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Original poster

Congratulate me, I have not dyed my hair for a whole year!!

140 replies

seashore · 25/01/2011 13:22

Hi all,

since it turns out I'm allergic to hair dye I have now not dyed my long hair for a whole year. It has been hard sporting a two tone look. A very helpful person here put me onto the going grey looking great website which completely turned my views around about grey hair. I can't remember your talk name, I think there was a moon in it? but thank you, you really helped me out. I am soon about to get a chop as I am close to half and half at this stage but it has been a long year. I'm 42 and thought I thought I would dye my hair until 50. My mum never dyed her hair at all and she always looked great. I think I have about another 6 months of growing to be completely dye free.

OP posts:
MirandaGoshawk · 26/01/2011 22:32

I gave up dyeing my hair a couple of years ago. I think DO look older, - but so what? I dress to match (greys & blues with dashes of pink & red) and I'm careful with my make-up, & DH prefers this to dyed brown/red/blonde, which always looked artificial & washed out my skin.

A Spanish friend is very stylish & one day she complimented me on my grey hair, saying it's a lovely colour. So I'm happy!

CarolinaRua · 26/01/2011 22:46

Personally I think grey hair is very ageing so would dye it until at least 65.

diddl · 27/01/2011 07:06

I think that obviously dyed hair is much more aging than grey hair.

Still, I´m mid 40´s so atm the few greys I´ve got are OK.

Also I love my hair colour-so I don´t want to change that.

kitpuss · 27/01/2011 09:33

What a lovely thread!

I started going grey when I was 16, very noticeable in my black hair. I did dye my hair but stopped when I was 29.

I'm now 34, and sometimes have the occasional wobble that people who see me think I must be 40! But on the whole I much prefer my hair grey - it looks so much better than having a strip of white down my parting three weeks after I have dyed it.

I genuinely think that women do each other a disservice by dying their hair until they are 50 or 60, what is wrong with just being your natural colour? Men don't dye their hair and no-one thinks anything of it, it is purely a woman thing, we should surely try to learn to accept the way we are.

senua · 27/01/2011 09:56

I have mousy brown / salt'n'pepper hair and am experimenting with an old herbal remedy ATM. I made an infusion of sage, rosemary and black tea that I use as a final rinse.
It is difficult to tell how it is going - grey shows up more against a dark contrast, and greasy hair is darker than just-washed. So sometimes I think "wow it's worked" then other times I think "nah, it's just that the contrast isn't so marked when it's freshly washed".
However, the rinse is at least giving my non-grey hair a bit less mouse and more of a definite 'something' without being obviously dyed.

thefentiger · 27/01/2011 10:17

I think the secret to dyeing your hair if you are going gray is to find a really good hairdresser.
I used to dye my own but ended up with awful flat clour with no depth or tone to it.
Now I go once a month and get my roots done and highlights on top and in sections underneath(Im sure there is a technical term for this!)

My hair is midlength chestnut brown with caramel highlights-lighter than my natural colour -another secret !

I really feel that it suits my natural skin tone and doesnt look harsh in the way the home dyes did.
OP if you feel happier with grey hair good for you ! Not ready to join you just yet Grin

Orissiah · 27/01/2011 10:21

My skin is dark so I don't think grey hair will make me look washed out however I am going to keep an eye on two things when I take the plunge: 1. Impeccable grooming - I think grey hair can be quite dry/frizzy on some people so I will intensively condition and ensure I have more regular cuts (I want to keep my hair long), 2. Put more colour on my face and around my face - eg bolder makeup than I now wear and wear more colourful scarves/clothes up top. I can see this going grey experiment is going to change the way I look at myself/how I look. It's exciting! Smile

plus3 · 27/01/2011 10:26

Off to the hairdressers today - I have not had any colour on my hair for 6 mths just to see how grey I am. Conclusion is that I am white around my temples and mouse else where. I look tired and old. I am 38.

Not ready for this yet, but when it is all a bit more even I will let it grow out.

Definately do not want to be colouring my hair the greyer I go, but just not quite ready to embrace it yet.

Talkinpeace · 27/01/2011 11:31

I have a white stripe.
The hair is a different texture than the rest so even if I dye it, it shows.
So I have a white stripe that is gradually getting wider as the years pass.

Zippylovesgeorge · 27/01/2011 12:55

Just found this thread.

I stopped dyeing my hair last summer so am about 6 months in. Now have about 3 inches of natural colour (brown with grey highlights) and the rest is still the lighter dyed colour.

Be glad when its got another couple of inches of natural colour through then I'm thinking of having a short cut just to get rid of the rest of the dye.

Off to check out that website - thank you

EmmaBemma · 27/01/2011 13:01

My mum has had brilliant white hair since about her mid-thirties - before then it had been rapidly going grey from her very early twenties. It looks great on her, she uses very posh Aveda Blue Malva shampoo on it which makes it all shiny and sleek, and she wears it in a sort of wavy bob. She's in her early fifties and I don't think she's ever looked so glamorous as she does now.

My own hair is probably 30% grey and I'm 32. I did stop dying it for a while to see what it looked like but it did age me, as it's pretty salt-and-pepper and washes me out. I'm going to dye it for the time being, until it's more impressively grey.

RoundAndAround · 27/01/2011 13:14

Great thread, thanks for all the links guys - v interesting.

Gosh I'm so tempted. If I could just wave a magic wand and have it all grown out it would be great - but the thought of living with an ever-widening badger stripe for the next two years is pretty daunting.

Might experiment with temporary colour to camouflage roots rather than the 'wash out in 24 shampoos' variety (which DOESN'T wash out, whatever the packet says).

EmmaBemma · 27/01/2011 13:20

"I genuinely think that women do each other a disservice by dying their hair until they are 50 or 60, what is wrong with just being your natural colour? Men don't dye their hair and no-one thinks anything of it, it is purely a woman thing, we should surely try to learn to accept the way we are."

I don't believe this is a "should" issue. I don't wear make-up, but I don't think that women who do are letting me down by not accepting the way their face looks without it. Do you wear make-up? Pluck your eyebrows? Shave your legs? Choose your clothes for any other reasons than warmth and durability? Have you got any piercings? Do you spend money on haircuts? If the answer to any of those is yes, I don't think you're arguing from a very strong position.

Original poster
seashore · 27/01/2011 13:27

Said I only said before and after for convenience, nothing specific has been done to those women for that article, I actually know one of them and in her case the after happened about 15 yrs ago!

Got to pop back now and catch up with this thread.

OP posts:
Original poster
seashore · 27/01/2011 13:47

Orissiah, I really like the sound of your new look, it is very exciting to make changes after a time. I realise my look was remaining set from my twenties and now at 42 (although I'm a young looking 42!) I think it's time for a change, I have full lips so I was thinking of treating myself to some nice new lipsticks, a shot of colour there seems to really suit grey hair. Also I was thinking a bit of the fashion designer Helen Storey, I always thought she looked fantastic, since my hair looks best back from my face I might occasionally wear a ponytail like hers, but I want to be able to wear it out too.

OP posts:
maryz · 27/01/2011 14:30

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

kitpuss · 27/01/2011 14:59

Hi Emmabemma, I see your point! We women do so many ridiculous things in the name of beauty. I reckon that having grey hair is a lot more noticeable than most of the things you mentioned though (apart from not shaving legs - the thought of which does fill me with horror!)

I just think it is a shame that grey hair is viewed so negatively by so many women. It is really hard to dye your hair nicely yourself at home, and so expensive to have it done at a salon. Life is so much simpler leaving your hair as its natural colour.

MrsFruitcake · 27/01/2011 15:57

I have very dark, almost black hair. Since my DS was born (three years ago tomorrow Grin), it's been going greyer and greyer, mainly at the sides. I have to dye it every 3 weeks or so now, as it's very noticable and I am really concious of it. I'm 35 now.

My Mum had dark hair like mine, and she went blonde when she was about 28 because it was costing a fortune to have her greys covered and it's easier to blend blonde with grey. She is 60 now though and has let nature take over, and has a,lovely head of almost pure white hair, which is rather striking and she gets told that she looks like Judy Dench a lot. She has a lovely, modern flicky short style which suits her.

It will be a long time before I stop dying my hair!

Original poster
seashore · 27/01/2011 16:56

My MIL only started to grey at 50 (these are the genes that have DH without a single grey!) It was such a pity she did though because after a few years of it she had a bad reaction and had to use coaltar shampoo to sort her scalp out, it also took plenty of hair with it. I hate the way in chemists there is always a whole wall of smiling early-twentysomething faces on the hair dye boxes but the at other side of the shop is a ton of differnet shampoos for itchy scalps and problems brought on by dye, these boxes don't have smiling faces on them.

I was lucky and haven't had to use coaltar stuff but if I had kept at it that was the future.

Must say, MIL looks fantastic now her dye has all grown out, we have both being growing out our dye during the same year, fortunately she has thick enough hair so that she it is unlikely that you would notice what's lost.

OP posts:
softpaw · 27/01/2011 18:36

i'm 53 and have been through every colour from henna to very blonde,my natural colour is medium brown.last year my hair was dry,straw like and i'd had enough,so i got it cropped in an audrey hepburn pixie cut...everyone loved it!i'm growing it again now and it's soft and healthy and yes,i'm going to be grey,but that's who i am!

Dommy · 27/01/2011 19:24

Seashore Catherine Cleary in Irish times article has beautiful hair, i'd not really think of it as grey necessarily because it's obv well conditioned, cut very well and looks youthful really.

feedme · 27/01/2011 22:31

I started going grey in my 30s. I tried dying it, but hadn't got the patience to keep up with regrowth, So let it grow out. I love my grey hair (I'm now 53) and get lots of compliments on it. The only minus is, on the odd day that I feel a bit tired or down, having grey hair exagerates it. Also try and make sure you have a good cut.
A friend of mine puts blue, and sometimes pink, highlights in, which I love, but haven't got the courage to copy - she looks fabulous.

samels001 · 27/01/2011 23:52

I went grey in my 20's and with very dark brown hair it was very noticeable and aging. I've dyed my hair ever since but the most fantastic thing is that my base colour is a pale brown (looks very natural and hides all the grey roots) but I have blond highlights!! Never thought I would be blond in a billion years!! Still having fun at 45 and so do not intend to stop dying for some time yet!

RocketSalad · 28/01/2011 08:07

Thanks for the inspiration. Currently have about an inch grey regrowth mainly around my temples and at the front and have decided to leave it and see how it goes. Quite dark hair so it might be painful. Grin We shall see!

piebald · 28/01/2011 09:41

My red hair is going grey and i really dont care, but my hairdresser recommended using an intensive conditioner and i tried vo5 hot oil and it is remarkable the difference it has made, you can hardly see any grey now