Indulge me, dear readers, with my first-world preoccupation - my 'problem' grey-area.
I am 47 now and have been sticking 'a wee semi permanent' in my hair for about 5 years to cover emerging grey. (By the way - there is no such thing as grey hair - only white hair mixed with dark, giving the impression of grey). But I am weary of it. It is faff and a kerfuffle and the roots come through so quickly. I forget which colour I bought and get piebald 'brassy' tones. I wreck the towels and the bathroom lino.
Most of all, it does not feel authentic. It feels like a cheat - pretending to look younger than you are.
It's gender biased too. Men look fine with grey hair and silly with dyed hair. How did they escape? I am toying with getting it coloured regularly at the hairdresser but it costs a fortune, takes hours at a time, and guess what - 6 weeks later you have a big white/grey line where everyone knows you need to get your roots done. Again.
But it's amazing how many woman gasp and say. 'Oooh , nooo, don't go grey! It' so aging! You can't!' Hairdressers tend to just shake their heads in silent horror. Lots of my pals colour their own hair in the bathroom, and seem to be much better at it than I am, (as they are better at baking and similar things for which I have no ambition).
I am swithering and swithering, preoccupied with the vain trivia of it all - yet still lacking in my conviction to 'go for it'. I just found this online and felt like I had found a support group.
If I'm going to 'go for it' I have to get through the awkward 'growing out' phase, knowing that the playground mums are thinking - isn't it time you had your roots done?
Will a splash of red lipstick distract from follicular hara kiri? I doubt it. Time will tell which way I jump.
3 comments:
Love your writing ciara. It's a real pleasure.
As for going grey, DO IT, as in join me! There's lots of other women thinking exactly the same as you, like this woman on a blog called how bourgeois, which gives me succour when I wobble.
Aww, thank you anonymous. You give me succour! Yes, I can see the grey dilemmas will require further postings. I'm headed to my camp hairdresser on Saturday for cut but no colour. Will report on his general horror, or otherwise...
PS - I love the How Bourgeois blog - thanks for pointing the way. x
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