To Dye or not to Dye?

I suddenly started getting a lot more gray hairs two years ago but I am still not very gray, and I quite like the speckled 'salt and pepper' look. I have decided I will not dye my hair. One reason is I don't like the idea of putting chemicals on my head. I have sensitive skin, and chemicals can seep in during the dying process. Last year I was outdoors a lot and my hair became bleached by the sun, so much so I actually had natural blonde highlights in my normally dark brown hair. The gray hairs became even less noticeable then.

I don't dye my hair and have no intentions of starting neither. I think I am the only female in the family with natural greying hair and I am proud of it. I have earned every strand of it, plus I like how its coming in. I am in my mid 40's, I have long dark brown hair. It hangs all the way down my back to my butt. My grey is coming in streaks right at the temples, on each side of my head. I wear my hair mostly pulled back in a pony tail. You can see the streaks real good. I have natural highlights, hehe. I have nice hair and have always worried about putting a bunch of chemicals in it. Plus the upkeep with keeping the dye job up, not for me.

I would never feel like I HAD to dye my hair...I normally don't though in the summer I may highlight it with lemon juice and the natural sun to bring the red out a little more. I think the most important thing is being happy with who you are :)

Your hair is your beauty why dye it. I do not believe in dyeing your hair. Most person does it because they are ashame of grey hair. Some persons has this type of hair at a very young age because of family hereditary. We have a member of parliment in our country with half his hair white and the other half black. By just combing your hair in a style that fit your face will make you look your best. Even when you dye your hair you have to style it. So you see it is not about the dye it is how your style it.

It's quite common in my family to start going gray at an early age. So I grew up in an environment that encouraged changing ones hair colour. I don't mind going to the hair dresser. I didn't mind the cost. I did mind though that it got botched a lot. For some unexplicable reason they wouldn't get the touch up dye right and would have to apply it to whole length of my hair. Well you can imagine that after a couple of times my hair would be in such bad condition that I'd need more than just a trim. Finally I found a very good salon that isn't expensive either. For the first time in years I've been able to let it grow longer than I was previously. I'm very light skinned and having my hair coloured makes such a big difference. Its the difference between looking okay and people actually asking me if I don't feel well. So I guess I'd say I don't have to dye my hair. I prefer to!

I think it's great that you're letting your hair go grey. I met a woman in her thirties with the most beautiful silver hair, and I was so impressed that she let it grey. I'm 20, but I've been going white since I was 18. I have red-blonde hair with two white streaks in the front, and I've been asked repeatedly why I don't dye it or why I dye it like that. My response is always that I can't afford to dye it and can't be bothered to keep it up. My mom dyes her hair, but she started it when she and my dad divorced and she was looking for a technical job. People looking for technology oriented people, don't usually imagine the person to be grey/white haired, unless they are themselves. Now that she's got a job, she's waiting until it's completely grey so she can have all of the color stripped out and be natural.

i actually dye my hair when i am 26 years old after persuading my parents for so long... the only reason why my parents allowed me to dye my hair at last is because i am going to australia to further my study... before that, they never allow me to do that as they say i have a beautiful natural black hair and it is a pity to spoil it with chemicals... i listen to them and i wait until i am old enough to do that... so far, i only do it twice and it actually makes me look nicer to be honest... :-) take care and have a nice day...

yes i do dye hair before,especially when im still in high school.but now im not using it coz i still have black hair maybe soon when i had may white/grey hair lol!and my choice is to DYE HAIR...thanks!

I refuse to dye my hair. All of those chemicals just fry your hair and cannot be good for you. Besides I like my natural hair color even if it isn't as bright as it used to be before. You're going to get old anyway, you're hair is going to change, you can't stop it. So stop covering up and trying to be something you're not.

First of all I want to say that I think gray hair is sexy. Okay, moving on... I used to dye my hair all the time. I have had every color under the sun and honestly, nothing looks as good as natural. A lot of times dye takes out all the natural highlights in the hair and makes it look fake.. unless of course you get highlights and lowlights and all that other junk... but still it usually looks unnatural to me. I shaved all my hair off to get rid of the dyed, damaged bits and now I'm just growing it out. It's back to the length it was before I shaved it and so much healthier. I hadn't seen my natural hair color since I was about 12, so this is nice.

I have also been going grey since my early 20's. I did not start dying it till it got really salt and pepper. I started dying it to see what it would look like and then experimented with colours. Then I got tendinitis in my left arm and could not dye my own hair nor could I afford the price of hairdressers. It is a nearly a year since I stopped dying it and now I am used to it. I know some people dye their hair because they want different colours and others are scared of being seen as old. I used to dye it to look as young as I felt. I must admit that I look 10 years younger if I dye it but now I like being natural and I will not dye it again. I wonder why we thing we have to dye it to avoid looking old. Men do not do this and people say they look distinguished. So why are women told that they must not let their hair go grey? Is it just the hair dye industry? It is just so they can make money? I agree with you about growing old gracefully. I am not afraid to grow old any more. It is natural and I intend to stay natural. I feel the same way about makeup.

Personally i have grey hair but only at the beginning near my face,and i really hate it!so i wont share your views of growing old gracefully.But i found a remedy that keeps me comfortable,the sap from the leaves of the henna plant.Freshly plucked ,grounded and then add hot tea(without sugar) after 15 minutes apply the liquid to your hair it becomes reddish brown but blends well with black hair ,conditions it and gives it a healthy shine it works well for me .

Over the past few months i have been concidering it. I have always wanted to have red hair and although i know me well enough to know that i will not keep it up but i would just like to have it once in my life. I'm just not girly enough to bother my with my hair (outside of keeping it washed and out of my face)I would really like to have red just once!

Kudos to you! I do dye my hair sometimes, but it's not to cover my gray (it's blue right now...lol.) I wear my gray like a badge of honor, I earned every single one through life's hardships and my own stupidity..lol. I found my first gray hair when I was thirteen so I guess I am just used to them. I have no problem with folks who like to cover their grays, but that just isn't my style.

I have alway thought that grey hair is beautiful....or handsome. Look at all those grey haired actors and actresses! They are ALL very beautiful or handsome. I am 23 and have had a couple grey hairs pop up. SO I just pluck them LOL. Grey hair at a very young age is common in my family. My grandpa has been grey since he was 16...or so he says. LOL I am a dyer..have been since I was about 15 or so. I am constantly changing my hair color, mostly tofit my mood haha. Yeah I know its not good..but I get bored with it and its cheaper then getting it cut. So I am not real sure how I will be when I start going grey....

No, I only dye my hair for fun. I don't dislike my hair-color, or my hair in general (I've never once cut it). I just like change. Which is why, when dying my hair I usually use Kool Aid, and only dye it in streaks and on ends. Kool Aid has a varying lasting time depending on your hair color. Mine's brown, and depending on the color...it lasts about a week. The best color (by staying time) tends to be red. But these days I like to experiment by mixing different colors together. I personally think that gray hair is beautiful, so...meh. To each their own!

I think a lot of the time it just depends on the sort of mood you are in..i know myself if im feeling a wee bit vulnerable sometimes a little go at the hairdye can work wonders for me!!..but i hate putting those permanent dyes on ...if you dont like them then you have ha it...theres no going back...where as at least with a wash in wash out you can know that it will just fae away...I dont bother for ages sometimes and then theres a good fair few grey hairs shining through,but it doesnt really worry me....theres more to think about than grey hairs...and we all have to have them at some time!!

I guess it is a personal choice, I haven't gone gray yet but I'm only in my twenties. My parents both went gray quite young so I am expecting it soon. I will most likely henna it to keep it in good condition rather than to keep looking youthful.

Hi, I agree with you as I too not a fan of dying hair. For me, i just want my hair to grow naturally and remain my natural color. Besides, it's not a must to dye hair just to looks pretty. There many other way to do so!!!

Great discussion beaddoodler! I sometimes color my hair, but would rather not. If I could just wake up one morning to find that most of my hair had turned silver I think I could deal with it better. I am graying at the temples and have bit of gray here and there. The gray does seem to "wash" my face out a bit, so I often give in to vanity and color when something important is coming up. My husband's beard has several spots of gray in it and I think it is as sexy as everything!