Once You Go Gray, You Never Go Black

Sheila, February 2012

Hey I am finally somewhat of a trendsetter. For years now my hair has been gray—not that I didn’t once and only once have a fling with color. I was so warped after that experience and the hole it left in my wallet that I swore off coloring my hair as I progressively grew more and more gray.

Mad Men Betty Draper double.

Perhaps I was conditioned to give hair coloring a try at least once by those 50’s and 60’s Clairol advertisements asking, “Does she . . . or doesn’t she? Hair color so natural only her hairdresser knows for sure!” Maybe my own mother’s long time love affair with Loving Care colored my viewpoint and made me predisposed to think this is what modern, working women did when those first stray grays made their unwanted appearance.

However, Leanne Italie’s recent AP story on women with gray hair proved a bit of a validation of my choice although there are apparently quite a few other women out there for whom going gray isn’t yet a reality. Only their hairdresser knows for sure—and likely most other people for that matter. Who the heck are they kidding?

Christine Lagarde

With strong and talented women of gray like Oscar-winning actress Helen Mirren, International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde, and actress and yogurt spokeswoman Jamie Lee Curtis, this gray revolution can’t help but grow, and I’m finally okay with my hair!