I was born a brunette, from my Italian mother’s side genetics. I was also born with my father’s English/Scottish fair complexion. Growing up in the tropics, my hair as a child was light brown to blond, being out in the sun more often than not. By my teenage years, I learned some simple, mostly natural ways to lighten it further. And once I left home, I became a blond permanently, feeling it matched both my lighter skin and my blue eyes better than the dark brunette of my lineage.
As I approached fifty, I noticed the grey hairs start to come in on a regular basis. The blond dye covered it well enough, but I kept wondering at what point to just curtail the coloring and accept the grey?
I had younger female friends who had “gone grey” much earlier – sometimes on purpose, in the wake of trend-setting TV show and movie characters. But I had never been on the edgier side of personal style and having been so set in my ways as a blond, straying too far from the norm wasn’t my first inclination.
Knowing that in the larger scheme of things, “it’s just hair” – I had to wonder if there was more to my resistance to greying hair than I’d admitted, even to myself.
Science will tell us that grey hair is not simply a matter of aging. It can be caused by certain illnesses or conditions, genetics plays a big role, and stress or nutritional deficiencies can also contribute. But once a hair follicle ceases to produce pigment, there is not much that can be done to reverse the situation.
Aging has also experienced a renaissance in recent years, with women over fifty embracing their fine lines, grey hair and wisdom in greater numbers than ever. The atmosphere has changed from when my mother found her first grey hair and cried for three days.
Yet, I have yet to embrace my grey – but am considering finding a colorist who might step my into it with highlights/lowlights (a technique I’ve used over the years whenever I consider returning to my natural brunette).
What’s your take on it? To grey…or not to grey? That is the question.
