Do You Color Your Hair?

[Sarabande]

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!

Me too. My husband reminded me of that when I was complaining about having to dye the gray in my temples. He’s a couple years older than me, has no gray, BUT is going bald. He said, “I’d rather have your gray hair, than lose my hair.” Touche, honey.

 

[Arebella]

My natural color went from light blonde to icky mousey brown on my early twenties. I started getting highlights in my late 20’s to brighten it. I haven’t seen my natural, uncolored hair color since my 30’s. The mousey brown washed out my pale skin and light blue eyes and did nothing to flatter me. At 54, I went through chemo 4 years ago and all of my long hair fell out. I thought it would be tramautic, but it was LIBERATING! I LOVED my sleek, shiny bald head, I bought several wigs in various colors and had a ball being blonde, redhead and brunette on a whim. It was the best thing about chemo. I loved swimming with my bald head and hairless body. I felt as sleek as a seal in the water. No shaving, no waxing, no plucking either. BLISS!

When my hair began to grow back, it initially came back stark white, and wildly curly. I sort of looked like a Q-Tip with an Afro at first. Then the color cells kicked back in and it went back to mousey brown, but stayed curly. I wanted to get rid of the white part, so I began coloring it again, but thsi time, I kept it short. Love my short, blonde spiky do and so does my hubby.

So now it will stay blonde and short. What I loved about going through chemo was that ot gave me the liberation from my usual long hair, and it gave me the freedom to try on some other styles and colors. I don’t know if I would have ever had the courage to cut off my long hair if it hadn’t fallen out from the chemo. I wear contacts and have since I was 12 years old. I am very near-sighted and glasses don’t give the same vision correction that contacts do.

 

[Della]

My natural color went from light blonde to icky mousey brown on my early twenties. I started getting highlights in my late 20’s to brighten it. I haven’t seen my natural, uncolored hair color since my 30’s. The mousey brown washed out my pale skin and light blue eyes and did nothing to flatter me. At 54, I went through chemo 4 years ago and all of my long hair fell out. I thought it would be tramautic, but it was LIBERATING! I LOVED my sleek, shiny bald head, I bought several wigs in various colors and had a ball being blonde, redhead and brunette on a whim. It was the best thing about chemo. I loved swimming with my bald head and hairless body. I felt as sleek as a seal in the water. No shaving, no waxing, no plucking either. BLISS!

When my hair began to grow back, it initially came back stark white, and wildly curly. I sort of looked like a Q-Tip with an Afro at first. Then the color cells kicked back in and it went back to mousey brown, but stayed curly. I wanted to get rid of the white part, so I began coloring it again, but thsi time, I kept it short. Love my short, blonde spiky do and so does my hubby.

So now it will stay blonde and short. What I loved about going through chemo was that ot gave me the liberation from my usual long hair, and it gave me the freedom to try on some other styles and colors. I don’t know if I would have ever had the courage to cut off my long hair if it hadn’t fallen out from the chemo. I wear contacts and have since I was 12 years old. I am very near-sighted and glasses don’t give the same vision correction that contacts do.

Thank you for sharing the up side of chemo treatments with us! I hate removing hair in certain places so I can wear a swim suit. It’d be great to not have to do that every summer. Although I don’t think I’ll try chemo just for that. LOL!

For those who may think at 64 my hair is dyed inky black, it isn’t. It’s natural black which means it has a lovely brownish tinge when the light shines on it. My niece does a great job of it and I never let the roots show white–I always color them between appointments. Since I’m her old auntie, she gives dh and me a family discount, so we don’t spend an inordinate amount on getting our hair cut and mine colored once every 6 weeks. One day I’ll probably let my hair go natural, but for now we all like it, we are helping our niece by going to her, and it makes me feel as young and attractive as I can be as a petitte older gal with a round figure.

 

[EasterJoy]

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.

I’m too prone to letting myself go frumpy. I don’t believe in pouring half of the bank account onto my looks, but I could do a lot better job just letting the world know I care about what they have to look at. It doesn’t have to be expensive, but there needs to be an effort made, you’re right. Otherwise, it reflects badly on the other positive stuff you do, as if you’re frumpy because you do those things. I think you’re very right.

 

[Della]

I’m too prone to letting myself go frumpy. I don’t believe in pouring half of the bank account onto my looks, but I could do a lot better job just letting the world know I care about what they have to look at. It doesn’t have to be expensive, but there needs to be an effort made, you’re right. Otherwise, it reflects badly on the other positive stuff you do, as if you’re frumpy because you do those things. I think you’re very right.

This is so true. I’ve seen so many women who seem to think that how they look doesn’t matter, but in our society it does matter very much indeed.

If you’ve ever watched “What Not to Wear” the change that comes over these gals who have let themselves go thinking they shouldn’t spend anything on themselves, only on their kids, is truly amazing. They realize by doing that they’ve haven’t been as good an example to their kids, especially their daughters, as they would have liked.

They find they are more engergized for doing the important things if they take decent care of themselves. And their husbands appreciate it, too. No woman has to look like a frump in order to be a good wife and mother or so she will appear saintly. Saints aren’t those who dress poorly but are those who care for the poor.

For myself, I’d look like I’d just gotten up from my deathbed if I didn’t care for myself. I have dark circles under my eyes that I hide with make up and I use mascara to enliven my eyes so I look awake and interested instead of half asleep. I wear decent clothes, not expensive but reasonably fashionable and I exercise enough to keep my body able to go as well as I can. These things make a difference, not only the way others think of us, but how we think of ourselves, as well. If a woman wants to be a nun she should live in a convent – that’s my philosophy, anyway.

 

[IneedGod]

I’ve been covering the grey for years. Now I am considering stopping. I like it dark ( close to the color I was born with) but its getting so hard to keep up with now.
It’s confusing also, am I being overly vain by dying it?m
My hair is long and I don’t want to cut it but I don’t care for the “skunk” look either!
I wish there was grey hair dye so i could skip that part.
I am not sure just how much grey I have really, I don’t like more pepper than salt!

What to do… To dry or not to dye lol

 

[Della]

I’ve been covering the grey for years. Now I am considering stopping. I like it dark ( close to the color I was born with) but its getting so hard to keep up with now.
It’s confusing also, am I being overly vain by dying it?m
My hair is long and I don’t want to cut it but I don’t care for the “skunk” look either!
I wish there was grey hair dye so i could skip that part.
I am not sure just how much grey I have really, I don’t like more pepper than salt!

What to do… To dry or not to dye lol

A good hair colorist can remove all color from your hair. I don’t consider it wrong to keep up a nice appearance. I think people forget that many people are employed by cutting/coloring hair, making and selling beauty products. If everyone suddenly decided to stop using such services and products, there’d be many thousands on the dole.

 

[Mrs_Sally]

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.”

So for those of you who’ve gone natural - how did you manage the transtion from coloring? Did you lighten? Cut your hair really short? Just deal with roots for weeks/months? Ack! I couldn’t handle that!

Also, my hair is not evenly “salt and pepper” - I have a “Bride of Frankenstein” streak of gray on one side!

 

[newf]

So for those of you who’ve gone natural - how did you manage the transtion from coloring? Did you lighten? Cut your hair really short? Just deal with roots for weeks/months? Ack! I couldn’t handle that!

Also, my hair is not evenly “salt and pepper” - I have a “Bride of Frankenstein” streak of gray on one side!

When I let my hair go ‘natural’, I had overall color and highlights at the time. I was letting it grow out due to allergic reactions I was having due to the color touching my scalp. My hairdresser basically painted on a color that didn’t touch my scalp and it blended in with what I had.

As my hair grew, I just got it trimmed. It’s a little above my shoulders. And I was very happy not to be a slave to the roots growing any more.

Honestly, if I didn’t have the allergy, I am sure I would still be coloring my hair and would not have known how good the natural looks on me.

Also, I went and bought new makeup to go with the new color. That was fun.

 

[3DOCTORS]

Wow, this thread came up at the perfect time as I was just thinking of starting one about grey hair!

I’ve been feeling rather bummed about my own greys, which seem to be coming fast and furious since my hysterectomy (& instant menopause that went with it) nearly 5 years ago. Also a lot of stress in those years probably didn’t help. One stylist last year or so told me I’m 85 percent grey! :crying: I’m only 51.

My hair was naturally medium brown when I was young, and I envied the blonde girls and then in my 20s started getting blonde highlights. Then I progressed to more proportion of blonde to brown (and was starting to have some greys by then). In my 30s and 40s I often did a home bleach and toner double process pulling the hair through a cap. It was tiring and took forever and if I didn’t do it just right I’d get this hideous orange-ish color .

A couple of years ago a friend encouraged me to go get it corrected and start over. I went to a beauty school and was pleased with the results but the drawback there is you don’t always get the same person and results can vary. (Not as bad as my home efforts, but still.)

Well, I think I’ll go to the school once more, I’m badly overdue and still have the gift card, and then start going to a salon a different friend goes to whose blond coloring I always like.

What’s been making me depressed lately is that 1) I’ve waited so long and have a lot of mousy and salt-pepper regrowth which makes me look really blah and old, and 2) I’m having issues with my weight at the same time - also I like to go swimming for fitness but I will have to wait for the haircolor to set! But, I’d better bite the bullet and do it pretty soon.

In light of the recent media attention to women deciding to “embrace the grey” I have wondered whether I could do that. My conclusion - not now, maybe not ever. I may be another Betty White. I’ve also tried to puzzle out what genetics may be dominant for me - mom’s side is salt-and-pepper more, though subtle; dad’s side might be Pope Benedict snowy.

 

[thequeen]

No, I am the only blonde in my immediate family.

 

[3DOCTORS]

I remember a lady came into a store I worked at and somehow the chitchat between her and us clerks turned to haircolor. She said “God gave me blonde hair and it’s my job to keep it that way!”

 

[Catholic_Wife]

My husband has been about 50% gray since I met him 12 years ago, but he colored his hair to his natural color. I noticed while we were dating that he had some silver roots and encouraged him to stop coloring if he wanted. He did … right after our wedding! All of his friends made remarks about how marriage was treating him. I think his salt and pepper curls look awesome.

I’ve colored my hair since I was in my twenties, once I got to about 25% gray. I always colored it my natural hair color - no highlights. After getting frustrated with having to touch up my roots every two weeks because my hair grows so fast, I decided to go natural for Lent this year. I “gave up” the vanity of coloring my hair. I mean, who was I trying to look younger for? My husband loves me just as I am and told me to do whatever would make me happy.

So for those of you who’ve gone natural - how did you manage the transtion from coloring? Did you lighten? Cut your hair really short? Just deal with roots for weeks/months? Ack! I couldn’t handle that!

Also, my hair is not evenly “salt and pepper” - I have a “Bride of Frankenstein” streak of gray on one side!

My hair is very dark brown, waist length and curly. I look horrible with lighter hair, and I refuse to cut my hair unless I have to for a medical reason. The first month of transitioning was hard, psychologically. I am more gray at the temples (a la Bride of Frankenstein), and when I wear my hair braided a certain way (I almost always wear my hair braided or bunned), the dark hair from my forehead looks a little funny against the silver at my temples. It bothered me the first month or so, but now that it’s been three months my attitude is “whatever” . I’ve gotten past the “skunk stripe” phase, and my silvers and browns are mingling nicely together, but you can still see that I’m growing my gray out. I still use braids to help hide the line of demarcation, as well as the difference in color between my temples and the rest of my hair. I also wear wide headbands and headcoverings to help hide the transition line.

Mrs Sally, Stacy London has a white streak on one side, and she looks great!

 

[Sarabande]

Mrs Sally, Stacy London has a white streak on one side, and she looks great!

Yes, and I think she has had that white streak since she was about 11 or 12-years-old.

 

[MomaMary8]

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.

Amen sister!! I completely agree!

I’m an older mom with teenage daughters. I quickly realized that if I look frumpy, people will assume my daughters are the mothers to my little ones. Sad, but that is a reflection of our world.

I also feel and see the need to make motherhood attractive. How else can I show others how to be pro-life and open to all of God’s blessings unless I live this life with joy? My dress and manner is a reflection of how I carry out my vocation, and just because I have 10 munchkins at home does not mean I need to look haggard. I try to dress smartly, not necessarily in the latest fashions, but nice enough that I look put together. I also have my hair done every 6 weeks, and colored every 12. The color perks up my mousey brown hair and helps to hide a few of the grays. I use a demi-permanent color that fades as time goes on and with washing. It keeps the demarcation line at bay, and allows a few grays to peek through. I think it looks fairly natural, but I don’t think anyone would tell me it doesn’t! My friends are way too polite! In all honestly, my gray isn’t crazy. Thankfully I have my father’s genes for the hair and he was slow to gray. My brothers inherited my mother’s genes and they are all gray and just a couple of years older than me. My mother got her first gray hair at age 16. I noticed my first gray hair in the hospital mirror, just after my son had surgery to repair a broken arm. He was 3 and I was 37. I’ve added more kids, more broken bones and more gray since!

I know you don’t have to dye your hair to be youthful. I have a friend that has had silver hair since she was in her late 20’s/ early 30’s. She is so beautiful and youthful looking. She has that wonderful silver hair that one gets when their hair is very dark originally. Her husband has his head shaved! They go against all the norms of youth and are the most vibrant couple around!

 

[PatriceA]

Amen sister!! I completely agree!

I’m an older mom with teenage daughters. I quickly realized that if I look frumpy, people will assume my daughters are the mothers to my little ones. Sad, but that is a reflection of our world.

I also feel and see the need to make motherhood attractive. How else can I show others how to be pro-life and open to all of God’s blessings unless I live this life with joy? My dress and manner is a reflection of how I carry out my vocation, and just because I have 10 munchkins at home does not mean I need to look haggard. I try to dress smartly, not necessarily in the latest fashions, but nice enough that I look put together. I also have my hair done every 6 weeks, and colored every 12. The color perks up my mousey brown hair and helps to hide a few of the grays. I use a demi-permanent color that fades as time goes on and with washing. It keeps the demarcation line at bay, and allows a few grays to peek through. I think it looks fairly natural, but I don’t think anyone would tell me it doesn’t! My friends are way too polite! In all honestly, my gray isn’t crazy. Thankfully I have my father’s genes for the hair and he was slow to gray. My brothers inherited my mother’s genes and they are all gray and just a couple of years older than me. My mother got her first gray hair at age 16. I noticed my first gray hair in the hospital mirror, just after my son had surgery to repair a broken arm. He was 3 and I was 37. I’ve added more kids, more broken bones and more gray since!

I know you don’t have to dye your hair to be youthful. I have a friend that has had silver hair since she was in her late 20’s/ early 30’s. She is so beautiful and youthful looking. She has that wonderful silver hair that one gets when their hair is very dark originally. Her husband has his head shaved! They go against all the norms of youth and are the most vibrant couple around!

I think this is a key point. I don’t think we should be afraid of aging as society would like us to be. I don’t think there is a right or wrong answer to this issue. Some find coloring their hair makes them feel better about themselves, some have chosen to let nature take its course. We’re all beautiful, we’re all God’s creatures inside and out. Its finding out what works and what doesn’t work for you. But attitude goes a long way in what makes a person beautiful, more than any hair color, real or natural, ever will.

 

[AnneTeresa]

I’m 56 and I color mine at the hairdresser. I’ve tried the kits and they look unnatural. I get highlights every so often and do the roots every 5-6 weeks. Yes, it’s expensive. But I have the money now (I didn’t when I was younger) and it’s my one luxury. I don’t do massages and rarely get my nails done.

While silver hair can look very becoming, mousy gray on me does not. One problem is I like to swim and when I color my hair it doesn’t last as well when I am swimming.

As for family reaction, I don’t know if my husband is even aware that I dye my hair! It looks really natural and I often get compliments especially after I’ve just had it done. Sometimes little things mean a lot–and I consider this one thing that I CAN do about aging when so many other things are beyond my control!

 

[3DOCTORS]

I’m 56 and I color mine at the hairdresser. I’ve tried the kits and they look unnatural. I get highlights every so often and do the roots every 5-6 weeks. Yes, it’s expensive. But I have the money now (I didn’t when I was younger) and it’s my one luxury. I don’t do massages and rarely get my nails done.

While silver hair can look very becoming, mousy gray on me does not. One problem is I like to swim and when I color my hair it doesn’t last as well when I am swimming.

As for family reaction, I don’t know if my husband is even aware that I dye my hair! It looks really natural and I often get compliments especially after I’ve just had it done. Sometimes little things mean a lot–and I consider this one thing that I CAN do about aging when so many other things are beyond my control!

I’m with you! The swimming is the tough thing, isn’t it. Often I postpone when I am going to get color because I want to go swimming a few more times. Wish someone would invent a swim cap that really works to keep the hair completely dry. And I think overall I’m coping with the changes of midlife okay, but when there are several such changes going on all at once, sometimes to do one thing that really is a shot in the arm helps make the others more bearable.

 

[R1ch4rd]

I think this is a key point. I don’t think we should be afraid of aging as society would like us to be. I don’t think there is a right or wrong answer to this issue. Some find coloring their hair makes them feel better about themselves, some have chosen to let nature take its course. We’re all beautiful, we’re all God’s creatures inside and out. Its finding out what works and what doesn’t work for you. But attitude goes a long way in what makes a person beautiful, more than any hair color, real or natural, ever will.

Hair is kinda like money, if ya have enough, you don’t worry about it. From a guy’s standpoint, the difference between a good haircut and a bad one is about two weeks but we don’t shave our legs or wear make-up either (well, most of us) I’m sure my wife would look great in her naturally grey or silver but for as long as I’ve known her it’s been “Miss Clairol” black to make it look fuller. Now that she’s started to collect Social Security she’s starting to weaken on that. I think a woman should do what makes her feel good. Guy’s are attracted to inner beauty way more then hair color anyway and if a woman has the attitude that she’s attractive…she is!

 

[Bill_Dodds]

Take a shot at no-color and then decided whether or not to go back.

Not like getting a tattoo, eh?

(Yeah, but I’m a guy so what the heck do I know?)