I remember my first gray hair...it stood out all wiry and course...afraid to pluck it out of my head in case the rumor was true that 9 more would replace it. As time went on more started to show and I started colouring my hair. Not so much for fun anymore, but to cover the silver streaks starting to present themselves.
Here I am the last time I coloured my hair. It was getting to the point that in less than 5 weeks I was having to book another appointment and if I let it go just a tad longer I was dealing with the dreaded skunk look. I had tried to let my natural colour grow in a few years before but it did a number on my vanity and I just wasn't ready to *let myself go* off to the hairdresser.
Then the next thing I knew it was time to colour yet again...I drove to the hairdresser with full intention of covering the gray. Yet as I was walking in...something just clicked..."don't do it Shannon!" You can pull this off...you might have to go through some rough patches but in the end it will be so worth it, you are worth it, your health is worth it! So I opted for a trim and said to leave the gray uncoloured. My hair dresser GASPED! Yeah she was making some pretty penny off of my visits.
Here I was at about 5 weeks...scary right!!! All I wanted to do was be at the stage that people would say "Ohhhh she is doing this on purpose!" and not think..."ewww she is letting herself go, or oh she must not have the money to fix herself up."
At about 6 months into the transition. There were good days and bad days. One bad day while driving up the main street I saw this beautiful woman about my age, with long chocolate brown hair flowing in the breeze and then I looked in the rear view mirror and my heart sunk. What the hell was I doing? Just give it up...colour the hair...I had lots of time to be old and white...but after a bit that same little voice came back..."Just suck it up girl...just follow through and if at the end you hate it then colour it.
Sometimes certain styles made it look better than it was...sometimes only a hat would solve the problem. At this point I started to get comments...not negative, more questions and some encouragement...the questions might have been just a cover up of "What the hell are you doing girl?!"
I was now getting very anxious to get the colour gone and of course when you wanted it to grow slow and not have the gray show, it grew like weeds on steroids...and then when you wanted it to grow out and let the silver shine through...felt that any growth stopped. Of course...a watched kettle never boils.
Closing in on a year...and getting more comfortable with it. Lots of compliments and questions if I had an Ombre (which I didn't know what that was till I looked it up) Now I say I have an Omgray.
And so the adventure continues...still another few cuts before all that is left is the natural me...I still have moments of just wanting to colour it, but it usually passes when I think about all the money I have saved in the last 18 months. I am still transitioning and still open to maybe just one day going that crazy sexy chocolate brown. Does it make me look older? But I am older...18 months older... :)