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.

Same as you op. Right in the fringe area though. Course and platinum silvery. I don't colour mine, and couldn't give a fig for anyone elses opinion.

If you don't want to don't colour it

I don't believe aging is slovenly either but I'm not one to stand out and if others think it looks bad I'd be willing to colour it.

A few people have said they think coloured looks better so I might just take the plunge.

Instead of a block colour to cover the grey, what about looking at a mix of highlights and lowlights.
This is what DM's hairdresser suggested to her recently and now instead of it looking like she's not kept on top of her hair when the grey roots come through, the grey is actually still very much there but not really noticeable, as it blends in with the other colours.
It looks miles better and it's less upkeep as she doesn't need to get the colour done nearly as often.

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

Do you really think TM doesn't give a shit what she looks like, just because she doesn't dye her hair? Or do you mean she doesn't give a shit what others think about it?

The trouble with grey hair is, I think, that it tends to look drab. Not slovenly at all, but it never seems to look either bright or glossy. And I think either bright or glossy or a combination of the two is generally what is considered attractive. Of course much depends on whether attractive is your goal. No reason at all why it should be.

Many people probably do think it looks better because of the strong social pressure. Like shaving armpits and legs. But dying hair is much more costly and risky.

Theresa May clearly gives very much of a shit what she looks like.

I personally think her hair ages her but that in itself wouldn't worry me as I don't make any great effort to look younger or feel that there's a need to. Her hair has enough grey in it to look quite smart and professional though. Mine isn't at that stage yet.

Women often come across as vain if they colour their hair beyond the pint when they could naturally have no greys. So long as your hair is neat as is the rest of your appearance I doubt anyone even notices. A good blow dry is the best choice for making hair look neat imo.

It's a good point about leg shaving. I wonder how many people who complain about men having different grooming expectations would go out in shorts with hairy legs or a sleeveless top without shaving their armpits because men do it?

Well we wouldn’t, because few of us are brave enough not to shave. And relatively few of us resist the pressure to dye grey hair, but doing that is a different order of cost/risk.

Teresa May is over 60. At what age are we “allowed” not to dye?

A woman dying her hair from late 30s to 60 will have spent thousands of pounds and hundreds of hours, and been exposed to a lot of strong chemicals.

I'm not sure it's an age thing.

If my hair was all grey I'd happily leave it as I think that looks very attractive whatever a peron's age.

People always have their personal prejudices. I don't dye mine, I'm nearly 50 and have just enough grey hair (

I think them pm only looks good because she's got so much grey though.

I've been going grey since my early 20s. Been dying it since my teens, because I get easily bored,but covering grey only became an issue when my dark hair dye wasn't lasting long enough. I took the plunge and got blonde highlights, which have slowly spread. Not full blonde yet, but may well.in.years to come. I miss the dramatic look.of dark hair and pale skin, but so much easier. I'm nearly 40 btw.

I’ve only skimmed but I think cut is more important than colour.

I'm 41, dark blonde & get blonde highlights which cover any white (my hair is actually turning a weird white not grey).
When the highlights aren't enough I will go blonder all over.
Luckily I like & suit blonde anyway.

But basically my aim is to appear 'attractive & youthful' - im looking for a boyfriend who is my age at most & I'm competing with women much younger than me (a man of 40 could date a 25 year old) so I've got to be realistic.

I learned just how shallow men can be when I was very unwell & gained 3 stone & lots of my hair fell out all due to meds.

I work in a place with many men who started to ignore me when I got ill.

Now I look more 'attractive' again the same men are paying me attention but I'm definitely not interested in those particular men as they have shown their true colours.
However if any new men appear at work I'll be competing with pretty younger women.

I'm also trying OLD which sadly can be very much based on first impressions & profile pics. I'm also going to the gym, to classes & to bars where there are again some very pretty young women.

But if I'm honest I don't meet any women under 65 who don't dye their hair - even the happily married women I know dye it.
Maybe I just live in a shallow area! (South coast of England).

You might like some of the great ideas and styles on this recent thread. I'm not suggesting you start by shaving though. I often wonder how the OP of the thread got on as she hasn't updated in a long while.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/style_and_beauty/3074237-Head-shave-to-go-grey?pg=1

I'm 44 and have always naturally had lots of different colours in my hair (blonde, brown, auburn, ginger), and varying textures, too.
I used to henna it every now and then, but haven't for a while and doubt that'd cut the mustard now.

I don't want to put lots of chemicals on my head and down my drains into the water system.
I'm single now, for the first time since I was a lissome 20 year old.
If I meet a man who thinks more of me because I don't have grey hair or less of me because I do, I can't see what the difference is there and either way I'd conclude he was a bit shallow. Shallow's not for me at this stage in life. I'm unlikely to get more attractive over the coming years/decades in the eyes of someone who thinks like that...

I have a colleague slightly younger than me who has cut her hair short and let the greys come in after years of dyeing (she began to go grey in her 20's).
I have other colleagues who dye more or less assiduously, and none looks as beautiful as she does. She certainly doesn't look slovenly.

Wonder how many men get told when they start going grey it's time ti think of colouring by their hairdresser or barber? Or how many have dyed their hair to look professional?

If yourhairdresser is telling you it's time to start colouring then it's time to look for a new hairdresser... Why push some one to startcolouring and start getting the regrowth stripe? Oh... Make money!

Grey hair looks fab, what matters is the cit... Grey or dyed hair looks shit with a bad cut

I've given up dyeing my hair after probably about 6 months of appointments with my hairdresser paying extortionate amounts for her to put dark brown hair dye on ( leaving me with a stained forehead for several days) which grew out and faded into a shade of red which didn't suit me. I have naturally very dark hair with now a steadily increasing amount of gray's growing in underneath and around my hair line. The ones that annoy me most are the short ones that stick up but apart from that I'm very happy with it.
I work in s hospital, not a corporate environment but I wouldn't change it even if I did. I'd rather have gray hair than badly dyed hair - it suits me much better.

I have quite a lot of gray hair, I have no intention of colouring it as at least gray hair is natural. The only nuisance about it is that my gray hair is curly and my ginger hair is straight.

38 is quite young to have grey hair. Do you have kids? I know it is shallow but mine would not have liked me being a grey-haired Mummy at that age. Mind you, that had a lot to do with me being older than the average mother.

Theresa May looks awful with grey hair (but then the cut doesn't help either). Look at pictures from five years ago with the longer blonde hair and she looks so much more attractive. Just for balance (before I'm called sexist), I was watching Episodes the other night and thought that Matt LeBlanc looked really unattractive with grey hair too. Obviously they wouldn't, and shouldn't, give a shit what I think. But some people suit grey better than others. I guess it's to do with your colouring. Theresa May looks half dead with grey hair. And Matt LeBlanc's tanned skin and greying hair look a bit weird together in my opinion. But then plenty of other people look really hot with grey hair.

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

Well perhaps if he was a long-haired man with greying hair he might be called slovenly (imagine Donald Trump or Jacob Rees Mogg with that hairstyle). But men usually have very short hair, so they can get away with doing less to it. If you're someone (a man or woman) with long hair, then everything is a bit more 'in your face'. If you don't wash it or brush it or dye your roots for a long time, then it will be more noticeable than on someone (male or female) with short hair. But personally, as long as their hair is clean and well groomed, I don't think that people with greying hair look unkempt at all.

This is mine, brushed nicely, and just coming in out of a storm.