To dye or not to dye

[korinalacount]

okay I just finished doing a touch up on my sides and roots where my part is,my hair goes white there and much faster now,I am half Indian so I expect I will be all white some day. Now I retouched for my daughter,to meet her guy this Sunday,John said I should just let it go,everyone in his family is completely white by 60,he is 50 now,I am 53,Now I know Denise went blonde and I think it looks awesome but I loved her gray as well,are we as women conforming to the world that must be young looking? Am I vain? I dont think so,I have long hair and I think it looks weird white at the ears and in the parting at top,John says he hardly notices it,women and men,whats your take on dyeing?

 

[popcorn]

I can't be bothered to cover the grey. I figure I worked d--- hard for each one of the grey hairs!

Liz

 

[maw]

Like Liz I am what you see is what you get natural brown with some white streaks-Brenda is turning her white into blonde

 

[lady-bug]

I go from deep burgundy, to bright red, to auburn, to reddish blonde. Always in the red family. People at work are always in for a surprise. I go with whatever strikes my fancy at the time. I love the different looks.

 

[nieciez]

It is a pain to dye but boy oh boy with long hair it would be a real job to grow it out. I keep my hair super short so the grow out is pretty quick. I expect I'll get tired of coloring it again before too long. In fact, I need to do it this weekend :lol :lol

 

[Beryl]

I sort of think that good old Mother Nature knows best! As we age so does our complexion and I think the hair colour the Good Lord gives us is generally the best! But that's just me! You know, when I look in the mirror I see blonde--it just doesn't look gray to me even though I know it looks gray to everyone else. =lolgang

 

[cjbee]

I am not yet 40 and I have plenty of the stuff. I can't stand it, not to mention it is difficult to work with. I haven't got to the point where I color my whole head yet, my hairdresser won't let me. We are just doing more hi- and lo- lights.
CJ

 

[beckyw]

I am 51 and a natural blonde. I don't get gray hairs, I get black hairs instead. I pull some out but don't try to particularly cover the black hairs. I do highlight my hair because it really brightens it. DH has tons of gray hair. I told him he earned every single one of those and should be proud!

 

[Kadeycat]

I started going gray at 23 yrs old. My mom had gray hairs at 16. I am now in mid-40's but still color. I'm not upset but think I look better with no gray. I think alot of women look wonderful and classic with part or all gray. Each to his own.

 

[GloBug]

Miss Clairol stopped visiting my house quite a while ago. My hair is pretty grey up front, and pretty dark in back. I actually like the grey hair. It's soft and feels so good. Plus, I was starting to thin out a bit on top, and the dark contrast with my scalp was really a standout. Now you can't tell it's thinning! And that's a good thing!

Plus, IMHO, when you see women of a certain age with a head full of hair all the same flat color, I think it looks too obvious and fake.

 

[Cricket]

I am a natural brunette with highlights..natural gray highlights! LOL

I also do change my color when I get tired of the gray. In fact right now, I am a brunette with caramel-colored highlights, and I have gotten quite a bit of compliments when I went to work.

 

[suer182]

What you see is what you get. I perm mine just for convenience. Dries a heck of lot quicker during the winter.

 

[rooy]

i am also half indian (native american) with the "graying at the sides" thing going on. i haven't colored yet, but i'm thinking about it. with jet black hair, the gray is starting to look like someone took a paint brush to my temples. the girl who cuts my hair told me to try the stuff that only lasts through twenty eight washes. she told me i might need two bottles since i also have long, thick hair. i think i'll try it. :lol

 

[bigjimswoman]

Having some native american and black, grey has been with me for years. My grandmother was completely grey by the time she was 29. I fight it the grey with a vengenance. I guess because hair is not just grey but shocking white: !!! I plan to let it grey after I turn 50, it will look like Della Reeses, because most of my grey is in the the top of my head.

 

[Cruise cutie]

I have lonnnggg Black hair, and it has "blue highlights"..my Italian ancestry..and at 47 years old.. I have silver strands glinting here,and there..and if I go on ship.. or have a big shin dig..I'll colour it..but I am lazy to do it.. and it's not been done since our cruise in February.. I even was lazy for Amigo's and said Pffftt and was au naturale

DD Cynthia's Godparents are my dearest friends we visit down in CT.. and they own three very successful salons in CT.and since they are ITALIAN off the boat way back when ...they ALL have BLACK hair!!....:lol..and for the last 20 + years we visit...and when I asked them they said the hugest biggest no-no women with black hair do.. is use over the counter L'Oreal or Clairol BLACK DYE on black hair.. and it's nasty stuff.. it's flat, and bland, and it's a"hooker look"..no shine ,and because to do black hair right you need a special colourant added from a salon base place.here in Vermont...that's why you see so many 60 plus women with flat black yuck black hair.. they cannot spring for the real expensive hair dye cost at a good colourist!!

BUT Because I rarely get to go to DD Cynthia's Godparents salon; we are so rushed when we go home.It's way hit ,and miss . and it's for free.!!.:grin and because I cannot get there for the black colour they need to use.. and due to the length..( it's a HUNDRED Dollars for them to cost!!... and they refuse to take my $$....

so it's a I make it back in baked goodies, and helping Momma cook for the family dinners she throws for "the family"' um 40 folks strolling in.. so my help is cook with her, and my hair is done.. )..

That is so rarely I let them colour though .. so I quizzed the pro's and they set me straight and their advice for black hair...They have me use a dark, dark BROWN..as Dark as a Brown they make in L'Oreal Colour Excellence, and what it does is shade the Grey, and have my black be shiny through the brown!!

so I get :evil, and tell all the girls at work.. see my silver.. and I'll be in tomorrow..with it coloured... and THEY swear it's a miracle.. the silver is gone, and my shiny black comes through the L'Oreal Brown!!.. my girlfriends here are now convinced it's the way to go.. so another one with black hair does that shade too.. I am a colour it if I want.OR not... never did bother last month to go home to Colorado.. too often it's take it or leave it.. but I tend to get vain here and there, snag one of my DD's.. and in the colourant goes.. to each their own...Joanne

 

[korinalacount]

Thanks I will try the Loreal,I used Clariol, but dark brown as my hair too is so black I didnt want jet black,good advice.

 

[Suez]

I decided quite a few years ago to let my hair go natural. My mother's gray hair was gorgeous during her mid life years, and I thougth I could color right through that stage and not know it.

Actually when I started coloring my hair it wasn't due to it graying, but to add some body to my thin fine hair in my younger years. Now that it is gray I stopped coloring it! :lol

My decision to stop dying my hair was somewhat tied into having an older cousin who always dyed her hair the black color of her youth. She decide in her 60's to stop coloring, and showed up at a family reunion with WHITE hair. Although she came in with her mother many of us did not recognize "who that WHITE haired lady was with our aunt"!! So, now whenever I see that cousin I tell her my gray hair is HER fault. I just couldn't imagine waking up one morning and having that drastic a change when I looked in the mirror!

So...I am, who I am!
Suez

 

[RosieRosie]

My brown hair was getting a lot of gray, so I started coloring it when I was still in my 30's. I decided to go blond shortly after I turned 50 - the color is softer with my complexion and since I was blond as a child, it feels very natural for me. I'm determined to look and feel as young as I can, as long as I can!

 

[elliottsmama]

You can get the Elliott look...and he loves it:lol
Really, I keep mine short and hightlight it in the summer and it goes dark in the winter and I could care less if there is gray or not. Do what makes YOU happy

 

[MARIPOSA]

Cindy, that's EXACTLY what I did, got that Elliott look after my chemo treatments : When my hair started growing back in my hubby asked me when I was going to begin coloring it again because now I look OLD. WELL, I had already decided that now that I had virgin hair once more that I would NEVER color it again. And I haven't. Now, some folks get grey hair curly after chemo, but I'm not sure if I got the grey from that or not because I had no idea just how much grey hair I had before the chemo, I'd been coloring & highlighting it for so long.I did get some curl with my new head of hair and that is the best 'reward' that I could ever have asked for. If I keep it short, it curls nicely. YIPPEE

I have a little grey now and sure do love not having to mess with it any more, to say nothing of the money it saves me!!!

Hugs, Mariposa