Silver Goddess Wanna Be

There comes a time in a woman's life when she has to admit she isn't young (by society's standards anyway) anymore. This past September I turned 50. I also went through some pretty traumatic life changing events. As I struggle to reinvent and relearn myself, I am thinking of making some serious changes.

I have been struggling to cover gray hair now for close to 25 years. I had my first silver strands in high school. It was kind of cool back then. Just one or two glittery strands amid the dark brown. By the time I was 21, I had two silver streaks, one at each temple. Still not too bad. But by my mid to late 20's, the gray hairs were starting to get a little out of control. Time to take action!

At first I used the color that washed out after several shampoos. That worked for a while, but eventually the gruesome grays got too plentiful for even that. I started down the slippery slope of permanent box dye. That lasted until this past summer when I decided enough was enough, I would get my hair professionally colored and highlighted. I now sport a pretty brown color with caramel streaks.

I have been toying with the idea of letting my hair go its natural color now for a while. I have talked about it with my hairstylist, Dottie, many times. But I always chicken out. To be honest, I have been saying for years that I will stop coloring my hair when I turn 35. Then when I turned 35, I put it off to 40. Then 45. Then 50. When I turned 50 last September, I told Dottie I wasn't ready and it would be 55 or 60, or whenever my face became too old looking to dye my hair any longer. We've all seen those ladies that have the dyed black hair and older faces. It makes them look even older. I don't ever want to do that.

But I don't want to look old, either. Then I discovered Pinterest! I happened across some pictures of women who decided to embrace their gray hair and while looking at the before and after pictures, I discovered that each and every one of those ladies looked better with the natural gray than the dyed hair! Wait, what? Yes, it is true! And the abundance of gorgeous, young looking women with a crown of glorious silver hair has made me rethink my own decision about continuing to have my hair colored. Plus,I really like long hair, and one of the reasons I have not been able to have long hair was that the hair dye eventually dries it out and it has too much damage and has to be cut. If I don't dye my hair, I won't have that problem. Long gray hair?? Doesn't that drag your face down and make you look older? Well, I thought so, too, until I started doing some browsing on Pinterest!

Why now? Well, several reasons. First, it is a time of change in my life. Something I actually find rather freeing. What could be more freeing than releasing yourself from the trap of having to dye your hair? Besides, I figure if I do it now, when my face still retains some of its youthful look, it will not make me look as old as if I wait until I am in my 60's when my face will carry 10 more years on its surface. And my grey is that gorgeous bright silver color! I can see it very well in the "roots" of my current haircolor.

Monday, December 16, 2013 was the last day I had my hair colored and highlighted. I made the final decision to go Silverlicious almost 1 month later, on Jan. 18, 2014. This is what I looked like on that day.

You would have to blow up the picture to see the faint trace of gray roots sprouting in this picture. Now, with tomorrow being my 2 month anniversary since the last time I had my hair dyed, I look like this:  

I am actually pretty excited about this transition. It is really interesting to see my "real" haircolor appear as my hair grows. The front is going to be mostly silver, while the back is going to be very dark pepper with some silver salt. Pretty wild!

So what does all this have to do with knitting?? Well, never a fan of a skunk stripe, I am researching knitted and crocheted headbands! Even Silver Goddess need a little fibrous adornment once in a while! :-)