Do You Color Your Hair?

[gardenswithkids]

My hair looks best when I don’t color it --because my stylist does a much better job with hair dye than I do.

As far as my children are concerned, I love their natural hair color. Theirs looks like that for free, but I have to pay to get mine to look like that.

I agree with your opinion on jello colored hair. My kids don’t dye their hair, but I believe a toddler or two of mine has had jello in their hair on occassion.

 

[aloe]

No. I don’t like chemicals and the budget doesn’t allow for upkeep with the better salons. Also, don’t care for the time and upkeep.

 

[newf]

I used to color my hair, but as I’ve gotten older I find I am very allergic to every type of color…believe me, I have tried them all and with professionals. The burning on the scalp was just not worth it.

So I am now a natural shade of dark brown and gray. I love it! I make sure I have a really good cut and I bought new makeup to go with the natural color. I used to look really good in golds and corals, now I tend to head toward silvers and pinks.

I am 56. And I wear contacts, although I can tell my eyes are drying and I think I’ll be in glasses by the time I hit 60.

 

[EasterJoy]

So, I posted on this forum primarily because I wondered about the extent to which this is a family or marital question. It sounds pretty much as if spouses generally let spouses figure out their own hair, and I’m not hearing a lot of parents who figure hair color is anything to have a battle about.

Our kids altar serve. If they did want to color their hair, they’d have to choose between altar-serving and attention-grabbing hair…and I do mean attention-grabbing, as in a neon color, not that altar servers can’t use tinting of any kind in their hair.

 

[Cat]

So, I posted on this forum primarily because I wondered about the extent to which this is a family or marital question. It sounds pretty much as if spouses generally let spouses figure out their own hair, and I’m not hearing a lot of parents who figure hair color is anything to have a battle about.

Our kids altar serve. If they did want to color their hair, they’d have to choose between altar-serving and attention-grabbing hair…and I do mean attention-grabbing, as in a neon color, not that altar servers can’t use tinting of any kind in their hair.

That’s interesting. Do you not have any older (adult) altar servers? We do, usually at Daily mass, but occasionally in the Sunday Masses. And I’m pretty certain that some of those “mature” gentleman altar servers couldn’t possibly be sporting their real hair color, unless a miracle has occurred! (Supposedly Ronald Reagan didn’t go gray.)

 

[gardenswithkids]

So, I posted on this forum primarily because I wondered about the extent to which this is a family or marital question. It sounds pretty much as if spouses generally let spouses figure out their own hair, …

My husband encourages me to get my hair colored at a salon–and even lets me know when he thinks I need a touch up. He doesn’t ask about the price. The cost is why I attempt to do it myself at home occassionally, but it looks and feels so much better when I go to a salon. He agrees. I’m glad that he doesn’t quibble about the cost. He doesn’t ask the price, and he probably doesn’t really want to know.

As far as family, yes, my children also make positive comments when I come back from the salon. The younger ones don’t realize that I’m getting my hair colored when I go for a cut, but they like the results. I don’t know if the older ones realize it or not–they’re the ones who gave me most of these gray hairs. There is a large age span between my youngest child and my oldest child–and I don’t want to be mistaken for my youngest child’s grandmother.

This may seem weird, but since you posted this in family life I’ll share: as the mom of a large family and as an older mom, people around me may form their impression of mothers of large families based on me. I don’t feel I can “get away with frumpy” the way I could when I was younger and had fewer children. That would just confirm some people’s negative stereotypes. I wasn’t from a large family but I knew mothers of large families when I grew up; some of them didn’t make motherhood look very attractive and some of them did. We live in a society that is heavily influenced by people’s appearances, so I try to look pulled together when I go out. Having a good cut and professional color helps me feel better about myself.

 

[Mrs_Sally]

I’m 24 and I have never dyed my hair. I have ivory skin and black hair. My mother thinks it is beautiful. Growing up I used to want to dye it. I remember telling my mom, “NO ONE has black hair!” lol. I am now getting gray hair. I have been told that graying early is common with dark hair. IF I ever dye it, I will keep it my natural color. It is so dark that it would be really hard to go lighter.

My hair is dark brown but I’ve been graying since I was in my early twenties. I dye it now but really have to keep up with it which is a real pain. I’ve been thinking hard about how to make things easier. It doesn’t help that my hair grows quickly so the roots show fast!

Blondes have it so much easier! My husband’s gray hardly shows at all. And eventually he’ll have a head of beautiful white hair like pope emeritus Benedict!

 

[pollynova]

My natural color is really light brown. In high school, I had pink highlights for awhile. Now it’s just sort of a darker shade of brown.

 

[Sarabande]

I’m a dark brunette with red and caramel highlights. I had a couple gray hairs in my late 20s, but nothing to warrant coloring. My father’s side, actually paternal grandmother’s, side of the family went gray early. They all claim it was the red hair in the family (my great-grandmother was an Irish “ginger”.) My mother’s black hair didn’t start going gray until her late 50s. I hoped that I would follow in her footsteps, but after the birth of my first daughter and the postpartum hair loss, some of the reddish-brown hair I had growing back at the temples started to go gray. I can cover it up if I keep my hair down, but I usually like to pull my hair back in a ponytail or chignon and I really don’t like to have my grays showing at my age. (I’m in my mid-30s and have a young-ish face. Sometimes, when I meet new people, they ask me what I’m studying in college or if I recently graduated. It has its perks AND disadvantages.) It’s not enough gray to go to a hair dresser, but it is enough that it will show too much if I just let it go, so, I found a box color that matches my hair color really well and looks natural. I usually just color the gray area. I think when I’m older, I’ll let myself gradually grow completely gray, but as of now, I’m not ready for it.

 

[Sarabande]

This may seem weird, but since you posted this in family life I’ll share: as the mom of a large family and as an older mom, people around me may form their impression of mothers of large families based on me. I don’t feel I can “get away with frumpy” the way I could when I was younger and had fewer children. That would just confirm some people’s negative stereotypes. I wasn’t from a large family but I knew mothers of large families when I grew up; some of them didn’t make motherhood look very attractive and some of them did. We live in a society that is heavily influenced by people’s appearances, so I try to look pulled together when I go out. Having a good cut and professional color helps me feel better about myself.

I know exactly how you feel. I remember as a girl seeing some mothers. They often looked like they never took care of themselves and it did feed into the negative stereotypes of how mothers don’t take care of their physical appearances. You always heard people say how so-and-so used to take care of herself before she had kids and then just “let herself go” afterwards. “What a shame, and she used be such a pretty girl.” I really didn’t want to be the subject of that conversation when I grew up and had a family of my own. I saw pictures of my own grandmother, though, who had 6 children and even when she was in her knock-around clothes, she always looked well-groomed.

I only have two children for now, but I do try to make a point to look put-together when I’m out and about. What you say about society being heavily influenced by the appearances of others is true, as wrong as it can be. A few weeks ago, I had finished cantoring a mass and was dressed in a flowing black skirt that came about two to three inches beneath my knee and a black knit top with 3/4 length sleeves. It’s my typical “musician” uniform. I don’t think much about it. It’s just a quick 5-minute grab, dress and go outfit for my music work. Pearl earrings and maybe a necklace and I’m good to go. (Well, a little natural-looking makeup helps, too.) But after mass that one day as I was coming back down from the choir loft, a young girl around 11 or 12 came up to me and told me, “You look so pretty today.” Her family are regular parishioners and know that I have my own young children. I never thought about it as setting an example to young girls that even worn-out mothers (which I often am. lol!) can still look put together.

 

[qui_est_ce]

I was talking to the checkout lady at the grocery store. She had dark brown hair and 1/4 inch white roots. She told me she wanted to go natural like me. I asked her how long it was since the last time she had done her hair. She said 1 week.

Her hair looked terrible and did nothing to enhance her looks.

I suppose by the time you are over 50% white, you have to accept it or accept going around with white roots.

Who says gray hair makes you look old? Get a good cut, wear makeup, keep in shape.

 

[Sarabande]

Who says gray hair makes you look old? Get a good cut, wear makeup, keep in shape.

Gray hair can make you look old even with a good cut and makeup. I knew a woman who was 30 and had a lot of gray. She was in very good shape, wore make-up, had a nice haircut, no wrinkles. But she looked 45 because of the gray hair. I was shocked when I found out how young she was. Of course, I didn’t say anything at the time. She is now 40 and has since colored her hair. She now looks 30.

I guess it also depends on your age. If you are 50 and gray, you can still look young for your age, but if you are 30 and gray, I do think it can add years to your appearance.

 

[Sarabande]

I was talking to the checkout lady at the grocery store. She had dark brown hair and 1/4 inch white roots. She told me she wanted to go natural like me. I asked her how long it was since the last time she had done her hair. She said 1 week.

I think a ‘graceful’ way of going au natural is to gradually lighten your hair. My mother-in-law did that when she became tired of dying her hair her original hair color. She is now a very light blond and it looks really good on her, but she would like to eventually just let the gray come in.

 

[Odonata]

i currently colour my hair pink. i use veg derived pigment stains, not chemicals dyes that require developing-
my hair is tail bone length
i have dyed my hair diff reds since was 14
(27)

 

[Em_in_FL]

I’m 34 and have never dyed my hair, but mostly because it’s just not my thing… not because I think it’s bad or wrong by any means. I’ve been lucky enough to have no major graying yet… and maybe my thoughts will change when that happens… I can appreciate the idea of wanting to look appropriate for your place in life and who am I to judge what that may be for any individual. So I have no idea what I’ll do when the “need” arises.

I think it’s a matter of self-expression… neither good nor bad, just neutral - I mean, unless you’re like purposefully going for a “look” that’s evil… which I’m sure happens, but for the most part it’s just about looks and style and really who cares!
I’ve seen women who have colorful streaks - purples and pinks - and it can look very stylish and refined! It can also look really ****** and trashy, LOL! But really, to each their own!

 

[lifeisbeautiful]

Gray hair can make you look old even with a good cut and makeup. I knew a woman who was 30 and had a lot of gray. She was in very good shape, wore make-up, had a nice haircut, no wrinkles. But she looked 45 because of the gray hair. I was shocked when I found out how young she was. Of course, I didn’t say anything at the time. She is now 40 and has since colored her hair. She now looks 30.

I guess it also depends on your age. If you are 50 and gray, you can still look young for your age, but if you are 30 and gray, I do think it can add years to your appearance.

I agree! My grandma went mostly gray by 30! She was beautiful, but still looked older. She never dyed her hair and eventually was as old as she looked. My hair was very sensitive to sun growing up, and it was nice and sunny where I lived, so I had natural highlights up (people would always ask if it was natural or if I had done something) until I moved up north for college, and then my hair went dark naturally (people would ask if I dyed it darker). I never dyed my hair until I started getting gray hairs in my 20’s (lol, I guess I got some of grandma’s genes )… Sometimes if I wore a pony tail or would pick up my hair you could see some gray hairs (loose it was fine). It wasn’t that bad, but I eventually got tired of the gray hairs and started using the shampoo type of dye, not the permanent. I stick to colors that look like my natural color, but if I do get to a point where the shampoo ones don’t work for me, I will switch over!

ETA: I do think there are some people that have beautiful natural gray/salt and pepper/white hair when they are older, I am just not a fan of keeping your grays when you are younger.

 

[lifeisbeautiful]

This may seem weird, but since you posted this in family life I’ll share: as the mom of a large family and as an older mom, people around me may form their impression of mothers of large families based on me. I don’t feel I can “get away with frumpy” the way I could when I was younger and had fewer children. That would just confirm some people’s negative stereotypes. I wasn’t from a large family but I knew mothers of large families when I grew up; some of them didn’t make motherhood look very attractive and some of them did. We live in a society that is heavily influenced by people’s appearances, so I try to look pulled together when I go out. Having a good cut and professional color helps me feel better about myself.

 

[qui_est_ce]

Thanks for the laugh!

 

[Aggie414]

I color mine!!! The women (and men, for that matter) on my mother’s side of the family go gray very early in life – like their thirties. The women on my father’s side (NOT the men) go bald. I’ll take the gray, thank you very much. That’s why God invented Clairol!

 

[ChelleyD]

Went totally natural about a year ago. I’m 45, and its more silver than salt and pepper. I just couldn’t take the up keep of the coloring, I felt I was in the beauty salon every other week practically to keep up with the roots. And the money being spent doing so was quite a hit to the pocketbook. I’ve gotten tons of compliments in the past year, more than when I was coloring it. My husband loves it.

Same here. Went totally natural a little over 1-1/2 years ago, at age 44 (now 46). I tell people I’m a “platinum blonde” now. I started going grey at 16 and colored for years because of it. It finally got to the point that the do-it-yourself kits were no longer working well. Couple that with an unwillingness to spend $$-$$$ every 4-6 weeks to keep up with things…and here I am. There are other things I’d much rather spend that money on. I’ve also gotten several compliments since I quit.

I’m afraid I unintentionally embarrassed someone who I hadn’t seen in a while after all the old color had grown out and gotten chopped off. He asked what I had done differently with my hair and seemed rather taken aback when I said, “I quit coloring it.”