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| Go gray | 42% | 2020 votes | Total: 4863 votes | |
| Dye it | 58% | 2843 votes |
Go gray
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Add to FavoritesI have tried both sides of the story, but came too the final decision that it is not worth it. Dying your hair is so much like hard work, every couple of weeks you are touching up the gray roots. I hated it! I did not like it because my hair ended up looking so false. Now the eyebrows are starting to match the hair. Now I am proud of my look, very distinguished.
Then there are the gray eyebrows that don't match the hair! I said too myself they look horrid and there is nothing that you can do about it. Have nice looking hair and then the eyebrows that look gray. You can not win bits and pieces go gray at different times, then it does not match the other.
So if I had my time again, I would not dye my hair as I aged. The trouble is I missed my pure black hair. When you start going gray young, you miss your natural hair of a time gone by. That is why I dyed my hair, but gave it up as a lost cause. Now I can save that money, by not going to the hairdresser for a color. These days I am quite proud of my white hair. I am now 54yrs old with pure white hair there is a few dark natural hairs left, and I am proud of it.
There is also a saying "It doesn't change whom are on the inside, no matter what color your hair is, we are just a little wiser." It is my choice to grow old gracefully wrinkles and all.
I also thought it was great to try looking younger but it doesn't work, color doesn't go with wrinkles or gray eye brows as I said before. Especially if the bones don't work the same either, with nice looking hair of a young person, people think you are young and then someone is helping you up the stairs or up off the floor cause the bones don't work the way they used too. I quite often laugh at myself because it has taken me a long time to be happy with myself. How I look, coming across a photo of myself the other day, back maybe in my late thirties with black hair and gray hairs sticking out all over. I did not like it but I don't mind now.
Today I had my hair cut, an outstanding statement! When I looked on the floor after my daughter cut my hair, I laughed, there is definitely no black hair left. Everything that was on the floor was white hair. I am sad that I have no more black hair but now I am proud of my white hair, even though I am only 55yrs old.
Learn more about this author, Barb.
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Dye it
I am a firm believer in choices. As a forty four year old woman, I have grown up and matured in the era of choice. What works for one woman in terms of her personal appearance may not work for another. Personally, I would not use Botox, get breast augmentation or liposuction, although I see nothing wrong with others doing so. I do consider myself somewhat appearance and fashion-conscious. The one beauty process I will continue to participate in is coloring my hair. As a former hair stylist I believe I can speak accurately to some of the myths that abound concerning "dyeing" your hair.
"It's not healthy for your hair". WRONG. This may have been true twenty years ago, and still can be true for women who continually highlight and/or bleach their hair. This will strip the hair and can leave it looking dull and lifeless. In most true in cases this is the "do-it-yourselfers" who apply the product incorrectly and accidentally overlap the bleach onto pre-bleached areas. However, most color applications, if done correctly, add shine and body (isn't this the definition of hair "health"?) to the hair. I have been coloring my greys for ten years, and am frequently told, "your hair is so shiny".
"It is striking and attractive". Yes, naturally silver hair can be so. However, the unfortunate reality is that very few women are blessed with silvery grey or white hair. Most grey hair has a yellowish cast to it. And it most cases, it ages the person at least five, and more often ten years. In my opinion, most of the "au naturelle's " tend to sport the aging hippie look-Birkenstocks with socks, mom jeans, etc, and this usually extends to their hair style... overly long, raggedy, and rather unkempt. Prematurely grey hair requires a sharp cut, usually above the shoulders. Anything else brings to mind Hansel, Gretel, and candy houses.
The biggest problem with going grey naturally is that the process is not uniform. You won't wake up one morning with a beautiful head of snow white hair. The greys come in patches, usually around the temple. The hairs themselves are wiry and coarse, in most cases, a different texture than the surrounding hair, due to the absence of melanin. This is a very unattractive look, and a styling nightmare, however, covering the stray grays with color calms them down and makes them behave like the rest of your hair.
To me, the strangest thing about the "to grey or not to grey" debate is the "morality" some associate with it. I have heard those who choose not to color utter the statement, "I would never DYE my hair", with such passion, as if coloring your hair were to be associated with all things evil, unnatural, and responsible for the objectification of women worldwide. I am a feminist, and try not to support things that I feel make women hate themselves and the natural aging process. However, I still want to look attractive, vital, and youthful. And for me, grey hair, at least at this stage of the game, is not part of the picture.
Learn more about this author, Maureen Thomas.
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