As a gray hair blogger, the number one fear women confide in me is that they’ll look old with gray hair.
But what does “old” really mean? It’s so subjective.
Hair dye has been around for a long time. But 65+ years ago, when at-home coloring kits became readily available, women started dyeing their hair in droves.
With the advent of the Silver Revolution, it seems that we are moving past the idea that gray hair is solely the province of the elderly. Women of all ages, including celebrities, are rocking their silver hair freely in a way that hasn’t been seen in decades (if ever).
Since, as we know, old is a subjective term, I asked them to define what they meant by “old.”
Here are their responses in order of popularity:
– older than one’s age
– frumpy
– dowdy
– unstylish
One of the most common reasons women worried they’d look older with gray hair was because it might hurt their chances of employment or mean they were “unsuitable for promotion at work.”
When I was still dyeing, I didn’t think I was the type of person who cared much about what other people thought of my looks. As long as I was happy in my own skin, I was OK.
I could tell you all the rah-rah stuff about embracing your age, and enjoying the “you” that you are now. And I would tell you this with the utmost sincerity, because I believe it. But what if I told you all this, and you still felt worried about looking older as you gray?