Does Gray Hair make you Feel Older?

Beth and I are loaded with gray hair.

Beth, who wears her long mane flat ironed with a cute fringe of bangs, gradually turned uniformly salt and pepper over the last 20 years.

I started with a fairly small tuff of white hair at my hairline. (Side note: have you noticed a lot of black people seem to gray this way?) Over the years that fairly small patch turned shockingly platinum and proceeded to dramatically take over most of my hair, from the hairline through the crown.

By my mid-fifties, I was fully platinum in front, fully gray in back. For more years than I can remember I’ve worn this hair natural and barber-cut. Over the last five or six years, I’ve allowed my natural curls to grow out and wear it in a wash and go.

Speaking for both Beth and me, we love our gray/white hair and wear it proudly. . . most days.

Occasionally, some days we’re less-than-positive about this gray hair situation. Those days during a very long phone call, we talk the good, the bad, and the ugly about our hair.

I recently read an online article where this hairstylist said that gray hair is not necessarily a look, it’s a mindset.

I agree with him.

At least for me on the days I’m battling with my hair, I’m also struggling with my self-confidence. Suddenly It’s not just this shock of white hair, it’s also the groove of my laugh lines, and the ever so slight hyperpigmentation that’s becoming a problem around my eyes.

They say losing some of your self-confidence as you age is common. But we know you may have lower confidence days but there are ways to keep showing up in your life and not use age as a reason to feel less than fabulous.

“Speaking for both Beth and me, we love our gray/white hair and wear it proudly. . . most days.”

When I need to change my state of mind, I pay a little more attention to my physical appearance. It’s not the day to sit around in an old tee shirt and an even older pair of joggers. Time for the cute shirt, trendy jeans, and pop on fabulous sunglasses.

I stay curious. I ask questions and look forward to learning something new. I exercise my body and occasionally put myself on month-long challenges just to keep it all interesting.

Beth wants to add that for her it’s not always about confidence. It could merely be a bad hair day. The simple solution to that problem comes in the form of a headband, a hat, or a bright lipstick. So, there’s that.

Would you say you’re like Beth where gray hair is just that – hair. And sometimes that hair needs a headband. Or on occasion are you like me where sometimes your gray strands are wrapped around a confidence issue.

Tell us in the comments.