To dye or not to dye

Used to but can’t be bothered with all the faff
Result healthy shiny soft hair that never needs the roots touching up

Back in the mid 50's I worked in a hairdresser and would have bright pink highlights in my dark brow hair. Always done myself at home. My father told me that if I lived to 50 I would be bald the way I was mistreating my hair.

When I did reach that age , I was dying (still done at home) my whole head of hair, thick and healthy, but the first grey hairs appearing. so disguised. I carried on doing this until I retired from work at the age of 70 and wondered how far down the full head of white/grey hair I had gone. Turned out at 75/25 - but decided then to stick with it and let that grey take over.
Thirteen years later I am delighted that I have the most wonderful head of silvery grey hair of which I am most proud. Still thick, needs thinning each time I have it cut.

The hair we can see can be damaged by harsh chemicals, but the root can still be very healthy.

Will add Ive had loads of different styles also never longer than shoulder length tho

Been dying my hair over 50 years been every colour. Stopped dying my hair took year to get rid of black hair it’s now completely natural silver grey and I love it would never ever dye again so much better condition. Lots of compliments.

When I worked on long stay hospital wards the staff all competed to help women who had long hair to put it up. I am now, at 74 the proud owner of very long grey white hair which goes up in a corkscrew on top of my head with a gold clip. I wear Lucy & Yak type bold styles and bright lippy. Natural eyebrows etc otherwise. Hoping to be popular with carers IDC....

I realised when I saw posts from people who no longer post.

How do people manage to find these old threads?

This thread is 6 years old

I
I stopped dying my hair, i note about body swelling. I can get salivary stones so had an operation, but noticed when i dyed my hair the stones would come up in a lump in this spot in my neck where i get the stones, and i got bad headaches, so to me that is a warning, maybe my immune system is reacting. Embrace if you can.

Another 'bottle blond' here, haven't heard that term for ages. I refuse to go grey, I just feel so old and washed out when those roots appear that water doesn't even get thought of. ?

Springychicken Just a thought. Does your husband dye his hair in case someone mistakes him for your father?

Pat1949 Re your 2301 post of last night - if you read through the thread you will see that we are all saying "each to their own"
I don't think anyone is 'against' people dyeing their hair - it's completely up to each individual.

TerriBull has I think mentioned a key factor...complexion. Grey/silver/ pure white hair will really suit some people's skin tone and eyes, and absolutely not suit others. So for those it really doesn't suit then most would colour their hair, in the same way that people wouldn't choose clothes in a colour which drained them. Those whom grey hair suits are to be envied as they do have a real choice. Well, that's what I think anyway.

I have mine coloured every six weeks. If I'd gone pure white young like my mother and sister, I'd have kept it but not the horrible pepper and salt look. It's quite subtly done in a reddish brown,which was my natural colour.

I remember Hint of a Tint and used it for years in the 1960s/70s. It sent my hair quite a nice shade of blonde. Some of my in-laws decided to use it hoping theirs would be the same colour, unfortunately theirs turned a peculiar shade of orange which I got the blame for.

Why so against people dying their hair, surely it's up to the individual. I used to dye my hair blonde years ago, now there's no need, my hair is more or less the colour which I used to dye it. Live and let live, more important things to be concerned about than people dying their hair.

I dont dye my hair, it is a lovely silver colour, and my hairdresser always says "never dye your hair it is such a lovely colour" which is nice to hear.I like the colour although I am thinking of changing the style which I have had for too long!

I'm a committed colourer I'm afraid, I like having highlights put in and will continue to do so. I did see some fantastic grey and silver hair in Denmark the women there appear to age very well and stylish with it. I do think grey and silver hair can look good, I think it's best on darker complexions, especially when the eyebrows are still quite dark, a female equivalent of George Clooney, that type of colouring.

I agree Magrithea

I 'bit the bullet' and stopped dying my hair over 2 years ago! It took a while but I like the colour it is now it's grown out - not fully grey but still I've received compliments about how good I look!

I hate seeing women who are obviously older but who still dye their hair the colour it was in their 20s and 30s. I think that's more aging than going grey gracefully! Even more ironic is the young things who actually dye their hair a shade of grey!

Stopped colouring a year ago and definitely feel liberated.

Helen. Can we not dispense with the term 'old ladies'?

I am sallow skinned. Grey hair makes me look even more sallow. I had high lites until I went completely grey. Now have an all over colour and the salon I use salon take small cuttings of my hair ,usually three at most, then use three different colours suitable for my skin tone to take home to compare under a different light. Making colour choice under the salon artificial lighting did not always give the result I was looking for.

Blonde is the new blue rinse! Old ladies go blonde these days!

I began going grey when I was just 21. Twenty years on my very dark brown hair was a rich steel grey colour so I coloured it. My children (still at primary school) didn't want a grey haired Mummy! I worked through all the shades of brown until over the next 15 years until I was a warm blonde. By then my natural colour was white. Five years ago I decided to stop colouring as the upkeep of redoing the roots was getting ridiculously expensive. I really like my white hair now and I'm saving about £400 a year. It looks fresh and uplifting and I can wear any colour clothes. I wouldn't go back to colouring now.

I dye my hair so don't have a problem with it. However whatever you do don!'t dye it black, this looks horrid on an older person. Choose a mid or lightish colour rather than a dark one. Much more natural looking and easier to look after when roots start to show.