Colouring hair

I wasn't aware we were discussing Syria, but if you want to start a thread I'll express my opinions if appropriate
My point is that we have had pics of many Gransnetters with silver hair who might not take kindly to the opinion that grey hair is drab, rarely attractive, or synonymous with frizzy, rats tails or unkempt.

My walking stick is pink , ivory and green flowery design and perhaps I did react strongly but I felt rather patronised for not trying to stay thirty all my life. That is my opinion and I am expressing it

I think we should be unashamed of things like walking sticks, silver hair or whatever goes to make up who we are . Make a stick a fashion accessory, not an apology. By all means colour your hair if you wish, but silver hair should not be synonymous with or an admission of giving up on one' s appearance. Look at Phyllida Law, Christine Lagarde , Julie Walters or Jamie Lee Curtis.
If you look back in history, a parasol or elegant cane often completed the fashionable ensemble of a society lady.
Our society is all too often obsessed with youth - Paul McCartney with his obviously dyed brown barnet or silver fox George Clooney ... who do you find sexier?

I was born with mousy brown hair and have added colour to it since I was a teenager - mainly red, but also I dyed it black for a long period when my kids were young. Could never afford to have it done professionally, so always had to endure the mess and dyed carpets, bathroom grouting, etc, etc. Still dying it (did it yesterday) with L'Oreal Florida (supposed to be honey blonde but in my case turns out like a light brown). Anyway, my problem is that I seem to have developed psoriasis of the scalp and it looks like I will have to stop dyeing. My hair is shoulder length. I don't want to have it cut, but I can't go around with a line between the really awful (pepper and salt) grey and the attractive brown for what would probably be six months. Probably going to have to spend money to have the dye taken out and a rinse put on. Sad, sad, sad!!!

I can already see my hair is going to be a dark iron grey, not a lovely silver like Alea's, but the oracle known as my hairdresser assures me I that when the dye has gone I can have silver highlights to brighten it up. She can do that without letting the dye touch the scalp, she says. I'm tempted to have it all chopped now but that would leave me with about two inches of grey hair all over and with very short hair I look like a turnip.

maddy47 you can buy a dye stripper in supermarkets if you want to it yourself. That's what I used when I "transitioned" to grey. I then used a semi permanent on the top bit till I could get the dye cut out. The stripper will not return it to its real colour but will lighten it. Cost £7-8.

Well hair is supposed to be our crowning glory isn't it, so well worth asking others what they think. I am a natural redhead, and it's now turned strawberry blonde. Redheads usually go sandy coloured which is lucky and well worth any truants we may have had in school? I think the idea is to just do what feels right. If hair dyes and colours cause itching, then ditch it quickly. Your immune system is reacting to the ingredients .

Sorry my last post was badly written and mis-spelled. It was done in a hurry.

Curiously, unlike, Alea. My perception is that women who are proud to be grey think they occupy some moral high ground, while those of us who colour are seen as some lower weaker self-deluding group. But, as I said, the occupiers of the moral high ground always seem to be women who have gone grey elegantly and quickly and they rather forget those less fortunates whose pattern of greying is more akin to havingan accident with a paint pot.

My attitude to older women dying their hair is the same as it is to younger women doing the same thing, it is entirely a matter of personal choice, like wearing nail varnish or lipstick.

I'm 68 and dye my hair in three tones of brown , twice a year at the hairdressers. It is my one luxury! The regrowth between sessions blends well with my natural colour. I told the hairdresser I was waiting to go grey/silver. She was rather surprised, saying "your a long way from that! " So I guess it is in my genes. My mother was well into her 70's before her brunette hair began to lighten. I long for the silver look of my friends!

I stopped having mine dyed when i was seventy, I think the cut is more important, I have mine cut every three weeks and I get more compliments about my hair than I ever did when I was younger.

Lizzy53
Only yesterday I made an app at well known hairdressers for advice on colour. You can have a 15 min app with a colour technician for free and get all the advice you need. They give you colour swabs and tips, and tell you to go away and think about it all for free. Then you can go buy the colours they advice and do yourself if you like.

i think the bottom line is, do what makes YOU feel good, not what other people say. If you like your hair grey, that's fine. If you feel better with colouring your hair, do that. Seemples!

What about curly or straight? I had mine cut to maintain the natural curl last time I went but now I think it makes me look older and am thinking of getting out the straighteners again. However, DH has just told me it looks better curly. All this soul searching has come about since I saw my hair in the three way mirror in the MandS changing room and did not like what I saw!

Sheilagh, my sentiments entirely! I have mine regularly trimmed too! Cut is so important.

Tessa101, never been brave enough to colour my own hair since my teens! I decided I wanted to be auburn. It was the worst bad hair day ever!

I have naturally straight hair, and after years of perming decided to return to the natural look. I haven't regretted it. It's a case of "wash and go!"

I colour mine but know if I let the grey come through it'd be salt & pepper like my mum's. If I knew it'd be silver I'd go for it & put mad colours on whenever the fancy took me. There's a woman in our village with a Judi Dench crop who regularly sports pink & purple streaks & looks amazing. Last time I had my hair coloured I had a magenta slice put in & it really cheered me up

Maddy47. I had the same problem with the brown growing out. My hairdresser put in blonde and brown foils all over to start with, then gradually reduced the number of brown ones 'til I was just having a very few blonde streaks put through. Now I've stopped colouring altogether ( about 6 months since) my hair is quite grey at the front and still very dark brown right at the back but looks fine. The grey regrowth which is about 3 inches now doesn't look bad at all as the few blondes broke up the regrowth line. Best of all, foils don't irritate your scalp at all as the dye never touches your skin!

Thanks for your suggestions Chelseababy and Carol58. I think I'll have a word with my hairdresser and see what she suggests. It was she who noticed the psoriasis in the first place, and suggested I see the doctor.

I dye my hair various shades I do think the hairdresser does a better job on it than my at home attempts but at fifty pounds a time I sometimes can't afford it however the last colour I used dark blonde turned out a light auburn that I do like and will probably stick with for a couple of months I enjoy changing my hair colour and have gone from very light blonde to auburn hair dyes are much kinder to your hair than years ago especially the natural ones from Holland and Barrett or the non peroxide types give it a go

For the first time in my life I love my hair1

It's a mixture of light grey/white/silver, straight and shoulder length. A pity it took 60+ years for this event to happen but such is life. I let the grey grow through about five years ago and never looked back.

One of the benefits of getting older is that finally I have made peace with my body and my mind. I like me.

I'm 62 and my hair has been so many colours over the years I've forgotten what the original should be I'm off to the hairdressers right now for my monthly roots. I went from dark to fair to disguise the grey better as i got fed up of it showing through the week after it was done and feel it does look better now I'm older. I have a friend who went grey very young and she looks fabulous now in her late 60's with it very short and spikey silver. I'd say go with whatever takes you fancy - but it might be wise to do it gradually as suddenly going dark chestnut after years of grey might be a bit too much of a shock! A few highlights to start with perhaps?

Silver me!

Hi all, fairly new to gransnet,so thought I would add my comments whether to colour hair or not. Well I went for lunch yesterday with 2 friends, and we had the very same conversation, one friend is blonde with a bob style, and she said she will carry on as long as ever possible to keep her hair blonde(she is naturally light mouse/grey) as she feels dowdy otherwise, The other friend has long brown hair,and her views are the same (she us 69 and looks 15 years younger,also with the help of a bottle).I have collar length chestnut hair, with just the odd wisp of grey which is natural ,I follow my grandmother who kept her hair col our well in to her 70s, (lucky genetics) I am 65, and only put a semi permanent col our on to enhance it usually Nice and easy brand about every 4_6 months or so.I have another friend who has steely Grey hair ,she also looks lovely and tries the occasional coloured hairspray for a different look,wash in wash out. Sooooo in a rather long winded way,do what ever you are happy with,and experiment

PPP, what a lovely elegant style. There's no way your silver hair could be said to be ageing. My sister used to have her hair dyed back to her natural brunette colour, leaving a flash of silver at the front. However, she now has a mop of naturally silver curls which I envy just as much as I ever envied her brown curls!

M0nica, if I ever find out where the moral high ground is, I'll also find a way to bypass it. I gave in to my silver locks when having whole head and highlights every four to six weeks became just too expensive once I had retired and had to get used to being a pensioner. I use Aveda blue malva shampoo to avoid that yellowish tinge

orthopaedic sandals
Oh dear, I am going to have to buy some of those before too long

But my hair is still brown (naturally)