Would you dare strip your hair colour back to Au Natural??? Am I mad thinking of doing so???

[divedaisy]

I will be 40 in a few weeks and have dyed my shoulder length hair since in my early 20s. For the past few years I have this notion of stripping all the dye out and finding out what my natural hair colour is - grey/white and all!!

AM I MAD??????

WOULD YOU DARE??????

DH is away for a week from 21st Feb, and was planning on doing it then. What's the worst that can happen?????? I don't like it and ask for it to be re-dyed?? Maybe I will like it!!! even love it!!! Or maybe the hairdresser could suggest a way of enhancing the natural me??

I change my hair colour nearly with every season, mainly because I can never find a colour/tone that I really like and settle with.

Do you rememeber the Pantene ad with a mature lady with long silver grey hair?? I thought her hair was so, so stricking! I loved it!

Please give me all your views!!!

Keep tinting it I haven't seen my natural hair colour since I was 16.

Mine is my real colour (grey and all).

Froms asking around I get the feeling this is unusual - even a no-make-up pal has hers highlighted.

I would go for it - out of curiosity if nothing else!

Hey divedaisy I'm thinking of doing the same thing. I have a short bob (ugh so '80's) and it is currently bleached/highlighted. I too haven't seen my real colour (mousy brown) since I was about 15. I have been black (awful), red (why???), brown (nice) and blonde (lovely but so expensive) and am now thinking of growing it all out and seeing if it is lovely and shiney and foxy or still mousey brown with grey highlights. Maybe next time I go to the hairdresser I'll get her to just do some mousey lowlights and I can gradually grow it out.

Anyway, enough about mememememememeeeeee. Go on get yours done too, like you say how bad can it be? Although i dunno if hairdressers can totally strip it back to natural?

I had exactly the same conversation with friends last week. Both said they would (in fact one had and decided to dye again until it became more silvery) - me - I think you have to have the personality to pull it off (confident etc..) and I don't. My Nan dyed hers until she was over 80 I think, finances permitting of course I will be doing the same.

If you can pull it off, go for it. What's the worst you ahte it and dye it again - the best it looks great and you save yourself a small mortgage over the years in dyes/hairdressers fees!

ClaudiaSchiffer - a friend of my mum's got hers stripped back. All I can do is ask I suppose!

Thanks for your views! I think I will 'go for it' and then reaccess when naked!! My original colour would have been chestnut-ty brown wiith coppery highlights.

I went back to my natural colour when I was about 36 thinking that I'd keep it that way till I went grey. I'm 43 now and still no grey yet. If you don't try it you'll never know until it's too late, and you may be pleasantly surprised!!!

I think ladies of a certain age can look fantastic with that beautful silvery grey colour... but only when they are over about 55. You are far too young for that look now!

Can't you tell what your natural colour will be from your root growth?

Have to agree with PuppyMonkey, it only looks good on 55+ women. One of my friends is very low maintenance and doesn't dye her hair but, honestly, (she is lovely though, don't want to sounds like a total cow) it puts 10 years on her.

It really depends how much grey you have. Give it a go, if you don't like it you can always dye it back.

i have never dyed my hair
im 36 and not a sign of any grey
all my friends are grey tho and have to spend a fortune on colouring it at the hairdressers

It's a very intersting issue.
Last time I went to the hairdresser I was stunned to see several of the young staff with grey hair - dyed presumably as it's unlikely several people in the same salon would be prematurely grey. They all looked fabulous, but of course they did couple it with being ultra-trendy.

I disagree that you have to be over 55 to look good, but I do think you would normally have to be better dressed to offset it.

I made the decision I am not going to dye mine again (I'm 37) but it does mean I am going to have to put more effort into my appearance generally in order to look ok!

I would def try it, you can always change it again if you don't like it.

I love the idea of going back to my natural colour from a financial point of view but I doubt it would work for me. As my roots grow, there are huge streaks of white and at 38 I am just not ready to go white yet!

ITA with Kathy and some of the others who say that the rest of you will require high maintenance if you ignore the hair (unless of course what you are left with is super shiny naturally lovely hair ).

Well my hair is it's 'natural' colour in that it doesn't have any dye on it. I've previously had it dyed and it's not grown out.

Have to say though that I did once have a hair dye job that went wrong and had my hair stripped back to its 'natural' colour and it was nothing like the colour it is now. It was awful. It looked a wierd kinda ginger colour even though my hair is dull brown usually.

My roots are very grey above the ears and the rest is dark with siilvery grey streaks. I'm just fed up trying to get a colour that I am happy with. I'm forever changing it - season to season - blonde, then coppery, brown with streaky things, red with black streaks, - I'd just love to see what my natural colour is and then work with that even if it means sticking a bit of maji-mesh through it to lift it. It;s really the regrowth I hate to see.
I've read that stripping it is bad for the hair and may not take all the colour out in one go. Will need to speak to my hairdresser to see what I can really do rather than just speculating!
But this has been very interesting! Thanks for all your views!

Well I've made the decision to let the grey come through. But I had it dyed one last time in December, as it was looking a right old state with half of it faded out dyed red, and half of it natural brunette/grey. So I had it all done as close to my natural (pre-grey) colour as I could, and will now let nature take it's course. Well that's the plan, I may yet chicken out and go back to being a vibrant red head (or purple, or black or...) but my current intention is to go grey. My MIL thinks I'm a bit mad I think and many friends are . I'm 38 btw.

Jammy - you sound just like me!! After starting this thread, I have now booked an appointment with my hairdresser for Tuesday. I am currently a copper head, but will try a subtle transition back to natural by getting a full head of maji-mesh using the regrowth as the guide for the colour choices. It was just tonight when trying to get glammed up for Valentines evening I had the thought if I could feel glam with salt and pepper hair???? I'd still want a bit of spicey in there somewhere!

MY SIL is 50 and has dyed her hair forever, but always black. She got an allergy to the dye so had to stop. It's a silvery, light brown. Looks really great. All her friends and us commented that it makes her look softer, but wouldn't dare have told her she looked harsh before.

Give it a try, you never know what it'll be like, if you don't like it, dye it back.

I'm 36 this year, and don't dye mine, only the odd grey here and there which DH gleefully likes to point out, even though he's younger and has more greys.