Gray #3: Going Gray, All The Way

At the age of 47, after coloring my hair consistently for more than a dozen years (and by then needing to do it every three weeks), I decided to stop. This was in some ways precipitated by a move to live full-time at my weekend home in the Catskills. I still make weekly trips into the city to meet with clients and see friends, but my life was evolving and the amount of time I had to sit in a colorists’ chair was limited.

Here are a few things that made it hard to go through with this change:

1. Not knowing a single person my age with gray hair.

2. Fearing that it would have an impact on my work. (I’m a creative consultant to brands, many of them in the world of fashion and beauty.)

3. Extreme vanity.

And here are a couple of things that made it easier:

1. My incredibly supportive husband, who insists I am always beautiful to him.

2. My colorist, who urged me to stick to the plan of going cold turkey, even when I waffled and begged him to give me blending highlights. But on the flip side, I was saving hundreds of dollars every month.

I won’t lie to you, the transition was awkward and it took a lot longer than I thought it would. And yet I have absolutely no regrets. Business is booming and I get more compliments on my hair now than I ever did. I don’t want to turn this into a polemic, but I do want to encourage anyone who’s on the fence about going gray to give it a whirl.

Nothing staves off aging better than getting out of your comfort zone.

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2 Responses

  1. Editor’s Note: A Hairy Week | Tue Night

    […] GRAY: We have three takes on Gray: My White Stripe, Julie Parr’s Gray-in-the-Making, Laura Silverman’s All-The-Way Gray […]

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  2. Embracing What Is…Going Gray

    […] I think that when one is really ready to embrace their gray there is another kind of beauty that occurs and that comes from simply being comfortable with you. – BryanIn her piece about “Going Gray” my friend Laura Silverman shared her thoughts about her decision to stop coloring her hair. https://tuenight.com/2014/04/going-gray-all-the-way/ […]

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