Tuesday, February 26, 2013

I've Grown Out The Gray, Now What?

It was nearly three years ago that I wrote about growing out my gray hair. Since then, my hair has been long, medium-length and almost short and the old layers upon layers of hair dye, have been chopped off. Each year I've become more honey-brown with silver. Along my natural part, I have a streak that is white.

I'm approaching 42.

So how do I feel about my hair, now? Am I panicking, am I feeling unnecessarily aged in a culture that fears aging?

Well, no.

gray update - I love, love, love my hair these days. The silver and white with my golden brown thrills me, seriously. #grayhair #41 #hair #gray

Quite the opposite, in fact.

I've loved being reacquainted with my natural color, the golden and reddish tones and yes, the silver. The white hair that shimmers and sparkles are highlights and the texture is springy and my hair has more volume. My dark brown eyes stand out even more, now. My hair is like my own special accessory, unique to me.

I love it. I'm happy in my own skin and my own hair and that maybe wasn't such an easy thing for me in the past. For me, growing out my gray was a very good measure of self-care.

If you are tempted to put down the bottle of hair dye or give up expensive salon appointments, go for it. Grow out that gray, the silver and white. There's power in hair that glimmers and whispers your stories. Go ahead and shine.

7 comments:

  1. I love the grey!
    I may be biased though as my 34 year old husband is more than half grey and his beard is probably 70%.
    There truly is something lovely about grey hair I think :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love it. Very pretty! I am 32 and have just started getting my first few grey hairs... What started out as panic has subsided into a gentle accepting of what is. So this is so wonderful to see...especially in my family, where women have a definite fear of the grey and douse their heads with toxic chemicals in order to conceal the silver. Ick. Not me! Thanks for posting. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm 46 and just quit dying my hair this year. I was so fearful of looking old (and maybe feeling old) that I colored my hair for years. But when my hair started falling out, I was scared to continue coloring it. I was forced to accept my natural hair color again. And I've been so surprised, along this journey, to realize that I like it. I like the gray highlights! It meant so much to me this morning to find someone else who feels the same way! Thank you for sharing!
    -Tina J.
    doodle010101@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'm 46 and just quit dying my hair this year. I was so fearful of looking old (and maybe feeling old) that I colored my hair for years. But when my hair started falling out, I was scared to continue coloring it. I was forced to accept my natural hair color again. And I've been so surprised, along this journey, to realize that I like it. I like the gray highlights! It meant so much to me this morning to find someone else who feels the same way! Thank you for sharing!
    -Tina J.
    doodle010101@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  5. Looks great! I did the same thing, have been growing in my grey for almost 2 years now and the process is about done. I love it and I get more compliments on my hair now than I ever did when it was colored. Let your silvers shine!!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I've never dyed my hair. Not ever. Once, a hairstylist, who had been employed simply to cut my hair (and did a very poor job at that) commented, while fingering my locks, "We can do something about this gray." I told her, simply, that as a mother of five and a grandmother, I earned every single one of those grays, and she would not be "doing something about them." As you say, it's my story, and she isn't going to pretend it away by covering it up to make other people feel better about my age.

    ReplyDelete

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