Should Men Dye Their Hair?

No.  It is undignified and unmanly.

Yes.  If it makes the individual feel better, it's nobody else's business.

Which camp do you fall into? We are all ageing (if we're lucky) and for some it is kinder to than others.  A few of my girlfriends look better now than they did a few years ago but I definitely looked 10 times better in my 20's.

If someone were to put a ban on me being allowed to dye my hair, well, I just don't know how I'd cope. 

I noticed the first few greys in my mid to late 20's I suppose and as I always got a few blond highlights to up lift my natural mousiness, I just had a few extra ones added.  Gradually, I just had to get them done more regularly and eventually, it stops becoming an accessory to your overall look and more of a necessity to help you look your age!

It's fairly normal, for women to dye their greys, in fact it is the norm.  Even still, I cringe when people, (My Auntie for one) draws attention to them.  "Coor look at your grey roots"!  In front of a crowd of acquaintances at my brothers wedding a few years back.  Apart from that, I looked bloody good in a knee length, scarlet bridesmaids dress! I had been having a few anxiety attacks and was a small size 8 - 10 due to the inability to eat too much.  But, after that comment had been made, I felt a bit ugly & awkward.  Almost like a fraudulent oap, disguised as a 20 something.

So, I dye my hair at home, now every 4 weeks on the roots to hide the grey... but get it 'done' properly I'd say every 4 months. If money were no object, I'd be in the hairdressers every month at least.

No shocker there, so why is it different for men to do it?  Most men look better with a few wrinkles and greys.  There is something rugged and masculine and wise about it.

Some men look like they struggle a bit. 

I was reading The Sunday Times this morning and there is an article about Liz Hurley's partner, cricketer Shane Warne.  Now there has been an astonishing change in his appearance.  He looks like a waxy mannequin now, as opposed to the Ozzie sheep sheering, beer guzzler he used to look like. Although he did look even then like he'd had his teeth veneered and bleached, (that's ok though is it?).

Why do people do this to themselves?  All that money, you'd think they'd be able to find the best, most knowledgeable experts to help them subtly tweak what nature had already given them.  I mean, he wasn't an ugly man to begin with, so why has he felt the need to go to such extremes?  Liz, was this your idea???!

I watched Jackass 3 on dvd last night and noticed that the gorgeous boy/man Johnny Knoxville had suddenly aged.  He looks very skinny and older, all of a sudden and it made me wonder, is it harder for blokes, particularly male celebrities, than it is for us birds?

I mean, just look at the pic above.  We all look at Shane and go AGGGH!!! But Liz has quite obviously had so much more help than old Shaney.  Hers must be a daily, if not hourly task.  She can't eat a lot and the hair, facials, botox, peels, lifts & tucks?? (possibly) must amount to thousands & thousands £££.  Still, Gordon Ramsey getting a hair transplant hits headlines, as does Wayne Rooney, or Simon Cowell's botox eye droop.  It's almost like it's a slur on their manliness, admitting that they need help in the looks department, or that they even care.  Is caring too feminine?

Female celebs get a lot more done and it seems to be completely acceptable.  Unless like Heidi Montag, you completely ruin yourself.  I think it says a lot about our society when it's almost a prerequisite for women over a certain age to have work down to stop themselves looking their age and for men to do the same is sneered at.  Also, the age at which kids are enquiring about surgery and tweaking says a lot.

Me and Marie were going through a magazine and her 8 yr old son was standing nearby.  We showed him an orange, fake boobed, blond celeb and a natural looking celeb.  Both pretty but the natural girl was beautiful and apart from styled hair and shaped eyebrows, she looked like she hadn't yet had any 'enhancements'.  Marie's son chose the pneumatic blond as 'definitely the prettiest'.  We went through the magazine, not judging or commenting but just asking, 'her, or her', and every time, he said the fake was the most attractive.

Is this so different to how it was years ago?  I mean, Marilyn Monroe apparently used to cut a cm off one of her heels on each pair of shoes, to aid the wiggle when she walked.  There are numerous stories from back in the Silver Screen era that wisdom teeth were removed to give a hollow cheeked look and nose jobs and orthodontics were rife.  Even the Technicolor lurid orange skin, coral lipstick and brilliant white teeth on the posters and fanzines were popular then.  All fake and OTT.

I asked S for a male opinion;

"It's just your lot, innit? be happy with the skin you're in.  What's the point of spending money on hiding something that's gonna come out eventually? Save your money and enjoy it instead.  Apart from plucking the middle out of my mono brow...and my back patch, I don't care"

He then added, "If Liz Hurley was caught going to the shops with grey hair, no make up and a tracksuit on, everyone would go, Errr look at Liz Hurley!  If she did an interview or whatever, the following week, with the same grey hair and said "i 'm just letting myself go natural now", nobody would give a sh!t.  it's only because she cares, that other people do". 

Hmmn, it's definitely a strong point and a possibility in some cases but I think that her work may dry up as well as her sex life.  Unless other celebs decided that this was the way to go, she'd be a lone crusader.  Or, it'd work in her favour and she'd be a beautiful example of the natural, confident, older woman.  A real role model for our young girls.  We might all think, FUQ IT! and ditch the dye.

S took our 4 yr old son to watch Transformers 3 the other day and he moaned that Rosie Huntington Whitely looked like a skinny kid and that all the women were so ridiculously thin, orange and model like that it just looked silly.  He actually said that if the other women had been 'normal', it'd make the leading lady stand out. Hmmm again!  Anyway, I asked our son and he said that the ladies in the film looked silly too. hahaha maybe his attitude will change around 14yrs of age!

I believe that confidence has a lot to do with it.  Maybe everything boils down to confidence?  Anyway, here are a few celebs who I think are beautiful...

Audrey Tautou



Christian Bale





Judi Dench





Denzel Washington



Helen Mirren

Jack Nicholson

Jessica Lange

   

Uma Thurman above, (with or without make up) and beautiful Leslie Caron

And here are two of S's offerings...not surprisingly they're both 'tough' women and both featured very sexually in action films, Terminator and True Lies but I think surprisingly and refreshingly, he said that they both look beautiful now too as they have, 'left themselves alone'!

Linda Hamilton then

Linda Hamilton now



Jamie lee Curtis then



Jamie Lee Curtis now

Hmmmm (again), now where did I put those dumbbells?