What an awesome book. I have always loved women who have beautiful silver hair. I always worried as I start to see the silver coming in, that I will be one of those people with ugly salt and pepper hair. This book teaches you how to not only grow silver naturally, but how to take care of it because it turns silver for a reason. It talks about the change process and how to keep it from being dry and flaky. This is my new passion, so the silver at the temples will just continue to grow. And when I say this is good for any age, it is. They even focus on those who went silver before they were 30, or those who purposely go silver.

An excellent book and just what I needed to convince me to try letting my natural "silver" hair grow out.

I followed Lorraine Massey's guidelines in her previous book to let my naturally curly hair just be as nature intended, instead of spending hours straightening it every day and have not regretted the decision at all. Now it may be time to stop adding chemical dyes and just see how it looks. The great hair cuts and excellent care show beautiful silver haired women in this book. Tempted to take the plunge!

As a long time Curly Girl fan, I jumped at the chance to review Lorraine Massey's new book. I got it and am reviewing it less than 48 hours after having first seen it on Net Galley! First of all, what she's talking about in this book is the exact situation I find myself in at this point time. After years of coloring away the gray (and no, I'm not afraid to call it gray), it's become so overwhelming in the past year, since the stress of my mother's death and its aftermath, that I'm at the point of taking the "grow-it-out" plunge myself. This book seemed to just hit a sweet spot for me.

Massey's book is packed with good advice and fascinating photos that lets those of us considering letting our silver hair grow out know what to expect. The time lapsed photos of clients that have started letting the gray grow are helpful because they give us a sense of how long it takes, what it looks like and what we can do to make it attractive. Whether we let it grow out and mingle with fading dyed hair, or get our colorist to match the emerging gray, she offers a ton of advice on how to care for our new silver hair, and how to bring out its best. She also offers general fashion and makeup style advice because for many women, going silver is going to change the color range that will flatter them.

What I liked less about the book was the large number of personal stories of women going gray, which seemed, after a while, a bit repetitive. I get her goal, mind you. Massey seems very driven to convince us that it's okay to go gray or silver. (I would equally add that, to me, it's okay not to want to, since many women may find themselves in professional situations where they may not feel this is a good choice right now.) To be sure, I know a lot of people receive pressure to continue to color their hair. She offers sound advice on how to push back on that idea, with the ultimate reward being healthier hair and being released from the salon cycle. The large number of photos of women with spectacular silver hair is enough to convince anyone that it's possible to have silver hair and be very attractive and fashionable.

My other problem is with some of the recipes for hair treatment she offers up in the book. I live in a major metropolitan area, and I'm not even sure where I'd go looking for Indian gooseberry juice. Another recipe, Blue Dew Toning hair bath, calls for at least four of different blue/purple flowers and berries like betony, hollyhocks, iris, indigo, woad, cornflower, elderberry or blackberry. Even if you can acquire these things, while natural colors are great and all, I can tell you as a chemist that your results may vary based on the pH of your water (hard vs. soft) and the pH of whatever you put on your hair after using the toner. Natural pigments can have sharp changes in color based on how hard your water is. (You should see the pretty green color I can make from a juice-based dye extracted from red pomegranate arils, after rinsing a magenta pink-tinged fabric in Miami's hard water!) So I'd approach some of these with caution. And for heaven's sake, don't use blueberries unless you want a greenish gray tinge.

This is still a very enjoyable book and one I'll buy when it releases in February. By then, I'll have some major silver going on!

A lovely and timely book for all those of us ditching the dye and embracing the grey - more and more of us I'm glad to say! This is an inspirational and useful guide to letting the grey grow out, whether naturally or with a little colouring help, and has lots of stage-by-stage photos of beautiful examples. A further bonus is the collection of home-made recipes for hair tonics, shampoos and conditioners. Loved it!
Review of a preview digital copy from the publisher.

Loved this book! It is a great resource if you have silver hair! I will be buying this book as soon as it comes out.

I'm 55 years old and grey hairs are becoming more and more prevalent. My hair is naturally dark and I've never really been a huge fan of going regularly to the hairdresser so as the greys came through I started to use a root dye in dark brown. The problem is grey hairs seem to grow at an alarming rate and against a dark background they stand out even more so I found myself touching up the roots every couple of weeks.
The result was hair that was dark flat and dull, there was no shine or contrast and it looked dreadful. I spent ages searching for the best option because while I have grey hairs they're mainly at my temples (or they were then I have a lot more now) leaving the rest dark so if I went light I would have dark roots to content with.

It seemed to be a no win situation and so in desperation I went for highlights. I originally wanted grey but my hairdresser said it would be difficult to get the grey I wanted in my hair so I went for blonde with a grey toner.
This worked well but it means I have to now go to the hairdressers on a regular basis but I'm the happiest I've been with my hair in a long while.

My husband really can't understand why I bother "just let it grow naturally" is something I hear every time I head for the hairdressers and maybe I will later but I'm not ready for that yet.

It may sound strange but I felt so happy when I found this book, I was looking for help, advice and confidence because it takes a lot of courage to go grey.

I'd never stopped to consider exactly what this book would contain, while there's advice, tips and recipes the majority is taken up with the stories of women who've taken the plunge and gone grey.
While initially I enjoyed reading these after a while I felt there were just too many because they are all so similar and I started skipping over them.

Although having said that I did find the time lapse photos intriguing.

If you're battling with grey hairs and are searching for the best solution for you then this book has advice and the experience of many women who've been where you are now.

I voluntarily read a review copy kindly provided by NetGalley and Workman Publishing Company.

Unfortunately, it’s a brave move for a woman to go grey – or the more prosaic silver. It’s not something most women embrace in our youth-crazed culture, as it’s seen as ageing, and marks a woman out as being, in that old-fashioned term, “a woman of a certain age”.
But this wonderful handbook is for those wanting to liberate themselves from the dyeing ordeal, a process that is both expensive and time-consuming, and possibly even unhealthy, too. This book shows a range of women, of all ages, some of whom have greyed early, and they are all vibrant, healthy, and proudly silver, and beautiful with it. You also get to see the various growing out photos, some of which are not that pretty to look at – but as Massey advises, there are various ways to make the transition. And looking at the women with before dyed hair, and their natural silver, it’s easy to see how dyed hair can even make someone look quite drained and vitality-less. There are also recipes for hair treatments, as grey hair requires different hair products. Embracing your natural silver is a highly personal choice however – and not for everyone, of course. But if you’re thinking of ditching the dye and need some inspiration, and positive stories around the process, this is a definite must-read. Grey doesn’t have to mean old or dowdy – and this book will show you how to silver with flair.

Interesting read, full of up to date ideas for living happily with silver hair. Proving going grey is a positive not a negative and is totally gorgeous and fashion led. Save money and time not dyeing your hair, it fabulous to be silver, get ideas for excellent cut to enhance the colour, work with it rather than fight it. I'm convinced and will give it a go. Super book for anyone who's going grey for whatever reason, it's fine, love it.

I let my hair go gray about nine years ago and have enjoyed the experience, so I also enjoyed seeing the great pictures in this book of women who have fully embraced their "silver" and those in the growing out process. What I particularly appreciated were tips for caring for the very different hair type that emerges as gray or silver or white (I have all three). My formerly straight hair has taken on a wavy/curly texture and is drier than my dark brown locks were. The homemade recipes were intriguing, but just knowing what to look for in products and ingredients for everyday shampoo and conditioners is an amazing help. I did not enjoy reading each person's story about growing out her hair -- way too many of those for my taste; but overall a great book for women who despair that growing out the gray will ruin their beauty.

Absolutely beautiful layout and as for content, it was everything I hoped for and more!

As a younger woman with rapidly silvering hair, I found the information in the book helpful. It has given me some styles and ideas to consider and discuss with my hairdresser. This would be a great book for any women with changing hair.

When I was younger, and my mom's beautiful, almost-black hair started sprouting those first gray hairs, I thought to myself, "I'm never going to let myself go like that." Now that my medium blonde hair is dusted with white, I've changed my tune. I don't wish to spend all that time and money keeping my hair a color that it no longer is. I do condition it, use some specially marketed products for the new me to keep it in top form, and then I don't think a lot about it.

The author, in my opinion, has created a wonderful book filled with first-hand accounts from people who have embraced the changes the years have brought to their lives. She encourages the reader to think about how much time, effort and money to put into keeping up that false front.

There are some, like my sister-in-law, who will color their hair for as long as they are able, but for others who wish to transition or stay the way they are, this is an encouraging book.

This was such a great and inspiring read with photos of beautiful 'silver models', great tips, and again, inspiring and encouraging for women to 'let it go'.

My mother went silver (not gray!) at a young age, and I've wanted her silver hair for as long as I could remember. Only now in my late 30s is it happening, and I'm just wishing it comes in faster -- especially when I read this book!

I have quite a few friends that refuse to go gray, and I'm definitely going to recommend that they read this book.

Great book on taking care of your hair and embracing going gray.

Lorraine Massey hopes to do for silver and gray what she did for naturally curly hair, that is embrace and celebrate one's crowning glory. In Silver Hair, you can find empathy, inspiration, and tips for letting go and enjoying your color transition. Massey shares her own journey with blondearexia and there are many of us in suburbia that relish the salon visit for fresh highlights (raises hand), She is not alone as Silver Hair includes a plethora of personal experience and stories from women of all ages, but more women of color would also have been much appreciated. Beauty trends come and go, but let's hope this trend of embracing one's natural highlights stays on.

3.5 stars

Lorraine Massey’s Silver Hair: Say Goodbye to the Dye—and Let Your Natural Light Shine! A Handbook is empowering and inspiring. (And how about that long title!) Massey is famous for her previous book, Curly Girl, which is also designed to empower women to choose their hair’s own natural style. Considering I’m a silver-haired woman with natural curls, reviewing this book is an obvious choice for me.

When I was deciding to let my silver shine through and stop dying, I found another book to inspire me. I used to stop and peruse the pages, wondering what my hair would look like once the dye was gone. I found Massey’s book similarly fun to review, and can imagine how it might answer that “what if?” question for someone not quite decided.

Massey gives copious lighthearted instructions about how to make the transition to your natural color. She uses pictures and stories from real-life women who’ve decided to dramatically change their hair. Hair colorists weigh in, as does style maven Stacey London.

Sometimes Massey verges on insistence rather than encouragement, which might be off putting for some women. “You must go natural to be your true self!” or some such sentence. Truly, you can be yourself with hair dye or without, just as much as you can be less authentic with or without hair dye. For me, the insistence wasn’t an issue, since I’ve already gone all in. Here’s fair warning if you aren’t quite sure yet.

I’m anxious to try some of Massey’s tips for keeping silver hair in tip-top condition. But I have to admit the idea of using a drop of blue food coloring in my conditioner is slightly terrifying. Other concoctions have unfamiliar herbs, but most have ingredients readily accessed in your kitchen or garden. I can’t wait to tell my Asian husband that I have a use for the water he rinses the rice in!

About once a week, a woman asks me if my hair color is natural. Then she says, “Oh I want to do it, but I’m so nervous!” Often we have a long chat. I suspect that in the future I’ll be referring people to this book for more information and ideas.

Thanks to NetGalley and Workman Publishing for an advance reader’s copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Silver is the new black, blonde and brown… From the author of Curly Girl, Silver Hair,comes a guide to letting your hair go silver. Massey, a hairstylist for three decades, includes testimonials and pictures from herself and from women of various ages who decided to bite the bullet and let their hair go natural. Her message to those who want do it is to “embrace your natural hair and do it for you and no one else”. One myth is that silver hair will age you or look unprofessional. She says that as long as you take care of your hair and yourself you will look great. In fact, she has many women who go silver who never go back to dying their hair again. She also suggests some hair products and home remedies to make that transition easier from dyed to silver and to keep your hair in good condition.

As a convert myself at 54 years old, I agree completely with the advice she provides in this great handbook. I have received so many compliments on my silver hair and wish I had started sooner. It is true that the texture of your hair will change so you will need to change the hair products you use. I also found that I had to change my makeup and clothing colors as well because my hair color was so much lighter. Ms. Massey discusses this in the book also. My advice to you is to take a chance. Every person is different and every hair color is different, but I promise you will welcome not having to pay to dye your hair again and that you will love the results!

Thank you to Ms. Massey, Workman Publishing Company, and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to review this book.

I have been growing out my gray hair for a couple of years. I was hoping to find out some new techniques to help it looking fresh and trendy. I was disappointed, nothing new in this book that I haven't already read on -line.

Unique topic... women actually letting hair go gray naturally (or with a little help from their hairdresser)! Very good presentation and thoroughly researched. Really appreciated the quotes from women of various ages telling their stories. The recipes at the end look daunting to me but those who like "natural" haircare might find them helpful.

This is a great book for anyone thinking about going gray. It gives lots of great advice on making the decision to go gray, how to deal with transitioning to gray, what kind of products to use on your hair, and clothes and make up tips to help you look your best. There are lots of wonderful pictures that shows the process that several women went through and some of women just rocking their silver hair with style. Lots of great inspirational stories were scattered throughout the book as well. This is a really helpful book.