"most british women have over processed and over coloured hair" disucss

[FluffyMummy123]

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chilax spider! i can still give my opinion!

LittleBella, that sort of extreme dressing just proves my point! In a culture so (un)fashionably stiffled, nothing short of a revolution will do! What else is punk, or goth, but a reaction to the conformity and the uniformity? And Westwood, just the upmarket version...The AntiBoden.

i agree.

I know mrsflora, I'm just in daily conflict with my hideous barnet at the moment at the in between stage so am a little defensive.

Sorry I am pissing myself laughing at the spider/flora x posts.

I recently found out that all my friend presumed my hair was dyed. reason being i am mid thirties and a very dark brunette. With no grey, oh yes. .

One had virgin hair and the other two use box colours.

I do think there are some terrible dye jobs out there but I think a lot of them are a deliberate choice. Not my taste but I can see that it has been a choice rather than a disaster.

I did flirt with high/low lights for a while and my hair did go orange despite being assured that it wouldn't. back to natural for me then .

Spidermama how long until you can cut the dye out?

Oh project any day now although it's a balancing act between looking like a Tenko woman or leaving it longer but in the ugerly stage. Yikes. It's traumatic. I've even been experimenting with bands but they all look risible too.

By the way don't be too smug. My mum is 67 with no single grey hair yet.

Naturally I'm so happy for her, but I bet everyone assumes she dyes it.

My beautiful Brazilian SIL on the other hand is just 27 and has been greying for years.

Are you trying to avoid the woman with grey cropped hair look a la Judy Dench?

My family do seem to be late to grey on the maternal side, 50's to start with. It must be the evil keeping it at bay.

Must admit i was taken aback by the dying remarks and found myself examining hair colour in mirrors for signs of unnaturalness .

at tenko woman.

I was imagining female french collaborators.

nope
the same is true in Germany.

and a couple of years ago there was a most bizarre fashion in our part of France, for bright red dyed hair, that made no effort to even seem natural.

Just had to post on here ...

My Belgian hairdresser says:

"een Ingerland you 'av best technique but no "sense aesthetique" "

"een France, is best aesthetique but littel technique"

"en Belgique, c'est magnifique!!"

• so why do I leave the salon looking as if I'm wearing a helmet made of badger pelt? Ggggrrrrrrrr

Mmmmm badger pelt. C'set magnifique non? Non?

I haven't equated Belgians with fashion in the past to be fair. No offence.

Lol

Bad time at the hairdressers Counting? I always go through this ritual.

1. Pinched smile. 'Oh yes, it's lovely. Just what I wanted'

I agree too,

Ive dyed and bleached and done god knows what to my hair since 14,

I will be bald by 50 I swear.

Agree Spider Mama. It's as Belgo said earlier in the thread : over-short and over- dyed particularly if you are past a certain age ...

Honestly, a good London salon would make a fortune if they established a branch here ...

I tip too Tsar. Oh WHY do we do it? And WHY is it SO difficult to get the haircut you want??

Basically, I've got straight hair and all I want is a fairly classic manageable cut - aka Anna Ford - a classic bob - but every hairdresser I encounter thinks classic = boring and tries to cut it shorter at the back than the front, cut one side longer than the other, one even tried to shave me behind one ear like that bloke in that pop group in the eighties who sang "Don't you want me baby?" (it's so late I can't remember name of band). Fgs - why don't British AND Belgian hairdressers get some lectures on style and taste???? And now I sound like a ranting snobbish cow. AAarrrgghhhhhhh!!!

And back to the subject of colour ....

lol spidermama - belgian fashion is very subdued, apart from the 'wacky' short red hair with a spiky fringe for women 'past a certain age' - fortunately my mother in law has gone grey gracefully.

My french speaking hairdresser is fantastic - he always does a great job on my hair - it probably helps that we can't actually communicate as he only speaks french and I only speak english and dutch(badly).

even my wonderful hippy midwife who is about fifty years old has just died her beautiful dark brown hair a very 'bright' shade of red .

i think my hair is the total opposite to what the op describes.

it is mousy. it is very fine, (ok thin)

i do try to get it cut every 3 months or so, just because it takes some of the weight out of the ends and stops it looking so straggly. i've been wondering whether i should go for some colour, but i wouldn't want to damage my hair at all as i don't have oodles of it to play with. that's my dilemma. i wonder, are there any vegetable/ natural based dyes which might not look hideous? perhaps something i could get done professionally? wouldn't want to repeat my 6th form luminous-red mistakes!

at home i rarely do anything bar washing it every other day and brushing it so as not to look mad

Mine isn't too bad.

Because of the state of my scalp and the psorasis I don't use a hair dryer, nor do I use hair sprays/mouses, etc. I only use the hair straightners when going out at night, and then not every time - probably once a month max.

I use a medicated conditioner on my hair, but trya nd use a gentle conditioner. I do wash/condition my hair every day though.

I have highlights in my hair about 2-3 times a year max. I am rubbish at remembering to make appointments. I have my hair cut about that often too

My hair is actually in really good condition apparently.

"the 'wacky' short red hair with a spiky fringe for women 'past a certain age'"

Ah snap 50+ women all over (West) Berlin have that look (violent red, black or peroxide blonde). In the East they have a bob.

Other than that every woman in the west part seems to bleach her hair as blonde as it gets. I don't get why this is. Must be the beauty ideal, blonde = beautiful. In France I think they do like that ivory skinned, dark haired, dark-eyed look and it is considered desirable, so maybe that's why they're less bleach-obsessed.

I'm dark-haired and when I go to German hairdressers they always want to bleach it. They're totally astounded when I say, no thanks. "But you have BLUE eyes!" Like how can you have blue eyes and not blonde hair? Err well it's a contrast, right? I was flaxen-haired as a child so I know it can suit me but I think I look dull all in pale colours.

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But French women aren't wandering about with GREY hair, are they now? I bet they dye their hair all the time, it's just they don't bleach it as much.

PMSL at spidermama and mrsflora

Well mine aint dyed at all or processed in any way and hasnt been for about 15 years since I stopped dying it purple/green/bright red etc. Come to think of it there is a dye in teh cupboard. Is 37 too old to have purple hair?

PS. So where is all this fab french fashion/chic women anyway? Sure didnt spot any when we were there.

Don't worry. It made me snort too greeny. Well, more of a pained, bitter cackle really.

Tsarchasm that's very funny.

Does anyone else thing that often women of a certain age (ie my age!) who keep dying their blonde actually make themselves look older and washed out?

No I don't think so, depends on the blonde shade and what make-up they wear. I think gold blonde shades can be very flattering and even highly lightened hair if you put some kind of a shade/nuance in it can still look very soft and feminine when you're not a spring chicken anymore. My dd's Russian teacher is around 50. She has nice skin, wears make-up and looks very stylish but attractive with her hair which is dyed a very pale blonde and worn in a longish soft bob.

I think if you're going for that busty, tanned, peroxide vamp look someone mentioned, you could look older than you are. Blonde can be very flattering because it lightens your face and can bring out your eyes. I think it suits a lot of women. The trick is to do it and take care of your hair at the same time so it looks soft not like straw and you don't look cheap.

I have an Italian friend whose naturally very dark hair turned greyish and she now wears it quite short and very blonde. She looks lovely with it. She doesn't wear pink toned blush/lipstick. I wonder if that makes a different. She did when she was dark.