Rejected by hairdresser

I think dyed hair over 70 can be aging if dark, especially reddish brown. Blond tends to look softer. It’s difficult for hair to look healthy and shiny if constantly dyed.

It’s still possible to look “presentable” without dyed hair, but can take a bit of getting used to if you have coloured it for a long time, and have an entrenched negative vision of what older women look like without dyed hair.

I'm glad that I'm not the only one!
I'm 72 and still use Nutrisse red on my hair .
It looks ok ,but obviously dyed .
I have asked around to check that it's looks alright .
I was advised by professional hairdressers recently to leave well alone and just carry on using it .
I started to let it grow through and my friends thought that I looked ill and washed out .
I have a long silver wig to try if I really do want to go grey .
I wonder if I'll be an 80 year old lady with dyed red hair .
Maybe !

Farzanah

I think dyed hair over 70 can be aging if dark, especially reddish brown. Blond tends to look softer. It’s difficult for hair to look healthy and shiny if constantly dyed.

It’s still possible to look “presentable” without dyed hair, but can take a bit of getting used to if you have coloured it for a long time, and have an entrenched negative vision of what older women look like without dyed hair.

As you get older you lighten the colour of the hair colour you use. I showed my hair dresser a photo of me taken in my 50s , before I started to go grey, and he commented on how dark my original hair colour was.

I come from a family where we go grey very late in life and in a very messy way, from the outside in, so in my 80s while the hair on the crown of my head head has faded in colour a bit, it is still dark brown, while all round the edges it is grey/white.

I have a photo of one of my uncle taken just before he died in his late 80s, and the crown of his hair is still as dark as it ever was, surrounded by all this grey/white hair. It doesn't look good on a man either.

Both my daughter and grand daughter are under strict instructions to let me know when my hair colour no longer looks good with my face colour.

My hair still has a natural sheen, mainly because until recently I have only been using dye on it 2 or 3 times a year, although I use it more frequently now. I have often looked at women with dull lifeless looking dyed hair and wondered how that happened. Now I know.

The best way to poison your body is to use bad hair dye since the fastest way to absorb these chemicals is through your skin. Not for me. I am not ashamed of my age and I am proud of my silver hair. I earned it !

Of course it's "possible to look good with grey hair", many of my friends have grey hair and they look great. One of them has fairly long, thick grey hair with streaks of white, it is fabulous, another has an elfin cut like Judy Dench and it really suits her. I certainly don't have fixed ideas about what ages people, if I had to choose it certainly wouldn't be the colour of their hair!

I use nice n easy on hair, about every 8 months, seems to work fine and my hairdressers said it’s in good condition.

I notice that people who extoll grey or white hair are always those who have gone through the tranfer from - whatever colour they were- to all over grey or white in an attractive way and now have a head of silver or white hair.

Unfortunately, for others the transfer is far less attractive and it is easier to even your colour out by making your hair the same colour as the ungrey hair you have than having the brown hair bleached to match the grey.

Summerlove

Sounds like they are both trying to protect your hair and their reputation.

Try another less scrupulous salon perhaps?

And then when the hair breaks ( which it will ) you could potentially be bald.
Only you can decide if your vanity is worth it.

Summerlove, it's not just older people who have problems with porous hair. Many young people, who dye their hair regularly have the same issues. Why don't you go back to the salon and ask what they CAN do to help your recover and regain a good condition so that you will be able to have your hair coloured without having bad results. I'm sure they can recommend some great hair treatments to help condition your hair back to being healthy, so why not treat yourself to that instead for the time being?

I love my silver grey hairs . Used to have a lovely streak at the front but when I had my hair cut short it disappeared. My daughter commented yesterday have lovely and soft my hair is. I only wash it once a week with Clairol essence shiny hair shampoo and conditioner.

I would never dye my hair to much faff.

My aunt had natural dark hair but like silver streaks in it. One day her hairdresser said I won't streak it this time as you have your own silver streaks. 🤣

Very little faff to dying your hair. Takes half an hour every 3 or 4 months.

M0nica

I notice that people who extoll grey or white hair are always those who have gone through the tranfer from - whatever colour they were- to all over grey or white in an attractive way and now have a head of silver or white hair.

Unfortunately, for others the transfer is far less attractive and it is easier to even your colour out by making your hair the same colour as the ungrey hair you have than having the brown hair bleached to match the grey.

This is true. I dyed my hair until I decided to grow it out before dying it again due to it being dry and brittle, luckily my actual hair grew out totally grey/silver.

Whatever happened to powdered Henna?
When I was a teenager MrOops used to do my hair in the garden (I couldn’t manage to do the back and he made too much mess indoors) easyish to put on, a pain to wash out and lumps of henna ‘mud’ to pick out of your scalp where you missed it. Oh happy days……

I used that occasionally. I liked the one that included some walnut as it was browner - almost on the greenish side of brown.

M0nica

I notice that people who extoll grey or white hair are always those who have gone through the tranfer from - whatever colour they were- to all over grey or white in an attractive way and now have a head of silver or white hair.

Unfortunately, for others the transfer is far less attractive and it is easier to even your colour out by making your hair the same colour as the ungrey hair you have than having the brown hair bleached to match the grey.

My hair isn’t grey it’s a mix and not dyed. My dislike of hair dye is more to do with the chemicals used, and the fact that my hair is fine and probably quite porous although never been tested.
I also think you have to use a lot of hair products to counteract the effect of dye on the hair. Perhaps someone will let me know that my assumptions are wrong?

I sent grey fully in my thirties ,I tried to colour it but it didn't turn out right.The hairdressers I have visited have all said they wouldn't colour it ,luckily it a nice grey and I get a lot of compliments .
Love the picture Jaxjacky unfortunately my hair is thin now .

I would be wary of hairdressing chains. Too much “one size fits all.” My salon is owned and run by a husband and wife team. They are both very experienced hairdressers. The staff are excellent too. Over the years any concerns about my colour have been fully discussed and a solution has been found. Try another salon and ask for recommendations.

M0nica

Very little faff to dying your hair. Takes half an hour every 3 or 4 months.

If you have hair in good condition. OP however was told that her hair is very porous- probably because of regular dying, naturally, or a combination. So good professional second opinion would be a good idea to check.

Personally, I love my salt and pepper hair. I went though a phase of highlights for the transition, and it worked very well.

What Macadamia says above is very true- we do slowly poison our body with strong chemical absorbed through hair dye and acrylic nails, botox, etc. Also affect hormonal balance strongly. Too little information about this is openly available.

I just use a good quality shampoo that's designed to protect coloured hair and a conditioner. I also use a product that protects my hair When I blow dry it. That's all I use and it would be the same if I didn't have my hair coloured. I've had grey hair and it really didn't suit my colouring, if it did I wouldn't colour it. The only product that I use especially because my hair is dyed is one which will hide regrowth, a quick puff along the parting after I've washed it at home and it lasts until the next wash.

Farzanah I use no extra products on my dyed hair at all. Just the usual shampoo and conditioner - and never have.

I use SuperDrug own brand hair dye and have done so for about 20 years, without any adverse effects on either my hair or my health.

However I have never dried my hair using a hair dryer. I do not even own one. My hair is dead straight and since my late 20s has always been fairly short so I just wash, comb and go. I think it is the use of hair dryers and other such heating devices that damages the hair rather than the hair dyes.

Surely the strand allergy test was precisely that? Would you have preferred them to go ahead regardless, risking a skin reaction or a horrendous hair dye result which had you wearing a brown paper bag over your head for the next 6 weeks? It's for your own protection and AFAIK grey hair (or more exactly WHITE hair because that is what grey hair is - the mixing of individual white hairs with the original colour) reacts very differently to procedures such as dyeing.

MOnica, despite always being dried with a hairdryer (because if allowed to dry naturally it looks like a bush even though straight) my grey hair is in very good condition. It’s in better condition than it was when I used to have it highlighted so I conclude that the use of dye or bleach is more damaging than a quick blast of the hairdryer.

*Barleyfields. I can only assume that it is the combination of colour and hairdrying that does the damage. My hair is in as good condition now as it has always been.

keepingquiet

Same here. I sucked it up and I'm a few years younger than you. Trust me people know you're old regardless of your hair colour.
The hairdresser is doing their job.

At 75 I’ve never gone grey*, but judging by the fairly frequent occasions when someone offers me a seat on the bus or tube, I do certainly look my age!

*it’s genetic, my mother (a natural ‘strawberry blonde’ as they used to call it) still wasn’t actually grey - just a faded sort of greyish mouse - when she died at 97. Her hair was still ‘golden’ on her 80th birthday.

I think natural grey hair can be very flattering. I decided to go grey after years of colouring. I very occasionally use a L'Oriel silver shampoo and leave it in for 10 mins which covers the darker grey a little and makes the overall effect more silvery.
On the other hand I know someone in their mid 80's who continues to colour her hair a very dark brown and it definitely makes her look so much older than her years.