The advice I’d give myself when coloring hair after 40

Saturday morning. I finally found a slot in my agenda to go do my roots! I have been so busy the last few months - between traveling and work, that I only just realized that my roots are now almost five centimeters long and, unintentionally, I have started to sport an ombré look.

Embracing Vibrancy: Navigating Hair Color in Your 40s and Beyond

As long as I can remember, I have had the soul of a blonde, if not always the looks. In fact, I actually was a natural dark blonde until the age of five. But then, little by little, it darkened over the years until now my natural base is a “golden medium brown” in the words of Mark, my beloved stylist for the last 10 years. But since the age of 15, I have maintained some kind of blonde look: golden, ashy, caramel, and every tonality in between. Something I’ve discovered over the years is that, when I am blond, I really feel more comfortable with myself. I even feel somehow more optimistic and I definitely do have more fun!

However, since I turned 40, my hair has not been having the same fun with coloring as I have. While I have been lucky that my hair remains abundant, its density and texture have definitely changed, and it is much thinner and more brittle (natural oils, please come back!).

These changes, together with the need to color more frequently to cover grays, have taken a toll and it shows. So I started trimming ends more frequently and I have switched to the “less damaging” coloring products now available, both recommendations from my stylist. These tips have definitely helped and I still leave the salon with such amazing hair that my friends don’t think it’s mine when I post a picture of me from behind.

Nevertheless, the enchantment doesn’t last long. Sadly, I haven’t yet found the hair care regime to keep it looking as shiny and healthy between salon visits as it used to. To me, most products out there for colored and damaged hair seem to be only designed for “younger than 40” hair. Some just don’t live up to their promise to replenish hair. And, frustratingly, the ones that somehow do, leave my not-so-thick-anymore hair so limp, that I end up washing and styling it every day to make it look nice, which counteracts the whole intent.

So while I continue looking for the savior products, I have also started to color less frequently (both intentionally and not, like today). And I will actually be going bronde instead of blonde in this salon visit. I am sure that by adding some beautiful beach waves, I will still be feeling on top of the world – this time with less damage to my hair.

Looking back, would I do things differently and not color my hair as much as I have all these years? Probably not. As Coco Chanel once said: “the best color in the world is the one that looks good on you” and for me, that applies to my blonde hair color too.

However, it is a fact that hair changes when we turn 40. So now that I am in my 40s, the advice I would give myself is to treat and trim as much as possible, to limit the use of hot tools, and to take the opportunity to change hair color for the better. And above all, always continue to have fun with it. Because life is too short to have boring hair!