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Post by bbkeef on Apr 5, 2017 14:33:10 GMT
I am to the point of coloring my roots every 3 weeks now. I'm 44 and genetics are not in my favor on gray/white hair. I'd estimate that I am over 60% gray all over. I have medium/dark brown hair, so it's easily detectable. I can't convince myself to go gray. Just curious on what made you go back to coloring your hair if you've tried going gray?
I'm vain and I know it. My mother colored her hair until she was 75. Her now snowy white hair is beautiful.
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Post by melanell on Apr 5, 2017 15:02:40 GMT
Sorry, mine's been going noticeably gray since my 20s, and I let it be. I have long, thick hair, and the thought of someday having to transition from dying it constantly to not dying it is enough to always convince me not to start coloring it. My one grandmother dyed her hair until she was nearly 80, and I just think that 50-60 years sounds like an enormous amount of time to be regularly paying to apply chemicals to my hair & scalp just to avoid having gray hair.  My other grandmother never dyed her hair, but she had lighter, shorter hair and turned gray later, so it was less noticeable on her than on me. But I'm still sticking with the gray at this point. In the front/on top, I am easily 50% gray, but in the back and on the underside, my hair is still so dark! It's crazy.  Who knows, maybe someday I'll change my mind, but not yet.
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Dalai Mama
Drama Llama

La Pea Boheme
Posts: 6,985
Jun 26, 2014 0:31:31 GMT
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Post by Dalai Mama on Apr 5, 2017 15:03:40 GMT
I'm never dying again.
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Gravity
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,244
Jun 27, 2014 0:29:55 GMT
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Post by Gravity on Apr 5, 2017 15:04:30 GMT
I'm 54 and plan to die with a bottle of hair color in my hand. My hair is strawberry blondish so my roots aren't super noticeable. Have you thought about adding highlights to help disguise your grow out? It might help you go another few weeks between touch-ups.
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Post by bbkeef on Apr 5, 2017 15:07:38 GMT
Yes I am thinking about getting more highlights of varying colors to see if I can make it work.
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Post by refugeepea on Apr 5, 2017 15:17:11 GMT
Not on purpose, but I'm bad about keeping up. I look older than my age and the gray doesn't help. I dye my hair at home, so it's not a big expense. I'll continue to dye until I'm bored with the process. My mom was often mistaken for my grandmother in high school, and I don't want to go there yet.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Aug 18, 2025 20:07:05 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Apr 5, 2017 15:24:36 GMT
I've decided I'll stop dying my hair after my 45th birthday, in 5 years. We'll see how I feel about it then. Both my grandmother and mother were completely gray/white by 50, earlier even.
Every time I think about stopping at 40 (later this year), I remember my sister being mistaken as my mom at 24, mom as grandma at 45. Then I go buy more color and touch up the roots.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Aug 18, 2025 20:07:05 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Apr 5, 2017 15:27:49 GMT
I'm 47, I haven't dyed my hair for about 15 years. I have a few very silver strands that catch the light and look very obvious, I'm leaving them be right now but when there's more I'm not sure what I'll do!
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Post by Tammiem2pnc1 on Apr 5, 2017 15:40:43 GMT
I'm 44, been going gray since I was 18. I have colored my hair faithfully over the years. But honestly, I'm just tired of doing it. It takes forever and I just don't have the energy to keep up with it. I've decided to just let it go natural. My dad and sister will make fun of me relentlessly, which is why I colored it in the first place, but I guess I will just have to deal with it.
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amom23
Drama Llama

Posts: 5,635
Jun 27, 2014 12:39:18 GMT
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Post by amom23 on Apr 5, 2017 15:43:15 GMT
I have a lot of gray, but at 48 I am no where near ready to have a full head of gray hair. I keep my hair a medium blonde with highlights and go in for a root touchup every 5-6 weeks. For as much gray as I have it really doesn't glare out at you when the 5 weeks is up.
For you I would definitely lighten your hair. They also make really good root cover up (I use Madison Reed) that will mask those grays until the next touch up.
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Post by kckckc on Apr 5, 2017 15:58:41 GMT
I started coloring my hair when I was in my late 30s. I let it go gray when I was about 45, hoping it would look okay. Unfortunately the crown of my head was totally gray, while the rest of my hair was mostly dark - from any distance behind, I looked like I had a huge bald spot. So I started coloring again.
I'm 59 now and still coloring. I have gone to a lighter brown overall and added highlights. I have to touch up the roots every 4 weeks and am considering letting it go gray again and seeing how it looks now. But I was out with my sister who is 11 months younger than I am and is gray and an acquaintance thought she was my aunt. I'm not sure I am ready to go there yet.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Aug 18, 2025 20:07:05 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Apr 5, 2017 16:25:03 GMT
I just turned 60 and I go every three weeks for a touch up of the roots....since my hair is dark brown (I tried lighter and don't like it) and my roots come in 100% gray it is exgremely noticeable.
I go to a near by beauty school and for $25.00 I get a color retouch and a blow out...my little treat to myself every three weeks (or at least I like to look at it that way).
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Post by Fidget on Apr 5, 2017 16:26:26 GMT
I am 59 and have been coloring my hair since I was 24. I found my first gray hair when I was in the 8th grade! I am now probably 95% gray / white / silver. My parents were both gray at an early age. I will keep dying at least until I retire, possibly longer. I go every 4 weeks, sometimes 3 if I have an event that I want my hair to look good for.
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Post by melanell on Apr 5, 2017 16:34:43 GMT
I'm 44, been going gray since I was 18. I have colored my hair faithfully over the years. But honestly, I'm just tired of doing it. It takes forever and I just don't have the energy to keep up with it. I've decided to just let it go natural. My dad and sister will make fun of me relentlessly, which is why I colored it in the first place, but I guess I will just have to deal with it. Or ask them to stop. They're adults for crying out loud, if you ask them to please stop saying things that bother you, I would certainly hope they would honor your request. Save
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Post by Tammiem2pnc1 on Apr 5, 2017 16:48:29 GMT
I'm 44, been going gray since I was 18. I have colored my hair faithfully over the years. But honestly, I'm just tired of doing it. It takes forever and I just don't have the energy to keep up with it. I've decided to just let it go natural. My dad and sister will make fun of me relentlessly, which is why I colored it in the first place, but I guess I will just have to deal with it. Or ask them to stop. They're adults for crying out loud, if you ask them to please stop saying things that bother you, I would certainly hope they would honor your request. SaveOh I have asked them to stop. You'd have to know them, the feed off of each other and don't really care if it hurts my feelings. My sister is not my favorite person in the world and unfortunately she's a daddy's girl and can do no wrong. She's made fun of my weight my entire life as well, she's not the nicest person you'll ever meet.
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MDscrapaholic
Drama Llama

Posts: 7,238
Location: Down by the bay....
Jun 25, 2014 20:49:07 GMT
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Post by MDscrapaholic on Apr 5, 2017 16:58:10 GMT
I stopped dyeing my hair at age 45, tired of the whole process and the last time the stylist burned my scalp because she had to leave it on so long. I just deal with it. I'm lucky, my hair is probably 75% grey now and it's a nice shade of white, not steel grey.
I guess you could say with three kids I've earned every one of those grey hairs!
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Post by Linda on Apr 5, 2017 17:07:13 GMT
I'm too lazy to start dyeing my hair - I'm 46 - have a decent amount of grey but not 100% for sure but my greys are white and the rest is dark brown so you can't really miss them  People usually peg me as younger than I am so...I don't stress about it.
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Post by AN on Apr 5, 2017 17:07:35 GMT
Not the question you asked, but my mom transitioned to gray in her late 40's after over 20 years of dying her hair. It was a tough transition, but her hair now is beautiful and I have to say I really admire it and her patience through the process. There are a ton of online resources & even groups on Facebook to help through the transition. She is much happier with her hair now and it's so much less daily stress.
I'm 32 and have quite a lot of grays coming in (maybe 2% - 5% so far? But they stand out against my almost black hair), but they're coming in as individual strands rather than all my roots at once, since I don't dye my hair. Right now I'm hoping it just continues to slowly come in that way and I can avoid dying it, as I really do like the look of salt & pepper hair. We'll see if I have the fortitude! Luckily I'm in a spot in my career where (for now), looking a little more "mature" is a help to me, not a hindrance. I do like seeing the grays in the mirror though, they kind of break up my dark hair in a way I find interesting.
Hope that's an encouragement to you. I do think with gray hair, if it's important to you to look "polished," you have to be prepared to rework your wardrobe and makeup routine. But man, the women who own their gray and work with it as part of their style - stunning.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Aug 18, 2025 20:07:05 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Apr 5, 2017 17:27:02 GMT
Or ask them to stop. They're adults for crying out loud, if you ask them to please stop saying things that bother you, I would certainly hope they would honor your request. SaveOh I have asked them to stop. You'd have to know them, the feed off of each other and don't really care if it hurts my feelings. My sister is not my favorite person in the world and unfortunately she's a daddy's girl and can do no wrong. She's made fun of my weight my entire life as well, she's not the nicest person you'll ever meet. Um, you have the pea permission to kick them to the curb!
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Dalai Mama
Drama Llama

La Pea Boheme
Posts: 6,985
Jun 26, 2014 0:31:31 GMT
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Post by Dalai Mama on Apr 5, 2017 17:29:10 GMT
I'm 44, been going gray since I was 18. I have colored my hair faithfully over the years. But honestly, I'm just tired of doing it. It takes forever and I just don't have the energy to keep up with it. I've decided to just let it go natural. My dad and sister will make fun of me relentlessly, which is why I colored it in the first place, but I guess I will just have to deal with it. Or ask them to stop. They're adults for crying out loud, if you ask them to please stop saying things that bother you, I would certainly hope they would honor your request. SaveDon't ask. Tell.
And if they continue, tell your sister that you're sensitive about it, kind of like she's sensitive about her big nose/yellow teeth/saggy skin/whatever.
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stittsygirl
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,664
Location: In the leaves and rain.
Jun 25, 2014 19:57:33 GMT
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Post by stittsygirl on Apr 5, 2017 18:49:52 GMT
I'm 48 and my natural color now is almost completely silvery gray, but I'm going to continue holding onto my original blond for a while. My colorist is really good and I actually enjoy the process and some quiet time at the salon. I get my roots done every 4-5 weeks and highlights about every three months. I get a lot of compliments on my hair, so I'm not ready to transition to all-gray yet. Though I'll admit that I do see some beautiful silvery gray hair sometimes and start questioning again if I should go there  .
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The Birdhouse Lady
Prolific Pea
 
Moose. It's what's for dinner.
Posts: 7,589
Location: Alaska -The Last Frontier
Jun 30, 2014 17:15:19 GMT
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Post by The Birdhouse Lady on Apr 5, 2017 18:50:16 GMT
I have been coloring my hair since I was in my 20's. I have a lot of gray hair and it shows up really quick against my dark hair. I do a root touch up every 2 weeks. I am not ready to go gray and I promised my daughter that I wont even consider it until she is out of high school! My mom never colored her hair and I was asked if she was my grandma more times than I can remember.
I have considered getting some highlights to start the process of going a lighter color. The thing is my dark hair is my natural color and I love having dark hair so I am not sure I am going to like having highlights.
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Post by katiejane on Apr 5, 2017 19:04:16 GMT
I have chunks bleached and then dye those pale blue/lilac/silver. Then my patchy natural gray and old hair colour blend in to the mix. Up keep is not too bad as I have lots of grey so the roots kinda smudge and blend. And by adding the trendy colours I don't feel too old lady and a little bit still trendy.
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Post by **GypsyGirl** on Apr 5, 2017 19:04:40 GMT
I'm 54 and plan to die with a bottle of hair color in my hand. My hair is strawberry blondish so my roots aren't super noticeable. Have you thought about adding highlights to help disguise your grow out? It might help you go another few weeks between touch-ups.  except that I'm 60. I started to gray in my 20's and have been totally gray for about 10 years. I started with highlights to disguise the gray streak, but by 40 I was having to use a base color. As I have gone totally gray, my colorist has lightened my base coat (I went back to my childhood blonde). It helps the roots blend better. I have no intentions of ever going gray.
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Post by mtscrapper on Apr 5, 2017 20:06:15 GMT
I'm 50 and have been coloring since I was 28. I don't have plans on stopping. My mom (in her late 70s) still colors hers, and it is just part of life that I have known as long as I can remember. I believe the back of my head still is my original color (dark blond), but the top, front, and sides are pretty much all gray. I think it would look awful if I went gray now. I color it a lighter color so I can go a couple of months before it looks totally awful. I actually got a compliment the other day after I colored it (I think it was about 2-3 weeks after I colored) about how nice it looked. I can't imagine I would get that compliment with gray hair.
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Post by deshacrafts on Apr 5, 2017 20:15:16 GMT
I'm growing mine out right now. I had been keeping my hair a medium brown that I loved. But I was so tired of going every 3 weeks to get my roots done and them showing at about a week and a half. I'm not sorry so far. Haven't had my roots colored since December. I did have the rest of the shaft of my hair lightened considerably to make the grow in less noticeable.
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suzastampin
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,587
Jun 28, 2014 14:32:59 GMT
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Post by suzastampin on Apr 5, 2017 20:23:31 GMT
I have done it a couple times, then go back to coloring. I wear my hair very short, so by the time I get a haircut, I have 6-8 weeks of gray at the roots. So, when I go get it cut, the colored part is basically all cut off and I'm back to gray again.
I use cheap Colorsilk dye. When I was using a shade of red and it would fade enough that there's wasn't much color left. Now that I've gone with a Dark Ash Blonde, the roots are more noticeable.
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Post by snappinsami on Apr 5, 2017 21:07:11 GMT
I spent 11 months of last year growing out my gray. My hair is chin length, very fine, and very curly. I was doing OK with it, but then I got a haircut in early December. It was a GREAT cut. And when I got home, I saw how little shine my hair had (my natural color is dark mouse brown). I asked DH what he thought, and we both agreed that it looked better colored. I splurged and went back to the salon the next day and got it colored, and am now doing it myself again at home. (Which reminds me, I'm due.) My mom is 75 and just grew hers out two years ago. But my ultra-vain grandmother (my father's mother) is still dying hers. Here she is a few weeks ago at the party we threw to celebrate her 102nd birthday. She's convinced that it looks natural, and none of us are going to tell her otherwise. (Hell, at that age, she can dye it any color she wants!) 
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maurchclt
Pearl Clutcher
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Jul 4, 2014 16:53:27 GMT
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Post by maurchclt on Apr 5, 2017 21:19:11 GMT
Yes and yes lol. I have genetics on my side, started going gray when I was 16. By the time I 1st stopped coloring my hair I had to dye it every 4 weeks, crazy, who had that much time? I retired, so no problem with growing it out. Then my son decided to get married. I didn't want to be gray for the pictures, so back to being a "redhead". I am now happily gray, get tons of compliments and will never look back. Very freeing!
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paget
Drama Llama

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Jun 25, 2014 21:16:39 GMT
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Post by paget on Apr 5, 2017 22:48:55 GMT
I like the idea of being ok with being gray but I'm just not there. I'm 45. I feel like if I had a better pattern to it it may be easier. I have a couple grays speinkled in (and noticing more) but the main iissie is right in front framing my forehead. And if I lift the sides of my hair by my tempered the under hair has quite a bit of gray in it. I have dark brown hair so each little hair really glimmers. I'm that person everyone is shocked to find out has 20 year kids and it would hurt a bit to hve that stop if I was gray.  I also just equate gray with old and that's just not how I think of myself. I guess we will see what happens. I just use root touch up about every month+ and then use some root spray to dab on the front gray patches toward the end of the month to keep it in check.
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