Getting more male attention after dying hair?

[Accidentalblonde]

This is going to sound like a stealth boast, but I swear it's not. You know the stereotype of blondes being more desirable and getting more attention?

I have had brown hair all my life. Sometimes it has been chestnut, sometimes it has been almost black, but it has never been lighter than a solid medium brown.

For a number of reasons (ok, slightly tipsy home box dye disaster resulting in expensive salvage trip to hairdresser) I am now a caramel blonde with lighter blonde bits. So not even blonde blonde. I'm quite pleased with how well it suits me, as I never thought a lighter colour would, but it does. I'm a stocky size 12, reasonably alright looking but nothing special, wear minimal makeup, am in early thirties, happily married with kids, dress sense is appalling so I stick to fairly plainish dresses with tights and boots. Always had a boyfriend or two before DH, usually they started off as friends, nobody has ever tried to chat me up in a bar or bus queue, lots of prettier friends, you get the idea. Minimal attention from men, which I've always been happy with, because I reckoned that although it must be nice to be the really gorgeous girl getting all the attention at the club, it wouldn't be so nice when white van men are yelling horrible things at you the next morning.

Well long story short, but fuck me. Never in my life have I had so much attention from men as I have in the last two months. It's all been fairly positive, don't get me wrong, and it's not anything crazy, but it's noticeable due to its previous absence. Even my mum noticed when we were out together the other day. It's as though men are "seeing" me, if that makes sense

The only thing that has changed is my hair, and this has only happened since I went blonde. I actually think I look better with a rich chestnut brown, but the blonde must catch the eye more, and men really must be socialised to find it more appealing?

Like I said, not a stealth boast because I'm under no illusions about myself, it's just that as a sort of accidental social experiment, I'm so shocked at how differently I've been treated

^ eye roll

"No way! Red heads get way more attention!!"

Might depend what shade of red. I don't.
Have you tried blonde and red to be able to compare.

What's with the "men are visual" piffle?

Women have eyes too you know

"take more notice of a woman with their natural hair colour."

Unless you've checked collars and cuffs you wouldn't know what the natural hair colour is.
Eyebrows are a guide, but they can be darkened.

Branster I’ve assumed that the OP is in the UK. Many people (like me) were blonde as children and young teenagers and then had their hair darken as they got older.

A few people have mentioned red hair. Friends who have natural red hair have seen it fade as they approached middle age. So a deep (natural looking) red would also imply youth.

"So a deep (natural looking) red would also imply youth."

And it's also not so common. Although more common here than in most of the world, still a minority so gets attention.
Very different reactions to red-haired men though, which again could be the youth thing, darkish hair being prized in men.

I became invisible almost overnight when I had my kids. It's a strange thing when it happens.
I think I could dye my hair purple now and no one would notice!

I've always noticed the same OP, I get a lot more male attention when blonde, especially when I was platinum. I also get much more attention whenever my hair is fiery red. I'm a natural brunette, and the difference in attention when I've got my natural colour is glaringly obvious, it's always made me laugh tbh.

I had the blonde to brunette experience in my mid 20s. Walked out of the hairdressers feeling like I looked great, back to my natural dark brown after years of chunky (1990s) highlights. It was like I’d had an invisibility cloak thrown over me. I’d got used to being noticed and suddenly... nothing.

I cant go blonde as it really wouldnt suit my olive colouring but going from dark brown to black around 10 years ago resulted in me having more attention from men.I think any striking hair colour catches the eye

I’ve gradually being going blonde ( thanks to more grey hair) from mousey brown over most of my life.
I’ve still got a lot of brown, lot of silver and blonde as I just stick to blonde highlights. My hair is below my shoulders.
I’ve always felt more attractive as a blonde even though I’m very average looking, height and weight.
I went to my hairdresser once and asked her for some low lights..oh my god...I looked dreadful..I’d aged ten years. She’d taken out just about every bit of blonde I’d had.
Went back the next day and had it all reinstated.
I’ve had my share of attention over the years. Wouldn’t say it was all down to hair colour but maybe blonde hair does get you noticed especially if you live in a country where the predominant colour is brown/ black hair.
I seem to remember blonde hair is a recessive gene. So if Scandinavia is mainly populated by blonde haired people( don’t know , I’ve never been) you may just be one of a crowd.

I'm feeling very frumpy right now, wonder if I should try being blonde?! 🤔

I remember a friend of mine going to university in Paris, she was a redhead with very fair skin. Her colouring was so unusual there that she became miss popular and all the French guys wanted to date her. She never had that response in the UK so it took some getting used to her new status!

You probably suit blonde better OP! Like Emilia Clarke, I personally think she suits blonde much better than brunette!

Crucru
I married a blonde. In fact my mil had 4 sons. One was auburn, one blonde. One black and one brown haired.
When I had my daughter I looked forward to styling her long blonde hair...nope the auburn son got the blonde haired daughter. Mine was brown like me. I did get a blonde son and an auburn one.

The auburn son had two blonde sons, the eldest aged 16 has now gone dark blonde..like you say seems to happen to a lot of people in uk

Not enough sunshine..perhaps.

This is definitely the case if you’re not white (for me and my friends anyway). Those of us who bleach our hair always get more male attention and it’s not related to looks (the best looking women in my group are dark haired).

Little and often..rather than do it in one hit, go for highlights
It’s amazing how much they build up over time
My cousin went totally grey very early on. Had lovely long thick grey hair, grows very quickly
She just started having highlights every few months and is a lovely all over blonde colour with a few streaks of silver
Looks lovely

I think there are certain things that men are just conditioned to look at. I'm not blonde but on the occasion I wear bright red lipstick I ALWAYS get noticeably more attention. The same as the (very rare) occasion I wear proper high heels. I'm sure blond hair is another one. I'm not sure how I feel about it.

Good for you OP as long as you enjoy it! I'm a brunette with blonde balayage and I'm quite happy to be relatively invisible!

Thanks @Dowser - noted!