Few women with hair over 45?

[Hoosebag]

I'm 45 and my dark brown hair is long (mid back) and thick. I haven't dyed it since my 20s so it's all in good condition although I'm starting to get grey hairs in it now at my parting.

I spoke to my hair dresser who told me that if I want to start colouring it I'd need to switch to a shorter length in the next few years as the processing would damage my hair so that the lengths of it would no longer look nice after a few years. She then went on to say that few women have hair my length over 40ish because years of colouring, heat treatment and hormonal changes mean it only looks good to about shoulder length or even shorter.

I must admit I've never thought about it but looking around I do see very few women my age and older with long hair. I know some of that will be a style related choice but I suppose it must be in some cases due to the damage from colouring and possibly menopause.

So I'm just curious, did chemically colouring your hair cause damage to your hair and did you end up going for a shorter length than you'd have preferred or would your hair still look good if you decided to grow it long?

Just wanting to make an informed choice about my luxurious greying locks 😆

I've recently had mine cut to bob length from past shoulder length just because I fancied a change. It is the type of hair that would never successfully grow much longer, quite fine and flyaway but looks fairly thick. Since having it cut it has gone unexpectedly curly! My hair was ready for a cut but the condition was no worse than when I was younger and much better than times when I kept dying it permanent black.
To answer your question, I think it all depends on the type of hair you have as to the effects of dye. If you want to colour it then do, you can always have a few inches chopped off next time if the ends get too dry.
My MIL has really long hair that is still naturally blonde with no greys at all, but she always wears it up.

Gosh this sounds beautiful 🤍

@Hoosebag you might be right. She was the only one of her siblings with that colour hair and they all went white early-ish. She never really had greys, just got lighter.
Mum has greys but they blend in with her natural blonde streaks. DD2 has the odd white hair too and she's 17!

I am 60 with longish hair. No noticable thinning with menopause.
I am brunette with quite a bit of grey, my roots are touched up every 3-4 weeks in the same colour as my own pre-grey hair.
Its only the area near the roots that I dye, not the whole hair length- I stick to the same shade so none of my hair is subjected to repeat dying. My hair is in good condition, silky and soft.

I think highlights do more damage to hair than dark shades, because lighter shades contain bleach.

My hair is below shoulder length and I get it dyed a lovely dark purple every six weeks. I do make an effort to look after it and I get a lot of compliments on how healthy and thick it is, I’m 68 and I’m hanging on to my hair for as long as I possibly can - hairdresser has promised to tell me when it’s time to go short and grey 😳

I'll need to look into this because I was told all hair conventional dyes use bleach as part of the process to open the cutical of the hair. Although you are quite right that going lighter uses more bleach. More investigation needed!

I'm 45 and until last year hadn't dyed my hair since early 20s and was quite happy embracing the silvery wisps has they were coming. But then after having covid it went more grey then brown over night. Which was a shock to see and I felt I wasn't ready. So started dying my hair back to my natural brown. (box dye)

My hair is fairly long and looks shiny and natural and seems in good nick. I'll stick to what I'm doing until something changes.

My hair is and always has been very long, layered and I curl it. I’ve done all sorts of colours over the years and at 49 I have a few greys round the hairline which I colour myself. Genuinely my hair is in brilliant condition, unlike my bum! I’m far from perfect! I’d rather have non perfect long hair in a style I like than what your hairdresser is suggesting. Remember, there’s a million hairdressers out there still telling people to get 6 inches a year off their hair to make it grow faster! I’m sorry to say but I think your hairdresser is talking poop! X

Im 54 and my hair is not far off waist length

Mid 40s, hair is mid back with a very light wave. Haven't died it since my teens. I have no greys. It has thinned with time - I suffer with anaemia and am in peri- but it used to be very thick and unruly so actually it's a lot easier to manage and looks better now.

Late 40s with long hair. I rarely colored it or used heat styling over the years. It’s still really thick and healthy. Definitely getting some greys and some of those have a different texture, rougher and prone to curling. I can see that becoming an issue eventually, but at the moment most of them are just like the rest of my hair, thin and straight.

I won’t be covering the grey because there isn’t a single hair dye on my allergy safe list so I couldn’t if I wanted to.

If the only option is bleach, I would get a new hairdresser. I have mine highlighted and haven't had it bleached for eight years. Products have moved on since then.

Mines auburn, not as vibrant as when i was younger and has white in it now, well grey but looks white

49 with below shoulder length hair. Don't need to colour as only have a few greys and might not anyway. I'm not scared of grey.

Mine is below shoulder length and silver grey now. There’s plenty of it. I’m a few months off 70.

Oh and I coloured it for about 15 years, from 45 to 60.

I'm 58 and my hair is long (halfway down my back) and curly. The greys are creeping in but I dye it, because for some reason the grey hairs are wiry, but soft when dyed.

I’m 45, with hair down to below my bra strap. I’ve been colouring it since the 90s and straightening it since GHDs were invented. It’s still in really good nick. I just get it trimmed a couple of times a year.

I do think that cutting hair into a Bob or fairly short over 40 can be ageing.

Depends on the style really. My hair started to thin at about 48 with the onset of menopause and I found that by the age of 50 putting 15 individual extensions with a nano bead fitting in each side and again at the back has thickened it up nicely.

I'm not ready to go grey yet and as I'm fat short hair really doesn't suit me that much.

I have a root drag with a reddy brown then alternate the rest of my hair with an ashy blonde and the same brown shade approx every 5/6 weeks.

The condition isn't amazing and I do have some breakage but due to the extensions the curl style that I like it does hold for a few days and I only wash my hair a couple of times a week.

There is no need to go short with the proper care, mine looks healthy and the breakages is for the most part disguised.

Wear you hair the way you want, I'm surprised your hairdresser said you'd need shorter hair as there is plenty you can do with long hair as you get older and you can for the most part keep the condition nice.

I've attached a pic of mine fresh from my hairdressers - it's a bit long than that now as that was taken a few months ago.

Could you tell me the name of the product you use? So far my research shows all use developer which is bleach even if a very small amount. If there is a product that will deposit colour only and requires no bleach in any form I need to know about it!

No..don't listen to this woman. I'm above 45 , my hair is very long, been bleached for ages, now I do highlights once a year and cover with variety of golden or red colours. My hair and I are crackingly beautiful.

This is mine

Sorry to be pedantic but there’s still bleach in a ‘tint’ - just not enough to lift it more than a few shades.

It is the hormonal changes that thin your hair. Shorter hair can look thicker.

My hair is definitely thinner since the menopause and it wd look ridiculous grown long. It wd look really spindly.

It doesn't suit everybody but lucky those that have long thick hair!