#GrayHairMovement is here to stay, and I feel like my experience can inspire other women to join it. Now, after quitting coloring my hair, I blossom like never before and get tons of compliments every day. Moreover, this decision led me to other brave actions, such as designing a new profession and spreading my words online. Read on to learn from my gray hair transition story, a story of self-love and acceptance!
My Context, My Brown Hair
I was born and raised in Argentina. I always loved dancing, acting, and striking poses for photos. I was also good at math, and so I developed a successful career in Market Research. My profession took me from Buenos Aires to London, and from working as an executive for top brands to having my own blooming agency. During these 2 decades, I became an expert in brands, image, and in communicating emotions to people.
In my late 40s, still working in my former profession, I moved to London. By that time, I was feeling deeply that I needed a career change. As for my hair, I colored it as needed, even though I didn’t feel like I had the time or natural interest in that. The first silver strands had occurred by that moment, and I felt like I was beginning a new chapter in life. It was in only my power to make it good or bad.
A Need to Lighten My Day to Day
Along with thinking of doing something new, I brought to life something I had in mind since my early 40s: Stop coloring my hair to hide the whites. I was tired of spending fortunes and hours at hairdressers having my hair colored, and, as a newcomer to London, I was struggling with time and money. Hiding my whites meant visiting the salon every 2 weeks, so finally getting rid of the compulsory every-2-weeks hairdresser visit fit perfectly with the possibility of investing that time and money on more rewarding things.
Deep Determination
The real truth was, that, disguised in a practical effect, I deeply wanted to see how silver hair will look on me. I didn’t have any special apps like The Right Hairstyles’ Virtual Makeover to try on my future look.
I had wanted that for many years, but having lived in a more traditional society where women, independently of their age, had to look young, I hadn’t found the determination up to then. I have always found well-groomed gray-haired women to be elegant and confident, and this was the moment for me. I really wanted to experience how embracing my natural hair will look will feel. September 2015 was my last hair coloring; now I just had to be patient, and stick to my decision.
What Gray Hair Brought
Almost half a year of my gray hair transition story has passed, I had almost completely gotten rid of the remaining tint, and I was really comfortable my new silver look, I felt happy with my image.
On top of that, I noticed that everywhere I went, people said, “I love your hair, I love your look”. I could feel a kind of inspiration from women, like if they were saying “I would love to embrace my grays, stop caring about hiding my age, and being free”. And from men, I feel something like, “Wow! How well does a natural, confident woman look, even if she is not young”.
I realized that embracing my silver hair made me embrace aging, too. I started feeling more confident and freer than ever. I was becoming aware of the benefits that come with age: Wisdom, experience that leads to empathy for others, and a sort of peaceful pride for the life I have created. Conscious awareness that all that I was was the product of my own choices.
Wearing my white hair was a way to say to the world, “Here I am, at my age, and aging is great”.
Designing a New Profession
By that time, I still hadn’t sorted out the twist in my career. I was still outlining a new way of living. I had some photos taken for my Market Research agency website, and the photographer suggested I was a natural model, so I said, “Why not?” I sent photos to agencies with my new gray-haired look, and since then, I have been booked non-stop for modeling and acting jobs.
But my main ambition, was (and is) to motivate people to be brave, to embrace change and follow their dreams.
And it was like that that I started using my new acting/modeling career, and my gray hair as an inspiration to people to dare to twist the direction, let old things and beliefs go, and pursue dreams … to be authentic, and embrace who we really are. Through my blog and social media, I opened a dialogue about embracing what life, time, and aging bring. I am still shaping that day by day. I discovered that, if I speak my truth that resonates, and many people get inspired by my gray hair transition story, then that’s my own inspiration, and I feel truly rewarded.
Stopping hiding my white hair and embracing my silver look was like saying to the world, “I am this age, and I don’t want to go back to being young again. I have already been, enjoyed it, and have accumulated experiences which make me happy now”. And also, as a secondary benefit, this gray hair transition story made me find a way to make a turn in my career to finding a new profession I really love.
If I can inspire one person to take a little step in the direction of his or her dreams, I have done my job.
