Colouring hair

I colour my hair and so did my Mother. I have a very pale complexion and before my hair went totally grey I had it dyed grey to see what it would look like.
I looked totally washed out. Especially in the Winter.
I am going to dye it as long as I can. I pay for a hairdresser to come the house every three weeks. I consider it part of my essential maintenance programme, like exercise and my teeth.
I am also vain and I think unless you have beautiful grey hair ( few of us have) then grey hair looks aging and pants.
I don't have it short and I don't dye it blond either. It is dyed a light brown with very fine highlights. It is straight and glossy, with the use of good products and GHDs.

However, although I am happily married to a DH who loves me whatever I look like, I have issues of self esteem. ( big story if you have a pschiatrists sofa and a couple of months to listen) I don't have the confidence to let my hair be undyed.

Thank you MOnica! That really cheered me up! I'm going to colour it as I can't stand it as it is!!

Why are there two sets of attitudes for women who colour their hair? Do it young and it is barely worth a comment. Do it when you reach an age where your hair is going grey and attitudes are change completely. Sometimes, it is why are you ashamed of going grey, other times that you are refusing to face up to growing old and still chasing your youth.

I loved the colour of my hair when I was younger so never felt any need to change it. Now I am going grey, not in the nice elegant way that so many gransnetters and Mary Beard show but in a white eskimo ruff round my face and the odd bit here and there. It does not look attractive and it is taking place very slowly. I had my first grey hair 30 years ago and my hair is still predominately its original colour, except for the eskimo ruff. It does not look attractive and is not flattering, so I colour my hair, fairly close to my original colour and will continue to do so until my hair is more evenly grey/white. Then I think I will die it pink or green or bright red.

Thank you, morethan, you have cheered me up a bit.

for you NotTooOld I've had days like that. Good luck with the knee, your hair will grow and might be a lovely shade of grey. I'm moving into a 16. Life can seem shitty depressing somtimes. Chin up.

I'm still struggling with the piebald look, ie lots of grey coming through and at least two other colours on the ends but I won't go back to dyeing as it made my scalp so itchy. I have just been in an M and S changing room and got a bit of a shock seeing my hair at all angles. I've also put on a bit of weight, which was why I was in M and S looking for cotton trousers in a 14 instead of my usual 12. Tomorrow I have to go to hospital to have an arthopsy on my knee. This is a very depressing day whichever way I look at it. Oh, yes, and it's raining (again).

Mine is a coloured blonde and I also use Touch of Silver shampoo to ensure no brassiness creeps in.

Cheap as chips Provoke Touch of Silver shampoo and conditioner. A spritz of Moroccan Oil "shine" after styling (!)
Not advertising, honest, but we can so easily be ripped off by extortionate products and I refuse to go down that road any more!

Alea fabulous hair colour

Now 64 and I've been silver grey for 20+ years, just like my mum who went white very early, so it must be in the genes. I use a good quality purple shampoo which keeps it soft and bright. DH and DD say it's useful when they are trying to spot me off in the distance and Mum actually thought I went to the hairdressers to have it made this colour..... God's own highlights instead! I wouldn't willingly go back to all the fuss, cost and time taken at the hairdressers having colour put in.

I use Nice & Easy non-permanent ash blonde and there is no scalp irritation and no root growth. It gives a highlighted effect at very little cost.

Oo yes, I love your silver hair too! I've recently started using a clarifying shampoo every other wash on mine. It helps to keep away the yellow tones from the grey bits. I did use one of the special 'silver' shampoos for a bit but it just seemed to make my grey look really dark and unattractive . Tried going down the 'hightlights & lowlights' route but mine grows so fast it needed redoing every four weeks and was bankrupting me! I've decided to let nature take it's course now and believe nothing really suits us so well as what nature intended

Nobody has ever said that before!! Thank you! Grey/silver does have some advantages!

Me too, you look very elegant Alea

I would love your hair Alea.

As has been well documented (!) I just would not go down that road again. I agree with lightening and brightening to go for silver, if your grey is dark or dull but for all the reasons you gave up, why on earth start again?
I get more compliments for my silver/white hair than I ever got for any of the previous colours and the palette of colours I can wear is much more fun.

I've always used Nice n Easy, I find it covers grey well.
If I had thick grey instead of very thin and fine white hair I would be tempted to stop colouring.

Well lots of us on here discuss wanting to let our grey grow through and stop paying for expensive hairdos so I would be sure you want to do it before you get back on that merry go round. I have read several articles on this and they suggest have your hair brightened professionally with silver colours to lift the grey and perhaps new make up also to help. Personally I think the grey can look lovely if well cut and and groomed- I'd really like mine to grow through now but I suspect we are looking at Brillo pad in texture and tone.