Brunettes - when did you decide to start coloring the gray?

[Anonymous]

Never colored my hair, but im seeing gray at an alarming rate. When did you take the plunge? (I dont mean age). At the first strands, or when it was very noticeable?

[Anonymous]

I'm 41 and have never colored but decided I need to do so at the end of the summer (not doing it now b/c of all the time I will be spending in the pool). I got a couple grays in the last couple of years but I could style around them or apply a bit of mascara to the single strands.

In the last 6 months, I can no longer do either. There are too many to hide with styling/tricks. Also, my hairs are very thick so an individual gray hair against my dark hair . . . . it's very noticeable.

I'm bummed b/c I'm sure coloring will never look as natural as I wish it to be. Plus the maintenance is unappealing.

[Anonymous]

as soon as someone other than me could see it.

[Anonymous]

I let the gray creep in from late 30's/early 40's onward and didn't get around to coloring it until I was around 47. I didn't want to spend $$ at a salon and I didn't want to wreck my hair dying it myself. But one day I looked in the mirror and thought - "Enough!". I went out got a box of hair dye and took care of it. Huge (easy) improvement.

Looking back, I wish I had started coloring my hair a lot earlier because that gray hair didn't do a thing for me.

[Anonymous]

When I got a few strands, I would just snip them out. And NO, contrary to popular belief, it didn't make them grow in worse!

Then gradually with age, I got more salt + pepper and started coloring more on a regular basis, but still let the gray show and only colored about every few months or so. Then I noticed that people, friends and strangers alike, would always look at the top of my head when conversing with me or make comments about my hair so I got self-conscious about my grays and now I color my hair every 3-4 weeks.

I would prefer to get it done professionally because it is a bummer doing it at home. It is time-consuming and I hate how the hair dye gets on the walls, the sink, tub, etc.

But since I would need to hit the salon every few weeks, my wallet would take a huge hit and I am not that rich.

I notice now when a little bit of root shows, I am about 90% gray so if I actually let it go gray, I would probably add 15 years which wouldn't make any sense. I want to enjoy what youth I can.

My natural hair color is black, and when I was younger it was tough to color it because the browns and reds I used never used to show. Now however with my hair being lighter and whiter, the good thing is that the colors actually show up much prettier.

So go figure.

I highly recommend anyone who has dark hair to color it if they are more than 30% gray.
Nothing ages you more than gray hair.
You can buy a box of hair color these days for less than ten bucks and it can prolong your youth for decades.

Only a fool would not take full advantage of this.....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I let the gray creep in from late 30's/early 40's onward and didn't get around to coloring it until I was around 47. I didn't want to spend $$ at a salon and I didn't want to wreck my hair dying it myself. But one day I looked in the mirror and thought - "Enough!". I went out got a box of hair dye and took care of it. Huge (easy) improvement.

Looking back, I wish I had started coloring my hair a lot earlier because that gray hair didn't do a thing for me.

Which brand did you use? I'm 38 and mainly have gray around my face (where all the broken/new hair post-pregnancies grew in). I'm pregnant with my third, so I had my stylist cut bangs to hide the grays for now, but I know that I'm going to have even more grays in about 6-12 months once the post-pregnancy hair fall-out/grow-in cycle ends. With three kids at home, I definitely won't have the time or money to hit the salon every 6 weeks!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm 41 and have never colored but decided I need to do so at the end of the summer (not doing it now b/c of all the time I will be spending in the pool). I got a couple grays in the last couple of years but I could style around them or apply a bit of mascara to the single strands.

In the last 6 months, I can no longer do either. There are too many to hide with styling/tricks. Also, my hairs are very thick so an individual gray hair against my dark hair . . . . it's very noticeable.

I'm bummed b/c I'm sure coloring will never look as natural as I wish it to be. Plus the maintenance is unappealing.

I haven't started dying my hair yet, but I'm bummed, too. I'm vain about my hair! I just know it won' tlook as good when I start to dye it.

[Anonymous]

I might do it after I'm done having kids - but I want gray streaks to ease the transition, not cover it up. I have a bit at the temples now and have been waiting for my streaks to come in for 3-4 years. They have not gotten more defined. In fact, I've been finding hair that are gray for 4-5 inches and then dark brown again. My mom was 100% silver by 30 or 32 and always rocked beautiful long, wavy silver hair with layers with a young looking face. I was looking forward to that but I'm 36 and my silver isn't coming in any time soon it seems.

[Anonymous]

When it was more than just a few hairs--I could see random streaks starting to show. I was only in my 20s, so I was definitely not ready to go gray yet. Especially not salt-and-pepper gray rather than pretty silver.

[Anonymous]

I hit the color once I started developing a Stacy London-style white streak right in front . It looks awesome on Stacy; not so great on me.

[Anonymous]

I started coloring my hair when the grays were visible when my hair is pulled back or up.

When my hair is down, you can't see them because they're right around the hairline where my side-bangs are, and on the underside.

[Anonymous]

At the first strands (age 22)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At the first strands (age 22)

+1

[Anonymous]

Immediately upon finding my first grey (at 43).

[Anonymous]

I've had grey hair for around 10 years (now 43) and much more noticeably for the last few. I haven't colored it yet. DH likes older women and finds it attractive, and I'm frugal and busy enough that I'm happy to save the $$$ and hassle.