With all the grim news coming out about the potential dangers of hair dye, I thought this was the perfect time to consult an expert. Who better to ask than one of our own silver sisters?
Ronnie Citron-Fink is the author of True Roots: What Quitting Hair Dye Taught Me About Health and Beauty, and she is also the editorial director of Moms Clean Air Force.
I had three reasons to go gray: the upkeep, the cost, and the chemicals. I started coloring my hair in my early 30’s to cover gray strands that seemed to multiply daily.
Coloring had become both labor-intensive and expensive. Nevertheless, I kept up this whack-a-mole hair routine because I worried my vanity would take a hit and that I would look old with gray hair.
I thought I would look older, like I had given up on beauty. I learned this was a myth that the 70 billion dollar hair and beauty business perpetuates because they need to sell products.
Hair dye was the last step in cleaning up my beauty routine, and I needed to learn how to read ingredient labels even closer than I had before to figure out what ingredients were harmful.
I found support in online “going gray” social media groups, learning the journey to uncolored hair is different for everyone, but women around the globe were up for the challenge for various reasons.
I’m noticing more and more articles about transitioning colored hair to gray, gray hair products, and ads about aging gracefully with beautiful gray hair. In that way, it has become more of a mainstream beauty choice.