O P I N I O N

BOOMER LIFE

By Annette Kurman

You began seeing it as COVID progressed starting five years ago, when women (and men) couldn’t get their hair professionally cut/colored during that crisis. A time when so many took the opportunity to ditch the color and dye and grow in their gray hair (whether intentionally or unintentionally). And, if the number of internet sites/facebook pages about having great gray hair are any indication, many women, young and old, have gone “natural” or even dyed their hair gray purposefully before its – and their – time.

Yes, it’s a “thing.”

Well I didn’t do it during COVID, but 18 months ago I thought I’d embrace the “real” me and grow out my short curly dark hair after several decades of coloring it. Took no time at all to grow it out because it was short. I wore it gray for nearly a year. And then, much to the horror of anyone on those “love my gray hair” websites, I dyed it back to its normal-dyed dark brown color.

How could I! Gray/salt-and-pepper are its natural colors; dying it involves spending inordinate amounts of money and time I had been saving extra money time to keep “my color” fresh. At first, when I sported my new, real gray hair it was cool; had something “special” with all those women who were doing it. I was cool. And then I wasn’t. 

I began feeling that I looked ten years older than I felt. (Notice the “I”; I do not assume that to the outside world, I actually look ten years younger with my hair back to its decades-old back-to-the-future dark brown.) But, geez, it’s the way I felt!

And feeling ten years older than I had once felt was not a good thing: in addition to the view I had of myself, my body, itself, started following suit: I would drag myself to the gym, work opportunities, and through everyday activities. What? All of this because of my “natural” hair color? 

Yes, dag nabbit! From the outside, I became that vain woman who wouldn’t show the world her age through what was sitting atop my head. From the inside, however, I felt more “me.” And isn’t that the best way to feel?

Have you had the same experience — growing out your gray just to go back to your regular “dyed” color? I’d love to hear!

You can reach Annette at annette.kurman@gmail.com