It is an interesting assumption that all women dye their hair because they want to maintain their youthful looks. Well yes the idea of being an ageless beauty is, of course, the way most people want to live their lives, but what happens to women when it comes to our hair colour as we age?
The most common thing for women to do as they age is to dye their hair.
It is supposedly ‘youthful’ to remain the same colour
with your hair and not go grey, but why is that?
Oh Fair Maiden.
It starts with the young woman as a girl and teen with her naturally blonde, sandy hair and as she ages and moves into her 20s her hair starts to change to a dark blonde sometimes known as ‘mousey’ colour. This is the moment the hairdresser or she herself, begins to colour her hair. As the ritual continues the hair is bleached to suit the seemly ideal picture that ‘blonde’ is better. The years tick by and the hair is bleached time and time again or alternately dyed to evoke a look that is suitable to the wearer’s taste. But as we travel the sometimes stormy seas of ageing, the body and face and hair will also change. The colour from the hair which is the pigment, will often but not always, begin to fade to grey. It could be anything from a light salt and pepper transition to a full white change with all shades of grey in between.
Sometimes some women have not seen their true colour
for years and as it begins to reveal itself in the roots of the dyed hair,
this is often treated as a dirty little secret.
But why? What happens to us to feel the need to dye from teen to death do us part?
Dropping a blonde shell
85% of women around the world colour their hair
with only an astounding 3% being natural blondes.
To dye or not to dye.
It’s not a matter of not. It’s more a matter of why?
The natural colour of your hair suits your skin colour. It highlights your skin and the colour of your eyes. When you dye your hair the skin is then compromised in terms of the reflection of colour and is forced to adapt and catch up with makeup to give back the skin its colour and light. The dye/bleach is harsh on your hair and skin and is absorbed into the body and is also stripping the hair of it’s natural texture and quality, making it often dry, brittle and porous.
If we are trying to 'improve' ourselves, rather than first love ourselves, the dying or bleaching of hair is a constant reminder of our unwillingness to accept our natural selves. Continuing to hide our natural colour and opt for a ‘younger’ look can actually appear more ageing and present an unwillingness to be who we truly are.
Faking it.
The bleaching of hair is so common that women turn to each other and see the sea of fair hair of many, but in truth, more people than not are ‘bottle blonding’ and if we all decided to put down the gloves and stepped slowly away from the peroxide we would see that most women are not their natural colour.
The dying of the greys is an age-old art and is there any wonder why? The world says you age, you lose! But what do we lose? We go from bleach bottle to bleach bottle never truly appreciating and accepting our natural colour and process of ageing with grace.
A bleach-free head of hair can be confronting. Asking us to accept the greys and change can be a challenge. Let’s take a look at why it’s an option to go free-range.
Why hide?
You are beautiful.
Not just your looks, your very essence of who you are.
So the face and body that is yours this life,
is to be loved and accepted for all its natural shape, look and reflection.
It goes through cycles and has a naturally changing process.
Dying your hair without first loving you, robs you from you and hides you from us.
A cut above the rest.
A good haircut that suits your face shape is never to be underestimated. Know what suits you and don’t be afraid to mix it up. Find a good hairdresser that really listens to you and knows how to transition the look by adjusting the coloured hair to shades of grey, to move you back to natural if that’s your choice. Condition and care for your natural hair. Nourish it. Keep it clean and tidy and beautifully presented. Learn how to style it and dry it and iron it and move it. Take the time and give yourself the space to style your hair in the morning before to move through your day.
Show us your greys.
They suit you.
They match the tone of your skin
and the magic in your eyes.
Let us see you.
Ageing gracefully is sexy.
A life choice.
Dying and bleaching hair over the span of your whole life is exhausting. Yes, do it if it feels true, but do yourself a favour and go deep within to know the true you before you ever make it about your looks first. Your beauty is beyond the bleach bottle and you are robbing yourself the chance to know the being in the body, before the shell that it’s living in temporarily. When it comes down to it, this is not saying no to bleach and dye but more a matter of why?
Love you
Do yourself a massive favour. Dye and bleach your hair only when you truly love you. That way the impulse is one of utter joy and celebration and not of hiding and shame. And how do you love you? Now there’s the trillion-dollar question. Easy. Stop what you are doing a connect. Take time to appreciate who you are and let go of everything you are not. And...every time you decide to change sometime about your looks or hair or body, take a moment to stop and deeply connect to the depth of who you truly are, the light within and celebrate that being expressed, in full.
The more we embrace our natural colours from teen to twilight the more we say yes to true beauty and ultimately true love. Then when we do sport colour we do it with the power and authority we have as a woman who knows herself and loves herself with every particle of her being.