To dye or not to dye

I let my natural grey hair grow this year and felt depressed every time I caught sight of myself in the mirror. I felt old before my time. I've since dyed it light brown and feel much better. Each to their own.

I can't be bothered to go to the trouble and expense of dying my hair. Although some people look great there are many I've seen with dyed hair which looks awful and especially when roots show -Im sure that would happen to me!
My hair is now a sort of silvery grey which has been admired as it is quite thick too so I'm not inclined to change.

Bit harsh grammarretto. I'm a natural blonde gone grey. Not all dyed blonde hair is yellow, My hair is highlighted blonde and definitely not yellow. Think we all need to do our bit to clean up the planet and I certainly do my share. But so much in our modern lives is contributing to pollution I'm afraid we all make our choices as to what we are prepared/able to give up.

Never heard the expression "bottle blonde" since about 1966,i am one of those then,, i dont want grey hair, nothing to do with looking younger, just feels better than dull grey

Did anyone see Emma Thompson on bbc Breakfast this morning? Silver hair looking stunning. It looked natural too.

I let my hair go its natural silver two or three years ago and haven't looked back. So easy to maintain and as others have said, colours that didn't suit before now do. I'm loving the grey (or silver).

Haven't used a dye for a while now pepper and salt but well distributed. OH of course has lovely white hair.

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I am 76 and I have been dying my hair for years, it has been all colours, ie, pink, lilac, blue, green and in the last couple of years I started to go to the local college and the students do a very artistic job. Although I don't think it shows very well in the pictures they had used about 4 or 5 different colours and just used a few strands or hair for each of the colours.

As I mentioned before on the thread about "balayage", I've stopped colouring and am letting my brown-to-grey roots emerge. After decades of colouring, I wanted to see what my "natural" colour looks like; I feared it would look awful but it doesn't. (For a few years I've only had highlights so the "merging" of colours is OK.) I've also started to use Lush''s "Daddy O" shampoo, which is helpful.

I've just started dying my hair grey and I absolutely love it ! Had lots of compliments too.

Seems it's very trendy as well !!

I've also found some shampoo for silver hair... it's a vivid violet colour in the bottle... which makes the colour even nicer !

I used to streak my hair when I was younger, ash blonde and even burgundy but I don't bother now. I see nothing wrong with my naturally streaky grey hair, if others don't like it that's their problem.
However, I think that pink or red hair looks cheerful and if it makes them happy, etc, but yes, is it causing pollution to our rivers either in its use or manufacture? I suppose it must do, mustn't it? But each to their own.

Have dyed my hair for years, and will carry on makes me feel happy.
Only worn make up once, as a teenager, never bothered since. Felt like a mask that was hiding the real me.
And yes I know these two decisions are totally opposite to each other !

Thankyou for such a wonderful array of responses. I may have changed my opinions a bit on why we do or don't colour our hair.
Next topic - make-up

Like others, my family tend to retain their hair colour in old age. My father died at 82, with hardly a grey hair on his head. I'm 63 and have never dyed my hair, as it is still the original red. Albeit it is a nicer colour, as it used to be carrot orange, ? when I was a child. ?‍♀️
However, my very dark haired daughter went grey in her twenties.☹️ I do have a cut and blow dry every 5 weeks, as it is so thick and grows really fast.
I'm very lucky that is many different shades, people at work often commented on my " highlights", which were actually my own colour.?

It’s interesting that those of us who have taken the plunge and decided to rediscover our roots seem very happy with the result.

I am dark brown with some silver grey and some faded brown. I don't want to cut my hair short. Any idea how I could go grey and it look OK in the interim?. It's so faded by the sun now, not a good look. It's much easier for blondes.

As several posters have said - each to his/her own and I would never argue with those who do dye their hair.
Personally I have never dyed my hair and cheerfully say about my 'silver,' it has taken years of stress to look this good
I have a friend who has her hair dyed every six weeks by a retired hairdresser friend and pays £50 for the privilege. I could never justify spending that amount of cash!
But each to their own!

I have posted before about my 4 hour session in the salon when I decided "enough is enough" when it came to dying my hair

I have never regretted it. I had my first grey hairs in my twenties (my biological father was silver grey by 30) and using henna or dye since.

My hair grows like a weed, and within a couple of weeks of colouring, the dreaded "roots" would be showing

So, now feel sooo liberated No more long sessions in the salon, or sitting at home with cold dye dripping down my neck!

Also discovering that colours that I couldn't wear with my dyed hair (purple, mustard, shades of pink etc) work beautifully with my silver grey hair!

I stopped colouring my hair a couple of years ago and I just love my silver/white hair now. Had I not liked the result, I would have been straight back to the hairdresser for colour. As it is, I get my hair cut every 6 weeks and always wear (light) make-up. At some time in the future I might try a wee fun streak of colour, but I’m a bit hesitant because I like it as it is.

When I had my hair coloured, I never wanted a natural look!
I always wanted it to look 'done'.

It lasts until the next hairwash but you do get a bit of 'product' build-up

Oh no the dreaded product build-up ?
Thanks Riverwalk. I shall definitely get some before the next trip to America which will be nearly 3 months long? and by the end of which my roots will not be a pretty sight. I haven’t yet plucked up the courage to try an American hairdresser and we usually get home and 12 hours later I’m at the salon ?

Grammaretto you sound like whatever the female equivalent of 'old fogey' is!

Bottle blonde is such a dismissive phrase - and I'm sure you pollute the planet in other ways.

Jane I also recommend the spray-on colour - currently using L'oreal, dark blonde. I'm a natural brunette with various high/lowlights and grey. Instead of constantly having the roots tinted (expensive) I just do a quick spray along the parting …. brilliant!

It lasts until the next hairwash but you do get a bit of 'product' build-up if you do an extra whoosh!

I never wore make up to work because of pressure within work or pressure to feel young - just that all that travelling 3 to 4 hours on the tube as a 'commuter' every day for 22 years was enough time for me to be 'putting on a mask' (not that I ever wore that much make up, I have very good skin). Now I look after DGS full time I would never have time to put make up on even if I wanted to. I am only 61 and I literally have no interest any more in make up or hair. However I am thrilled to have lost 3 stone since starting to look after DGS and back to a size 10-12 so as I say, it's just hair and make up that I can't be doing with. Once my granny annexe is complete and I have my own bathroom again I think I will have all my hair cut really short to save even more time ?

Which 60 does Beau mean? The older we get the wider the differences in how we look. Look at the various ages we go grey. We had a friend who was grey at 25, I have very little grey at 75.

The same with skin quality, wrinkles, shape, size. What version of 60 was Beau talking about? I think this talk about looking young, worried about how you look in the office, is an obsession of a noisy few.

I was brought up to believe that taking an interest in how you looked was all part of one's self-respect. This doesn't dictate the colour of your hair or whether you wear make-up. But even if you dress by randomly picking clothes off the bedroom floor with your eyes shut. How you look and conduct yourself, tells the world how you expect to be treated.

One of the signs of depression or cogitive decline is frequently a lack of interest in how you look.

I've been colouring my hair forever. My "real" colour now is white which washes me out, so I colour it a nice soft beige which looks just right. I haven't worked for 9 years so it's nothing to do with looking younger for that reason - I just like to have some colour on top, which suits me .

Colouring hair and wearing makeup is such a personal choice - nothing to do with your age or your work status. Just do your own thing and enjoy being the best version of yourself.

Some dyed hair really looks 'dyed' - especially black which I think is draining. I use a 'rinse' for my hair which brings out the 'highlights' ie limits the grey [it's still there but not so obvious] by bringing out the shades of my normal hair. People think my hair is natural which is a lovely complement.