I was golden blonde as a kid until about age 10 when my hair started to turn brown. Stayed light brown throughout my 30's and 40's. Summer always brings out my blonde highlights... if I really spend a lot of time in the sun, it gets very blonde. I'm 59 and the grey is coming in pretty strong. In the last 10 years, my hair is also getting darker. Dark hair really doesn't look like me though... so I've been going lighter. Right now my hair is lighter than it's ever been. I like it.

Lukk, weird your post was not there when I posted just below you. I wasn't thinking of trying on light hair wigs to wear. I was thinking to try on to see what I would look like in a light shade.

Since everyone my age is older than me I'm just not ready to give in to all natural hair : )

About my dark hair...I always liked it when younger but now I'm not so attached. My sister is five years younger. When we were kids we looked nothing alike. Honestly, you couldn't even tell we were related. It's weird but over the last couple of years we are looking more and more alike. She had light/mid tone brown hair but has been dying it my darker shade. It just looks too harsh in pictures. Our skin tone is about the same. I'm thinking if it makes her look older I must look ancient.

I was born with blonde hair, which turned fairly dark brown as a young woman. Starting at 50, I have now got grey streaks at my temples and a few random grey strands throughout my hair. I have never covered the grey. Fear of chemicals, chicken ness and too much adherence to the natural look are my convoluted reasons. Of course the jury's still out on whether I will give in to the colouring world. I love colour. :)

Oh! Ha! Ok, I'm a dork! I hadn't even considered that about the wigs! Ha! What you're saying makes sense though; just like light with paint colors, I guess skin tone would play a big part in how any color of hair would look on someone.

It's good that you've already asked about it from someone who knows you and your hair and the response was positive. Now I'm hoping you'll post a pic after it's done!

I was blonde as a kid, dirty blonde as a teen, and have been highlighting it since college. I kept having them add more highlights and then decided it was too light and started to do lowlights about a decade ago. I can't imagine myself anything but dirty blonde, which my Mom has been her whole life, too.

It can be pretty drastic to change! Good luck.

Natural color was dark brown with dark caramel highlights. Started graying in my mid 20's, coloring with semi permanent color by 28, permanent color by 35. By age 50 I was close to 75% gray (most in front and sides) but my stylist discouraged me from growing it out saying my skin and attitude are young and the gray would age me. Hated being a slave to my color and the inevitable stripe every 3 weeks with fast growing hair and decided to grow it out last fall at age 62. Went as long as I could without touching up my roots (7-8 weeks) except for the temporary powder, New state, new stylist, told him to put in tiny gray highlights, want them VERY inconspicuous and scattered everywhere. Went back for more 3 weeks after that and at that time he recommended doing an ash-ish toner to knock back the gold which was popping out in contrast to the silver/white - not a good look on me. I absolutely love it and get compliments everywhere - people literally stop me in stores and on the street! It looks like a reverse ombre. Now I do the toner on my own. It's probably about 70 - 80% grown out now (hair is layered and below my shoulders), the ash brown ends are slowly disappearing. When it's all done if for some reason I decide it's too much silver/white I'll have him add in tiny ash brown highlights to add depth. But I'm betting I won't need to. The hardest part is making the decision and starting. Oh - and don't forget to change your makeup - you'll likely need different colors.

DLM, could you post a picture?

Yeah I want to see a picture as well DLM. It sounds cool but I'm having a hard time picturing what you describe.

Yes, a bit worried about the drastic change. I'm glad my stylist could get me in tomorrow because that way I'll have a few weeks to acclimate or not before vacation.

Covered in paint and sawdust and have nothing remotely current but I'll work on it tomorrow (shhhh I'm supposed to be working but keep taking breaks).

• As a child I too had the very dark black hair. I had a random grey hair in my early 40s. Now at 60, I am probably 50/50. My white hairs are the blindly white and shiny kind so it looks very attractive (or so people say!). i use the purple shampoo and do get a lot of compliments on it. I do feel though that as my hair has lighten, even though my "season" hasn't changed, I do look better in different colors than when I was younger.
• I was lucky enough to have stylists that never wanted me to color my hair and said things like "Girl people kill for hair like yours!"
• Not sure what I did to get the bullet points but it is kind of fun
• I may regret not coloring my hair as my DD gets married this fall and her MIL is 10 years younger than me (shh-but I look better)

I wish my hair would go silver! It just keeps darkening as I age, w/ coarse colorless hairs scattered randomly throughout = (

I had honey colored hair when I was young - probly from being in the FL sun all the time.

I colored my hair for 6 months and then just accepted my gray. I don't want to be a slave to coloring and chemicals and clean-up just because the magazines say I am not attractive with my NATURAL LOOK. Will women ever stop trying to look different than who they are? Love yourself.

I love myself better with hair color hehe. In a few years I may change my mind though. I do hate the maintenance involved.

My gray hair looks like the shiny part of tinfoil. The strands are thick like fishing line. I could come in handy if deserted with a few others and if water was near.

I have raven black hair almost blue black. Mine has not changed colors but I have been getting some beautiful silver around my face. I like the way it's coming in and get lots of compliments. So no coloring for me. All natural. My dad never had a single white hair his stayed blue black till the end. Mom had black hair too but she did get silver.

My 91 YO fil has zero gray hair . DH took after his mom who was completely white in her early 50s

I would be salt and pepper, like both my parents. Not really a good look for me. I was lucky to not have to start coloring until my late forties.

That said, I do resent having to color it. I have a single process and haircut and it takes about 2 hours.

But getting back to the OP question, I have gone from a darker brown which was my original color, to a lighter shade of brown. Brown tends to oxidize and it does gt lighter and more red as the weeks go by.

I am getting more and more gray/white around my hairline around my face, so I am listening in.

My mother's hair was a beautiful platinum color, and she eventually stopped coloring it from encouragement of her stylists.

DH is getting more and more gray through the top of his head, and it's even starting to bother him. His hair is sandy blond, so it does blend in pretty well, and I only really notice it in bright lights. But it does bother him a little. He has super sensitive skin, so I'm not sure coloring for him is even an option.

I was born with black hair which lightened considerably. As a kid, it was light to medium brown. I made it black at 18 and then went thru a red phase, but I have been a light blonde since my early twenties. I have fair skin and liked all the looks I had. Fun. Still blonde and as I've confessed, I am technically (and really) old. I'm staying blonde altho I am all mixed gray now with awful texture. Very kinky. My 7.5 years younger dh has white hair with no wrinkles and he would never consider color. He has pretty white hair.

I do think one should take nature's lead. Meaning our hair lightens as we age. The debate is when do we totally give ourselves over to NATURE. As a strawberry blonde I became very accustomed to being the odd one out. In my 40's without my noticing the red faded and new people meeting me did not recognize me as "a red head". I had been told red heads often turn brown vs gray. LIE. One strong look at a picture told me I NEEDED to go back to the way God made me, ORIGINALLY. Fast forward to almost 60 and THAT red is too strong of a color for me now. It is one thing to fight the OLD look it is another to scream "I am holding onto my 30s with EVERYTHING I've got"!!! I didn't want to be THAT person.I recently switched to a more blonde red and it really softened things and looks more "natural", for my age. It is easy to say but those with beautiful silver/white/gray hair count yourself blessed and embrace it. One look at my sister who went all gray and I know I am going to keep fighting it a few more years, we weren't all gifted with beautiful gray!!!

I was blonde until about 13 or 14. Then I was naturally dish-water and eventually ash brown but I always colored my hair to keep it lighter until I was in my mid 30s. I started going darker to stay closer to my natural color using low and high-lights to mix in the grey and to avoid the dreaded striped. We added a toner to my highlights this last time to give my hair a bit more ash and I really like it.

I like blonde but only if done by a professional (expensive blonde). I see too many older women with cheap all over box-blonde hair (my mother) who I think would look better and younger if they put down the drug store Clairol and just had highlights and embraced the more natural color that they have.

Arcy makes a good point about HOW to go lighter.

I have a friend who had jet black hair. People thought she dyed it that color. When she started to go gray, she turned herself into a blond. She has beautiful blue eyes and one would think that this would be a good look for her, but it really isn't.

Rory, so true about the "box of blonde." My SIL does hers and often times the color is uneven. I thought she had a bad stylist until I found out she did it herself, which of course now makes sense to me.

Ok - justerrilynn and eld6161 - here's the transition.

"Natural color" although at 55 I was 75% gray and upkeep for this was a PITA

Grown out quite a bit here, gray highlights in and toner - notice the brows are brown - it was this pic that made me realize I needed charcoal brows and I also started wearing a pink/red lip stain at this point.

And the last 2 are from today, one inside and one outside. The ends are very champagne color now which I hate - time for toner but I'm overdue for a cut and there won't be much left of the ends so may wait. I'm pretty shocked at the color difference inside to outside, I must say!

DLM--I love it! What a stunning color. SO happy when I see other people embrace the grey.

Mine has always been dark brown but I have lightened it as I've gotten older. The gray is definitely coming in and I'm not ready to go there yet. My hairdresser highlights it with caramel and chestnut tones. It definitely lightens up considerably more in the sun. Here is a picture from a couple weeks ago when she started playing with wedding hairstyles.

ETA – posted at the same time as DLM. Oh my gosh! You have beautiful hair!

DLM, your hair is beautiful!

I was born a brunette, and even in high school I had grey
streaks in my hair. I’ve been coloring it to cover the grey since my early 30’s.
It wouldn’t take more than 3 weeks for the “skunk streak” in my part to show and
I started getting highlights to minimize it, but about 6 years ago I went completely
blonde and I feel a little like I got a new life! Both my sisters were born
blonde, so my fair coloring went with it and even though my daughter is a
professional colorist, I usually take care of my roots myself at home, using
professional hair color that my daughter gets for me. A few times a year I have
her do highlights and lowlights. Even at 62 I am not ready to go silver, but I will
eventually. One downside to going blonde later in life is that many of my girlfriends
have also gone blonde so we are starting to all look the same.

I have dark brown hair. Dark brown hair with some grey. Mid 50's, so not ready to "go for the grey". My younger sister just did so this year! She has more grey than I do, but it is a pretty shade. I told her people can think she is the older sibling now. LOL I color my hair - but because my hair really soaks up the color, I use light brown and every so often, light golden brown. My gray in most places is just strands (other than temples), and in strong light, it looks kind of like my hair is highlighted. You cannot use hair color the true color of my hair (which is why I do it myself) because it comes out shoe polish black. Honestly. I have explained this to several hairdressers, but they do not believe me and I've come out with unnatural looking BLACK hair. I would love to do something along the line of Robo's hair! I'm going to show your picture and your response to the gal that does my hair now and this may be something to do in the future. I don't want to go too light. My sister's grey is a good bit of a deeper, charcoal color along with some lighter. Hopefully mine will be too!

Kitchenwitch, a friend of mine's Dh asks, "How come the guys are getting grayer but the wives are getting blonder?"

Love the colors and styles pictured! I am originally dark brown but about 90% grey now, and at 51 not ready to be grey yet - I think my grey won't look very good with my yellow toned skin. I see my hair guy for touch ups every 4 weeks, but I already see white roots by 7-8 days. I frequently touch up with root temporary concealing products and two times in between professional color I use Clairol Root Touch Up. My stylist said I will need to go lighter, toward blonde, when I'm ready to transition to grey. Not looking forward to the process! I may just do a buzz cut and move the transition along a little faster. ;)

DLM and Jo, you have beautiful heads of hair.

I have mousey brown hair with just the beginnings of graying at the temples. And it is quite thin and limp as well. My sister - only a couple of years older - has beautiful salt and pepper gray all over and with wonderful body!

I have my hair highlighted (two tones - blond and caramel) every 7 weeks and it both hides the gray, brightens my appearance and adds a great deal of body. I also wear my hair quite short, which helps as well. I have been using the same stylist for more than 25 years and she knows me and my hair very well - I trust her completely.

I think hair is very individual both in coloring and texture - confirmed by the huge difference between my sister and myself - and you have to work out what works best for you. I would love to not do so much work chemically to my hair but it would look just flat and limp and lifeless without the routine coloring.

I will say that leaving grey just WILL make you read older to the average observer. I'm ok with that. But my 40yo friend who has beautifully unlined plump skin, youthful eyes and a head of grey hair was recently asked if she wanted the seniors' discount by a teenager and it was severely traumatizing for her. And my godchild asked why I look so much older than her mom when we're the same age (her mom is lovely, dyes hair and wears makeup). Although I'm hoping this grey hair trend will help!

At the salon now getting an after color conditioner. Haven't had the cut yet. My hairstylist said we would have to go lighter gradually so as not to damage my hair. But wow is it light, lighter than I was expecting after being told it would be a gradual thing. I'll be back later with a picture.

Thank you for sharing the hair pictures ladies.

Jojo, you have such pretty hair!

DLM, now I can see why you get so many compliments!

I'd say my hair has faded as I've grown older rather than turning gray. It is now a mousy brown. I've tried to go a bit lighter--a golden brown--but it just doesn't look good on me, despite the fact that I have fair skin and blue eyes. So I went back to a medium brown and color it myself once a month, more due to being a cheap skate than anything. I use a Clairol Preference "High Lift" color.

DLM, the red lipstick is ok but I think the black eyeliner is a bit heavy.

;-)

DLM and jojoco, love your hair!

Okay...here it is. I think I like it but need a few days to get used to it. This morning I had my husband laughing after I asked him who I reminded him of (my hair was standing straight up). He gave me a blank look. I said, pretend I'm fixing a car. He said, oh Edd China from Wheeler Dealers hahahahaha! Anyway, my before picture isn't how I actually walked around. I did flip it around a bit but was growing it out for a new cut. I won't show the front shot because it really dragged my face down.

Edd China below.

The pool has really messed with my hair over the last few months. In a few weeks I will go back to get the ends clipped before vacation.

Nice cut and color!

Looks good Jt

I really like it! (I've been thinking about doing the same, your pics may have convinced me to take the leap.)

Looks nice. Glad you decided. I can't help as I've never colored my hair, ever. Not even as a teen. I have started using the shampoo bar soap and notice that my hair seems blonder now. I'm fortunate as whatever little gray I have seems to look more like light blonde than gray....not bad for a gal in her 60s.

My mom had dark brown hair growing up, but when she was in her 40's she started getting grey around her face, so she went blonde. I never thought it was a drastic change. But she loved it because it worked hiding the grey highlights. Now that she is in her 70's, she has allowed it to go, what I like to call silver. It's really beautiful!

Thank you all! I keep going back and forth on like and not sure. I think after I learn how to fix it my way where it will look a bit messier and less wiggy I'll like it just fine. My son said he thought it made me look a little older. Yikes! So, that is haunting me. I do think it just needs a little rebel Terri touch.

Annie you are so lucky to have that hair!

PLF, my mom had pretty gray hair. I'm not ready yet but when the time comes it will be nice not to have to put chemicals on my head.

justerri - our kids are always our harshest critics, aren't they? He's reacting to the change like a typical kid - we are never supposed to change in their eyes! It looks cute and I agree needs a personal, less 'wiggy' hand!! I'm going to guess that after more summer sun and pool time, you'll be looking for a tone. If your hair is anything like mine - sun and beaches always made whatever color I had go dark brassy.

Edit: ....you'll be looking for a toner, not a tone!

Your new cut and color look great! Trying to make the same decision. Have medium brown hair, according to my stylist I about 70% gray, but the distribution of the gray is not even. I have a palm size area with no gray, the rest if my hair is in various gray shades. Thinking about going lighter but I have been waiting for my brown area to gray, so I do not need to have that area bleached every touch up, it is stubbornly refusing to change.

Justterri - your new do looks fabulous!

Wow! That looks so great!!! She did a really good job, it's a cute cut!

Your hair looks fantastic! Congratulations.

I like it.. it looks sassy!

I don't remember if you said whether you'd been blonde before but with the thickness and number of highlights, you should be prepared to go in for touch ups pretty regularly. I don't want to be a downer as you are adjusting to the new style and color-- but I want to be sure you're prepared! It helps that it is streaky but the thicker the highlight, the more obvious the roots.

I like your new 'do' a lot. Cool.