Does my grey hair make me look slovenly?

[findingmyfeet12]

Im 38 and have quite a lot of grey hair.

It's thicker than my brown hair and I wonder if people would think it looks slovenly or unprofessional as it's neither all brown nor all grey.

I work in quite a smart environment and I've noticed that everyone else colours theirs.

I really don't mind it but hairdressers keep telling me to start colouring it and I wonder what other people would think. It's quite noticeable.

Well, do you want to colour it?

I would colour it to avoid looking slovenly at work.

Aside from that I'm happy as it is for now. I think I'd leave it a few years if it wasn't for work. It is noticeable.

I would prefer to be totally grey or totally brown but I'm quite lazy and will only cover up partial grey if I feel it's affecting the way I'm perceived at work.

It's your personal choice. I think it looks better coloured so I make the effort to hide my grays. You could maybe try out a semi permanent which would fade gradually if you don't want to do anything too drastic.

I am older than you, and stopped dyeing my hair dark brown about 2 years ago, wasn't even sure what was underneath. Turns out it was a lovely platinumy-silver. However, there is a woman in the office who still dyes her hair, and she neglects the roots (I know from bitter experience what a faff it all is, the upkeep was horrendous) and it does look slovenly, as if she couldn't be bothered.

Hairdressers have a vested interest in getting you on to the hair dye treadmill.

I'm 45 and have some greys, I don't dye them. I think it looks considerably better than either badly dyed hair or visible roots. I don't work in a corporate environment though.

Cowes How did you do it? I have plenty of silver but can't work out how to stop colouring and just go natural (I'm 44)

Do people ever think men look 'slovenly' if they don't dye their hair.

I like my grey. It makes my hair look multi-tonal.

StarUtopia growing out the roots as much as possible, then hiding under head bands until I had enough for a pixie crop. That got rid of the dye.
I don't think men look slovenly with grey hair, but if they had a big skunk band of white on top of their Just For Men chestnut brown, I would think they were slovenly.

Probably best to colour it if you feel bad about it. Highlights are the way to go if you are lazy like me. More expensive but less frequent trips to the Salon!

The men I work with all have very short hair.

My hair is shoulder length and the grey ones are harder to groom for some reason and seem more noticeable.

I think a man with any colour long hair would look slovenly in the environment I work in.

You are right though, generally men seem not to be labelled that way.

I wouldn't colour it as the upkeep is expensive in time and money. It's then a pain when you allow it to go grey. Utopia I used something to strip the colour then used a semi permanent to blend in the grey till it grew out - had it cut short.

Could you change your cut so that you feel more dynamic/professional? What is it like now? I do think that greying hair usually looks better in a more defined style.
I agree that visible roots looks way more slovenly than well-kept and cut grey hair.
I also agree that a man would never be perceived as unprofessional if he had greying hair; why on earth should women?!

It's shoulder length (sometimes a bit longer) with a heavy fringe. I do like the style and length.

It is not slovenly not to dye your hair, if you have a good haircut and take care of your hair and are otherwise 'well-groomed'; don't give in to pressure to colour it.

StarUtopia, I just stopped dying- I made sure it was well cut and let it grow out. I'd only used semi-permanent but contrary to belief they don't wash out/fade and it took almost two years to be totally dye free.

I think it depends how the mix is distributed. I’ve had three different hairdressers say (unprompted) that they don’t think I should colour mine, and I’m glad I never got onto the hair-colour treadmill. But the grey in mine is evenly spread, and I rather like it myself.

My friend and I were discussing this recently and she is going to go for silver / grey highlights to even it out.. so gently ushering in the total grey for when it arrives, rather than trying to cover up.
It sounds like a good plan to me.

I think if you’ve not started dying it yet, don’t start now - it will look better growing your grey naturally. Good cut will ensure it’s not “slovenly”, which is the wrong word imho.

Yours is lovely Rusty.

It's down to how you feel about it, I think coloured looks better on me.

Teresa May looks like she couldn't give a shit, she would look 100 times better with coloured hair IMO.

There is social pressure on women to dye grey hair, which is costly in terms of time and money and has health risks.

Do ageism and sexism seem a problem at your employer?

I don’t dye mine, only a small number of women colleagues are the same, they look just as smart and professional IMO.

Rusty I wouldn't colour mine either if it looked like yours.

Mine is very dark brown with a fair few areas of grey but it's not distributed evenly.

No one would say a male prime minister who was always smartly dressed and hair cut and styled looked like he “didn’t give a shit” because he didn’t dye his hair.

Sexism and ageism.

Clean, brushed/styled, regularly trimmed? Then carry on.
It's normal and natural to have grey hair. Normal ageing is Not slovenly!

There's no ageism at work or sexism but if I'm honest I just don't have the confidence to be the odd one out.