So You Want to Go Gray
By Susan Colby
This is a cautionary tale. I am now seven months dye-free. But my hair story began a year ago when, along with the rest of world, my locks went into lockdown for a good four months.
As some of you know, I’ve been thinking about going gray for quite a while. The Stay at Home order was just the push I needed. Besides, who would see me while it was growing out?
It turns out the answer was me! And that was enough to keep me up nights on Pinterest, devising a plan to fast track this going gray business.
The thing was, a month before the pandemic struck, I had already taken the first step by bleaching then coloring my hair lighter to ease the transition.
But Dyer Beware! For those with naturally dark hair, or in my case, dark hair dyed to look like my natural color, you cannot go from zero-to-silver in one session.
It took three bleaching sessions. Eight hours at a time. Over five months.
And one incredibly patient and talented Beverly Hills hairstylist named Hector.
The first session, pre-Covid, wasn’t hard. Hector bleached my hair just a couple shades lighter and added some highlights. I loved it.
Then the first lockdown extended to three months, and so did my roots. Now my lovely new strands streaked with caramel hung a good three-inches below my gray and black roots to create a look I’ll call Calico Stray.
I dreamed of my next appointment with Hector as often as I dreamed of lying on a beach in Hawaii. Finally, LA salons opened for the first time in three months with social distancing measures in place.
This time I sat in Hector’s chair for almost an entire afternoon. We were the only two people in the large salon with the doors flung wide open. Visions of a uniformly colored head of charcoal gray danced in my head.
But my hair had other ideas. It wanted to be a brassy blonde. No matter what kind of toners, rinses, and tasteful arguments we tried. Dark hair like mine, I learned, goes warm.
The next day, LA County shut down the salons again. And I waited and waited as my hair turned blorange.
In July, socially-distanced appointments were allowed a second time. Time to go gray all the way! And after another eight hours, we did it.
But the story doesn’t end there.
That gorgeous gray didn’t stay that way without a lot of maintenance. It wasn’t easier. It was just as complicated.
By this time, my hair was coarser than a witch’s broom. And to keep my hair from going orange, I had to use a special purple shampoo, wait 5 minutes, towel dry, then apply purple conditioner and wait for 15 minutes while it did its work.
Eventually my hair started turning blue! And so did my mood. Add to that, the thought of bleaching my roots every month to keep it up - well, what had I gained? Certainly nothing in the way of authenticity, simplicity, or self-confidence.
It wasn’t easier. It was just as complicated.
So I chopped it all off. And now one year later, what you see is all me, dye-free. And I’m loving it.
Natural gray hair, like age, is a work of art.
ENHANCE YOUR NATURAL GRAY
Overtone Vibrant Silver Coloring Conditioner - I discovered this from my silver sisters on Instagram. It doesn’t dye your hair but adds a color-enhancing sparkle and shine with every conditioning treatment. Also comes in bright pink, green, blue, purple for those with a wild streak.
Vegan and free of parabens, sulfates, and ammonia.
