Help with aging blondes question (or is this not aging?)

[Anonymous]

It's obvious when a young kid blond is blond- but when you see an mid 30s or so blond with darker hair "inside" (inner layer- but not like black- these people were blondes at one point)- what is going on? do they dye their hair or highlight? asking since the hair on one neighbor on the exterior is her usual mid blong self but with hair up- darker uniform. I have dark hair- my biggest obstacle is gray hairs- but not that many yet.

[Anonymous]

Probably highlights. Highlights can also be natural-- the whole idea behind getting your hair highlighted is to mimic what occurs naturally with exposure to the sun-- so even many totally natural blondes have darker hair underneath that you see more of when they put it up. Gets ridiculous, though, when they natural underlying color is really dark. At that point, I think many women would be better off bleaching their hair blonde then adding lowlights.

[Anonymous]

It's a sign that they color their hair themselves. A professional pins up the outer levels and colors the underneath layers first. That, or they haven't tended to the roots in a long time.

[Anonymous]

Goes without saying that they are coloring their hair - and by themselves. 80% of all women color their hair. No one keeps the color they had when they were younger.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's a sign that they color their hair themselves. A professional pins up the outer levels and colors the underneath layers first. That, or they haven't tended to the roots in a long time.

Agree with this. I used to color my own hair in high school and college (well, my mom would help), and it was always way darker underneath because when I did it myself I basically colored the roots along my part only. Now I get highlights (foil) and they do my whole head so when it is up in a ponytail my hair is still "blonde". Costs so much more, but looks a ton better and more natural.

[Anonymous]

They way you described your neighbor could be me - late 30's with highlights but darker hair underneath. I am, (or was), a natural blonde but my hair has always been darker underneath. My kids are both blondes and their's is also a bit darker underneath, although not as dark as mine.

But, yes, they probably highlight - and as a pp said, most women do.

[Anonymous]

I'm not sure I fully understand what OP is describing, but I'm a 35 yo natural blonde and have never colored my hair. The front and top layers of my hair are much blonder than the part underneath. When I had long hair, it looked darker up because you could see more of the underneath part. The sun reaches the part on top, not underneath, so the top stays lighter.

[Anonymous]

My hair gets lighter in the sun and the top layer gets lighter than the rest.

[Anonymous]

Agree with previous 2 posters. I am blonde and do not highlight. My hair on top is lighter since it has been exposed to more sunlight. The ends are also lighter than the roots for the same reason. My kids are blonde as well and my boy's hair always looks darker after a haircut because he has all the highlighted parts taken off.

The best gauge of a random person's natural blondness is to look at their eyebrows -- although some people mess with those as well.

[Anonymous]

Not necessarily, pp. I am a natural blond born with jet black brows which I constantly have to bleach. Know of number of others as well with the same coloring.

I think you need to look at a number of factors - brows, maybe, but also arm hair (is it blond and invisible?) as well as skin tone. If the skin is overall darker than the hair, then it probably is colored.

But stats point to an overwhelming majority of women who color their hair. Chris Rock recently did Oprah re his movie about AA hair. On the same show, Ali Wentworth did a segment on Caucasian hair about the overwhelming need for women to go blond. Pretty funny.

[Anonymous]

"Not necessarily, pp. I am a natural blond born with jet black brows which I constantly have to bleach. Know of number of others as well with the same coloring."

You are sooo lucky! Of course, I've never seen you, but blond hair and dark eyebrows are so nice together.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My hair gets lighter in the sun and the top layer gets lighter than the rest.

This. But anyone over 35 with medium to light blond hair is almost certainly coloring it somehow.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My hair gets lighter in the sun and the top layer gets lighter than the rest.

This. But anyone over 35 with medium to light blond hair is almost certainly coloring it somehow.

Uh oh, I'm a 35-year-old natural medium blond. Does this mean I need to start budgeting in coloring next year?