These 30 Women Who Ditched Dyeing Their Hair Look So Good, They May Convince You To Do The Same

The Grombre community has grown to a large, respectable group now. It has over 139,000 members on Instagram, over 16,000 followers on Facebook, and another 222 supporters on Twitter. Three guesses which social media Grombre likes the best?

“A radical celebration of the natural phenomenon of grey hair,” that’s how Grombre presents itself on Instagram, inviting women of all backgrounds to submit their photos and the stories of their relationships with their graying hair.

Bored Panda spoke with Ahu Michaelides about her relationship with her gray hair, as well as about the Grombre community. Michaelides was recently featured on the Grombre Instagram account.

“We are a group of women from all around the world with different backgrounds and stories but we have a similar approach to society’s standards of beauty which is: “You don’t need to fit in to be considered beautiful.”

Michaelides explained that gray hair is genetic, it’s in her family. “I’ve always had gray hair since I was a teenager but back then gray hair was associated with older women only, so I didn’t even think of it as an option back then. So I started to dye my hair.”

“As the years went by, it became more and more difficult to maintain. I never really enjoyed spending hours and hours at the hairdressers, but back then it seemed like the only option. In the meantime, my mom’s hair has gone silver gradually and I really admired the color but again it was a “mom color.“ So, until a year ago, after spending countless hours and a significant amount of money on my hair I decided to get a pixie cut and stop coloring my hair altogether. It felt like I’ve reconnected with my real self. Best decision I’ve ever made.”

“For many years silver hair has been associated with older women. And even getting older is a privilege that’s been given to men. A man with silver hair is considered attractive, but when it’s a woman, well, she’s simply old. And no one wants to be seen as old and unattractive and I understand that,” Michaelides pondered. “They should [stop dyeing their hair] for themselves to feel free to feel comfortable in their own skin. Once they realize they’re beautiful regardless, people will see them through their eyes too.”

“Silver hair is just like any hair color. If you’re happy with yourself, with who you are, your energy will identify you, not your age and not your hair. Don’t let society to make you think you’re not beautiful enough just because you’re different. You’re beautiful because you’re different!”

In a previous interview with Bored Panda, the founder of the Grombre Instagram account Martha Truslow Smith explained how she wanted to create a platform of support and positive emotions for those women who think there’s no shame in embracing who you are.

“The underlying reason I started Grombre was to start a different dialogue around gray hair on women and find the answer to some earnest questions of my own: "Is it true that my gray hair is ugly, makes me look old, and means I'm no longer good enough?” the founder of Grombre spoke with Bored Panda. “I’m only in my twenties. If that is true, how will I feel and what will I believe about myself when I’m in my 40s, 50s, 60s?" I want to challenge the way we think about what we consider “beautiful,” and why, and propose that we have more important things to spend our precious time, energy and resources on if we find our hearts aren’t aligning with the things we find to be someone else’s biases.”

Gray hair is a natural part of aging. According to trichologist (a dermatologist who deals with the scientific study of the health of hair and scalp) Madeleine Preston who spoke with Cosmopolitan, most women in their 30s see at least a few gray hairs; however, by the time they’re in their 50s, more than half their hair should be gray. 

“Gray hair is a combination of normally pigmented hairs interspersed with white ones. Hair turns white when the pigmentation cells responsible for color (melanin) stop being produced,” Preston explained to Cosmopolitan. "Nutritional and hormonal factors can affect hair color as well as stress but, by and large, the predisposition to go grey earlier or later in life is genetic."

So don’t stress about a few (or a lot of) gray hairs — they’re a part of life. And I’ll bet a lot of people find them to be charming, not ugly.