Going Gray

The more natural shade of my 30s.

I’ve always dreaded gray hair. Maybe that’s because my hairdresser found several gray strands on my head before I graduated from high school! From my late teens through my early 40s, I waged war against going gray, first with drug store color, then with highlights and lowlights. But somewhere in my mid-40s I made peace with gray hair. Not that I wanted it then, mind you. I was just okay with it “someday.”

Until gray hair decided to up the ante. As I inched over 50, I suddenly found the gray overtaking me in shorter periods of time. My expenses of time and money went up in my effort to hold gray at bay.

At that point, I knew one wedding was on the horizon. Not long after the first one, I knew there would be another. I decided when the weddings were finished, so was my hair color. It was earlier than I thought I’d reach that conclusion. My original thought had been to let it go when there were grandchildren. But I guess it was a good thing I’d made up my mind because shortly after the second wedding, the previously wed couple announced our first grand baby!

I had an awesome colorist in Austin who worked with me on this. We began using temporary color so that the gray could grow out beneath the color, which would fade over time. Then we began a temporary color that just washed over the gray, again letting it grow out beneath. And every 6-8 months, I did a pretty significant haircut, too.

I’m not fully gray yet, but I’m definitely getting there! And I haven’t minded it at all, even though I will likely be fully gray before my mother is—and she has never colored her hair! I thought gray hair would make me feel old. Instead, I feel empowered because I don’t have to hide part of the way God made me. And I can embrace that my gray hair shows I have some experience with life. Of course it also helps that I have friends who rock their gray!

So what is your feeling on this issue? To gray or not to gray? Of course I know a lot depends on your age, your coloring, the color and texture of the gray you get, and even your personality! Still, I’d like to hear your perspective.