Gray is the New Blonde

I talked about going gray earlier this year and promised that if I was brave enough, I'd give an update on my progress.  Here's the saga:

Started with a new hairdresser - one who didn't recoil in horror when I dropped the G-word.  In fact, she was pretty enthusiastic, recommending a cut and of course, products.  I try not to get twirled into the product-purchasing as I already have options for all kinds of actual or potential problems - frizz, fly-aways, curls (too many or too few), and the out-right "hair having a moment lifetime" event.

My last color was in October and by May the blonde was gone.   I kept my hair cut fairly short to  avoid having an obvious divide.  I'm not going to lie, for awhile I felt like I should wear a sign, " Not being lazy.  Intentionally looking like this".  It's amazing how  stylish  an old Red Sox hat looks when it's covering several shades of growing-out hair!

 It's been a long time since I saw my natural hair color and I was surprised at how dark it is.   I was also surprised at how gray it is!  I'd been thinking that I had "some" gray on top, but the rest was mostly not gray.  Not so much - turns out the gray is pretty evenly distributed and really lots more than I imagined.

So, for better or worse, here's the new look:

I'm going to try to grow this out a bit longer and see what the curls do.  I'm pretty sure I can do the Carol King look, maybe aiming for a bit less exuberance, but then again, may just let it rip as I've been known to do ! 

Is this color a keeper?  Who knows - it works for me for now.  One of my daughters pronounced it "more sophisticated" so I'm riding that train for now.

Hair- The Continuing Saga

"Why do you think you can control your life when you can't even control your hair"?

I envy people with normal hair - you know, the straight kind that looks good even in the midst of a hurricane. My hair is the kind that's always having a party. Any kind of weather, any movement of air within 20 miles of my hair - it's party time! I've given up trying to get the "normal " kind. I did have it straightened for California Daughter's wedding and loved it until my darling granddaughter came up to me and asked "what's your name"?

Color, now that's a different story. I have spent lots of time and money on the color part. That's me, about seven years old, with very dark and very straight hair. (My family has a weird curly hair gene - straight hair till puberty, then , BAM! - here comes the curly wild stuff! ). I've been light brown, dark brown, red (which seems to be the official hair color if you're over 50) and most recently, blond.

I've decided to try a new color - the one that's hiding underneath the blond - the gray color. I'm pretty sure my blond hair isn't fooling anyone into thinking I'm 20 years younger. I don't want to look older, but looking one's age isn't really a bad thing, either. Look how the fantastic Helen Mirren pulls it off! Of course, she'd look great with green hair, purple hair or no hair and most of us aren't that lucky, but still - she looks smoking hot with GRAY hair!

Graying baby boomers have taken on turning gray with some attitude and of course, support groups, web sites and books. One of my favorite is "Going Gray, Looking Great" with some brave souls posting before, during and after pictures. I figure right now I have at least 4 colors going - some gray, lots very dark , dark blond and light blond highlights. I feel like I should wear a sign: " Not being lazy - growing out gray hair" because, trust me, at this stage, the look is serious shlumpadinka!

As if the whole color thing isn't enough to consider, length is apparently a serious topic - serious enough for the New York Times to weigh in on whether middle-aged women can have long hair. When I told my hairdresser I was going to stop coloring my hair, he thought it was a bad ideal. Of course he did - his driveway is full of man-toys paid for by foils and highlights. Then he told me that if I did go gray, I would have to keep it really short because " you can't have long hair if it's gray". Oh really - is that a Federal law or just a city ordinance? I'll take my chances - not that I plan on having it really long, but I've grown accustomed to my wild curly hair and want it back. Right now I'm in the process of cutting it shorter and shorter so I don't have too much of the Great Divide going on!

There is a serious sisterhood of women who have let their hair go gray. I often compliment a woman with great gray hair, and every one of them has said they were glad they did it and commiserated with me over growing-out process. Best of all, every one of them looked fantastic. Here's to fantastic gray hair - long, short or whatever we want it to be.