Now I hope you don’t think that this is going to be a blog about the Great Outdoors……. in fact it is a post about a very sensitive subject……. going grey.
I have been colouring my hair since my early 30s, when the mere sight of a grey hair was enough to depress me for the rest of the day. As the years have passed, I have gone through so many colours that I find it difficult to remember what shade my hair was when I started out. (Actually, it was darkest brown).
Now in my mid-40s, I have grown tired of the routine – and expense - of sitting in the hairdresser’s for over 3 hours every month in a vain and seemingly pointless attempt to hold back time. At dinner a few months ago with my handsome husband, who is a year younger than me, I looked at his hair. Thick and wavy, with patches of silver appearing above his ears. It suits him, I think. He’s got that slightly craggy “could’ve been a rock star” thing going on, and he’s still in good shape. So here’s the thing. If he can go grey and be a “silver fox”, then why can’t I be a silver vixen? Or a platinum fox-ette? Hmmmmmmm.
So I spent a week or so looking online for women who have faced this dilemma, and saw some seriously cool women who had already taken the plunge. Helen Mirren? Meryl Streep? Jamie Lee Curtis? Well, my mind was made up. Then I hit a snag….. Child no. 1 was dismayed when I told her that I was going to let my grey through. She is 13, and worried that her friends won’t think I am cool any more. It’s a sort-of compliment I suppose….. I didn’t realise they thought I was cool in the first place! Husband was much more philosophical when he found out, saying that I could join him in the grey club! But the worst reaction I got was from child no. 2, who burst into floods of tears, sobbing that if I went grey it meant that I was old and would die soon. Oh dear….. I hope not!
So far, it’s been 10 weeks since I hit the bottle….. of dye! My hairdresser is in despair, and child no. 1 keeps shaking her head and rolling her eyes in disbelief whenever she looks at my multi-hued barnet.
Me? I’m loving it. Almost makes me feel like a grown-up. Signing off now, I’ll let you know how I get on in the weeks to come…
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