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TOP STORY OF THE DAY: The Grey War - Embracing the grey
Our culture used to consider going grey as unwanted and a sign of aging, but now that deeply rooted blot is being embraced as a sign of strength, wisdom, and empowerment.
The national trend has caught the attention of many hair stylists, especially at Jocie’s Cosmetology School, 567 East National Ave., Brazil.
Sonya Weaver, owner, and instructor at Jocie’s, said it’s been popular for at least two years, if not longer.
“Honestly, all of them want to get some type of silver grey or ash when they get a blonde.” She said. “So they all want a cooler look instead of the warmer golden blonde.”
Weaver said more people want to embrace their natural color as it changes throughout life. However, many ask the big question; How long is it going to take?
“You have to be patient,” said Waver about the six to nine months, and up to a year, of waiting for short hair to grow out and even longer according to the hairstyle. “We’re talking 12 months closer to two years if you’ve got longer hair, and you have to be prepared to either cut a bunch off or have some highlights and low lights regularly to transition.”
However, going grey is not an old-age thing. People can have grey hair early in life because the “melatonin in our skin changes, and that’s where our hair color comes from.”
Stress is another factor in grey hair.
“If you think about how much stress impacts your life, health, heart, etc. Yeah, I’m sure that is a factor,” said Weaver, adding the second question is about the cost of transitioning to grey hair.
“I mean, you can just leave it alone and go through it that way,” said Weaver. “But it does take a few times, several visits, and it takes, you know, trusting your salon operator to get you there. So you know, you have to put it in their hands.”
The goal is to make the client happy, said Weaver, offering advice to those wanting to do it independently.
“If you’re doing it on your own, without a professional, definitely hydrate with purple shampoo and be patient,” advised Weaver. “Going through the process of stripping the hair and things like that, and you need to make sure you’re adding protein back into the hair that the chemicals pull out, and stay hydrated.”
Once a person goes silver or grey, there is a tendency to play with fashion colors.
“It’s a nice fun thing to do, said Weaver, who sees a lot of clients wanting pinks, purples, and lavenders, which work well in grey or silver hair. “They are semi-permanent colors, so they won’t stay in the hair forever. It will naturally fade, and it is easy to do.”
According to Weaver, the benefit is that if a person has second thoughts or a problem committing to the process, it can be fixed.
“We want our clients to be happy,” Weaver said. We want them to know what they want before they go for it. But the good thing about going grey is it’s easily fixable if something happens, or they change their mind.”
The stigma of going grey
The struggle of the “grey war” has been around for a long time. Starting around 1500 B.C., ancient Egyptians invented henna hair color to fight off grey hair.
Allowing unwanted grey hair was often associated with letting oneself go, insecurity, and doubts. For many women, it was considered a private matter to be hidden, a taboo.
Refusing to grow old and using somewhat expensive chemical hair color was a luxury for vain women in the early 20th century, adding to the societal pressure and perpetuating the ongoing stigma.
In the 1920s, advertisers mass-marketed the correlation between hair color and youthfulness. Slowly, over time, by the 1950 and 60s, with the creation of home dye kits, the hair coloring industry normalized and made it commonplace for women because they “were worth it.”
While a few men were known to color their hair, particularly public personalities and mostly with black dye, by the 1990s, advertisers began to market products for men that could be used discretely.