To Dye or NOT to Dye,...THAT is the Question,...

[luvmychicknkids]

With me it has nothing to do with being taught that natural is a bad thing.

I don't even wear makeup so that can't be it. I just don't handle the "getting old" thing well. I dye mine at home....found it looks better than when I pay a fortune to get it done. Recently switched to one called Perfect 10 that is GREAT. It perfectly matches my natural hair (I just do NOT see roots...ever). I tried to stop but I got so down and so sad looking at the grey.

I worry, too, because my husband is 6 years younger than me....though I know he would never complain and besides he is going grey, too!!! However, I see women with grey or salt and pepper and wish I could be comfortable letting mine go. It is all about what suits you and not what anyone else wants!!

 

[ellenofdappletree]

interesting topic. Its almost more than just should we dye grey hair, but how much can we change our appearance (or not) and still be "acceptable" to the public. Either extereme in my mind is bad. Too much nature and comfort makes you frumpy and prematurely old, while too many dyes and chemical treatments makes you a fake plasticene barbie doll .

Very often I see girls that make me wonder if any part of their body is real. You've probably guessed by now that I lean to the natural side of things.

Guys really are strange creatures sometimes. I used to do prescribed burning, and I would have guys say that I was especially cute right then all covered in soot and ash.

I was not cute, I assure you.

As for the dying hair issue: as a person who cannot dye or perm their hair without having to shave my head the next day to remove the damage, I have no choice but to go gray. luckily my family ages well. But it is a worry for me and I have been studying women who look good grey. Jane Goodall looks great with grey hair, hers is long. Thats my goal.

I've seen lots of women with fully grey pixie haircuts and they always looked really youthful. So maybe the idea is just to have a modern, youthful haircut. Something different from the normal middle-aged haircuts, which date people anyhow. I guess what I'm trying to say is it can be done. Don't give up.

Now I'm going to go tweeze my eyebrows because I have gotten a little too close to my comfortable, natural side.

 

[AmyBella]

I just colored my hair for the very first time and I love it! I'm 37 and have scraggly grays all over the top of my head. Too many to pluck! My hairdresser did a semi-permanent color-gloss just a shade darker and redder than my natural color. It will fade out in about 6-8 weeks, but in the meantime my hair is super shiny, more manageable, and the grays are completely blended in.

What I hate is the wiry texture of my gray hair. I wouldn't mind it so much if they were straight and behaved like my brown hairs! I love my friend's salt-and-pepper hair, my co-worker's gorgeous white hair, and my other friend's dramatic streak of grey. But in my family it is kinky steely-gray. I am just not ready to embrace that!

 

[simplyscrambled]

When I was younger, I swore I would never dye my hair...

until I started going grey, and yep, I dye it! I get it done as a complete luxury for me. I get a scalp massage, get pampered, sit and read magazines I'd never buy, and I LOVE it! I go to a small salon and my hairdresser is a wonderful woman and friend I've known for almost 20 years.
I wish I were blond, because then you can highlight, and do all kinds of clever things to hide roots. I'm Asian, so it's like a skunk stripe when the roots come out. I kept upping the age when I'll just shave it off, and let it come in natural. Ha, and then I got involved with a man 10 years younger who asked about my hair, and then complimented me on how I 'kept it up', lol! He's getting a bit grey although he shaves his head, it shows when he lets it grow a bit. I like grey on him!!

I have a girlfriend with GORGEOUS silver hair! She is tall, and has deep blue eyes, and is stunning all around! Looks great on her. I tried once to let it go grey years ago (I'm 50) and I looked awful, washed out, and it was depressing!

 

[Opa]

Quote:
Might be true with some fellers, but I live by my word.

 

[hearthnsoul]

I wish I had the patience to let my hair all go white to be honest, I think it looks so beautiful, but the inbetween time is just crazy looking if you can go gray/white I would go for it.

 

[Opa]

I always had thick hair and I didn't have any grey until I was in my sixties. Now it's starting to get thin and I wonder if my head going to go shiny instead of grey.

 

[Up-the-Creek]

Quote:
Opa thank you for giving the mans side on this, even though not all would agree. My DH has your same opinion, he likes a natural woman. The times he thinks Im at my cutest is when I am a mess.
I will say since I started this conversation there is a few points I would like to make. I know when you dye your hair it feels and looks great, give it a few weeks, then thats when it goes haywire. It is not the brand of hair dye that does this,..it is that your putting chemicals on your hair. In this world of "feel goods" and people wanting to go green it amazes me that women and apparently some men would go to the lengths of putting that stuff on your hair. I know I am guilty too, but it wont happen again. We worry about what we eat and what we breath but we will do this to our hair?? I guess it is about facing your age and getting old. What else but fear would make people go that far,..some even farther. I look forward to growing older and I always have. It is a place of serenity, or should be. There is so much to look forward to! Grandchildren, partial retirement,..etc.,.. Thanks for all of your opinions, I finally found my answer.
I thought this was interesting,...
"Gray hair is a crown of splendor;it is attained by a righteous life."
Proverbs 16:31

 

[toletiquesbysam]

I color my hair, have since college. I have no plans to stop, it's called Vanity!

 

[hikerchick]

Growing older does not mean that you stop caring about your appearance. It has nothing to do with youth or fear of aging, or with desperation. It has to do with taking pride in your personal appearance and wanting to look your best- for yourself. If I felt I looked my best with grey hair- like some women do- I would stay grey. I don't. I look sad and dull and washed out and tired. It's a personal choice and it does not mean you are trying to be something you are not. I have no desire to look younger.I just want to look fabulous at 52,