Terri HolleyI’m an artist blogger for Rebelle Society and being a creative person I’ve always had a different take on grey hair.
I’ve always thought grey hair was really beautiful. I think it makes people glow. As we get older, our faces (at least for most of us) do not look good with dark hair framing them. Nature provides the perfect beauty accessory: lighter hair! I’m so inspired by grey-haired models like Yasmina Rossi, Cindy Joseph, and Kristin McMenamy. I love the way dark hair fades to white sort of like stones on a shore, where the tide has bleached out the color over years of waves coming in and out. I think of grey or white hair as ethereal, modern and maybe even a little Sci-Fi. I’m 43 years old, and with my former auburn hair, I often was told that I looked a lot younger.
Now with a burgeoning grey streak, I don’t hear that as much. I think now my real age might be a mystery, but I like a mystery. But you know what? I like it. I like myself. I like choosing what I want. I am in no way saying that I think every woman should have grey hair, but what I am saying is that I wish all women would make an authentic, pure, and happy decision regarding their hair color that is completely for their being. During the transition, I have heard some mixed opinions. My own father, who ironically has a head of pure white, thinks women look old with grey hair and frowns upon my own.
I have had a few friends look at my head and go “Hmm?” and not say much else out of politeness…
Then I’ve had a few compliments too. I did a lot of research before going grey. I read Anne Kreamer’s Going Grey: How to Embrace Your Authentic Self with Grace and Style, I read countless pro-grey blogs, I pinned oodles of gorgeous grey-haired pins, and I talked with real women in my neighborhood with gorgeous grey hair. I even talked to young hipsters with dyed grey hair. I tried it two years ago and chickened out. I wasn’t ready at the time, but recently I became too fascinated that I couldn’t do it.
All that being said, the key to not looking too old is keeping up with my own funky, modern, and ageless style. Wearing color helps too and makes grey hair really pop. The real women I mentioned in my neighborhood rock the grey hair because they rock. Happiness = beauty. For my transition to grey, I decided to grow out a few streaks in the front. I didn’t want to cut it all off and start all over as many “transitioners” do. I still dyed the rest of it. Then eventually my natural color of a mix of grey-almost black-and-white was competing with the warmth of the auburn dyed hair. So I dyed the auburn portions (very carefully) back to my “almost black.” I left the streaks alone. Maybe I will just keep the streaks, or maybe I will let the rest go gradually. But whatever I do it’s all me and is fascinating to watch the process.