QuoteReplyTopic: Old Geezer Posted: June 09 2003 at 10:49am
So great to see this new topic. I lurk so much but am an old geezer and feel odd talking about hair for men past 70.
Which brings up my question. Do men past a certain age look phony or fake when they dye their hair? I mean, how do you avoid that old Ronald Reagan black shoe polish dyed look?
Thanks for the topic. Tony S
uzma
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To avoid that look, you simply color your hair the natural color it was a few decades ago. However, the problem arises when the gray hair starts to grow out. If you only have a little gray hair, it probably isn't noticeable, but if the hair is mostly gray, then it will be obvious that you color your hair the second you have white roots popping out.
I think the key to older gentlemen's hair coloring is not to go too dark to avoid that fake look. I think the best look one can achieve is getting highlights at the salon, because the colorist blends the highlights in with the grey for a natural greying look. When you see a senior gentleman with a solid color with zero grey, it almost always looks fake (especially if it's very dark!) But when color is blended in with the grey, it's hard to tell it's a color job.
My dad uses semi permanent hair color, in medium brown. What is really great about this kind of color is that it washes out gradually with every shampoo, so it makes you look like you are greying, but not grey. It's a very natural look. I think the trick is not to go too dark, because then it looks fake, especially right after you've colored. That's why I like the medium or light browns. Dark brown or black looks pretty awful, in my opinion, even if the natural color WAS once dark brown or black. Also, this can be done at home relatively cheaply (about $8). The down side is that this has to be done about every 4-8 weeks depending on how fast your hair grows. Some of the commercial brands out there are Just For Men, and Natural Instincts for men.
But I still think the best look is the highlights thing that can be done at the salon.
Please let us know if you decide to color and how the results come out. good luck!
I agree with Elissa - nothing looks worse than that "shoe polish" look, on either sex, actually. My DH had dark brown hair when he was a lot younger(he's 60 now, with a goodly amount of grey) and every few weeks I do his hair with L'Oreal Castings(it's the same type of product as Natural Instincts)in a medium brown shade, and it looks great. For awhile he was going to just let it and not color it anymore, but he loved the way the my color jobs on him take at least 10 years off his appearance! But he looks good anyway and is fit and trim from lots of outdoor work, so the color is the finishing touch.
oooh, you're so right; that shoe polish look should be declared illegal for both men and women, whatever their age, and please, personality, not age or your greying hair is what makes you an old geezer!!! When my dad retired to Arizona, he quit dying his hair, got in a lot of golf and a little sun, and he actually looked younger than he did when I was growing up.
Personally, I like the look of greying hair. I think it's being more honest with yourself and others. The greyer I get, the more attractive I find it on other people. But I don't have a problem with coloring or whatever, as long as you don't become a slave to the process.
Uzma, you bad girl, you make me think of the principal I worked for this last school year! He dyes his hair coal black, and his comb-over lifts as one piece as he walks! It was so difficult to keep a straight face!
3katz
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I never thought of colorng hair as judging honesty.....it's a matter on making one look better.....trust a professional with your own sggestions of it not being too severe a change....have fun with a different outlook, with a new hair color.
As we age, our skin changes a bit too. I doesn't have the same glow. We just can't carry off strongly dark hair colour without looked washed out (and I am a woman of colour and am learning this!!!). A good colourist can probably advise you on what shade of your natural hair colour to select but expect it to be lighter than when you were in your twenties.
Relaxed 4b/4a (right side only) Big Chop 11-6-04 Goals: healthy hair, then growth to terminal length
One thing that makes dye look more "natural" is if the color is in tune
with one's eyebrows. Last night I saw an actor in a movie who is
shy of 50 and he had dye going on and maybe a hairpiece. It
wasn't a full head of hair, there was some loss at the temples.
If it were a hairpiece, it was pretty respectable. But his
eyebrows were nearly invisible, and made his hair look more unnatural
than it should have.
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