Re: Hair dye

RedTop · ‎09-01-2010

I hated my red hair as a child, but embraced the color in my 20's. My first gray hairs appeared in my late 40's. As long as I have hair on my head, they will be red. If my hair thins out to nothing, I will slap a red wig on my head and wear it until I die.

My stylist mixes my color, but it is so close to my natural auburn shade that cousins who don't see me very often can't believe I've been coloring my hair for years.

I absolutely do not want to ever see gray hair on my head.

patbz · ‎03-10-2010

I colored my hair red for 33 years, until I retired. At that point I cut my hair very short to grow it out ( and got at least 90% out with the one haircut. My hair is now past my shoulders and much more salt than pepper (DH and I love it). At my 50th reunion most of the women also gray; there is something to be said about going gracefully into old age. If you think that your dye is fooling most when you are 70 or beyond you are fooling yourself!

Shanus · ‎05-17-2010

@Shorty2U wrote:
If your hair is gray do you dye it a color?

Well I left my hair go and did not dye it for almost 4 months. I wanted to see just how gray I am. lol. I am a red head and I used to brag that red heads don't go gray early. Wrong. I started getting light grays in my late 30s and from then on I colored my hair red. Its not my exact natural red but it's nice when I dye them.

When I left them go and did not dye them, I was getting compliments at first on my natural red with the grays in. But now its been long that I haven't dyed them and they look bad (to me anyway).

So anyway, today I got my hair cut very short for Summer. I see now that I have gray on the top and the back bottom half is white! Gasp! (There is still some of my natural red through out though too)

I will be dying my hair tomorrow morning! lol.

Oh my husband on the other hand has salt and pepper hair (more salt than pepper now) and oh he looks so handsome. Why is it most men look good w gray but not most women?

Anyway hes younger than me to begin with and I have become self conscious of that as we age, so I'm going to color it so I don't look way older. My husband doesnt care if Im gray or not gray but yep I am now vain in my older age. lol.

Of course, whether you color your hair or not is your choice. Since I'm going from dark brown to my natural white after 40 yrs. of hair dye, I do resent the implication that grey hair = old.

Shanus · ‎05-17-2010

@Kachina624 wrote:
@Shorty2U We had quite a lengthy thread just a couple days ago on going gray. You might want to look it up and read it. Many of us are doing it and loving the results.

Yes, a little deja vu reading these posts.

Shanus · ‎05-17-2010

@chrystaltree wrote:
My mother dyed her hair.....I color my hair. We go gray early in my family, I have no doubt that I'm totally gray now. The grays started coming in seriously when I was in my late 30's and I've been coloring my hair ever since. My natural color was a dark brunette, I color my hair black now. I like that black hair/dark brows/bright lip look. My hair grows quickly so, I have to color it every month. That's a bummer. I like the look of gray hair with a cool, modern hair cut on other women but not for myself.....not yet....I'm only 57. My husband's had thick, healthy "young" hair. He's salt&pepper and it looks good on him but he recently started using a Men's shampoo that deposits color because he doesn't want to be "too gray". He's 57 too and he works with group of people who are much younger, he thinks and acts "young" so his age isn't a factor but he does think that if he went totally gray, he'd be viewed as "that older guy" and he doesn't want to be in that "box".

What's with the grey means you're old?

Shanus · ‎05-17-2010

@Sushismom wrote:
I'm trying to grow mine out. I've colored my hair for 45 years and am tired of it. Don't really mind if I look my age. After all, most people know after a certain age that a woman is coloring her hair.

My natural color is a medium auburn brown but I've been coloring it the last few years a dark blonde so the gray roots don't show too much.

Good luck while going through your transition process. Many of my friends are going "natural", too. Very few women after age 60 have hair that, if dyed, aren't fooling anyone. It's just a part of aging...but doesn't mean old!! Yes, adjustments in makeup & clothing shades, a different hairstyle may be in order to maintain a more up to date look, but wouldn't you do that if you continued to color your hair?

chickenbutt · ‎03-09-2010

I was, for a while but not all that frequently, but it's really difficult for me. I have very long and thick hair, and a lot of pain issues including torn rotator cuffs. I hate doing it.

Lately, even though I have one box of dye and one box of touch up in the armoir, I just haven't been able to get myself to do it. I'm tired of doing it.

But I'm only 62 so I just have bits of white around the edges so far. I keep thinking it will progress from that but it's been about the same for several years.

I don't mind the white so much as I mind that the 'color' of the rest of the hair is really rather flat. It's hard to describe but it is a little darker and devoid of natural highlights at all. I like the dyed hair more because it creates that bit of highlighting that makes the color, even though it's not that different of a shade, look like a zillion times better.

Billie1953 · ‎05-28-2017

I am a natural redhead and also started getting grey early in life...I thought it was so ugly...a dirty color grey so yes, I dye my hair about every 4 weeks, have been for years...medium auburn...I always get compliments...told my kids they will have to pry my dye bottle from my cold, dead hand...lol...

Shanus · ‎05-17-2010

@chickenbutt wrote:
I was, for a while but not all that frequently, but it's really difficult for me. I have very long and thick hair, and a lot of pain issues including torn rotator cuffs. I hate doing it.

Lately, even though I have one box of dye and one box of touch up in the armoir, I just haven't been able to get myself to do it. I'm tired of doing it.

But I'm only 62 so I just have bits of white around the edges so far. I keep thinking it will progress from that but it's been about the same for several years.

I don't mind the white so much as I mind that the 'color' of the rest of the hair is really rather flat. It's hard to describe but it is a little darker and devoid of natural highlights at all. I like the dyed hair more because it creates that bit of highlighting that makes the color, even though it's not that different of a shade, look like a zillion times better.

Have you tried getting (or purchasing from drugstore) a clear gloss. It adds back the shine.

MacDUFF · ‎05-29-2015

I stopped coloring a few years ago when my hair started thinning and looking damaged (no amount of product could change that). It still has more S&P, which reads a steel grey that I hate, than white/silver, which I'm looking forward to more of*. I can't say I love it (grey hair doesn't mean "old," but it is associated with old age and possibly with "looking older" IMO), but I don't hate it...what I love is that my hair is shiny, healthy, natural, and takes no time at all to "do"...no more thinning either. The only way I'd dye it again is if the top colorist in the world came to my house every 3 weeks to do it for free and could guarantee "no thinning or damage."