Tired of gray? Color it away

To dye or not to dye? It’s a tough question.

Remember that old advertising slogan for a hair coloring product: “Does she or doesn’t she?”

Time was when people used to speculate fiendishly, with a lot of eye-rolling and snickering, over that question. The common attitude was coloring one’s hair was reserved for flashy, show-biz types or aging Lotharios. And, those that did “dye” went to enormous lengths to hide this fact, hoping only their hairdressers knew.

Today, coloring one’s hair creates about as much stir as would stopping for a latte on the way to work. How many of us even question it anymore? Hair coloring, once taboo, has gone mainstream.

But the gray hair question rages on – should I color my hair to hide the gray? In this youth-obsessed society, looking older is an anathema – a thing that is cursed. And, I don’t care what anybody says … gray hair, its glistening and silvery beauty notwithstanding, is the red flag of aging, screaming “older person.”

Occasionally, someone will say, “Your white hair is so beautiful!” That’s probably true, but it’s easy for them to say because the gray hair is not on their head. I did this myself before I myself became a “grayhead.”

When a woman grays she becomes a gray-haired older woman; but when a man grays … well, he’s a silver fox. (And we have to have the babies … where’s the justice?)

Is anybody ever happy about looking old? Hardly! But remember, living to a ripe old age is our goal. It’s mostly just the looking old that bothers us. (Who is that geezer looking back at me from the mirror?) What all those young whippersnappers out there need to know is that there’s a savvy 40-year-old lurking inside of each and every one of us.

It is interesting – even amazing – despite all the bad press we get being older, we are a happier lot than younger people. Studies show this, and not only are we happier, we tend to become happier the longer we live. This seems to defy all reason, but speaking personally, it’s proving true … gray hair and all.

Yeah, yeah, I’m happy but I’m not giving up on this gray hair thing. For the past five years I’ve been teetering on the edge of that bottomless, hair-coloring money pit, working up the courage to make the leap. I wrestle with this decision more than I care to admit, even to myself.

Coloring one’s hair is like buying a car on time … you have to pay up each month or lose your car. Likewise, once you color your hair, you have to pay your hairdresser for a touch-up at least every four to six weeks or the gray roots repossess your hair. And they’re on the job 24/7, unlike the repo man who has to sleep and eat sometimes.

So what, it’s only money. And, I’m still wondering, would I look younger, or better if I colored my hair? Does it really do the trick?

I have always thought so, but recently I attended a business meeting led by a woman whom I had seen many times over the past five years. When she took the podium, I hardly recognized her … she looked so young. After the session I told her this and asked for her secret. She laughed, saying, “I don’t know. I ought to look older since I’ve quit coloring my hair.” Her natural brunette hair was now heavily mixed with gray.

That was it! She no longer had that dark hair which she’d worn like a helmet. Even her skin looked more alive and healthy. She seemed like an altogether different person, almost as if she had a more relaxed mind-set. She was happy about going back to her natural hair color and she definitely knocked 20 years off her age by doing so.

The hair coloring industry reports that currently one out of every two women color their hair every four to six weeks. It’s an $11.5 billion industry and it’s expected to grow at double-digit rates.

A recent consumer poll on the issue of gray hair revealed that 43 percent of people prefer to flaunt their gray and 52 percent, the majority of which are boomer men and women, prefer to hide their gray.

Many people grow tired of the maintenance required of colored hair. Plus, they report that people in their circle of friends unanimously prefer their natural gray.

Going gray, or coloring up: you choose. Sometimes it’s right, sometimes not. Grow-outs are not the trial by fire and ice they once were as hairdressers can help you through that process quite nicely. In fact your hairdresser is your best friend when you are coloring your hair – especially gray hair, as it’s tough to color.

To dye or not to dye … it’s still one tough question.