To ask whether you prefer being blonde or brunette?

[therewillbetime]

Very trivial I'm afraid but would appreciate any blondes who have gone to brunette (or vice versa). Was white blonde as a child, then as I got older, my hair became mousy. Since I was early twenties (now forty) I have had a combination of light blonde and chocolate streaks which basically make my hair look blonde overall.

I'm fed up with it and fancy a change but certainly don't want mousy hair. I have quite fair skin and green eyes. Is it better being a brunette?! I have never ever gone completely brown and cannot imagine how it would look. I'm basically rather boring and not someone who has experimented much with different hair colours in the past. Any experiences gratefully received.

[imonlyherefortheAIBU]

I have light brown hair but have been blonde for about 7 years now, went brunette once during that time and massively regretted it. Love my blonde hair

[therewillbetime]

Thank you for all of your posts and suggestions. I THINK I might stay blonde after all but maybe go for a different tone. I am looking at pictures of brunettes who look stunning but who have long, glossy hair (mine is a bit finer!) and I would probably end up looking extremely dull!

[AnotherPidgey]

Your colouring sounds similar to mine. I think of myself as being "fair" but I'm probably only scraping that in the summer when the ends have blonded up naturally. The under side is very dark.

I can't be bothered with maintenence so haven't done anything more exciting than natural looking blonde streaks years ago. I like my natural summer tones, but in winter when I darken up, I pick out my natural red tones with a 24 wash red dye that comes out a bit brighter than mahogony as it picks up well on my natural variation.

[RosieRoo4]

I have weird colouring, naturally auburn with olive skin and brown eyes, when I’m brunette it brings out the dark under my eyes and I have to pile on the make up, I’ve had half a head of highlights for years and the mix of blonde and brown suit my skin tone and features, I can also get away with wearing a lot less face paint!
Block colour looks awful on anybody over the age of 20, a mix of colours is much more flattering. If I was you I’d go medium brown with some honey lights round my face.

[Ratonastick]

I was originally very dark chestnut brown with very pale skin and green eyes which is a weird combination. I went grey very young (in my teens) so have gradually dyed my hair lighter and lighter to cover the grey so now I am blonde. Surprisingly it looks much nicer and more natural than my original colouring. I think it is to do with the way your skin changes as you go grey, but I don’t really analyse it too much!

[Dogmum94]

I am really pale with blue eyes. I am naturally really light blonde but started dying it dark when I was 17. I have had red, darker blonde, light brown, dark brown, pastel pink and now black hair. No matter what colour I’ve had I’ve always gone back to dark as I just prefer it.
As I’m quite pale I get a lot of comments about how it makes my eyes stand out and that I look quite striking. I just felt so pale and wishy washy with blonde hair so I’d never go back again

[Positi]

When I was very tanned, and had my hair done to a curious shade of red, the sun eventually bleached the dye out of it and I was blonde and looked good. Generally I prefer brunette, as I think it suits my physically more and this will sound strange, but I think it suits my personality more. My hair is the colour of Kate Middletons naturally (haven't gone grey yet), and I haven't died it since that one time when I lived in Italy where I went some sort of red colour which I hated. I actually liked the blonde at the time, but I just feel brunette suits me as a person more. I don't have very sleeky lustrous hair, so it hides a multitude of sins.

[DinosApple]

I'd look ridiculous as a blonde, wrong skin tone. My hair's naturally nearly black and my skin is very pale.

Personally I think blondes tend to look younger, but it may just be that I have an 'old' face!

Tried a red when I was younger and it looked awesome - really brought out my brown eyes.

[Parttimewasteoftime]

@paintingowls snap.
I colour my own so can't keep up with Blonde.

[Didyeeaye]

I think it depends on your features, complexion and personal preference.
I'm naturally a 'dirty' blonde with pale skin and bright blue eyes. I go between blonde which makes me look plain imo. Although I attracts 'butter wouldn't melt' comments (mostly from older people)
I prefer being a brunette as it seems to make my eyes pop and as shallow as it sounds I seem to get more compliments for my looks x

[BettyOBarley]

I prefer brunette for cost and effort as it's my natural colour so no expensive trips to the hairdresser's for highlights every 8 weeks but I do miss being blonde, I felt so much better about myself but that's just as I felt it suited me more... although interestingly everyone else says the opposite.

[SerenDippitty]

Brunette. Blonde doesn’t go with my skin tone (pale with cool pinky undertones).

[grasspigeons]

I have mousy hair and have kept it mousy.
Its a natural hair colour that matches my skin and eyes.

[WendyWarthog]

I'm blonde but purely because I have too much grey now to keep up to having darker hair.

I used to have bright red hair - dyed - and I loved it but it just got harder and more expensive to keep covering up the grey roots that appeared so quickly . So I chose to go lighter and am now blonde. My roots only need doing every 8 - 10 weeks rather than every 3 or 4.

And as you start to go grey, your skin tone changes too. That's why old ladies who still use Harmony Hazel Brown - can you still buy that? - look a bit odd. Like Tom Jones did before he stopped dyeing his hair and went silver fox.

[Titsywoo]

I have blonde hair but would love to be a brunette - it doesn't suit my skin tone sadly. I have curly hair and always think brown curly hair looks better than blonde. Am currently thinking about going strawberry blonde though!

[keely71]

I’ve been both, and as the saying goes, blondes definitely have more fun. I was a fair bit younger then, but got far more male attention as a blonde.

[TruffleShuffles]

I naturally have quite dark brown hair with a light olive skin tone and very light blue eyes but I was a blonde for about 12 years. At the beginning of the year I decided to start going darker gradually as the root maintenance every 4 weeks was starting to become tiresome and I also found out I was pregnant so wanted to get a more low maintenance colour. I still have pretty blonde ends but with my natural colour roots, I hate it! As soon as I get the time after I’ve had my baby I will be going back full on blonde as I just feel anything darker for me personally is just boring. Also I can get a good golden blonde colour without bleach so the condition has always been good but I do have some bleach foils and darker blonde foils put through just to break up the colour.

[SantyClaws]

I'm exactly the same colouring as you, and was white blonde as a child too, fading to mouse as I got older.

Have short hair so it's been many colours over the years it's actually natural at the moment and turns out i'm completely grey now! (41)

I def look better blonde, dark brown made me look like it'd been dug up and red just looked too fake on me. Light brown was nice, just a bit boring.

Favourite was platinum blonde/silver. Going back to that shortly.

[TooYoungToBeSoTired]

I went from brunette to blonde. Much prefer blonde, makes me look just a bit more youthful/ fresher (it’s a balayage though so not too harsh of a blonde).

[gamerwidow]

I had very dark brown hair before I started going grey and I used to dye it brown/black but as the white outnumbered the dark I’ve started to go lighter and am light brown/dark blonde now because it’s easier to maintain and I find is less aging as I’ve got older. Really depends on the individual though as to what looks best.

[kitkatsky]

I was mousy and have gone both blonde and brunette over the years. Similar colouring to you as very pale but blue eyes rather than green. Honestly I much prefer being blonde but it is hard work to keep it up!

[Ariela]

I prefer my naturally reddish hair, but never quite manage to dye the grey out of it without it going brown or orange. So it looks a sandy reddish grey mess.

[MassDebate]

You've pretty much described me too therewillbetime. I tried going darker a few years ago after feeling the blonde upkeep was a bit much - asked the hairdresser to take me back to my natural (now mousy) colour but it ended up as a mid brown. I hated it - it made me feel really drab and none of my clothes looked right. I ended up going back for a few blonde highlights to be put back in and it looked so much better!

Since then I've toned down the blonde a bit - my hair goes pretty light with a tint (no bleach) so I have a few highlights mixed with a few lowlights to ensure the blonde doesn't take over too much. The result is quite a natural golden blonde which requires less upkeep than full on highlights.

[MissLadyM]

I'm naturally dark almost black. I once died it proper black and it looked so witchy!Blonde aged me terribly. I'm now a redhead and it feels so right for me. It depends what suits your skin tone and it's not a 'flat' colour. Natural looking hair is made up of loads of different tones. Just make sure it's in great condition

[wink1970]

Naturally dark brown, but at 48 with the increase in greys, I now have a full head of various highlights, a mix of lighter brown, dark blonde and the odd silver-blonde.

It costs a small fortune to maintain and I would love to stay brunette but don't like grey roots!