<p>I’ve never colored my hair and don’t intend to start. Don’t wear make up either so am pretty low maintenance where that kind of thing is concerned. My mother never dyed her hair either but did enjoy going to the “beauty shop” up until the end to have her hair done.</p>
<p>Thank you rockymtnhigh.</p>
<p>Women should color their hair (if needed) throughout middle age and into early old age. But, depending on how aged the woman’s face looks, there comes a time when a helmet of jet-black hair starts to look a little ridiculous on a face that that is clearly quite old.</p>
<p>I don’t color my hair anymore. It isnt gray though, just lighter strawberry blonde.
My mother never went gray either- she also had blond hair.
My grandma had dark brown hair and quit coloring it when she retired when she was 65- it really aged her, and I think also affected the way she felt about herself.
I think it just depends on how what you want.
A hair cut can make a difference though & there are several older women who color their hair in my water aerobic class- most of them actually- several are a blond color not found in nature past toddlerhood.
But what do I care?
I think blond probably looks better than coloring it too dark.
Your skin is thinner and paler as you age so you do need to soften it up a bit, unless you want to look like Elvira.</p>
<p>A person should stop coloring hair when s/he starts getting sloppy about it and the roots and color mix starts looking sloppy and mangey. I see this all of the time, and it is much worse than gray, white hair. </p>
<p>I don’t know when I’ll start coloring my hair again. I did so for a few years to lighten up the color because I felt that it was gentler looking, but keeping it up became an issue. Colored hair starts to turn reddish on me, and I don’t like red hair on me. The more I colred it, the redder it would become sooner. So I colore di back to a dark brown black which still turned brassy on me and just worked with rinses until I got the color out. It took me two-three years before i could get my natural color back as I didn’t want multicolored hair. </p>
<p>Now I have gray streaking my hair, but fairly evenly and with just a color spray or markers after I wash it, I can hide the larger sections. The time will come when I’ll have to decide to color again, as I gray more, and I don’t look forward to the day that I have to decide to start up color or to go gray. Though my mother kept her hair color except for some stray grays until she hit her 80s, my father was gray by the time he was in in his mid 30s, and totally silver white by the time he was 40. I cannot imagine him with anything but the white hair. I am somewhere in between, but more like my mother, though i think I am as gray as she is, even though I am nearly 30 years younger that she. </p>
<p>A problem I have is that my hair grows very fast, so root maintenance is a pain. And the contrast between the light silver gray white and the rest of my hair is so distinct. My DH has been gradually graying for a while, but it’s hardly noticeable as his color was/is an ash light brown/blonde that blends beautifully with his ash gray. The idea of having to touch up roots evey other week, which is what i would have to do to keep me from looking like I’m losing hair up top as I turn gray there, is not a pleasant one. I lose either way, as I don’t think I am going to transition to gray attractively. </p>
<p>I may just have to color my hair an ash color and streak it for a while. </p>
<p>So it’s being a gray head that bothers me but that ugly transition period.</p>
<p>I have a good friend in her 40s who’s had gray hair since I’ve known her, maybe 7-8 years. She looks great. It adds a level of gravitas to her. I can’t even imagine what she’d look like not gray.</p>
<p>I just turned 51 (on Wednesday). Started graying in my early 40’s. My hairstyle is very short w/ silver streaks. I use a flat iron to smooth it/ make it sleek. I’ve gotten compliments fr. strangers so it must not look too bad 
My DH has salt and pepper hair and I love it. I think we match.
I think other factors often contribute to aging just as much or more than hair color…fitness, energy, fashion /style, personality, general outlook on life, etc.</p>
<p>I can’t see myself ever coloring my hair. The maintenance and expense of it doesn’t fit my lifestyle but I have good friends/relatives who wouldn’t dream of going gray.<br>
Different strokes for different folks.</p>
<p>I concur with MommaJ; I’ll dye until I die.</p>
<p>My mil colors her hair too. She is in her 80’s. I remember when I met her I thought( cool she has red hair, maybe I will have some red haired babies!) nope.
I think her hair originally was brown. H still has blondish hair as do the girls.</p>
<p>My husband’s great aunt died at age 104 with flaming red hair. If she thought it made her look younger, she was waaaay off. The contrast between her face and hair color was startling , to put it nicely. She would have looked much better with white hair which I’m sure what she naturally had by then. But she never found a point in time to make the transition and had instruction in place for her hair to be colored right up to the date of her being viewed in the coffin.</p>
<p>How old should a woman be when they stop dying their hair? Older than I.</p>
<p>So much depends on your coloring. I can’t go “salt and pepper” - my hair is dark blond, not anywhere near pepper…and the gray threads that are showing up by my temples are coarser and stand out (quite literally). The least I can do is get them the same color as the rest…otherwise I look quite unkempt.
With my pale skin, gray or white is going to be very unflattering. Plan to keep coloring until I’m at least 80.<br>
Has anybody tried covering the gray with temporary color lighter than their natural color? In my mind this might avoid the mono color problem but coloring every 3or4 weeks has kept me from experimenting…too much work!</p>
<p>Helmet of jet black hair? My hair color is a nice mix that actually has highlights in it. Even the new home dyes don’t look like shoe polish the way the old ones did.</p>
<p>Honestly, I have friends who dye their hair and you would be very hard pressed to know it. I
I think my color looks pretty darn good too!</p>
<p>PackMom, you are 11 days older than I am! I have colored since my late 20s. With my coloring, I don’t think gray would look good on me. I made my hairstylist promise to tell me when she thinks I should stop dyeing. I think she’ll be honest!</p>
<p>Happy 51st next week MaineLonghorn! </p>
<p>I have dark eyes. Wouldn’t call my skin olive but it is darker than you blue eyed gals. Before the advent of sunscreen, I had the Hawaiian Tropic tan every summer and still tan very easily even when using sunscreen. </p>
<p>The young lady who cuts my hair says she loves silver hair. Maybe she’s hoping for a bigger tip! I am glad that mine is silvery instead of battleship gray or that yellowish white.</p>
<p>I have much more gray on one side than the other and am afraid it will look lopsided if I grow it out. About half of my friends color.</p>
<p>I am a dark brunette. I can’t imagine what I would look like with grey hair. I know my hair is mostly grey now because of my roots. But brunette is what I have always been!</p>
<p>I’ve been thinking about when to finally stop coloring and appreciate this thread. But, as stated, it is obviously up to each individual. But I have to admit, I work with a woman who has long grey hair and every time I see her I think “witch.”. Seriously. I also question if she ever looks in a mirror.</p>
<p>I too worry about the facial hair if I were to end up in a hospital in a coma. Unfortunately I am a very hairy dark brunette, as said. Haha. Sounds scary. But I am afraid I would turn into a very scary creature if unattended.</p>
<p>I think as long as you are still looking good coloring your hair, you should keep doing it. Young people seem shocked when I tell them how old I am, and I know they aren’t being polite, it’s just good hair color. I guess they don’t realize that I think, ya know, it’s not as if 50 is that old, so why make a big deal about it? I’m actually more insulted that they think that’s old, as opposed to being flattered that they think I can’t possibly be SO old.</p>
<p>I have never colored my hair (well, except for the purple streaks in my 20s) and am mostly salt and less pepper in mid 50s. I have wide all white/gray streaks in front where I part my hair and people have asked me if I had the streaks “put in.” First time I was asked, I’m thinking “why would someone have gray put in their hair?” Since then, I’ve been told that people do actually add wide white streaks to their hair for effect. To each her own I guess.</p>
<p>I am up at 2:30am EST, so I’m clearly a Woman of a Certain Age, but I do not dye (nor do I sleep!) I have auburn, stick straight hair with a fair portion of silver. I can’t abide the fuss and chemicals, I can’t acquiesce to the gender politics and beauty norms of an obsessed society. As far as looks go, I tend to think it’s a really great cut that makes as much difference as color. But certainly everyone has to decide for themselves. I think truly elderly women with startling color is not as beautiful as could be, but if it makes us feel beautiful, why not?</p>