When to stop dyeing your hair?

[EMom]

My natural hair color was somewhere between honey if I was indoors and a new penny if I was in the sun. Lots of color variation. My family grays early and for the longest, the grays just looked like highlights. Then I got too many. And sadly, the red hairs went away first, which just made it blah. I began coloring the front roots only, because I don't care what's in back. I still do the front and part every two weeks, because my hairs grows FAST. I will color it until I am in a casket, and someone else had better do it then. I'm one of those who can pass for 10-15 years younger than I am because I have a younger child and few wrinkles. But if I let my hair grow out, that assumption would be gone. Gone. I think people with dark hair gray nicely because their coloring suits it. Blondes and redheads don't usually fare as well. I'd just look washed out.

 

[jaybirdsmommy]

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

I seriously love that dark silver color the younger ladies are using. I'm trying to figure out if a 49 year old can pull it off.

I've been dying so long I can't remember what my natural color is, my current dye color is a medium ash brown (can't remember the exact name). I used auburn shades for years, but they are too easy to mess up and end up looking like a clown. I'm too cheap to go have it professionally done.

I've tried to grow it out several times (I have really long hair that I'm not cutting so it takes a while), but it looks so dingy with all the gray that I usually give up. I'm in the grow out phase now, I'm really hoping I have enough gray that I can do something like that silver color without having to strip my hair.

 

[disneychrista]

, I'm really hoping I have enough gray that I can do something like that silver color without having to strip my hair.

I told people that I don't dye my hair (often) because I want it to go gray so I can do "fun" colors without having to bleach it. They all think I'm crazy. I only have a few gray/silver hairs right now. And I get kind of excited when I see a new one.

 

[Lynne M]

I'd LOVE to stop, but unfortunately I only went grey on the top of my head and around my face, not the sides and back. Now my hair is snow white on top and brown in back and on the sides. It'd look really, really weird if I stopped.

 

[Searc]

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.

I was going to say, women who dye their hair aren't fooling anyone.

 

[trip]

I'm in the dye until I die group. I'll be 71 next month and don't know if I'll ever stop. I go every 5 weeks to have it done.

 

[ronandannette]

I'm in the dye until I die group. I'll be 71 next month and don't know if I'll ever stop. I go every 5 weeks to have it done.

I found this on pintrest - my hair is much shorter than hers but the colours are about right, as is the dreadful "line". I just don't think I'd ever be able to stand looking at myself if I tried to transition, not to mention I absolutely hate the salt-and-pepper my (undyed) colour would be.



https://www.boredpanda.com/young-wo...oogle&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic
This website is very thought provoking. I'm a little surprised at what an emotional issue this is for a lot of ladies.

 

[Jennasis]

 

[scrump]

...

https://www.boredpanda.com/young-wo...oogle&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic
This website is very thought provoking. I'm a little surprised at what an emotional issue this is for a lot of ladies.

Very cool website. Thank you for sharing.

 

[PollyannaMom]

I have never coloured my hair and have no plans to. I’m 47 and about ten percent grey according to my stylist. I think it’s more than that! Truthfully, I’m very low maintenance and the thought of colouring fills me with dread. My hair is so healthy, that I’m going to embrace the grey. If you like it too, go for it.

I just had no interest in dying my hair from age 25 to when I died. Zippo. The women in my family have made a point of living a darn long time. And a possible 60+ years of hair dying and root touch-ups; 60+ years of time; 60+ years of expense to continually try to hide something that every person fortunate enough to live far enough into adulthood also has just didn't appeal to me at all. And I keep my hair long, so the idea of having to grow out the dyed hair some day if I started and then wanted to stop didn't sound fun, either.

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.

Same here. I'm 49, but started getting a grey streak in my 20s. I calculated how much it would cost to start dying it then and keep it up until I was 60, and immediately thought of 50 other things I'd rather do with the money! I've earned my greys and I'm going to embrace them.

 

[quandrea]

Same here. I'm 49, but started getting a grey streak in my 20s. I calculated how much it would cost to start dying it then and keep it up until I was 60, and immediately thought of 50 other things I'd rather do with the money! I've earned my greys and I'm going to embrace them.

I hadn’t thought of that, but you’re right. For me, it was the thought of hours at the stylist. I hate spa days.

 

[tzolkin]

I have not dyed my hair and have no intention of starting. It has been going grey at the temples and has now just started with a few random strands in other areas. My hair is very thick and curly, so you really cannot see the grey unless I pull my hair back. I have no issue with grey hair and think it looks nice.

My one issue with the grey is actually my eyebrows. Mine are black, super thick, and have always been a defining feature since I was a child. I have been plucking the grey/white ones, but am about at the point where they will be patchy if I continue. I think I will look awful without my "normal" eyebrows, so I may need to start using some colored gel or something as the grey grows in. Everyone talks about dealing with grey hair, but I've never heard anyone talk about their eyebrows being a problem.

I have never coloured my hair and have no plans to. I’m 47 and about ten percent grey according to my stylist. I think it’s more than that! Truthfully, I’m very low maintenance and the thought of colouring fills me with dread. My hair is so healthy, that I’m going to embrace the grey. If you like it too, go for it.

I don't want to start dying my hair because I just know I won't keep up with it. I don't want to have to take the time booking regular salon appointments and I know that I would be way too cheap to spend the money on having it done as often as it would need to be, so I'd wind up stretching the time between and looking awful with roots.

The one BIG advantage to never dying is not having to go through the horrible stage of having stark roots grow out if you decide to stop. The grey doesn't come back in naturally - it's a distinct line. That's a major issue for those of us who do dye and I've got to re-do mine every 3 weeks.

And this is the major reason why I don't want to start... I will feel obligated to continue because I wouldn't want to go through the process of having to grow it out.

I told people that I don't dye my hair (often) because I want it to go gray so I can do "fun" colors without having to bleach it. They all think I'm crazy. I only have a few gray/silver hairs right now. And I get kind of excited when I see a new one.

I've actually thought the same thing. My hair is super dark brown (most people say it's black) so I could never do the fun temporary colors when I was younger like all of my blonde friends without bleaching/ruining my hair. I know an older woman who is very prim and proper, but she has all the underneath of her shoulder-length hair dyed purple. It's not too noticeable, but if she curls it a bit or puts some of her hair up you can definitely see it in the back.

 

[Searc]

I found this on pintrest - my hair is much shorter than hers but the colours are about right, as is the dreadful "line". I just don't think I'd ever be able to stand looking at myself if I tried to transition, not to mention I absolutely hate the salt-and-pepper my (undyed) colour would be.

View attachment 453501

https://www.boredpanda.com/young-wo...oogle&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic
This website is very thought provoking. I'm a little surprised at what an emotional issue this is for a lot of ladies.

From the woman in picture 13...
“A woman turned to me when we were both warming up to be adjusted and said, ‘I’m so sick of dying my hair and I’ve been thinking about letting it go.’ ⠀ We talked a bit about what the grow-out process has been like over the past year-and-a-half and made small talk but what’s been nagging at me is her words. ‘Letting it go.’ ⠀ I am fully aware that there is a view out there that gray hair is less-than. That it’s unkempt or seen as not taking care of yourself. I know this because these used to be my thoughts too. ⠀ These culturally institutionalized thoughts inform our words and ultimately our actions. ⠀ But little did I know - over the past year or so, my actions have informed my words which have impacted and reshaped my thoughts. I guess it works both ways. So hear this. I'm not letting my hair go. I’m letting myself be. I am not giving up on myself. I am getting to know myself. I am not evading old age. I am growing in grace. I'm not keeping up. I'm stepping out. Gray is beautiful. I am beautiful.

 

[mousefanmichelle]

I am 48 and have short hair. I tried to stop dying my dark brown hair early this year until someone was quite rude and asked me why i stopped - i am too young to go grey she told me. I have done back to dying it again. I would be not quite 50% grey but close. When I was doing it - I had mixed feelings. 1. I didn't want to look "older" than 48 and 2. I didn't want to look older than 48. It does age you. I am not ready to be that comfortable with 48, 49, 50 lol. Maybe when I am 60-ish.

 

[Minniesgal]

Never

 

[Moliphino]

My one issue with the grey is actually my eyebrows. Mine are black, super thick, and have always been a defining feature since I was a child. I have been plucking the grey/white ones, but am about at the point where they will be patchy if I continue. I think I will look awful without my "normal" eyebrows, so I may need to start using some colored gel or something as the grey grows in. Everyone talks about dealing with grey hair, but I've never heard anyone talk about their eyebrows being a problem.

My mom dyes her own hair (I think it's just root touch ups now) and always puts some on her eyebrows when she does it.

 

[Christine]

I am 48 and have short hair. I tried to stop dying my dark brown hair early this year until someone was quite rude and asked me why i stopped - i am too young to go grey she told me. I have done back to dying it again. I would be not quite 50% grey but close. When I was doing it - I had mixed feelings. 1. I didn't want to look "older" than 48 and 2. I didn't want to look older than 48. It does age you. I am not ready to be that comfortable with 48, 49, 50 lol. Maybe when I am 60-ish.

Honestly, I think it really depends on how good your gray looks. I have several women coworkers in my office. We are all around the same age (late 40s to 50s). Three of them have let themselves go gray and it's beautiful. They had beautiful hair to begin with and I think that is key.

I have short layered hair. It is short (and has been since the 80s) because it is SO fine, isn't really straight, isn't really curly, has a funky wave to it, and it's just AWFUL hair. I have made the best of it. I get a cut every 5 weeks and alternating I get a highlight. The highlight is strictly for "texture" as I've never really minded my plain brown hair color. Over the past 4 years, I've gotten more gray. I'd say about 30 percent. I thought "oh cool, gray hair is coarser and this is going to be good for me." It's not. My gray hair is uneven and it's UGLY. My mother's gray hair is UGLY. As was my grandmothers. We all have the same awful hair. So I think in some cases, your gray hair can make you look worse. Sallow, washed out, maybe even older. But I wholeheartedly agree that some women (and men) are blessed with wonderful hair and hair color genetics and their gray looks AWESOME and they don't look older. I know I'm not one of those people, and sadly, how I look to myself in the mirror is important to me. If I'm not happy with my appearance I don't like. It's not so much what other people think of me as I generally don't care.

 

[siren0119]

I keep thinking I'm going to grow it out (at 46 my grays are pretty profuse) but inevitably I buy the box of dye. I'm not quite ready to make that leap yet, but I can see it happening in the next decade or so LOL

 

[Music City Mama]

I started using Sun-In in middle school (horrible stuff that made my hair orange) and have been coloring it ever since -- I was blonde in my teens, but have been back to brunette since around 20. I have had various degrees of highlights, but for the past several years, I'm just brunette and then get balayage once per year (it's a method of highlighting where they don't use foils or start at the root).

I color my roots ONLY (it's been years since I've dyed my whole head) once per month. If I couldn't just do this myself with a box, I'd never pay for it. I use Garnier Nutrisse and it looks very natural, especially with the balayage that lasts throughout the year.

I am 49 and really have no plans to stop anytime soon. Maybe around 60? I love the way grey looks on a lot of people, but it's not for me at this time.

 

[DLgal]

At my last appointment, one of the color specialists at the salon I go to said to me, while I was paying, "Who does your color? It's amazing!" The guy who owns the salon (who is my hairdresser) told her it was my natural color and she didn't believe it. That's when I knew that stopping coloring a couple years ago was the right decision.

I had been coloring my hair on and off since I was 15 or so. I'm now 41. My hair has changed colors numerous times, but always some shade of blonde. I was white blonde as a young child, became a medium ash blonde in adolescence, then a dark ash blonde with a lighter top layer after having kids. Recently, some reddish blonde has started to come through. My hair is currently about 30% grey (shows as white), and I have strands that are yellow blonde, dark brown, and red mixed in. It naturally looks like I spent a ton of money on lowlights and highlights and multi tone color. I'm grateful my greys are white. I can call them highlights. Plus, I think it will be awesome to be a white haired old lady.

The biggest hurdle I had with coloring is that my hair grows insanely fast. It grows an inch a month. I HATED having roots that didn't match the rest of my hair. Drove me crazy, but it's also not feasible to color every 2-3 weeks. My hair was becoming so damaged by the color and heat styling. When I decided I was done coloring, I chopped my hair into a ridiculously short pixie, which was the best way to get rid of all the color at once. That was about a year ago and now my hair is a bob style between my chin and shoulders.

I sometimes get the urge to color it some sort of red shade, to see what it would look like, but I chicken out due to the commitment I will have to make to keep coloring it every 3 weeks at least. I might try a semi permanent color. We'll see.