When to stop dyeing your hair?

[Christine]

I'm pretty sure my gray hair is going to be fairly ugly (I can see it now when I go too long between highlights). I can't imagine I'll feel good about myself with that on my head so I'll continue until I get to a point that I don't care about having bad hair. Some people have beautiful gray hair. I'm not going to be one of them.

 

[SueInBoston]

A year ago I would've answered, I'll dye until I die . I'm 56 and started dying in my 30's. I was having it done every 6 weeks at the salon but I would do a root touch up at home around 3 weeks. Back in April, a friend and I decided to stop dying. I now have about 4 inches of salt and pepper and the rest black (I'm asian). I thought about cutting short, but I really like my shoulder length hair. I feel great about not having to worry my roots growing out. I think after my hair grows a bit more I will probably do some low light to give some dimensions for fun.

 

[Flowers12]

I’m in my 40’s and dye my hair a few times a year. I have a lot of greys to cover.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I have never dyed. I've gotten highlights a handful of times, but I hated the process and didn't always like how they looked, especially for the first few weeks, until they softened.

I have started getting some noticeable grays in the front and on the temples but I've had pretty good luck playing around with color depositing shampoos. It doesn't totally cover the grays, but it makes them sort of golden-ish, so they look like the highlights when I liked them. Once in a while I cut or pluck out some of those stubborn white ones.

My mother was one who dyed blond through her 80s. She finally gave it up when she couldn't drive anymore, and went to a beautiful white. Nobody really noticed the difference as the colors weren't too far apart. My hairdresser recommended a shampoo for "silver highlights" which I use on her when I wash her hair, and it looks beautiful.

Personally, I doubt I will ever dye, but hopefully things don't go farther south than they already have, lol.

 

[Searc]

For those of you looking to stop coloring your hair or you are going gray naturally and need encouragement, there is a private group on Facebook called Going Grey Gracefully that is full of wonderful, supportive women, in all stages of going gray!

 

[pezgirlroy]

I am 42. I have brown hair. About 13 years ago I started to develop a white/silver streak right in the very front. It has gotten a bit bigger over the years. I thought about coloring it a number of years ago but decided you know what this is me and I have completely accepted it. Actually I have had a number of people over the years ask me where "I get it done". It looks deliberate but def. is not.

 

[pezgirlroy]

Also my kids (9 and 3) love to point it out all the time and my retort everytime is where do you think it came from.

 

[lorimay]

I don't see myself stopping, unless I got a beautiful solid gray head, and that's not the case for my mom, she 81 and still has some dark roots. She still colors her's! like mother , like daughter.

 

[BlueStarryHat]

The replies to this thread have been very interesting!

This morning when I got up I spiked my hair like Jamie Lee Curtis does. I don't look anything like her of course, but I'm liking the way my biggest silver streak looks sticking up.

 

[snappy]

I started coloring in my 40’s. We had a caboose when I was 42, and she inherited bright red hair and blue eyes. I wanted to add a slight touch of red to my natural dark brown shade to incorporate a bit of her coloring. I started doing it myself but quickly moved to having it done at a salon which looked far better. I let it go after a few years and tried the pepper and salt lookfor several years which wasn’t too bad at all. I started again later with a lighter color my stylist suggested. She was right! She also gives an awesome haircut and I have been fortunate to have her do my hair for almost 16 years. I worry about what I will do when she retires but she’s a lot younger than me so I think we are good. I go in every 4-5 weeks so it adds up cost wise but I love the way she cuts my hair so much I would pay the same amount for a cut only. It helps that she converted a room in her cute house that is 10 minutes from where I live. Convenient and we have a good time. She doesn’t overbook and we have a lot of laughs. She said she would help me transition to grey when I asked her about it. I didn’t ask the details as I am not quite ready. I’ll check out that website Searc, thanks for sharing that. Information is power.
My mom never colored and she has lovely curly soft grey hair. Her mom tinted hers slightly blue/ purple with some bluing agent back in the 70’s and 80’s so she never had the yellow hue. Hers was also full, curly and healthy but her pillowcases were always slightly blue. They both had/have that Italian look. Me, not so much, thick but straight as a board.

 

[Turn the Page]

I started getting highlights in my 20's. Like others have said, I didn't keep up with it like I should and my roots would just look horrible. I finally stopped about 2 years ago. I am going gray but since my natural color is lighter anyway it doesn't show that much. Honestly, I just don't want to spend the money or go to the effort it takes to keep my highlights in good shape (though I do really like how it looks when they have just been done) just to throw my hair in a ponytail 95% of the time.

 

[disneychrista]

No but https://www.target.com/p/garnier-nu...e/-/A-14386282?preselect=75561390#lnk=sametab

if a different color shows, this one is Ultra Hold Emerald.

I have to seek this out for the next time I decide to dye my hair. I’ve done black cherry, purple & blue-black but I’ve always wanted green.

 

[bakerworld]

In my 40's my sisters and husband really pushed me to color by hair. I made a deal with my husband that if he supported my diet, when I lost weight, then I'd dye my hair. First time ever he paid attention to my food wishes, and it worked, so I dyed by hair. I continued to dye (my sister was a hairdresser) until last year at 62. My hair is a very dark brown - most think its black. The grey didn't really take the dye but gave me a look for a few weeks like I had highlights, and then I would start looking like Pepe La Pew. I grew it completely out around 58 but the hubs talked me into dying. I just felt like I was wearing a wig because it was so dark.

I can't say that I like it much. The front is liberally streaked with light grey then there are liberal sprinkles of grey on the sides, with the back being basically a strand or two of grey. To me it always looks dirty so I went thru a 'fuzzy' stage because I washed it too much. Now I have it non-fuzzy and only wash it every 4 days but I still think it looks dirty.

My sister no longer does hair. My new hairdresser has cut my hair really short in the back and leaves it long and stringy in the front. So now I don't like my color or my style. I decided to just grow it out and figure it out before our next vacation in May. The new HD says I can change the color but I would have to strip my normal color out - frankly, I don't want to go bald so here I am.

 

[cedricandsophie]

I am 69. I had bleached my hair since I was 16. Always did it myself. A pretty golden blond although sometimes I went more ash. I got lymphoma about 12 years ago. Lost my hair. As it grew back I decided to let it go natural. Turns out my hair is naturally very light blond on top snd dark blond/almost brown in back. Now it’s a combination of white blond, gray and light brown It lightens up considerably when I’m in sun. It’s actually quite interesting looking. I have had people ask what technique my hairdresser uses to get my hair like this. I have friends in their 70s who still dye their hair, mostly though doing it through a hairdresser not at home. It’s whatever works for you and makes you feel good about yourself. I will say my hair is much healthier now.

 

[cedricandsophie]

I am 69. I had bleached my hair since I was 16. Always did it myself. A pretty golden blond although sometimes I went more ash. I got lymphoma about 12 years ago. Lost my hair. As it grew back I decided to let it go natural. Turns out my hair is naturally very light blond on top snd dark blond/almost brown in back. Now it’s a combination of white blond, gray and light brown It lightens up considerably when I’m in sun. It’s actually quite interesting looking. I have had people ask what technique my hairdresser uses to get my hair like this. I have friends in their 70s who still dye their hair, mostly though doing it through a hairdresser not at home. It’s whatever works for you and makes you feel good about yourself. I will say my hair is much healthier now.

 

[loves to dive]

I started dying mine when I was about 20. The first time was just on a whim. I told my hairdresser to have fun and just do what she wanted and the next thing I knew I had sort of burgandy hair. I've been dying it ever since and I'm 62 now. It was dark brown before I started dying it, almost black but turns different shades of red when dyed, just depends on if I use a light brown, golden brown or medium brown. It's about 75% gray, if what I see from the roots when it is time to dye it is right. I was going to actually dye it a pretty shade of gray but turns out if your natural hair isn't blond, you have to bleach it a few times before you can do that. I'm not willing to bleach it so I'm using lighter and lighter shades of brown each time now, hoping to get it to a dirtyish blonde then use the gray.

 

[RamblingMad]

When twenty year olds are dying their hair grey, why bother?

 

[VandVsmama]

So far, I haven't bothered. I have red hair. 20 years ago, it was a darker red. Now it looks more like a lighter red. There's definitely gray hair in there. You just can't hardly see it.

 

[skittles67]

My hair is a dark brown. I started with Sun In when I was a teen. Continued using various shades of brown in my 20's - 30's. Noticed my first gray hair in my early 40's. Right now I am back to my dark brown color, but I continue to dye because I need to color my grays. I can't imagine stopping! I don't like the gray look on me. I have noticed the past couple of years that I need to color more frequently now. I used to be able to go quite a while before I needed to refresh but now it's almost monthly! UGH

 

[iivye]

I dyed from when I was a teen to about 41yo. I'm 43 now and I love the unique streaks of gray. I look at old photos where I dyed my hair and it looks so fake to me even though I would dye it to match my natural color. My natural salt and pepper looks much better with my skin tone and my hair is a lot healthier. I don't think I'll ever go back to dying.