Hair Story: Celebrating My Natural Grey Hair Journey

I bought into the negative stereotypes about grey hair for years. I subjected my scalp and hair to monthly hair dyes that I didn’t want to do or pay for, for over a decade because I felt the pressure to hide my natural grey hair.

Violet Simon

by Violet Simon

February 4, 2025 ∙ 4 min read

Sarah Strange started sharing her hair journey on Instagram in 2019, after struggling to find role models of younger women with grey hair. She has since built a community empowering others to embrace their natural hair colour.

My hair has always been an important part of my identity, from experimental cuts and colours in my teens to now proudly celebrating my natural silver colour in my thirties. From around age 15, my hair became one of my biggest insecurities as I started noticing grey strands. By age 17, I was using box dye kits monthly to cover the roots. It was expected, as many of my family members had gone grey at a young age, but I felt cursed with “bad genes”.

I held that shame with me until I stopped dying the natural grey colour at 27, and it was one of the best decisions I have ever made. The grow-out journey took about three years, and although it was tough at times I found the whole process really empowering. It resulted in the healthiest hair of my life and an overflow of self-confidence. The “curse” has transformed into a blessing!

It can be hard to go against the grain in a society that has crafted beauty standards for us, however, the feeling of confidence you find when you let go of that and embrace your hair is so liberating!

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