While it may not seem like such a big deal to a lot of people, it really is for me. I've been dying my hair since I was 16 years old. I've seen it all: dark brown, light brown, henna. You name it, I've done it.
I've also had gray hairs since my (very) early 20s. I've really hit the genetic jackpot in the follicular pigmentation department... It definitely runs in both sides of my family. Everybody's been gray very young, and I'm no exception.
While it is widely known that the transition into gray hairdom is easier for light and short haired people, I simply refuse to cut my cherished dark brunette mid-back canopy to allow for a slightly less awkward change.
I'm not only talking about the esthetic part of that transition, but also the emotional wave that is sure to overcome me once I find myself with a head full of gray hair. I'm 33 years old, and I must say that I am very afraid that going gray will make me look (and feel?)... old. And while I've made peace with a more targeted skin care routine years ago, I'm still scared of the gray mane...
The idea of going gray has been titillating me for about three years. I've considered stopping dying my hair cold turkey, but then I crumbled under the (social?) pressure of hiding my aging process. I did try to stop about 6 months ago, but after 6 weeks of not dying, the inch of silver got to me and I resumed with the chemical beauty-treatments.
About two weeks ago, on March 1st 2013, I decided to go gray. For good. It was a very strange day. At first I thought: "oh, what the heck! It's not that bad just yet... I still have a lot of dark pigmented hair... It'll be like silver highlights. If I don't like it, I can just go back to dying my hair."
I knew it was a very probable thing that I would cave at the first signs of unease from my interlocutors. You know what I'm talking about. The unease of people who while they talk to you (and I'm sure they do not mean anything by it; their eyes are just attracted to the sparkling silver on your head) let their eyes wander to the top of your scalp. "Does she know her roots are showing?" "Wow, she really needs to go to the hair dresser"... Yes, we can tell those thoughts are going through your head.
So I took to my social media site, and posted this status: "Attention friends and family: I'm going to try to go gray. I ask you to please not make too much fun of me (at least not to my face) during the sure-to-be-very-awkward growth phase and not judge me if I cave and dye my hair again (which is likely to happen)! Thanks in advance ;)"
The response I got from this post was simply amazing! So much support, it was overwhelming. It definitely helped ease my mind about doing this, and I knew this time was a good one, because I'd come out and asked people for support.
I decided to document this process in this blog because after lengthy research on the internet, I found very little information on people who did this without cutting or bleaching their hair. Every single site I've come across preaches going blond or pixie. How about us who do not want any of those radical options?!
I will be posting photos of my progress and I look forward to having interesting discussions with you!
Please feel free to ask me questions, post comments, tips and tricks if you've gone this way before :)
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