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Red hair on older ladies

(42 Posts)
AntheaAKAMrsMad Mon 25-Jan-21 13:50:10

Hello!
I’m 67 and have always dyed my hair red, or reddish blonde.(Excellence) Recently I’ve gone very blonde but with pale skin I look washed out and OLD.
Not for me.
Has anyone got any ideas please? I don’t want to be dull!
So many people say red doesn’t suit older ladies but I love it.
Do you have pix of your hair? smile
Before and after recent pix.

Sparkling Tue 26-Jan-21 16:53:33

I much prefer the red to the blonde.

Sparkling Tue 26-Jan-21 16:51:49

The colour really suits you. Go as red as you like, sure it will be gorgeous. I am now a silver which looks lovely, in fact my hairdresser refused to dye it but boy do I feel old with it. Just waiting for any hairdresser to open and get it dyed.

Hetty58 Tue 26-Jan-21 11:02:58

I've always loved (and once had) that very bright, obviously artificial, primary red colour. I might just go that way again soon as it's such a fun look and suits pale skin.

WW010 Tue 26-Jan-21 10:58:46

I was a proper ginger when I was young. Hated it. Now 63 and strawberry blonde. Love it. It has its own highlights which I love. You do look better with the warmer colour. I tried blonde for a while but it made me look washed out too. Also tried ash blonde - argh. Awful!!! Unfortunately with the red hair comes pale skin (usually). Stick with the warm colour ?

Redhead56 Tue 26-Jan-21 10:07:21

My hair has always been gingery red went light in summer a bit darker in winter. It’s always been curly but started to pale in thirties. I have used a colour shampoo light copper for quite a few years. Start of lockdown didn’t want to shop for unnecessary things so didn’t bother with it.

My hair now looks patchy snowy I hate it but my daughter says it’s naturally attractive. I feel my personality has gone with my colour but I don’t really like the fake colours I see-in the shops. Overall I don’t know what to do and my hair is as I age losing it’s curl.
My son is the same colour as I was. His twin girls have extremely curly red hair which I am proud to have passed on. I worked in a hairdressers when young and was always told my hair was titian.

Gingster Tue 26-Jan-21 07:28:27

I’ve always been a natural red head and as the grey crept In had it coloured a blond/red. Since last year it’s all grown out and I’m now white all over. People say it’s lovely but I feel so old. Can’t wait to have my reddish blond back.

Marydoll Tue 26-Jan-21 07:26:41

Jane, using a pseudonym doesn't always maintain anonymity. I recognised an old school friend immediately from her username and a piece of information she posted.

Some posters may not wish to be identified and prefer the opportunity to sound off, without anyone knowing who they are.
I think the photo profiles were scrapped when the new GDPR regulations were introduced.

janeainsworth Tue 26-Jan-21 07:07:31

I’m not sure why some people have cautioned against posting photos of themselves - people quite often do on Soop’s kitchen & in the earlier days of Gransnet we had profiles where you could put photos up.
If you’re using a pseudonym I’m not sure what the problem is.

Anthea I like the darker one but as someone else has suggested maybe get some highlights/lowlights done whenever hair salons can re-open?

Nicegranny Tue 26-Jan-21 02:56:34

Strawberry blonde looks fabulous on you but the flat blonde colour looks drab and draining.
I would go back to the strawberry b if it was me with your colouring as it looks perfect on you.

honeyrose Mon 25-Jan-21 23:56:04

Anthea - the reddish hair (photo on left of screen) really suits you, whereas the blonde shade does make you look rather washed out (sorry to be so blunt!). Stick with the red (I’d call it strawberry blonde) it’s absolutely perfect for you.

Callistemon Mon 25-Jan-21 23:19:14

I prefer the red hair, Anthea

Callistemon Mon 25-Jan-21 23:17:35

My hair hair has got darker over the years, from blonde as a child to reddish brown, now dark brown with auburny highlights (except for two bits of grey at the front.)

It’s always baffled me why anyone would choose to have red hair.
I used to dye it to make it more auburn but haven't done that for years.

MayBee70 Mon 25-Jan-21 23:07:57

M0nica

I saw a wonderful portrait of the irish writer, Edna O'Brien taken on her 80th birthday, with a head of flame red hair. She looked fantastic.

I cut the picture out and when I finally have grey/white hair I will hve mine dyed the same colour.

I was actually going to reply to the question in the title ‘only if you’re Edna O’Brien’. I can’t imagine her with anything other than red hair. She is a force of nature!

SueDonim Mon 25-Jan-21 23:02:19

I had auburn red hair as a child, which I hated. It darkened as I got older and now, in my mid-60’s, it’s a chestnut colour with not much grey in it as yet. It’s always baffled me why anyone would choose to have red hair. I was so glad when mine went dark.

My sister had very dark brown hair and it was still 75% dark when she died at the age of 72.

Bigred18 Mon 25-Jan-21 22:53:36

I'm a natural redhead in my 70s. It is now coloured to match my natural colour, wouldn't be without it! My mother told me redheads don't go grey, they go white!

Jumblygran Mon 25-Jan-21 20:34:52

I am also a natural redhead, but in my forties it started to fade until someone shocked me by saying oh you are a natural mid brown aren’t you? I think redheads more than other colours have their identity mixed up in their hair colour. It is rarer, we have all been teased, I am still told that red heads have a fiery temperament. ( I don’t)
I used red hair dyes for years but I got very sick of the way the commercial dyes fade so quickly with reds so now I use henna. My hair is not naturally grey so I have got rich dark red hair with the henna dyed over it. When I ask my family member whose taste I respect, if I a too old for it she says no, one day I will loose the red but Vivienne Westwood wore her hair red into her seventies I am 61. My hair may never go grey as it seems to be a family trait.
So AntheaAKAMrsMad do what makes you feel comfortable don’t worry what others think.

GagaJo Mon 25-Jan-21 20:28:04

I had mine dyed fire engine red last year. I couldn't decide if I lived it or hated it.

I've been various shades of red for half my life.

Buffybee Mon 25-Jan-21 20:21:59

That's amazing *Marydoll", it really looks as if it's been highlighted.
I'm naturally dark haired and unbelievably still have quite dark hair, if I let it make an appearance but I've had blonde highlighted hair for the last 30 odd years. Hate to think how much it's cost me in that time.

Marydoll Mon 25-Jan-21 19:38:02

Here is my hair, 65 and never been dyed. I look as if I have spent a fortune on highlights, when it is properly blow dried.

Dinahmo Mon 25-Jan-21 19:02:41

sf101

As a natural red head I hope it looks good on us oldies. Mine is turning white at the edges and when I look too washed out I'll use a Golden Blonde on it and I get a lovely strawberry blond which starts to look two tone when the white creeps in again, I love the effect and I don't feel old enough to go all white yet.

You probably won't look washed out as I guess you've got pale skin.

Dinahmo Mon 25-Jan-21 19:00:03

I'm a natural red head - of the ginger variety. When it started to fade when I was in my 40s I had very expensive highlights which made it look excellent but not that it had been coloured. When I moved to the country and was in the sun more they faded quite quickly and so I had henna, which was very bright (early 50s) Eventually I decided that the henna was too bright for my skin and had to have dye until the hennaed hair grew out. Then I went to my natural colour in my mid sixties. It now looks strawberry blonde most of the time, especially in the summer.

I think the reddish blonde colour suits the P much better.

As I fade I don't grey hair but white at my temples which I don't mind at all. I think dark colours (unless natural) aren't so good on older skins, they can be rather harsh.

Whenever I see young people with natural red hair it always look lovely. It's such a pity that redhead children get abuse.

trisher Mon 25-Jan-21 18:14:44

I've always been blonde but in my 60s when many of my dark haired friends were suddenly blondes I thought it wasn't fair and I deserved a change as well, so I went red. Everyone said they liked it, but when I decided a few years later it was too much effort and blonde was easier so I went back to it, a lot of people immediately said "That really suits you" (from which gathered the red didn't). That period is now known by my GCs as "The time when Granny had red hair, " said with a little shake of the head!

cornishpatsy Mon 25-Jan-21 18:07:49

Foils in a reddish brown or copper would look good especially with more at the front. Something like this but more reddish.

MiniMoon Mon 25-Jan-21 17:15:13

My sister is 65. She had a dark shade of ginger hair when she was younger. It is almost white now, and looks really good.
Why bother colouring it? Go natural.

emmasnan Mon 25-Jan-21 16:59:10

My natural colour was a ginger and I colour it a ginger/red now.
I'm nearly 65 but have had lots of compliments on the colour.