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Hey all,
I'm 44 and there isnt a hair on my head that isnt white. I started going grey quite early, late 20's (previously dark brown), then over the years i've gone through 'salt n pepper' to grey, to pretty much white. I have a decent head of hair, just no colour in it (eye brows and other body hair is still brown).
Its never bothered me, but it definitely adds 10 years on me (as confirmed by a stranger recently!).
So I am thinking maybe to add a bit of colour back in. I dont want to walk into work with jet black hair, but if i can add a bit of contrast or regain a bit of that 'salt and pepper' look, I think it would improve how I look.
Having never delved into the world of hair dye for men... where does one start? Is 'Just For Men' the OG and best? Is it easy to use? What do you use and how extreme have you gone?
Any hints, tips, recommendations or advice are greatly received. Before and after pics are a super bonus!
Started going grey at 18...never bothered me, but I did start getting a bit thinner on top about 5 years ago - not balding just top taking longer to grow back.
I shave it all off now as I can't be bothered with the wild professor look as the sides grow out and longer and look bright white!
Not helping you at all, but it is an alternative possibility.
Don't do it is my advice. Be happy with who you are
Not me, I'm ageing gracefully but at 56 maybe I should be happy to have hair. Have you tried asking Rob Warner?
Make a statement! If you're a rad mountain biker type go for a pale green or some other colour - then work your way back to black/brown when everyone has forgotten you were grey to begin with! 😀
For some reason I get people having haircuts pop up on my FB. Some of them do look great afterwards. Maybe get a different cut.
IANAPWH.
I am not a person with hair!
Anyway ask Rudi Guiliani ? what dye he uses.
I'm a baldy so don't have to worry about that - I do have a beard though and when I let it get grey, it ages me massively (53). So yeah, I use the beard version. Definitely looks better when I've done it - leave it on too long though and it looks ridiculous
silver all over now......... like a fox.
but all the family say like a silverback gorilla.
Genuinely never occurred to me. My haircuts have been more grey than non-grey for about the last 10 years, but IMHO the solid colour look you get from JfM looks unnatural and a bit like lego hair.
I guess that's why they have Just for Men Touch of Grey.
I use the beard version. Definitely looks better when I've done it - leave it on too long though and it looks ridiculous
Does it fade away naturally or do you end up with a 'dye line'?
Not needed to myself as my hair has stayed lovely and dark, and receded to the point where I just do grade zero all over.
But just go for it if you want to, and make sure you own it rather than being embarrassed or apologetic.
I use the beard version. Definitely looks better when I've done it - leave it on too long though and it looks ridiculous
Does it fade away naturally or do you end up with a 'dye line'?
Have to be careful round the edges - wipe away off your skin before the 5 mins you leave it on for. I blend it with a wet finger at the top of my sideys and dont go too thick towards the edges. There's definitely a little bit of a knack to not looking stupid
there isnt a hair on my head that isnt white.
I have a decent head of hair
Grow it out, perm, go the full Brian May?
I used ControlGX (yea! sounds like a groupset 😆) for a while when I was dating. Mainly for a grey patch right at the front that looked odd (to me) in photos… I was 58 and you know, feeling ancient in the dating world… anyway enough of the excuses, about the product: it works exactly like they say, gradually and subtly turns the grey darker. Doesn’t completely darken your hair like some delboy character and doesn’t run down your face in the rain (or when you sweat like the singer of a band I once saw 🤣 )
It’s good stuff, but I don’t think it’ll work for someone with a complete head of grey. I’d just go with the sophisticated, mature look.
cheers folks!
Mostly the responses i expected... either go wild or just embrace what i have been for the last 15 years!
The missus said i should leave it. I do get my hair cut regularly and its a fairly 'trendy' cut, so its not like i look like my mum cuts it (which is fine if thats your thing!). Will take a look at the few product suggests made.
Can we not have a photo so we can give you some constructive suggestions.
Mate of mine started going grey in his late 30's so unbeknownst to him his missus started adding just for men into his shampoo bottle. Didn't occur to her what a stark and obvious change it would be and how we still rip it out of him over a decade later
Is this stuff Just for Men basically the same as what used to get called Grecian Formula, or Grecian 2000?
Maybe one of those shampoos that just has a little bit of dye that builds up over time so it's not too extreme of a change -I guess you could then just use it intermittently and use normal shampoo somtimes to achive a balance?
I used to get called Badger by the works receptionist (construction company so banter is compulsory) when I was in my mid 30's. Now mid 50's and am grey and slightly darker grey on top. I keep my hair short so any colour will be gone in a few weeks. Way too expensive.
Get it done professionally. You don’t want to end up like this poor chap.
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i'd be tempted to get it done professionally the first couple of times so it looks the best it can be and then start using the diy job later
Maybe one of those shampoos that just has a little bit of dye
See earlier in the thread
Dyed hair is a combination of vanity and denial. Neither is a good look. And those that dye their hair? Everyone knows!
I'm with your Mrs (not literally) and agree you should leave it. If you have a good head of hair at your age then you are lucky. Get a proper trendy cut, hair back off the face and always look clean shaven if you want to look a bit younger.
I have dark hair but i'm losing it and so have the standard "grade 2" cut. I'd gladly swap.
MC1R homozygous and not a grey hair at 58 (on the head anyway). Not a lot left at the top though. We fade to white eventually. The red in TiRed refers to my hair colour. Dye it red. Not really. It probably knocks 10 years off my apparent age now, but were the first 18 years of teasing worth it?
Dyed hair is a combination of vanity and denial.
This.
I cannot understand how anyone looks at Noel Edmonds or David Beckham and thinks "I'll have some of that" and dyes a beard.
That said, I'm nearly 60 with a full head and only recently started greying on my bonce. It has stopped people asking if I dye it...
My beard comes through greyish though, it doesn't look 'distinguished' but 'grizzled'. Beards are for hipsters and lumberjacks anyway. I'm neither. Clean shaven is best as I have to go into hygiene areas for work and a snood would not be pleasant.
Wear your years with pride. You have earned them.
Bloke started at my work a few months back had a dyed black beard. Fascinating to see the grey roots coming through every day or so. Weird. He's shaved it off now. (Ugly bastard, can see why he had it in the first place 🤣 )
Nobody used black tar anymore?
Dyed hair is a combination of vanity and denial. Neither is a good look. And those that dye their hair? Everyone knows!
I'm with your Mrs (not literally) and agree you should leave it. If you have a good head of hair at your age then you are lucky. Get a proper trendy cut, hair back off the face and always look clean shaven if you want to look a bit younger.
I have dark hair but i'm losing it and so have the standard "grade 2" cut. I'd gladly swap.
Really? I quite like my number 1 buzzcut. And i had serious hair when i was younger.
I've been grey since primary school and can look like doc brown on occasions. I wear my hair longer with wax/styling products/unkept dirt which adds texture and shade. I look like a younger Murder Club Peirce Brosnan albeit with a better accent.
Who cares?
what even is that?!?
I’ve got something similar, it’s a multi-head shaver for doing your head with. I got one with 7 separate little shaving heads that are slightly sprung, takes about five minutes to do my head. Cost £12 from Temu.
I’ve never really cared about the colour of my hair, it started to fall out years ago, and I had it really quite long, but then decided it looked crap, so had it cut short, until lockdown, then I shaved it down to stubble, now it’s gone completely.
As far as aging goes, most people who don’t know me put my age around the mid-50’s.
Which I’m happy with… 🙃
Disappointed that Rob Warner hasn't posted on this.
On a similar note an old fried had a just for men incident that was so amusing it was even mentioned at his funeral service.
Who cares?
I think that's key to it. If nobody else does and you don't then it's no problem going ungracefully grey. But it matters to some people either because it matters to them or people they interact with. I was once asked to shave for a job so I did (the beard soon grew back). If Madame Edukator comments I'm looking scruffy I tidy myself up. And I've noted that the way I look affects the way people treat me which is something I care about. So people do care and if you care about people it might worth caring about the image you present. I don't colour my hair but it gets cut and washed and "conforms" to a non-frightening, non-provocative social norm. Boring!
Who cares?
A pointless reply that could be used on absolutely any forum thread on the internet.
Started my 40's with jet black hair and ended them with salt and pepper. People spot dyed hair a mile off.
Make a statement! If you're a rad mountain biker type go for a pale green or some other colour -
It's what I did, I'm currently sporting the purple side of blue. On my otherwise dark hair the purple is surprisingly subtle, the previous blue was a lot more striking.
I do get my hair cut regularly and its a fairly 'trendy' cut,
Ask them to do it then.
I've used the same hairdresser for years. Note, not barber, I figured that a hairdresser is more practiced at dealing with a mane like mine. I had it professionally coloured - what in my day we'd have called 'streaks' but probably has a more on-fleek name now - then touch it up myself. I originally bought a bold dye from Tesco and the hairdresser's comment was "whatever you do, don't use that crap." After giving me the end of her 'professional salons only' tube she recommended this stuff. A pot is good for maybe four generous uses on a full head of hair so works out at like three quid a throw, probably more cost-effective still with a 'trendy' cut.
If you're going to colour it then go big or go home IMHO, a shaved head looks better than a cheap wig.
Also also,
This was the work in progress from the original grey-to-blue transformation:
Hat tip to Rawtenstall's finest.
58 years old here - over the last 15 years or so, I have gone from dark brown to almost entirely grey/white. I'd never colour it as it isn't who I am. As said above – embrace it.
Also,
https://bsky.app/profile/fesshole.bsky.social/post/3lyb3sttkce2q
That would disappoint me massively.
I mean imagine finding out your wife....
...had pubic hair
I have no issues with dental floss. Rather the notion that public rabbits would be a 'discovery' raises questions.
I've been tempted myself. Spoke to my hairdresser and she said words to the effect of. If you want to change the colour of your hair, why not? No one bats an eyelid when Women do either to avoid grey or just because they want another colour, but if you think you can convince anyone that you're naturally grey-free with a bit of just-for-men or the like, think on. Very, very few people have a consistent colour through their hair, that's why men's hair dyes always look terrible.
If you want convincing hair, you'll need to go to a salon, it'll be quiet expensive and you'll need to redo it / top it up fairly often.
If you just want to feel a bit more attractive for your own self-esteem or whatever, then changing your hairstyle might be a better option. A crew cut (not a quick home cut with clippers, a decent one) if you've been blessed with a good hairline is a good option, or go longer and use 'product' to change the sheen / texture etc. Women tend to be far more emotionally mature when it comes to these sorts of things and will tend to work with with they've got, instead of trying to pretend they're something else. I guess the lip filler and plastic tit crowd are exception.
Don't be swayed by all the "who cares" crowd. If they're happy as they are (begs the question why they'd take the time to throw a negative comment in) that's great for the, but not everyone is the same.
It's something I've considered as I have longish hair and a beard, and going grey, but not in an even or distinguished way - it just looks kinda dirty and scruffy.
So this kind of product appeals as a way to maybe make my hair look a bit more consistent rather than dying it deep chesnut brown or whatever, during my inevitable transition into grizzled fishing trawler captain.
plastic tit crowd
Some of whom will be breast cancer survivors.
I had my last haircut three days before the first Covid lockdown in March 2020, five and a half years ago. Buzz cut #2. 58 years old now. I'm a lion, roowwwr! Go big...
I agree with Mark Radcliffe’s assertion that if you’re a bloke and you’re over the age of say 40 then you’re technically invisible anyway.
The only reason anyone would notice you is if you look ridiculous
One way to look ridiculous is to try and fight the ageing process. If you’re going to dye your hair then people will notice, because… well… you’ll look ridiculous. You may delude yourself that you won’t, but you will. People will then point out to each other that you look ridiculous and will s**** at you behind your back. That’s just a fact.
Just embrace your invisibility instead. You’re a bloke over 40. Absolutely nobody cares whether you have grey hair or not, but they’ll laugh their tits off you if you suddenly start to look like Paul McCartny, who looks absolutely ridiculous!
I shaved my hair off as soon as I started to go bald in my 20’s. I have absolutely no idea what colour it is as it never grows long enough for me to find out. It might be grey. I might have suddenly gone ginger. Who knows? Who cares? 🤷♂️
I agree with Mark Radcliffe’s assertion that if you’re a bloke and you’re over the age of say 40 then you’re technically invisible anyway.
Having met you, I understand why you'd agree with this sentiment.
Frankly I'm disappointed that TJ isn't here yet.
Also,
Are we long overdue a mugshot thread? I could show off my fresh Brad Boimler before it fades to OAP blue rinse.
Having met you, I understand why you'd agree with this sentiment.
Well… exactly. I look like Phil Mitchell, as do most potato-headed blokes my age
Anyway… don’t be coming on here and tossing your long, luxuriant locks about! 😉
Is Cougar the Shameless lookalike?
Is Cougar the Shameless lookalike?
No longer the Bialar Crais lookalike?
Is Cougar the Shameless lookalike?
No longer the Bialar Crais lookalike?
Jesus Heffing Christ you two! 🤣 That's either good memories or lucky hits.
Back when I had my <binners>luxuriant locks</binners> I went to the aforementioned hairdressers. I quipped "I look less like Dave Grohl these days and more like Frank from Shameless, something has to be done." She yelled across to an underling, "hey, who does he look like?" - pause - "what's your favourite show?" - then when her Padawan collapsed into giggles I knew that joking aside it had to go.
As for Crais, I have a close friend who found a photo of Lani Tupu online and genuinely believed he'd accidentally found a picture of me cosplaying at a con. Even now it gives me pause, he is - well, was - my (prettier, bigger and less grey) doppelganger.
(For the purposes of the record Your Honour, I think the only photo in circulation of me in fancy dress is as Jack Sparrow.)
Just to add my own perspective on going grey early, I’d have been perfectly fine with going grey in my late twenties, instead of going thin!
Now I’m just shaving off what’s left.
Another case of nominative determinism.
glad to see this thread is still rumbling on.
Just for reference, it appears my first thoughts of adding some colour back into my white head of hair was merely a brain fart that has dissipated.
Interesting to see the divide between staying natural, adding colour and shaving it all off! Thankfully, i am a very long way from the 'baldy' camp.
Would you know I dyed my beard if I hadn't told you?
Granted, not much of a beard in this pic, I do grow it out a bit more sometimes
Is that a green and yellow wig your trying to grow!
Hat tip to Rawtenstall's finest.
Merkins R Us supplies out of the back room.
I agree with Mark Radcliffe’s assertion that if you’re a bloke and you’re over the age of say 40 then you’re technically invisible anyway.
Having met you, I understand why you'd agree with this sentiment.
Frankly I'm disappointed that TJ isn't here yet.
*flicks luxuriant locks*