Does dyeing hair dark brown in your fifties look ageing?

[seeyouyesterday]

I’m early 50’s and dye my hair a mid-dark brown. I’m naturally an auburn colour but feel a deep brunette shade suits me better, I’ve had it for years. I’ve been blonde before & it doesn’t suit me. But lately I’ve been thinking can dying hair a dark brown be aging? I don’t mean if you’re naturally brunette, that’s different but like for me who isn’t & I dye my hair dark, sometimes I feel am I making myself look older?

I think it's very aging. Your skin tone will be the wrong colour. But I'm someone who thinks naturally greying hair is beautiful. Others will disagree & say grey hair is aging.

I don't think there's one universal rule. Some people have a skin tone that looks good with grey or silver hair - others really don't.

I knew a woman in her 80s who was still dyeing dark brown, and she looked fabulous.

Are you using a box dye or going to a salon?

I actually think blonde suits alot of women as they age. Dark brown brings attention to lines and wrinkles.

I’d lighten it a shade or two. I dye my hair (I’m 64) since I started going grey as a teenager. I go for light golden brown, but think it’s too much one colour plus the grey roots really show so am considering getting some caramel and blonde highlights and a smudge fade at the roots. It will cost though!
Take a selfie and put it into ChatGPT and ask is for variations to your colour. Discovered I’d age 10 years instantly if I went natural grey!

is there a lighter brown to try? One with red tones?

I know there’s a “you’ll prise my colour out of my cold dead hands” vibe on this board, but personally I think a person with dyed hair in their 50s generally (obviously not always) looks like a person in their 50s who dyes their hair. I don’t think it’s “ageing” per se, but I don’t think it’s “youthful” or tricks anyone into believing they are younger.

I’m also early 50s and naturally brunette. About five years ago I opted to stop colouring. My hairdresser said I was about 5-10% grey. I didn’t have a parting stripe or anything, so the grow-out was painless. My grey is scattered so you have to look closely to find it other than two streaks at the side by my ears. I get my hair cut every four weeks, the cut is very sharp, and I love it.

The only person who has ever commented on it being ageing is my mother, who is, on the whole, an unpleasant woman anyway. As I said to her, the thing that is ageing me is my face, because I am ageing, and there is no amount of salon colour (or time) that would make me look young!

After years of going lighter to cover the greys I’ve just gone dark again - I found the blonde was aging me more (I was naturally quite dark but now mostly grey) I definitely look younger than I did blonde - all done at the salon, late 40’s

Not as ageing as grey hair in your 50s.

I don’t think it’s the colour so much as the health of your hair.

dark brown can be very ageing, as can a pale blonde. Much depends on skin tone as well.

im brunette, my hair is now a sort of rich chocolate colour. But is healthy and shiny, and suits my skin tone as I’m Mediterranean heritage. But I’m now balayage with a lighter brown down the sides and lengths which is softer against my face.

my sil is the same skin tone as me, and she has went blonde, it really clashes with her skin tone. She did it to make upkeep less, but it looks so unnatural and harsh. Even though it’s a soft buttery colour.

overall I’d say it should be soft snd not a harsh colour. Which ever way you go and it should be in good health.

I think it depends. If your box dying it and your hair is one solid uniform colour then yes it looks ageing. If however your getting it done at the hair dresser and having different tones put through your hair then no I don’t think it is.

It is ageing for me, but only in the sense that my greys are much more noticeable and the regrowth is apparent after only a couple of weeks.

I am much lighter brown/verging on blond now, but too be honest I don't think it suits my skin tone and dark would be better if only it were sustainable!

Don't go blonde you'll just look like a MAGA woman.

Age doesn’t change someone’s skin tone.

Agreed.

One of my grandmothers dyed her hair a very dark brown (the same colour it was before she went grey) until she was about 80. She had a pale skin tone and very dark brown eyes. She honestly looked amazing, much better than she looked with any other colour.

You are saying that you can tell if anyone in their 50s dyes their hair ? How?

In the U.K.?

IMO that depends on the person, their hair style, dress sense, body shape, attitude etc more than if they have grey hair or not.

I’m grey , I stopped dying my hair brown well having it coloured as it was getting that red tinge. Do I like being grey no, would I lol better with dyed brown hair no. Rick and a hard place really.

It depends on whether you're talking about a flat, one tone colour or a multi toned brunette. I'm mid 50s and have brown hair but it has a variety of tones in it. It certainly doesn't make me look older. What makes me look older is allowing the greys to come through.

In general however most people look best when they stick to a colour close to their natural colour so whether that particular shade of brown suits you in the first place is a different question.

No - of course not, and I literally say that in the post, in brackets! But for the majority of people, by the age of 50, they have some degree of grey hair, so someone with none is likely to be dyeing it.

My father died at 52 and had not a single grey hair, he had a dark skin tone for a white perdon, and black hair - he used to get teased by the lads at work about dyeing his hair and being vain, which couldn’t have been further from the truth.

People in their fifties tend to look like people in their fifties whether they dye their hair or not. Dye it if you like it, don't if you don't. If you think other colours might suit you better, give Chat GPT a selfie and ask it for a few suggestions. There's no one colour that suits all fifty-somethings.

My father was also very black haired and when he died at 62 had a couple of grey hairs at the side. He was from dark Irish Scottish stock. I didn't have any at 50. I do now many years later but omg I dye my hair 😂

I was dying my hair mid/dark brown until 2 years ago.

My hair was thinning and the condition of it was quite poor.

The hairdresser suggested that I should stop dying it to improve its condition.

I had some lowlights put in (2 times) and then just grew it out.

My hair, I discovered, is almost entirely white, rather than grey. The condition is so much better and my hair is really shiny

My point in all this is that I think the condition of your hair can be very aging.

Box dyes in particular strip your hair and make it look dry and old.

I've never had anyone make comments on my hair, but have had so many compliments on it since ditching the dye.

I'm 57 btw.

I think it is aging. I am not sure why though. I think your skin changes as you get older and you cannot carry the colour. Indeed, nature will start to change it for you in grey. A lighter colour here and there can be better.
A hat of brown on your head is not flattering as you age. Generally speaking.