to do so. In the past decade she became an age provocateur, advancing a new stage of life, elderhood. Her TeDEX talk "Embrace Age with a Longevity Mindset" had more than 100,000 views in the first week, and she's also written a book "Reset: Making the Most of the Rest of you Life".

In this episode I'm chatting to Meg McKeen, who ditched dye at 40. She'd previously been dyeing it jet black, so she had the full skunk stripe during her grow out.Her grey hair transition coincided with a major period of change in her life, with a relationship break-up, her grandmother dying, the early stages her own business, and choosing to sell up and travel full time all happening around the same time.Now at 47, Meg loves her silver hair, and the life she's created.

In this episode I'm chatting to Mia Maugé, who ditched the dye in 2016. She made the decision for a number of reasons, but I love that encouragement from her daughters was one of them. They had friends who were dyeing their hair platinum, and thought their mother would like great with it too.Mia started her Instagram page in 2020, because she was frustrated by the lack of representation of people like her by fashion and beauty brands. The page quickly led to her being scouted by modelling agencies, and finding a community of silver sisters.

In this episode I'm chatting to Sue Whitaker who originally started dyeing her hair whilst working in a corporate environment, after senior managers suggested she would be taken more seriously if she wore more make-up, switched her trousers for dresses, and had neater hair.Sue grew her colour out in Lockdown, and found them middle stages of her grow out the most challenging. Whilst her family were very supportive, her work colleagues had plenty to say.

In this episode I'm chatting with Victoria Marie, who ended up going grey by chance in 2001, following a change of circumstance caused by the 9/11 New York attacks.Five years in the making, her film "Gray is the New Blonde" had it's red carpet premier in 2020. Then, just as she was gearing up for a nationwide US theatre tour, the COVID pandemic had other ideas.

In this episode I'm chatting with Minal Patel who is almost 5 months into her grow out. She considered grey blending, but decided it wasn't for her. Instead she's chosen to let her colour grow out naturally. So far, she's much more comfortable with the grow out than she expected to be.It took Minal quite a while to decide to go grey. Initially she had it it pencilled in for when she was 60. But last year, she decided that waiting another three years just didn't make sense, so she had the final colour in December.

There are lots of different reasons why women choose to embrace their natural silvering hair, but this week's guest Jo Brianti's grow out was triggered by the realisation that she was trying to spin too many plates. When a dramatic incident brought things to a head.Initially, her new salt and pepper shade took some getting used to, and she wasn't sure she liked it. The colour has continued to change over time, and Jo now loves the much whiter shade she has now.

In this episode I'm chatting with Alexis Eizinas, who used the insights from her career in beauty industry to launch make-up and haircare lines designed for Silver Sisters, under her Silvering brand.Alexis chose to ditch they dye during her pregnancy, and has never been tempted to colour again, because she thinks grey hair is amazing.At the time of recording, Alexis and her co-founder were in the process of developing an App, the Silvering Sage, to help women through their grey hair grow out. There's a waitlist you can join, that'll let you know when the App goes live.

In this episode I'm chatting to Emily Payne, who chose to grey because she thought her dyed brown hair looked a bit meh, and she was wanted a more distinctive and dramatic look.Emily has been a sex worker for over 20 years, so I couldn't resist asking her whether men found her less attractive now that she has grey hair. The answer was a definite no, if anything she's attracting younger men now that she did before.If you're interested in finding out more about Emily, she has a You Tube channel ThehonestfakeO. She also written a book called Sex is hard work, which you'll find on Amazon.

In this episode, I'm chatting to Alex Hughes, who went through her grey hair transition nine years ago. Rather than ditching the dye and going cold turkey, Alex just had her hair dyed in gradually lighter shades over 12 - 15 months. Until she was ready to stop colouring all together.She's finding more and more of her friends are getting curious, and starting to ask how she made the transition. Although most of them don't yet feel brave enough to go on their own grey hair journey.

In this episode, I'm chatting to Catherine Chapman, who chose to go grey after a health scare with her liver. Her research into what caused the problem, suggested that colouring your hair is one of the worst things for your liver, which struggles to detox the hair dye from your body.Catherine was living in New Zealand during her grow out, where there is a much more relaxed approach towards life, which includes attitudes towards going grey.

In this episode I'm chatting to Angie Newson, who has almost completed her grey hair grow out. She took a phased approach to ditching the dye, starting with the sides, followed by the back. She initially continued to dye the hair at her crown and along her parting. When she stopped dyeing that, she had her brunette shade lightened a couple of times to make the demarcation line look less obvious.Angie stresses the important of being ready before you go grey. She tested whether it would work for her ten years before she took the plunge, by trying on grey wigs, which told she wasn't yet ready.

In this episode I'm chatting to Mel Barfield, who found her first white hair at 20. 21 years later she still only has a sprinkling of them, which she has no intention of covering with dye.While she'd love to say that setting a good example to her daughters, is the reason she chooses not to dye. She is honest with herself, recognising that laziness, and the dread of the ongoing maintenance is the main reason she never got into dyeing to cover her greys.

In this episode I'm chatting to Silvina Neder, founder of the Silvina London, a haircare brand she developed following her grey hair transition. Prior to going grey Silvina had been using the Curly Girl Method, and after her transition she wanted to continue using haircare products with no parabens, no sulphates and no silicones. When she couldn't find a grey hair shampoo without them, she set about finding a developer, and formulating her own.Silvina went grey following a move to London in 2017, and has never looked back. Embarking on a modelling career, and becoming a grey hair influencer, who encourages others through their transition.

In this episode I'm chatting with cold water swimming enthusiast and author, Sara Barnes. She loves having her hair loose while she's swimming, photographing it swirling in the water, like mermaid hair.Sara and I have quite stripy hair, with some patches white and others our original dark blonde shade. Despite having less contrast than some, we were both very conscious of, and uncomfortable with, the demarcation line during our grow outs.

In this episode, I'm chatting to Julie Kneafsey, AKA the Fiftyist, about her grey hair journey. And how the transition led to a new career, and a completely different attitude towards ageing.Julie's had breast cancer twice, and when genetic testing showed that it wasn't inherited genes that were responsible, she started to investigate other possible causes. That journey led to a passion for clean beauty, culminating in the publication of her e-book Clean.She'd had a reaction to hair dye since her teens, and because of the chemicals it contains, it's the first thing she'd recommend giving up!

In this episode I'm chatting to Emma Blaker who chose to go grey in Lockdown, and lightened her hair first to avoid a strong demarcation line during the grow out.Emma works as a mobile barber, and one of the things we chatted about was her male clients' attitudes to going grey. And whether any of them are colouring their hair to disguise their greys.

In this week's podcast I'm chatting to Alison Monteith, who loves creating some drama with her silver hair, which is short at the sides and long on top. When she styles it up, she always get lots of compliments when she's out and about.Alison is passionate about keeping fit and strong. And at 68 is still being set, and achieving, challenging gym goals by her PT. She loves the gym, and plans to keep going forever!

In this episode I'm chatting to Janet Stevens, who chose to ditch the day 8 years ago, when her husband and hairdresser both asked why she was having it highlighted a pale ash blonde, which was very similar to her natural silvering shade.Emma loves her hair in the Summer, when she here skin has a bit of colour. But can feel very washed out in the Winter, which she counteracts with red lipstick and brighter clothing.

In this episode I'm chatting to Niki Rubin who is 20 months into her grow out. Like most of us, Niki has had days when she's tempted to start dyeing again, but each time she comes back to the reasons she chose to ditch the dye each time she has a wobble.Niki is a singer, songwriter and actress, who loves playing with the look, and has been enjoying experimenting with braids, and other styles that showcase her natural silver highlights.

In this week's episode I'm chatting to Amanda Gillespie, who started to go grey in her 20s, and found that children are the most likely to comment and assume that you must be old if you have grey hair.Amanda's the only guest I've had who was tempted to send photo of her dog rather than herself for the episode graphic. Because she's so proud of him, listen in to find out why.

In this episode, I'm chatting to Susan Ritchie, who went grey during Lockdown, having dyed her hair for donkey's years before hand. Dyeing was such a habit, that growing the colour out wasn't something she'd ever considered. She'd always had her hair coloured at the hairdressers, and by the time she thought about buying a box dye to colour at home, they had all sold out.Susan stuck with the grow out, because she was curious to see the end result... which she now absolutely loves.

In this episode I'm chatting the Rachel Peru, who ditched the dye at 45, and started a new career as a silver haired, curve model a year later. She's a body confidence activist and host of the Liberte free to be Podcast.We chat about how she keeps her hair in good condition, her love of fashion and bright colours, why her nickname at school was biddy, and more.

In this episode I'm chatting with Jo Renshaw Thomlinson, who is coach, based in Brighton.Jo had a change of career direction when she was 44, moving from being a freelance photographer to starting to build her coaching business. Her decision to ditch the dye was driven by a combination of looking to save money and being short on time and energy.She didn't enjoy the grow out phase, particularly when she had a Pixie Cut to get rid of the remaining colour.

In this episode I'm chatting to Hulya Erbeyli, who is 11 months into her grow out. Like many of us, Hulya spent many years colouring her hair on autopilot, never questioning why she was doing it.But all that changed when she was rushing to dye it one morning, and stopped for a moment to ask who she was dyeing it for.

This week I'm chatting to Sandra Bird, a holistic practitioner from Suffolk, who first embraced her natural greys in her forties. But she found they made her look and feel dull.Over the years, she's flitted between first natural looking dyes, then vivid pinks and purples. Now her hair is white grey again, and she doesn't think she'll be dyeing it.... but never say never!

In this week's episode I'm chatting with Tina Boden, who went grey in Lockdown, and feels very at home with the grey hair.Tina is all about making midlife matter. And has done everything from entering Mrs Galaxy UK (and posting about it on LinkedIn), to creating AWWA accepting who we are, with her friend Rachel Peru.

In this week's episode I'm chatting to Michelle Smith, who coloured her hair for 40 years, before growing the colour out Lockdown. She'd always had long hair, but ended up with it very short as part of her grow out. And it was the change in length, rather than ditching the dye which had the most reaction from her family and friends.

In this week's episode I'm chatting to Clare Downham, who's decision to ditch the dye was driven by a desire to reduce the harmful chemicals she was putting in and on her body.She feels more comfortable in her own skin now, than she has for years. And having natural hair is just a part of the person she is today.

In this week's episode I'm catching to Lizzie George, who chose to go grey during the Pandemic, when she moved into a motor home full time.Lizzie loves her short grey hair, both for how it looks, and for how easy it is to look after. Perhaps a good thing, given that continuing to use home dyes was never really going to be an option when she down-sized from a six-bedroom family home to a motor home.

In this episode I'm chatting to Juno Quaintrell. Having dyeing her hair into her 50s in the belief that looking younger was important if she wanted to forge a new career post-divorce, she in now comfortable with her natural silver highlights.Part of Juno's current attitude to ageing was forged by interviewing women from around the World for her PhD. And seeing first hand how age celebrated rather than feared in many of societies she visited.

In this episode I'm chatting to Rachel Eglinton who chose to go grey while she was living in Romania. She had a short Bob at the start of her grow out, a route that she highly recommends.Rachel lives full time on a narrow boat, so low maintenance, environmentally friendly hair care is very much part of her routine.

This week's episode is a little different, because I dropped my daughter at university this week, which got me thinking about mums. And I realised that I've never invited my own silvering mother onto the show, I decided to invite her as my guest this week.She's 89, and almost certainly has fewer white hairs than I do!

In this episode I'm chatting to Aishah Iqbal, who chose to go grey during the Pandemic as the result of an International Women's Day Challenge from the company she was working for.Aishah has come a long way since that decision, creating the award-winning documentary film White Hair Don't Care, which challenges the rampant ageism in the beauty industry.

In this episode I'm chatting to Leah Dalby, who experimented with having her hair highlighted for a while. But stopped following a terrible experience at the hairdressers.She had her hair permed for 39 years, before deciding to stop 10 years ago. Now her hair is completely natural.

In this week's episode I'm chatting to Rachel Jammeh, who only tried to have her hair dyed once... and ended up in hospital following a severe allergic reaction to the dye.As a result covering her greys has never been an option for Rachel, as it could quite literally kill her. As a result, she's comfortable accepting ageing naturally, but has had both positive and negative reactions from others about her grey hair.

This week I'm chatting to Kim McClaran, who is based in the States.She originally had pale red hair, which faded to blonde, rather than having obvious white hairs. She has only ever used temporary dyes on her hair, which she started colouring at the request of her spouse, because her fading hair made him think about his own ageing.

In this episode I'm chatting the Helen Davis, who's decision to stop dyeing her hair coincided with major life changes in 2015.Helen first started dyeing her hair as a result of a comment her sister made ahead of her getting married. So, I couldn't resist asking her whether her sister still dyed her hair! 

In this episode I'm chatting to Irish artist Emma Finn, who is almost a year into her grow out.Emma's enjoyed experimenting with her hair, since she first dyed it when she was 12. At the moment, she's having fun with the effects she can create with up dos and her two-tone hair.

In this episode I'm chatting to Franca Cumbo who is 18 months into her grow out, and feels like to amount of grey she's seeing is plateauing. Like many of us she's seeing less grey than she expected.Franca experimented with highlights in the early stages of her grow out, but she didn't love the look, so she's just going cold turkey now.

This week's podcast guest is Nina Macarie who lives in Romania. She started experimenting with hair dye when she was in her teens, and has tried lots of different shades over the years.She stopped dyeing her hair in the Pandemic, following an unsuccessful home dye, while she wasn't able to get to the salon.

This week's episode is a little bit different! I've got a male guest on the for the first time. I've heard such a variety of ways of going grey from guests in my previous episodes. Along with tales of struggles some of them have had with yellowing hair. So I thought it would be fun to get some tips from my (greying) hairdresser Liam Carr, who is Technical and Style Director at Toni and Guy.

This week's guest is Anne Marie Soulsby, who ditched the dye in Lockdown, in part driven by her deepening environmental commitment, which has seen her seek to reduce her chemical footprint.She doesn't always love the aesthetic of her grey hair, or the fact that it doesn't work well with some of the items in her wardrobe, but that is less important to her than being as sustainable and friendly to the environment as she can be. 

This week's guest Alison Taylor has an interesting hair history, ranging from rag curls and perms as child, to a love of Henna before going grey over 20 years ago.She's had her hair short for over 40 years, after finding blow dries, breast-feeding and getting to work on time a completely incompatible combination. And wisely choosing her son, over maintaining a sleek bob!

This week's guest is Tracey Tait, who is in the process of grey the last of the dye from her hair. In recent years, she's had a combination of highlights and lowlights, which quickly faded, so she decided to take the plunge and embrace her natural colour.Tracey had a difficult perimenopause, and keeping her hair dyed through that time was one of the things that helped her through it. But now she feels back to being herself again, and ready to embrace her silver haired chapter.

In this episode I'm chatting to Sarah Heaney, who chose to go grey when she was 35, following a couple of earlier attempts what ended with her going back to dyeing her hair dark.Sarah has no plans to fade into the background, and loves to wear yellow, which brings her so much joy.