Beauty

[Shanus]

@Pearlee.....but received no hearts.

[Shelbelle]

My lovely Mom lived to be almost 95 and still was coloring her hair, it was very important to her.

[abbeythe 8th]

NEVER

I have no idea my percentage of grey hair as the salon charges the same whether it's 25% or 100%.

[SahmIam]

I started going grey at 11; it runs in my family. I've dyed my hair ever since. It's been every color and style of the rainbow and because of that, I learned very early on that light shades do NOT flatter me in ANY way (pictures don't lie)..

The odd thing about grey is it often doesn't come in uniformly in the amount or the color. I have pure white/silver around my face and that's where it comes in heavy however.... I have less grey coming in the farther back you go and NONE in the back of my head. Also, the color changes from gorgeous white/silver to this ugly (IMHO) yellowish grey.

I tried on wigs to see how I would look with different amount of grey to all white and nope, not a good look for me. I also look bad in short hair (already knew that, lol). So, sat down and looked at cuts via the internet and found there was a common theme in what I liked. Took those pics to my stylist and we discussed how my hair grows, how the gray is coming in and the shade ranges. Together, we decided to work with Mother Nature a bit: in the front I have white streaks (natural) about an inch wide framing my face (which is where the grey would show up 2 weeks after a dye job). The rest of my hair is my natural color (roots are touched up and color is pulled through when necessary) with a few white streaks here and there where they come in naturally. My hair is long, heavily layered and I can do a lot with it, style wise.

I am asked if my streaks are natural (they are) and women of all ages (and men) love it. I have never received as many compliments as when I chose to do this.  For me, it was simply getting sick of the roots showing around my face so quickly. I go every 8 weeks now and it's great. In the end, you do what you do for YOU and no one else. If you like what you see in the mirror, that's all that matters. : )

[ALRATIBA]

I started lightening my light brown hair to camouflage the white strands when I was about 49/50 years old.  I think I was about 69 when I thought I would stop all lightening and just "go natural."   

Tried it, hated it. It looked awful ... just "not me."   Even my clothes looked awful ... colors were all wrong with my natural hair.

I'm now going on 75 and still lightening my hair.  I'm white all around the front and streaky white through the back.  I use Feria and it does exactly what I want .... lighten the brown a bit and color the white a bit - so it looks like natural highlights.  I have wavy hair and the effect is wonderful.  

When and if I'm ever all white ... I'll stop.  Maybe ....

[juperier]

I essentially never even started dyeing my hair. In my early 20's one of my college girlfriends and I decided to dye our hair. To make a long story short, I ;screwed it up so bad that I had to keep dyeing it back to my natural color until it grew out. That was enough for me! My hair has now been gray for many years. During that time I've received countless complements.

[suzyQ3]

To refer to two of the comments that always show up and already have here, I am both happy and secure and aging gracefully. And I have my roots colored every five weeks.

Oh, and no, it doesn't look phony or weird at all. It is close to my natural light brown hair and has dimension to it rather than being a totally solid color.

I have no idea as to if or when I will let my hair go gray. It's not something that I am planning.

[tototwo]

What @juperier said -- I had a couple bad experiences with hair color in my youth, so decided to never color it again.  Now in my late 60's, my naturally blonde hair gracefully turned gray, then white.  I love it now! 

[CatsyCline]

i have  about 65% gray at the temples and hairline my skin tone is yellow-based and my eyes are a golden olive green. the gray does not suit my complexion.  i look best in warm colors like orange and olive green. i use a demi perm.   the last app lasted 5 weeks and i was out of town so i could not easily touchup (mx my own colors)

  so as the color all faded off,  i tried to like it.  it just looks bad.  the grey washes me out.  the grey is a steel grey, very harsh looking. ugh.  my mother always scolded me for coloring my hair when i was young. it was fun then, now its a chore.