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Molly2
Senior Member
USA
772 Posts |
 Posted - Oct 14 2009 : 07:38:46 AM
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I am a natural blonde and started noticing silver creeping in sometime in my 40's. I am 55 now and about half blonde half silver.
The results are striking. I get so many compliments on my silver blonde hair color.
I don't know what I will look like when the silver dominates, but I do know this - I will not color it. I do not want to add chemicals to my body, do not want to spend the money, do not want to spend the time.
People may judge my age by the color of my hair, but they will judge me by the content of my character. Coloring my hair will not make me a better person. |
Molly |
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seagull
Senior Member
Canada
726 Posts |
Posted - Oct 14 2009 : 08:26:28 AM
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| Unfortunately we are judged by our hair color. At 48 I have very grey hair and have had for several years. You can imagine how it felt to be asked if I qualify for the senior discount at the age of 40. I do not want to start the cycle of hair coloring but I get sick of being asked if I'm a senior. |
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Jillyboo
Member
258 Posts |
Posted - Oct 14 2009 : 09:28:07 AM
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| I am 51 and let my hair go gray last year after years of coloring it. what a relief ! when i walk by the aisle of hair goo its so blissful to know I will never again drip on my best towels, stain my sink or risk getting it in my eyes! My friend (who can afford to pay someone $100 to do hers said OH YOU MUST COLOR YOUR HAIR)....well no i really dont have to LOL. My hair is softer and shinier than its been in years. After it grew a bit I got a short style to get most of the color off. Its now growing out and I love it. I use that purple shampoo stuff a couple of times a month to keep that yellowish tint off it. In a world where we are expected to try and look forever young I decided to rebel and enjoy my gray...:o)....I like it! |
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Chessica
Member
USA
373 Posts |
Posted - Oct 14 2009 : 09:50:00 AM
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It appears that hair color goes beyond a preference for shade. If the cultural consensus dictated that grey, white or silver hairs were evidence of youth and virility, many would likely be allowing the natural color to evolve or applying dye from the other end of the spectrum!  On the cover of a yoga magazine a few years back, there was a woman, around 40 years, with a youthful face who had had grey highlights placed in her hair to balance out the incoming changes to her natural color. While I believe she surely would have looked younger with a blonde or light brown color, I imagined she looked better with her pre-mature grey.
For most of my life (with a few radical time-outs for crew cuts), my hair has been long and brunette. I will soon be 53 years. When I was around 40, the grey began to appear, very slightly. Today, I am predominantly natural brunette with a silver streak framing one side of my face. I sorta like it. The rest of my hair (now shoulder length)is beginning to take on a very slight, salt-n-pepper appearance. Stylists have always commented on the health and sheen of my hair. Trips to the hair salon have only been once or twice a year for the last decade.
Young faces for our chronological years run in my family; one brother's nickname is "Dorian."  Yet, I don't find it a coincidence that since my grey streak has become more prominent, I am addressed as "Ma'am" (yuck!) instead of "Miss" by clerks and waitstaff! 
Like loosechickens, I also experimented with blonde "frosting" and later highlights in my 30's. About 10 years ago, I went auburn - interesting effect, but I didn't like the way my hair felt.
I admit, the only time I even consider a trip to the colorist is when I think "job interview." My thoughts volley back and forth on this. A friend who has sported a very chic and precision cut of natural grey, has totally covered it. She made this decision after suspecting that her natural hair color detracted from her chances of landing a position with a young, start-up company.
More a wabi-sabi kinda gal, coloring my hair doesn't truly align with the way I live in pairing down to non-essentials (mostly). The question for me: Is it essential to color? Will the results be something useful or beautiful to me?
EmmyLou is a beautiful, talented lady. Her hair likely receives excellent attention to be performance-ready. Can't confirm, but I sense she may have had cosmetic enhancement (or great PhotoShop) to still have the same face as 35 years ago. Personally, I have always found grey or white hair on a younger face (male or female) to be very attractive - perhaps because it is rare.
No judgment on anyone's choice. I've seen some gorgeous (albeit, cutting edge) hairstyles and colors on some of my peers, particularly in the city. My own standard, and hesitance to get into the color cycle, rests with this great comment from janehoyt: ". . . there's a point at which your face and your hair will show an unattractive generation gap."
Chessica
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Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple - that's creativity.
- Charles Mingus |
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Fluffy
Advanced Member
1728 Posts |
Posted - Oct 14 2009 : 1:13:38 PM
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I started using hair color when I was eighteen, just for fun, and have been dying my hair ever since (I'm 64). I wish that I had stopped in my thirties and let the natural gray come in, as I now have something of a problem with going natural. So far a light brown dye and some highlighting is blending the roots in very well, but there's still going to be a period of time when growing it out while still having it look good will be difficult.
When I retire, I intend to go gray and I look forward to saving the time involved more so than the money. Whether I do it myself or have it done, it takes several hours during which I can't do much of anything else.
One thing I've noticed as I contemplate going gray is that there's precious little fashion advice available for older women. I've been pondering which colors will still look good on me when my hair is gray, and I can't find a blasted thing on the 'Net except hackneyed advice about wearing scarves and long sleeves to cover up wrinkles.
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humboldtgurl
Advanced Member
USA
1018 Posts |
Posted - Oct 14 2009 : 2:02:37 PM
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Ok you blondes and 40-somethings without a lot of gray, this brunette is SO jealous of y'all!
I've had gray since I was 18, and have been coloring my hair ever since. I always said I would stop when I was 50. But then I turned 40 in August, and decided scr#w it, I'm stopping now! I made the decision last month when I was standing in front of the mirror with color in my hair, getting dye on my brand new sink countertop, and adding up the time and money I waste every month doing this stupid procedure. I got so mad at myself. It was my 15-minute midlife crisis.
The next day I went out and cut my shoulder-length hair off. I read that it will take about 3 haircuts to let it grow out. Meanwhile I'll be wearing a lot of scarves this winter! And I feel SO much better with short, healthy hair.
It will be interesting to go back to visit family in L.A. this Christmas. I have 4 glamour-gal type sisters who will never give up coloring their hair (all of us are gray), and my 75-year old Mom is the same way (only now she's a blonde). I know that I'm going to catch flack from them, but I don't care. Coloring my hair just goes against everything I personally stand for. It's an expensive disguise, and I'm done with it.
I'll never condemn anyone who chooses to do it of course, because it's such a personal decision. For me, however, to follow the simple living principles, I've just gotta give it up once and for all.
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susan
Advanced Member
USA
1708 Posts |
Posted - Oct 15 2009 : 12:19:05 PM
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| I'm 46 and started getting gray strands when I was 30. My hair is blonde/red/brown and the gray blends in well, like highlights. I have never dyed my hair and don't intend to unless I get very bored with it. I've come close a few times but sheer laziness keeps me from doing it. I do not want to start something that requires upkeep. I have slightly below shoulder-length hair that is cut in long layers. It is very thick and has some natural wave. Mt styling consists of blow-drying my bangs and some of the back, so it is not dripping wet after I wash it. Then it either goes into a ponytail or an octopus clip. |
There is no epidural with a spiritual rebirth.-Larry Finkelstein |
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Hogan
Member
USA
261 Posts |
Posted - Oct 15 2009 : 4:44:59 PM
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I'm 43 and a half (!) and have been graying since age 23. I've been dying my hair for...ever, it seems, but I'm not going to give it up. Seriously, I'm more than 50% white-haired now, and what hair that is left that still has color in it has turned this disgusting, flat, rat color!
My best friends in terms of hair care are my $2.97, ammonia-free hair color (Revlon) from Wal-Mart, Tres-semme hairspray that can withstand a nuclear explosion, and this wonderful and cheap men's styling product called "Groom and Clean" by Suave...tames the flyaways, gives my hair shine and body, and enhances the (fake)color. For my situation, the natural look is naturally nasty-looking! |
Hogan
www.lanamcglasson.com |
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homespun
Member
USA
318 Posts |
Posted - Oct 16 2009 : 07:40:29 AM
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I think you have persuaded me to stop coloring my hair. I always swore I would not color my hair, but about 5 years ago, I went on a trip with my sisters, whom all color their hair, and I talked myself into coloring mine. Unfortunately, I still have two boxes of permanent dye I bought on sale last month--but I'm sure I could pass them on to one of my sisters.
I'm not sure how to go about letting it grow out though. Use a non-permanent type dye for a few months? |
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madgeylou
Advanced Member
USA
3041 Posts |
Posted - Oct 16 2009 : 08:16:59 AM
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i have dark brown, almost black hair. i dyed it platinum blonde once, or at least i tried to. it came out creamsicle colored. oh dear.
ever since then i haven't messed with it, except for the fact that i do like it a little darker/more blue-black/less red, so i use this aveda conditioner called "black malva." just makes me a tiny bit more snow white-ish (no one really notices the difference but me).
i have 2 grey hairs at age almost-37. may or may not dye as more come in, i will have to wait and see. my mom died young and my hair is not like my dad's so i'm not sure what to expect... |
http://www.thesunnyway.com
Personal development to change the world |
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theflame2021
Member
276 Posts |
Posted - Oct 16 2009 : 10:25:45 AM
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I've done the "natural" thing with my hair from ages birth to 15,after that I've been having it colored every since and do not intend to stop until they put me in my grave. I can tell you that I have a few pure white hairs coming in,so I already know I wont be graying.
But to each his/her own I say when it coming to coloring your hair.
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swingbolder
New Member
29 Posts |
Posted - Oct 16 2009 : 1:17:45 PM
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I'm 44 and have started seeing some gray around my hairline. This is how it grows on my mom's head so I guess mine will gray the same way. As a black woman who stopped straightening her hair over 20 years ago, I've been bucking conventional beauty standards for a long time. What difference will some gray make? I'm looking forward to it.
Actually, what I think would be really cool is to have a giant gray streak on one side of my head like Cruella Deville. |
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humboldtgurl
Advanced Member
USA
1018 Posts |
Posted - Oct 16 2009 : 9:07:16 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by swingbolder
What difference will some gray make? I'm looking forward to it.
Actually, what I think would be really cool is to have a giant gray streak on one side of my head like Cruella Deville.
I'm with ya on that one. I can't stand the fact that my husband, who has salt-and-pepper hair at 43, is considered "distinguished," yet society convinces women that gray hair on them makes them look like hags.
A long time ago I read "The Beauty Myth" by Naomi Wolf (highly recommend reading it for anyone who hasn't). I tossed the makeup, spiked heels and Vogue magazines. But a part of me couldn't give up the hair color, until now. I'm just done with the whole thing.
As for the Cruella streak, yeah! Actually, I've always dug Bonnie Raitt's gray streak, and hope that my hair ends up looking as cool.
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marchhare
Junior Member
USA
83 Posts |
Posted - Oct 17 2009 : 11:19:48 AM
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After years of coloring my hair, I stopped several months ago. I am in my 60s. I have been near relapse a couple of times--sometimes I look in the mirror and know I look older. But then I tell myself, "So what, I am older." All in all, it has felt wonderfully freeing. But it is certainly a matter of personal choice. Both ways are OK.
The book Going Gray by Anne Kreamer helped a lot. I recommend it to anyone struggling with this issue |
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HappyHiker
Advanced Member
1097 Posts |
Posted - Oct 17 2009 : 5:24:17 PM
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I've not been on this forum for a few months, and loved running across this topic...very timely.
Just made the decision to color my hair for the last time...and need some support. I'm ready to go natural--whatever color that is--it will be an adventure to find out. I'm 62.
I just read an article about some medical folks think the ingredients in the darker hair coloring shades may contribute to certain cancers. I thought "Why am I doing this to myself?"
I'm ready, I'm pretty sure, almost positive, to assume the mantle of Wise Elder. Or at least Foolish Elder. At the very least, Natural Elder.
Thanks for sharing your innermost thoughts on the topic. Grant me the courage, my natural sisters, to make the leap into gray, silver, salt n' pepper or whatever color lies under the dye...
We shall see. |
"In separateness," said the Buddha, "lies the world's greatest misery." |
Edited by - HappyHiker on Oct 17 2009 5:25:02 PM |
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going natural with hair?
