Going grey and impact on 'my colours'

[Splendud]

I'm mid 50s and getting more grey by the day. Years ago I had my colours done and was an autumn - reddish brown hair, green eyes, very pale skin. My wardrobe is almost exclusively autumn shades with khaki, charcoal, navy and brown being my basic colours.

I've been having highlights regularly in auburn and copper tones to keep my natural hair colour but I am getting to the point where it's becoming very high maintenance and I am considering just embracing the grey.

However, I am wondering if it will change my colours? I am definitely warm toned with my hair highlighted but I think grey will be more no cool toned. Has anyone embraced the grey and had to change their wardrobe?

Yes, it will definitely change your colours. And you’ll need a new wardrobe!

I was an autumn and now a winter due to going grey. I much prefer the colours for winter, a lot of pinks ,purple . I had my session redone and I ended up being a friend with my consultant. Sadly she died due to cancer. I( learnt all sorts of info from her.

When I had my colours done several decades ago, I did ask about what would happen when my very dark hair turned grey. The consultant suggested that colours were determined by skin tone rather than hair colour, and that skin tone wouldn’t change. No idea if that is correct but so far my then colour palette is still working for me

I used to colour my hair a mid brown that trended towards auburn, and my colour palet for clothing was similar to yours. I am a freckly dark brunette naturally, but silver now in my early 60's. As I transitioned to grey I slowly added cooler colours to my wardrobe.

I kept my navy and khaki green base, but will wear grey and black a bit more often, where I wouldn't before. Maybe for you, fewer brown pieces, but add in a few more softer purples, pinks and blues?

Start off with a few tops in colours you don't normally wear as see how it goes.

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Same as @OMGitsnotgood I still suit the warmer colours that match my skin tone but cooler colours such as silver greys as well asblack now also look good against my gray hair

I've gone a lot brighter in my clothing, my hair is shiny silver though. I think it depends on what you end up with. Paler colours wash me out, although I'm still OK with navy and lighter grey oddly. So I wear bright blues, pinks, purples and green.

Your colours are based on your skin tone not your hair colour.

My skin tone must have changed as the colours of autumn do not suit me anymore. I get compliments on the colours I wear . When I look at old photos I can see that at the time I suited different colours but I much prefer the colours I have now.

When I was young with very dark hair, green eyes and pale skin, I wore lots of strong berry colours, reds, blues, purples and pinks as well as black. In middle age my hair faded and I coloured it a mid reddish brown, wore caramel, tan, orange, olive greens with some toned down berry shades. Now my hair is silver I wear many of the colours of my youth, though mostly to accentuate. Black and shades of grey as an overall look works well.

Skin tones change as you age as well.

But 'getting your colours done' is a pile of expensive rubbish that is based on a very destructive idea that women must 'look their best' and only a so called expert can tell you what shades you look good in. Wear the colours you like and the clothes you like and you'll look great.

I take it you haven't had your colours done 🤣

Your hair colour doesn’t affect which colours suit you. Going grey makes no difference.

If your skin tone has changed then the colours that best suit you will change. Dying or not dying your hair makes no difference.

I think some people naturally know what colours suit them best and others less so, although mostly the colours we like best suit us. Some people care more about how they look than others and that’s fine and yes feeling confident is a large part of it.

I do however think some colours are draining on some skin tones etc and some make us look more alive. I read the book when I was young and found it really helpful. I hadn’t really thought that our colours might change when we get older so this is an interesting discussion for me!

But 'getting your colours done' is a pile of expensive rubbish that is based on a very destructive idea that women must 'look their best' and only a so called expert can tell you what shades you look good in. Wear the colours you like and the clothes you like and you'll look great.

While it appears expensive, it certainly isn’t ’a pile of rubnish’. It is a great investment and saves a lot of time and money over the years. It broadens tbe colour palette you feel confident in wearing and shows that some colours really do suit you better. 40 years since I had mine done and I still stand by it as a good investment. I mean you say yourself about ‘looking great in colours uou like’ - how is that any less ‘destructive’ than being helped to understand which colours suit you best? Some will already be your favourites, some won’t. Some of your favourites will not suit you as well as others.

I asked a couple of AI programmes to do my colours. I used photos from my younger days and then more recent ones as I’ve coloured my hair ash blonde to blend the greys (was very dark before).

They both agreed that I was Clear Winter before and a True Summer after.

I have to say, when I changed my hair colours the stronger make up shades I had before which really had suited me now overpower me, so I do think your colours can change. Shades like Ruby Woo now look brash on me, whereas before they looked very fitting. I do think my skin tone has faded with age as well.

I mean you say yourself about ‘looking great in colours uou like’

I bet Iris Apfel or Vivienne Westwood (or any other style icon you can think of) never had their colours done, they just wore what they loved.

Very possibly. But I am definitely not a style icon and very much benefitted from having my colours done. I’m just sharing my experience for those who might find it helpful too.

Your hair colour doesn’t affect which colours suit you. Going grey makes no difference.

Ooh disagree completely. Since I’ve gone grey I can see very clearly that cream and yellow tones really do not suit me any more. Pale pastels also make me look very washed out. I used to wear a lot of those colours when I had dark brown hair, but I couldn’t pull it off now.

I found having my colours done really useful as I am not a visual person so needed help. I am having the slowest grey transition ever - stopped colouring at 40 and at 50 still less than 50% grey but at the stage where it looks like natural highlights (I love it). It’s a mix of light brown with a warm tone, steel grey, white and even a touch of blonde. I was a paintbox spring when I had my colours done at 40. My skin tone is actually fairly neutral and I have grey eyes but I am high contrast.

Whilst I think that is still right, some of my ‘best’ colours have changed. Chocolate brown used to be my colour. I used to light up in it. Now it’s ok. Turquoise and bubble gum pink on the other hand are slam dunks but I can better carry off beigey neutrals. I do a lot of tonal dressing (navy bottoms, some shade of warm blue tops) but can handle black quite well now as long as it’s not too close to my face, I have a bright lipstick and something g to break it up a bit (jewellery, a neutral jacket). So my skin tone has changed a bit too.

I only found things changed as my skin did.

Then again, a lot of people’s dyed hair colour doesn’t always quite fit their skin tone, so that can affect things. When I went for different hair shades my skin looked different (much like when I wore different colours that weren’t always within my palette). Perhaps that’s why?

When I stuck to very much like my original colour and when I went grey I found I suited most of the same things.

I used to wear a lot of brown shades. When I went grey I cut them out completely. I still avoid black and like my winter trousers in charcoal. It’s more muted.

I like teal, forest green and have been complimented when wearing burgundy knitwear. Red is fine too. I wear more blues than I used to.

Unfortunately my hair is the opposite of sleek and silvery which looks so chic.

In my 20s I was a winter, very white blue toned skin, cool mid brown hair, very blue eyes. Always loved those colours.

Approaching 50 and only recently realised they didnt suit me. My hair has faded to mid chestnut, my skin is slightly darker but still blue toned. I'm now a soft summer, it is the reduced contrast between my skin and hair that's made all the difference.

The drapes do suit me, I dont like the colours much though! I have replaced several tops and trying to get used to it.

Some really interesting responses here. I think having my colours done was probably my best investment in my 30s and I am considering having them done again once my hair is fully it's natural colour. To complicate things my post menopause hair has also gone very curly so I am embracing that too.

I do think my skin tone has changed as well and I noticed that pastel blue now suits me so maybe I am moving to one of the cooler colour families.

A previous poster was spot on about brown. It used to be my best colour but now charcoal and navy are better. I think I might go and do some trying on and see if there are new colours that suit me now

OP, I have very curly hair, always have had but it’s very fragile now and tends to be frizzy too in damp air, which is a lot of the time!

Apart from colour I find that patterns, especially florals, look awful on me, at least on top half. Plain is best or stripes. Maybe that doesn’t apply to you but might be helpful.

When I had my colours done, the consultant covered my hair in a white scarf so it didn’t show and I also had a white cape round my shoulders for when she draped the colours. I remember her saying it was because colours are based on skin tone.