Why I Stopped Dyeing my Hair. Now With Some Items I've Been Forgetting To Mention.

1. I have better things to spend my time on than regular, lengthy visits to the salon for hair color.
2. I have better things to spend my money on than regular, expensive visits to the salon for hair color. (Hair dye from the drugstore was looking worse and worse.)
3. My hair was falling out and thinning dramatically. It covered my hands in the shower.
4. My natural hair is healthier and feels even more fabulously soft when I don't dye it.
5. I think natural hair of all types is often prettier than dyed or treated hair. You can't buy my natural silver highlights. Well, maybe you can, but it'll cost you.
6. I don't think that my gray hair actually makes me look older than I am. We can certainly discuss and consider the very real issues and effects of societal and individual perceptions, but at the end of the day, in a world just populated by me, I would think that my hair makes me look exactly 37, which is fine with me since that's exactly how old I am.
7. While I absolutely most worry about how my gray hair effects my attractiveness to men in the romance arena, at the end of the day, and in my heart and soul, I care more about being true to myself than I do about conforming to societal norms to make it easier for someone to be attracted to me. I think being true to yourself is the best way to be open to true love.

In other news, I had a hair revelation while watching a screener of Raising the Bar (premieres Sept. 1 on TNT). Melissa Sagemiller plays assistant district attorney Michelle Ernhardt and in the show, she has the sides of her hair pulled up and back, with the front loose and the back long. You can kinda see it in this pic:

I stopped wearing my hair like that because of my hairline when I was losing hair and because I thought it was too cutesy or something. But Melissa Sagemiller looks really professional and sharp on the show.I guess it doesn't make you look like a little girl once you're clearly an adult.

So this is my new work hair. I think it looks better for work than a ponytail (and it's better for my hair, less pull). And no need to spend a ton of time in the bathroom in the mornings to style it to wear it down. That's all sorts of win.

As much as I prefer it longer, I'm going to get it cut to just below my shoulders in September, and then there will only be a few inches left to go. At this point, it's looking like at two years there still may be some of the dyed hair left.

I just sighed heavily. But it's getting there.

Raising the Bar is really good, btw, and I'll blog more about it before it premieres.

Comments

[JDub]

Must say it was quite funny to read this post - which was right next to the ad for Nice 'n Easy touch ups! LOL

[Liz]

JDub - LOL It happens. The funny thing is, there's just as much chance that someone will google here and have more interest in that ad than reading about my quitting dyeing. :)

[restaurantrefugee]

For whatever it is worth, I have always found highlights of grey to be a physical asset for a woman. Something about the confidence of looking your age, being comfortable in your skin, and owning the corresponding sexiness... yeah, well that has always worked on me.

[Los Angelista]

I've moved away from hair dye as well. It positively fries my hair and that's the total wash-out ones. I've never even tried permanent color. I only have about a dozen gray hairs but as an alternative I've been trying henna for the past couple of months and so far it works marvelously and it's very conditioning for your hair. It makes my gray hairs a gingery color and gives everything else a nice mahogany color when I'm in the sun.

[Liz@Inventing My Life]

Lately, every time I look in the mirror I ask myself if maybe it's time to try dying my hair...some days, I see dramatic silver highlights like you mention in #5, other days I just see gray = old. What to do, what to do...thanks for the food for thought!

[kendall]

I used to dye my hair when I was in my teens and twenties as a way to experiment with my "look" and explore my personal style. I stopped dying it when I hit 30 and I haven't regretted it. I'm just now seeing glints of silver while blowdrying my hair in the morning and I'm perversely excited by finding new ones--I like the paradox between my refusal to grow up and my body's inevitable response to getting older.

[Liz]

RestaurantRefugee - I agree. I've definitely lost something in the confidence department since film school and moving to L.A. This is probably part of my journey back.

Los Angelista - I've thought about henna. Maybe if my schedule opens up in the future I'll try it. I've heard it has to sit on your hair for quite a while, but you can leave it on at home while you're doing chores or something.

Liz - Yes, it's funny how your perceptions of yourself can eb and flow like that.

Kendall - That's something I do, too. I really love the silver and am fascinated by it and how it's grown in. Living the paradox! :)