It's been a few months (or several? Time passes when--well, you know that old saying) since my decision to stop coloring my hair and just let my natural gray come in. By now I think it's safe to say that I have my dad's genes. Papi had a head full of chestnut brown hair for years (which went great with his espresso-brown eyes) and his hair really didn't turn mostly silver until right before he passed away in his late 70s.
And I'm not sure that picture to the right is a good representative, but you can see my gray mixed in with the dark brown, at least with the sun coming into the car and highlighting it.
Keep in mind that I'm one of those women who've experimented with color over the years. Lots of blond frostings, full head of black, blond and auburn, even a strawberry blond that, to put it bluntly, looked absolutely terrible on a naturally brunette Cuban woman. I didn't dye my hair because of age but rather because I liked changing my look from time to time.
There comes a time, though, when Nature really does know best. Just yesterday I was picking up foundation, and the hair color aisle was right next to the makeup aisles. I was tempted to pick up a box of auburn but promptly thought: "Nahhhh! I'm really liking the gray!"
Recently, too, a friend at work, who keeps her hair short, passed a group of us in the hallway and turned everybody's head. Though her new hairstyle would look great in any color, the silver in Barbie's hair totally MADE that gorgeous look. She was wearing more than her natural color; she was wearing confidence. That's the way this beautiful lady carries herself, though--not only with confidence, but with humor, personal style and grace.
She wears her silver with aplomb.
Speaking of short hair, I have flirted with the idea of getting mine cut again. It's just that it's taken so long to grow it to this length, so I'm hesitant to do that, plus I'd really like to see what it looks like as a long, silver bob! I'll check back again in a few months, perhaps with more strands of gray or a new 'do that, like Barbie's, shows off the color Nature has given me.
How about you? You walking past the hair color aisle these days, too? Has your silver also, like me and other women, inspired you to take a look at your wardrobe and make decisions about what you should keep, what you should give to Goodwill, and what you truly love to wear? Because I haven't given up on paring down, either, even when it comes to clothes. That means having only clothes that we honestly love and will wear in that closet.
We're women in our 50s, after all. We don't have to do whatever fashion dictates. WE decide what style is!
