Natural red hair - what to do in middle age and beyond

[SerendipityDiamond]

My natural hair colour when young was vivid red which I learned to love once I reached adulthood.

I started to go grey (or white) quite early and spent years having my roots done every 4 and then 3 weeks.

Now I am in my 50s I have been having it lightened gradually so that the roots blend in more.

I don’t think it really suits me though - my daughter says it’s too ashy for my pale/pink skin tone and it feels a bit washed out.

I wondered what others were doing as they get older - I’m not ready to embrace the grey yet and miss the red.

I was auburn, always called ginger nut as a child. Thick and curly too! Now I'm getting quite a few greys, but they blend in really well so now it looks a really nice lighter red/ brown and they don't show much. I'm 62, and not going to dye it as I can't be bothered and it still looks nice.

I was a very distinct strawberry blonde until I hit my early 40's, when my hair started to get blonder and blonder. I'm 68 now and it honestly looks as though I use bleach! I've never dyed my hair in my life but nobody believes me. I've never had a single grey hair either but do have pure white ones mixed in. I always thought that reddish haired people didn't go grey as such.

Mine has just faded, no grey. I'm late 50s and get lots of compliments still on its colour, and asking if it's natural! It's fab not needing to colour it tbh, one less thing to worry about 😊

Golden blonde , about level 7. Semi permanent is pretty good to avoid a harsh line at the roots

These sorts of colours :

anything too light or ashy makes me look dead

Oops

Strawberry blonde, was much more coppery when young, it's now fading gradually but in a way that I'm told would be very expensive to have done in a salon - lots of different highlights. I'm 56, my brother who had the same shade hair is now very grey at 65, so I'm embracing mine while it lasts.

My family has some women, pale pale skin, ginger hair which gradually turned white. The dilemma is the very pale skin w grey/white hair adds years!

My grandma continued to dye her hair red til old age. Not a good look.

My mother did same as you, having some greys show thru, monthly visits,
eventually went grey as tired of the upkeep

My sister, looks great with box dye 8.3 “golden blonde” which is covering her greys.

My DM had very bright ginger hair when young, but matured to a beautful tortoiseshell. In her later years her hair was white a the front, ginger in the middle and dark brown at the back. It looked very nice. It frustrated her that she could only see the white bits, but it was the back and sides that looked best.

I've got a few grey streaks and starting to go at the roots. I use henna, which works with the natural colour so it's more likely to suit your skin tone, and it really helps with the condition of my menopausal hair. I prefer the semi-permanent henna cream to the powder as it's easier to use and still lasts for ages before fading gradually.

Thanks again for all the replies.

I’m going to chat to a different hairdresser to get some more advice.

I think if I left it to grow out it would be white not grey. Looking at the roots I don’t think there is any colour left at all.

I thought gradually lightening it would be the best route but maybe some more golden colours needed as at the moment it doesn’t suit my complexion and I don’t feel like myself.

Interesting to read about all different approaches - my 10 year old self would never have believed I was trying to stay ‘ginger’ 🤣.

I was quite auburn right through to my 50s (dark goldy blonde but with a definite reddish tinge.)

I've had a combo of lowlights and highlights for years - goldish shades.

Mine is now naturally about 50% grey so it's a kind of mid-blonde with some silver. I have lowlights in a light copper shade every 3-4 months. I manage the regrowth with a powder (like an eyeshadow - bought online) to touch up the roots.

So I'm going darker than my natural light blonde/grey to add some warmth.

You can get up to 3 different shades of high/lowlights sprinkled through to make it look natural. The very worst IMO is flat, all over solid colour which clearly looks dyed.

I'd never ever use a box dye simply because no one older has hair the same solid colour all over and it's very ageing.

I’m ginger, my hair has lightened as I get older (mid 40s now) but now I have a badger stripe of white developing at the front. I can’t get to bothered about it. I haven’t dyed my hair since I was a teen really.

Hairdresser has mentioned highlights but feels like a faff. Think I will just embrace the white/grey!

There are different types of red hair - both my parents were redheads, but while DM's faded to a pale strawberry blonde, then blonde, then silver, DF's lost its coppery tones and turned a dull strong-tea colour. It looks like my sister's following DM's path and slowly going lighter but my hair's going darker, with a few white hairs, so I can't do what I'd planned and slowly go blonde because there's still too much colour in it.

I get chunky highlights in my 'old' bright fox-red to blend through the brown/grey, and use Davines Copper colour conditioner a few times a month to brighten it up - it's the only colour depositing conditioner I've found that gives a lovely golden copper, rather than that harder red.

When i started going grey the hairdresser said he could keep it going for years by adding lowlights which I had but didn't like, looked orangey under artificial light, so i just let it do it's natural thing. Many people have asked me what colour I had on and wouldn't believe it was natural, it does have what some call 'the mallen streak' as more white at the front. Saved me a small fortune over the years and none of those chemicals on your skin🤷

Mine looks different in every photo but this is what it’s gone to

Another ginger here. I used the ginger lush henna until recently, as it was getting too orange on my white hairs that are mostly around my face, made me look washed out and ill. I’ve just tried their “strawberry blonde” one called Venetien, it looks better so far, still quite bright around my face though, but hoping it will calm down after a couple of washes.

Also another vote for the Superdrug wash in product. My mum used to buy Henera colouring shampoo in the 80’s, to top up her dark hair, they used to do a red head one, wish they still did as it would be perfect!

loads of great tips to try on this thread thanks!

Another ginger here. Coppery ginger as a child and now strawberry blonde. Used to dye it back coppery myself using eSalon which is good stuff but then wanted more blonde pieces so now go to hairdresser. I have blonder and copper pieces out in and it lasts 3-4 months. Another here who was called Duracell/ ginger minge/ rusty for years and now mosses it.!

There's fab suggestions I'm definitely trying. I'm finding £100 every 8 weeks too much for me for the results. I'm liking the tip for mixing the Superdeug shades especially coming into Autumn. I have a mixture of tones and just want a toner/blender that blends the silver. At the front of my hair i have some vivid copper sections which Iove the colour of. My hair has gotten more copper in places during peri x

I am auburn. I have a mallen streak at the front. And white throughout the rest. I have highlights in three shades ranging from honey to copper every 3 months or so. In the winter months I go a bit darker and in the summer a bit lighter.

I too under the mistaken belief that gingers retained their hair colour into old age. I was devastated at around 40 to find out that my great aunt who had a gorgeous head of red hair until she was well into her 80s actually dyed it. I felt cheated🤣

I'm holding back the inevitable for as long as I can.

The ghost of Redhair Future does lurk at the back of my mind, and its name is Rita Fairclough.

That was my Nan into her late 70's 👩🦰👵

This is what I am afraid of…..🤣

I would hope by my 80s, I give no shits about what I look like. 😁