I have never actually loved
my hair in any way. It is too fine, too blah, disobedient, inglorious. I remember
standing in front of the mirror when I was younger and bemoaning the lack of
thick lusciousness that I admired and envied on the heads
of—apparently—everyone else (especially, of course, on the heads of movie stars
and super models; you know, ordinary people like that). Far from being my
crowning glory, my hair felt like my naughty nemesis.
I can say that age does (or
can) bring wisdom in this regard. Truly, all the stuff that made me feel so
less-than, so lacking, so icky when I
was younger begins to mean less and less. As you all know well from our
blogging here, the best part of aging is caring less to measure yourself
against others, and caring more about owning who you are, flat hair and all.
My hair turned grey well
before its time. I mean, my dad had a whole head of grey hair in his 40s, so
maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised, but my mother still doesn’t have much
grey and she’s in her 70s (don’t tell her I told you!). It took me a while to
notice because I’ve been a die-hard hair-colourer since way back. It was my
hairdresser who finally pointed it out—not in a cruel way, but noting that she
would need to keep the grey hairs in mind when she coloured. “Grey hairs?!!!”
Arggghh. I watched my roots in horror as the random greys became the “skunk”
became the “all over”. There it was—another unwelcome change I would have to
make peace with.
And then my hair surprised
me!
Those greying hairs that were
winnowing their way under my artificial colour? They were also improving the
texture of my fine hair, giving it more body and movement. Random—but once much
coveted—flips and waves were suddenly animating the blah limpness. And if I
brush it into a ‘do, it—finally, for the first time ever—staaaaaaaays!
So, while I’m not making any
grand strides forward for the age-movement here, I did want to share the giddy
news that not every change we’re predisposed to think of as “unfortunate” has a
sigh-inducing outcome. No, some ends aren’t split at all. Some ends are smooth
and silky and have a perky little bounce.
Deb: Barb, you are so very right, although as I write this I can’t
help thinking of our blog tag-line which in part says “different opinions”,
which I realize we rarely have. I think I’ll blog about that!
Annnnnnnnnnd back to this post––A hairdresser once told me that he
found that his clients who take HRT (don’t you love the things we tell our
hairdressers?) fared better in the hair department than woman who did their
menopause naturally. My first thought was, “Why are you telling me this?” (given
that I was not taking said drug), but as I got grey I experienced exactly what
Barb has just said. My hair is bouncier than ever and I love it. I do dye my
hair and plan on continuing to do so for some time. I highlight it too and it
is really all about the highlights when it comes to hair body. Very recently a
friend said that her hairdresser said it was time for her to go grey. She is 58
and her hairdresser said that we should let ourselves grey when we get a
certain amount of grey, because as we age our faces take on a colour that
supports the grey, and not the colour we are choosing. That may be true, but
clearly I am not there yet as I like the way I look right now. I think there
comes a day when every gal looks in the mirror and says, “It’s time.” And I
will do it some day, but I can tell you for sure, it won’t be any time
soon!
