This video is all about embracing the natural gray hair journey. The creator shares her personal experience of going gray unexpectedly in her late thirties, detailing the reasons behind it and how she's learned to love her new look.
Key Takeaways
- Going gray can be an unexpected journey, especially in your thirties.
- Mental preparation is important, but you can never be fully ready for the visual change.
- Embracing natural beauty, including gray hair, is a form of self-love.
- A good haircut and styling can make a big difference in managing gray hair.
- Purple shampoo can help keep gray hair from looking brassy or yellow.
The Unexpected Start Of My Gray Hair
So, I never really planned to go all gray. It kind of just happened. If you've been following my other channel, you know I've been going through infertility treatments for the past three years. It got to a point where I just didn't feel healthy putting dye in my hair every two weeks, and then it became almost weekly. So, I just decided, you know what? Let's just see what happens.
As you might know from my videos, I used to have this gray stripe. I first noticed it around 32, but I really let it grow out when I was 35. When I would dye it, it would turn this really brassy color. My natural hair color isn't black; it's more of a chocolate brown. But I started dyeing it myself, and one box color led to another, going darker and darker, and then there was no going back. It was a mess.
I'd dye this one piece, and it would turn this reddish-brown, brassy color, which looked terrible. So, I thought, you know what? I'm just going to let it grow out. You can see in my very first videos, it was funny. I didn't have a black and white stripe, and then I did. I couldn't stand it, so I'd dye it again. I went back and forth, liking it one minute and hating it the next. That's how it all started.
Then, in September 2015, I started seeing so much gray. I thought, you know what? We're just going to do this. I researched a lot on YouTube and Pinterest, but I didn't really see anyone my age. I was 38 or 39 then. Everyone told me not to do it, that I'd look so old. But I felt like I didn't have a choice. I have to tell you, you mentally have to be prepared, but I don't think you ever truly are. Seeing a lot of white hair is just like, 'Oh my gosh, what's happening?' But I decided to embrace it. I thought, I can't be the only woman in her thirties going gray. I'm just going to do it.
Embracing The Change
After everything with infertility, I really felt like, what else am I going to do? So now, I've cut it all off into a bob, as you can see. This is about 10 months of letting it grow out. I honestly thought it would be all gray by now, but there's still so much black in my hair. The underneath is very gray, though. It's also a different texture, kind of wiry. Sometimes it makes my hair look fuller because it's doing something weird.
People ask me all the time if I highlighted my hair. I tell them no, I wouldn't highlight it like this. So, I'm kind of like a reverse ombre. It's become a bit of a joke. My husband said it's like 'geriatric in the front and party in the back.' We don't talk about that for long, but I thought it was kind of funny. You really need a sense of humor with this.
What I did was just stop dyeing it. I had to cut it off. My hair was really long before, and I couldn't have it this black with so much gray coming out. So, I cut it. I found a great hair stylist, and he cut it. It was actually a lot shorter back in February or March. I love it. I love how easy it is. It's more manageable than having long, black hair. If you're going to go gray, I'd just cut it.
I did think about doing a very short cut, like I had in my early twenties. But I felt I needed some of the black to help me through it. I didn't want to cut it super short, like Sharon Stone short, because I thought it would just show all the gray, and I wasn't sure how that would look. I'm still kind of working through it. But when I put my hair all the way back, it's all gray. It looks much grayer like this than when it's down. So, when I'm working, I put it back like that. That's why I keep it short; I don't want to put it in a ponytail every two minutes. I don't think that looks good. It needs to have a style because it's gray and black, and I want people to know I know what I'm doing with my hair, that it's not a big mess.
Tips For Your Own Gray Hair Journey
If you're thinking about going gray, I'd say just stop dyeing your hair. I asked if they could pull out the black, but they said it would turn orange and ruin my hair. So, I said fine. If it gets too white, they said they could add some lowlights, some darkness, basically reverse highlights.
If you're going to go gray, I really encourage you, girls. It's a bigger deal than it really is. It's not fun being gray in your thirties, but now that I'm 40, I embrace it. It's different; it's what my body wants to do. Luckily, it's white, not yellow. Some days I'm okay with it, and some days I'm like, 'What's happening? Why is it so white?' It's hard, but it goes with my philosophy of embracing your beauty, whatever that is. It could be freckles, a scar, a birthmark. This is just my story now.
I encourage you to love yourself for your differences and things you don't expect. I never expected this, and I'm just embracing it and moving forward, working with the gray as it grows out. That's really my journey. I didn't plan for it; it just happened. I've been cutting it and trying to keep it styled and maintained.
I don't do much to it, except sometimes I'll wash with purple shampoo. Besides that, I use a hydrating shampoo because gray hair needs moisture. It's a different texture now. I use a flat iron sometimes, or I curl it, just to kind of keep the whiter parts from looking too stark. It's more like a highlight now. That's it. I hope that answered your questions about my journey. It's just what happened, and that's it. I'll see you in my next video. Bye!
