Community Chat

[chickenbutt]

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Shanus wrote:

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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.

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

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Thanks for he recommendation.  I do have some stuff that creates shine.  But I am still good for shine. It's just that the 'new' color that grows out, aside from the white part, is just a dullness of color.  Hard to describe.    It has shine but it's flat and darker than my hair ever was before.

[Moonchilde]

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@Shanus wrote:

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@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. 

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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?

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During the years I was still dyeing my hair, as the decades went on, my colorists would recommend lighter shades as time progressed, because dark/darker hair on aging women "doesn't look natural" - according to every salon I've ever been to. It took me awhile to come around, but I now agree with that.

But I didn't like the color it was because, since they changed what was allowed to be put in hair dye, no color lasts any more. Two weeks and I'd lost half of the depth - and I used products and shampoos for color-treated hair; didn't matter. So when the time came that I decided to stop, I figured my hair couldn't look any weirder to me than I felt it already did. I've never been sorry - and have never had "not wanting to look my age" issues. As you say, it doesn't mean "old."

[Shorty2U]

Thank you for the replies. I dont go on the Beauty boards but I will go look now.

I did dye them Wed morning. And heres the thing. What I really noticed is I looked washed out with the grays and my complexion before I dyed them. Now i dont look washed out. So anyway I feel much better now that they are dyed again (but boy they do come in with some gray fast so I have to color them "almost" monthly if I want to keep up).

Lastly I thought it was funny someone on here mentioned they want their hair done right at the funeral parlor when they die. Omg I didnt even think of that until I read that. Too funny!

[smb3]

My hairdresser said you grey the most where the sun hits your head.  That is why usually at the part in hair and temples it shows up... underneath you do not see as much.  So for all you that are younger, wear a hat for protection, etc if you don't want to grey early. I am sure genetics plays a big role too.

[suzyQ3]

As one who plans to have her roots colored for the forseeable future, I think that it's unkind to denigrate gray hair by saying things like "It's ugly" or words to that effect because that is a direct personal insult against those here who have posted that they have gray hair.

However, I see nothing rude at all in stating that gray hair is a sign of age. That is a FACT, no matter that there are those few who gray prematurely or those few who never gray much at all.

[DiAnne]

At a certain point you are not fooling anyone.

[Ms tyrion2]

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@DiAnne wrote:

At a certain point you are not fooling anyone.

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I don't think that's the point of coloring one's hair. Most women who have blonde hair are not natural blondes and I don't hear this statement flung at them.

Women who color their hair do so because they like it and it makes them feel good about themselves. 

[missy1]

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@Ms tyrion2 wrote:

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@DiAnne wrote:

At a certain point you are not fooling anyone.

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I don't think that's the point of coloring one's hair. Most women who have blonde hair are not natural blondes and I don't hear this statement flung at them.

Women who color their hair do so because they like it and it makes them feel good about themselves. 

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Exactly. Seeing  gray hairs does not make me feel good. $3 bottle of hair dye makes a world of difference.

[Irshgrl31201]

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@151949 wrote:

MOST natural redheads go grey very young and when they do - it is white, not grey. Often redheads grey in streaks of color too. I had a white streak along the rt. front of my hair by the time I was 25. I always blamed it on the stress of being a nurse. By the time I was 34 my hair was all white in the front and more white than color in the back.

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Actually this is not true. Redheads retain pigment longer than most other hair colors.

[Irshgrl31201]

 Deciding whether to continue to color or go gray is a personal choice that should be made not what on your friends, family or others think but what you want and feel.

I was a colorist/corrective colorist for over 12 yrs before deciding to go into esthetics. I can tell you I had to talk no one into coloring their hair and I had a several month waiting list. I never wanted to talk anyone into coloring their hair either. As a matter of fact my daughters grandmother had the most beautiful silver/white hair and I did beg her not to color it. She had beautiful skin that looked so lovely with the hair color and very few people have that combination. However she did look a bit older than when she was still coloring but she was ok with that. I thought her natural color was beautiful and well worth looking a bit older.

I do not think that gray hair is ugly and I think that is rude to say. I will say that many people choose to continue to color hair for several reasons but the most popular reasons being gray hair can get a little unruly on most people and color softens it a bit. Another reason is because whether we like it or not, gray hair is aging. It simply is. I have never read a professional survey where gray hair doesn't age someone by at least 5 yrs but the median is around 10 yrs. Of course in our minds and subconscious most people know that those in their 50s, 60s and up are at least partly gray. However lets take a person like Ina Garten (Barefoot Contessa) who is most definitely at least 50% gray, she colors her hair but her hair looks shiny and natural and it most definitely makes her look younger than a salt and pepper mix or full hair of gray would. One reason is that the majority of people who go gray don't always get the most complimentary gray color and even if they do it is difficult for many people to know how to change their makeup to make up for the loss of pigment in their hair. Gray hair can appear to suck the color out of your face. Many people also need to make a change in their wardrobe colors too and many women just aren't sure of what they should be doing in regards to makeup and wardrobe to get their best look, so they can look washed out which can be aging on its own.

Some women know all of this and don't mind. That is great. It just isn't important to them. Some don't want the expense and some are afraid to do this themselves. I will say that in the past even 20 yrs that store bought color has gotten a lot better but I still find it best if you are coloring yourself to get your color and developer separately and not altogether in a box, especially if it is your first time or experience coloring yourself. When you do buy them together in a box, you don't always know what volume of developer you are getting. There are 10,20,30 and 40 volume developers and those even higher for high lift blonds. Each volume lifts a level and 20 volume is standard for covering grays. You don't know what you are getting in a box most of the time and that is important to know especially since the box color has no idea what level hair color you are starting at so it is better to determine your base color, then determine what level you are trying to get to. If you are trying to get 3 levels higher yet the box only contains a 10 or 20 volume developer, you won't reach your desired color and likely will be brassy or ashy depending on your base color and what you are trying to achieve. Sallys is a place where you can buy these separately and receive some help from from the sales associates to get closest to your desired color.

Whatever you choose. Good luck!