Going Gray

11/19/2012

Going Gray

This is not a big deal for most men.  In fact there are some really gorgeous guys out there that are gray - Richard Gere or George Clooney anyone?  So guys are going to go gray (all of us do eventually) or bald and it's not a problem for them either way.  Some guys choose to go bald at an early age and can carry off the look.  There is not as much pressure on a man in the social media to cover the gray.  And I'm not sure how many regular guys would regularly color their hair anyway.  Besides, one you start coloring and then decide to give it up there is a period of hair color adjustment until you return to natural and it's not always so pretty!

Women on the other hand don't fare quite so well.  We are hounded by ads and commercials to cover up those strands of gray.  And if the ads don't get you sometimes your peers will "remind" you (gently of course) that you might want to get some coloring done.

I have very dark brown hair and a few years ago in anticipation of Scott's wedding, and wanting to look good, succumbed to the hype and began getting my hair colored every month or so.  First, it's pricey as all get out and really time consuming.  I'm more of a 15 minute haircut kind of gal.  Second, it doesn't seem to matter what color combination is used my hair tends to go towards red rather than lighter shades of brown.  And I don't want reddish colored hair.  Once the wedding was over I gave up.  I told my hairdresser, who has been doing my hair since 1986, that I was done.  If the gray hair comes in so be it - it's not like I haven't earned each gray strand.  Instead, I'm actually surprised that it's taken so long!

The one downside of gray hair is that it tends to be willful and doesn't curl as easily.  Again, this is not a problem for guys.  So after two years of being natural the gray hair is becoming more prominent and I'm okay with that.  I'm actually quite proud of my resistance to giving in to the call of beauty standards.

I may be a lone wolf with regard to coloring my hair, but I can look in the mirror and know that  my roots don't need "touching up" in order to match the rest of my hair!  If I were to keep coloring my hair I could never be one of those blue-haired old ladies driving an Oldsmobile in Florida!

P