Sep 25, 2007
It’s easy to see that gray is the new black on the fashion runways this Fall, but would you slip gray into your hairdo as easily as you would slip into a gray dress?
We’ve discussed how fashionable gray hair can be on RealSelf, and received several user comments on the topic. The comments unanimously supported going gray, and the readers who wrote in all shared their enthusiasm at the prospect of gray hair being deemed acceptable and even a cause for envy!
An interesting article in The Daily Press highlights a woman who posted two photographs of herself, one wherein she has gray hair, and one of her with brown hair compliments of hair dye, on popular Internet dating site, Match.com. The photo of her with gray locks garnered more attention and interest. Even males in youth obsessed Los Angeles preferred the natural version of her hair.
The woman, Anne Kreamer, did the above exercise as research for her book, "Going Gray: What I learned about Beauty, Sex, Work, Motherhood, Authenticity and Everything Else That Really Matters." According to the Daily Press article, “Kreamer says going gray liberated her from cultural anxieties about aging — and let her embrace her true identity as a middle-aged woman and mother of two teens.” The article also cites a poll taken by Time Magazine that found a couple more interesting facts regarding gray hair…
Forbes Magazine's recent list of the world's 100 most powerful women seems to bear out that gray and high status don't often mix.
Career placement experts — and the Time poll — also say that gray hair is a big downer for women in the workplace.
Looks like women climbing the ladder better take their colorists with them.
Return to Beauty Cred
The decision to color your hair or not should depend on one thing: is YOUR gray a pretty color for YOU. Which looks best on you, a pure white blouse or an ivory one? It will be the same with your hair. If the hair around your face is a flattering color, wear it natural.
I have a friend who's nearly 70, and looks like a very fit and vibrant 58. She's a runner, with a great sense of humor and natural kindness. Her hair is thick and shiny and a beautiful silver. We've seen each other out on the running trails for years, and I watched as her previously tinted dark hair grew out into the silver.
She recently told me that she'd made two promises to herself when she retired from her executive position with a large insurance company: she was going to run every day, and she'd never, ever color her hair again. She assured me that there was no way she'd have let herself go gray while she was still on the job, that it would definitely have had a negative impact on her career
You have to pick your battles. This one wasn't worth it for her at the time. I myself don't care that my hair is going gray, but I'm light years away from that level of professionalism, so I have no career impact to worry about.
I began to grey at a relatively young age. My 'friends' inmediately went and partied about it. Wow, she's finally growing old! I wasn't shocked at my greying process for it was real beautiful silver that spread across my hair as if it were highlights done at a profesional salon. But I was certainly shocked at the reactions of my 'friends'.
They were wrong though as it being a sign of 'growing old'. For I am almost fifty now and people continually mistake me for under the thirty years old.
My grey hair is simply beautiful and I am a living proof of the fact that it doesn't necesarily make you look older.
And I have not aged. I work out just as when I was twenty. God be praised fot it! So my 'friends' have partied too soon. Many of them have not greyed but people sometimes take them for being my grandparents for example!
Grey hair does not age you! It makes you special.