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?

Over Covid lockdown my natural grey grew in but it absolutely washes me out, I do not suit grey hair. I was naturally blonde so that is what I go back to and my roots are not that noticeable because my grey hair has a lot of white in it. I am about 75% grey in my early 50s.

My hairdresser touches up my roots every 6 weeks and I have highlights put in too to give my hair definition. You know what ages me? My age. I am not trying to recapture my youth just not be grey when it doesn't suit me. When it goes a lot more white I will consider embracing the grey.

I have a good friend - mid 50s - who has naturally very dark brown hair almost black with only a very few grey strands.

She always laughs at these threads and all the people saying having dark brown hair over 50 is aging - what is she supposed to do? Dye it grey?

Monica Bellucci and Marion Cotillard are both over 50 with very dark hair and look gorgeous (ok they would prob look gorgeous with any coloured hair…)

Susie Bick looks gorgeous at almost 60 with dyed jet black hair. Demi Moore at 63 with long raven hair. Nigella Lawson at 66 looks wonderful with dark brown hair. It is nonsense to suggest everyone must go lighter as they age.

I dye my hair...I'm 63, but I am lighter than my natural colour. I have good skin and thick hair. My mother and grandmother were the same. Daughter going the same way as someone called at her house last night and asked if her parents were in....she's 33!
I think I may need to go lighter in time but not yet.

If your hair is not a natural very dark brown it won't look great sorry @seeyouyesterday And yes it will be ageing. Just go for a medium brown. Don't let it go all grey. Being grey when you are only just out of your 40s, WILL be ageing!

It can be aging if obviously dyed. I’m 50, with only a sprinkle of grey. Looking at me I have chestnut hair, still. But I am now considering a shorter cut & some highlights.

It's nonsense to suggest that because a few very attractive rich and privileged women WHO HAD VERY DARK HAIR TO BEGIN WITH look good with very dark dyed hair, that every other woman will too!

I think it depends a lot on your natural colour - not just your hair colour but your skin and eyes. But generally speaking I would say it's true that very dark hair is harder to carry off as we get older.

NO NEED TO SHOUT.

Here are some comments from this very thread:(OP) I’ve been thinking can dying hair a dark brown be aging?

"I think it's very aging. Your skin tone will be the wrong colour."

"Dark brown brings attention to lines and wrinkles."

"dark brown can be very ageing"

"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."

"As a general rule as you age lighter shades than your natural colour suit better as your skin loses pigment so it's less harsh."

"I'd go lighter the older you get."

"what works best as we age is a mid honey blonde through to a mid brunette , anything past that at either end, is nearly always too harsh and doesn’t work. And it can’t be one flat colour."

And so on. It is a common belief, and I don't agree with it.

WHO HAD VERY DARK HAIR TO BEGIN WITH

Oh, and let me add Dita Von Teese, at 54, who dyes her hair raven and is a natural blonde.

I don’t think there is a factual answer to this. It’s so dependent on your complexion and colouring, the style and condition of your hair, your personal style and your own opinions about what looks good.

I personally think grey = old. No matter how great the cut or shade, it instantly ages you. And I am bothered by that - some may disagree, some may not be bothered. But I’d rather hang on a few more years

I’m 49 with long dark hair. I’m grey around my temples and front hairline, and use a box dye to cover it, but I’ve gradually gone only a couple of shades lighter (although still overall a dark brown) and warmer. I e also switched from permanent dye to semi permanent, which looks less ‘flat’ and more shiny.
Im more of a glossy chestnut now than my natural colour (which is very dark brown, almost black). I think it looks good. No plans to stop any time soon!

‘Go light as you age’ is basically the same message as ‘cut your hair short over 40/50/whatever’. It’s a stupid rule that doesn’t work for everyone. I certainly have no plans to go blonde or get ‘a few highlights’ (urgh).

My hair was a chestnut brown when I was younger. My skin is quite pale and I have blue eyes.

As the grey started coming in I dyed it the same colour. It started looking too dark and solid looking. I started dyeing it a darkish blonde colour thinking it would look better with my old face. It looked terrible and just didn't suit me. I now dye it a mid brown colour. I use box dye as I can't afford to have my roots done every two weeks. My roots don't stand out as much now my colour is lighter. The colour looks highlighted as the grey picks up the dye differently to the dark hair

I think it isn't just about hair colour. It's about the condition and the hair style. I see a lot of older women with dyed 'helmet' hair or that looks like candyfloss.

I'm not sure about women over 50 with hair halfway down their back in the current wavy style. It can look at bit incongruous. You know, the 65/25 thing. Look 25 from the back but 65 from the front.

I do have my hair cut professionally into, what I consider to be, a good cut. I think this also makes a difference. I have been suggesting to my hairdresser that I let my hair go grey and he always dissuades me, so it must look OK

My SIL had red hair which went strawberry blonde is is now almost pure white.

My mother had black hair and was only about 20% grey when she died at 83. Other members of her family were the same.

I think it depends very much on the individual.

My hair is very dark brown. I'm 72 and have only a few grey hairs. I'd happily be fully grey but I think my current (barely salt and pepper) colour looks awful and boring and drains my face of colour, so I have the grey threads covered at the hairdresser's and it costs me a fortune.

Not going grey is genetic. My mother is 96 and only really started to look properly grey about 5 years ago (and certainly shows no signs of going white). My brother who is 68 has barely any grey.

It's a pain to be honest because everyone assumes I must be completely grey at my age and that I'm dyeing it in an attempt to look younger. I'm really not.

I grew mine out during lockdown now early 60’s and when looking back on old photos shades of brown and auburn dye were extremely ageing on me even compared to my now natural grey/silver/platinum shade.

I once read somewhere that if dying your hair you are meant to go at least two shades lighter than your natural shade as you age.

Impossible to say without seeing a photo.

I personally think lighter tones age a lot more because, well, you associate them with ageing in that sense.

It really is a case-by-case situation.

Agree.

Meh, I’m 57, my hair is long as you describe. I don’t give a shit what I look like from behind,I suit my hair, it’s healthy and bouncy. I’m not cutting it short for some outdated stereotype, or as some nugget thinks I look younger from behind.

I’m 61 and have never dyed my hair , ever. I’m a natural mid brown. As a result( I think) I still have mostly my own hair colour with fairly even greying starting. I have a good cut every 8 weeks.
I’ve never quite understood the obsession with colouring hair. What’s wrong with natural colouring and going grey gracefully?At least you don’t have to fret about your roots!

I had to stop colouring around the beginning of Covid due to allergies and I was about 40% grey at the time.
I’ve had so much stress since then that I’m now about 80% grey.
I felt it suited me before when my skin was younger but now that I’m 52 and starting to lose muscle tone, I feel it’s ageing me. Considering going back to colouring, even just highlighting to break it up a bit and bring some colour back to my face.
I looked very pale in a recent photo and felt the grey close to my face really zapped my skin tone.

It can be. I’m your age and brunette. I dye my hair and have done for years. I’ve found myself going a bit lighter over time to suit my skin changing, so now I go for a light brown or golden brown, not dark brown. But it designs on various factors: skin tone, hair condition, what your natural grey looks like, etc.

I think I’d look awful with grey hair and am not ready to go down that route, but some of my friends are embracing their grey and look good.

Because a lot of us feel it doesn’t suit us and also it prematurely ages us. And that’s ok, it’s ok not to dye and ok to dye. We all have personal agency right in our appearance and just as you don’t do it, doesn’t mean others shouldn’t.

No 65 year old looks 25 from the back and even if by some miracle she did, so what?

To suggest 65 year old women should dress/have their hair in a certain way to highlight their age should anyone be under any doubt is both sexist and ageist.

Yes, it’s aging.
I’m older than you but I’m guessing was originally had much the same hair colour. I’ve been gradually fading my colour for years. It’s actually easier to let yourself go grey as it will happen gradually.

I’m surprised that the general consensus is yes, it never occurred to me that hair colour could make anyone look older or younger. But if so many people agree that dark hair is ageing, who am I to say differently.

Having said that, if you prefer how you look with dark hair, and you’ve received compliments on your hair when it is dark, then I’d keep it dark. Like you say, you’re going to look older than you used to anyway.

I had fairly dark brown hair right up until my 70s and it looked fine. It is now a mix of grey and brown but getting more grey. I think it depends on your complexion, eyes, eyebrows etc. I am quite dark skinned with deep brown eyes. My mother, like my grandmother, went white at thirty but always dyed her hair and she dyed it black, her natural colour. Whenever she tried to grow it out she looked positively ill. It really suited her and made her look years younger. People would not believe her age. However, she also had wrinkle free skin. (Lucky thing!}