Gray hair - the new black?
Gray hair is one of the certainties of life. For some of us, gray happens early in life - sometimes as early as our 20s.
Whether it starts that early for you - by 50 you’ll probably have quite a bit of gray hair. Once seen as a liability to be hidden - smart women are increasingly choosing to see gray hair as a style statement.
Gray hair gets to us all sooner or later so the question is how do you deal with it?
Are you going to flaunt your gray hair or should you hide it beneath a color treatment. If you’re going to go for color - should you opt for a natural look or make it obviously and loudly false?
One of the most common complaints when it comes to coloring gray hair is that the color doesn’t take as well on the gray areas as it does on those areas of hair that aren’t yet affected. This is because gray hair has lost its pigment. As a result it’s more coarse than pigmented hair and resists the color.
The trick is to treat gray hair beforehand with peroxide - that makes it softer and more open to artificial color. If you know what you’re doing then its possible to do this at home but many women prefer the professional attention of a good hair stylist.
When Cher and Elizabeth Taylor first went gray, they both opted for platinum blonde in order to cover the giveaway signs of aging. Hilary Clinton and Diane Sawyer, on the other hand, opted for a softer honey blonde which gave them a sense of glamorous maturity.
Gray blends in with blonde more easily. Helen Mirren’s hair is a great example of a lovely soft blonde cut that merges with gray and looks totally natural.
Which color you choose will be determined by your lifestyle and your skin coloring - an accountant or a lawyer needs a more conservative approach - even if your feel like purple highlights - your clients won’t let you get away with it.
Whatever color you choose - don’t forget to dye your gray hair regularly. Clearly visible gray roots will make you look older than a whole head of gray hair.
It’s also important to avoid totally flat all over intense colour - very aging and not at all natural. Introduce variations in colour with highlights or lowlights to soften color in line with your natural skin tones.
Since gray hair is notoriously difficult to color and color on gray is hard to keep looking good - for many women - gray really has become the new black. Gray hair has become something of a statement for chic stylish women of a certain age.
There’s no doubt that silver gray or white hair can look extremely glamorous and stylish. Whether or not you can pull it off is largely down to attitude - you need confidence, a superb cut and a good sense of style.
Many women are now arguing that - unlike men - they’ve spent too many years covering up what can be part of the beauty of aging.
If men with gray hair are deemed attractive - then why shouldn’t women with gray hair look young and desirable too?
Related articles:
Filed under Gray Hair
Comments