Fighting Your Hair-itage

I gave up on my going gray experiment right before I went on vacation and dyed my hair a warm medium brown. It was all well and good if not a little dull, but now I’ve remembered why dying is so lame: the 70% silver/30% one-shade-lighter-than-black roots are already showing, the gray that was covered with medium-brown has faded to a paler coppery brown and within another few weeks my entire head will look like shit.

I noticed while in Oregon that my sister who’s 34 is 100% gray. She’s a natural blond so the three-four inches of gray at the top isn’t even detectable from a distance. It suits her, I mean she doesn’t wear makeup, doesn’t eat meat and works at an online herb (no, not “herb”) retailer in Eugene. It’s not a region of the country for vanity. I don’t think I’m vain, I’m just torn.

A few weeks ago I was walking behind a woman in my neighborhood wearing all gray: gray short wedgey heels, gray tights, gray mini high-waisted skirt, gray patterned sweater and long half-way-down-her-back brown hair scattered with gray. How old was this person? She was dressed young and had a cute style, more cute than pretty or glamorous. I then recognized her as a person from my gym that normally wears shorts and a tank top and her hair in two braids tied together. I’d noticed her gray before but it was more striking in this form. She has a good look but I’d peg her for late 20s. I’m not so sure the quirky presentation would work in her late 30s.

20s gray is unexpected and unique. 30s gray just makes you look 40s, no offense to those in their 40s. Most people don’t want to look a decade older except for when they’re like 13.