A mum who ditched hair dye and shaved her head after a break-up has grown out her natural silver locks - claiming she now looks younger. Amy Jowett was a young teen when she first started dying her hair and noticed the odd grey strand appearing from around the age of 22.
The 39-year-old admits she had been using her tattoos and dying her hair wacky colours as a 'coping mechanism' to 'hide behind' following her divorce back in 2010. But it was after a break-up in October 2020 that the mum-of-two opted to get her hair cut to cheer herself up - only for it to go disastrously wrong.
Instead of dwelling on the break-up and hair fail, Amy seized upon the opportunity to shave her head to allow her grey hair to come through. The singleton described the therapeutic act of ditching her old locks as a 'weight being lifted off her shoulders', as for much of her life she'd used it to define her identity.
Two-and-a-half years later, Amy says the results have been 'life-changing' as her hair's now in the best condition it's ever been. She says her confidence has skyrocketed and she's saving hundreds every year from ditching hair dye.
Now Amy is urging other women thinking about embracing their grey hair to take the plunge and reclaim their natural look. Amy, of Langport, Somerset, said: "Growing my hair out grey was about embracing my natural look. This is the most confident that I've ever felt in my life, it's been life-changing.
"For so long I tried to hide behind my tattoos, hair colour and styles, and make-up. I'd just got to the point where I just wanted to be 'me' and natural. My first concern was 'is it going to make me look older?' and I don't think it does. If anything, having the lighter bits and the grey around my face actually brightens my face up.
"I would say that it's made me look younger because if I look at photos of myself in my 20s where I've actually got really dark hair, I look awful. I feel more confident, brave for doing it and just generally happy and I don't care what anyone thinks of it either.
"It might not be for some people who might think 'oh, she looks awful, why has she let herself go grey?' But I really don't care. My attitude is very much - you do what you want with your hair, everyone's beautiful in their own way."
Amy was 14 when she first dyed her mousey brown hair and she'd colour it every six to eight weeks. Sometimes she'd use a home dye but would also nip to the hairdressers, which set her back around £100 a pop, so she was spending on average up to £300 a year.
