One of the lesser consequences of the quarantine is the growing number of women who are becoming more aware of just how gray, or not gray, they really are. If, like me, you started covering the gray when those first few hairs sprouted, it may be years, even decades, since you’ve known, really known, what color your hair is now.
Back in the annals of hair history (say, the fifties and sixties), showing dark roots was considered tacky, slovenly. It went hand-in-hand with wearing matted, fuzzy slippers to the grocery store, a cigarette bobbing between lips smeared a garish orangey-pink. Then, that same look became an actual, sought-after hair style, sexy and young – the reverse ombré (well, minus the slippers and bobbing cig). Now, with the closure of hair salons due to the need for social distancing, a new take on the reverse ombré is having its day. Rather than dark roots on light, it’s light roots topping any shade under the sun.
Roots – the kind that grow from your scalp – are having their day. Call it skunk stripe, helmet of shame or crown of light – sporting a broadening band of gray/white/silver, and every shade in between, is a global phenomenon. A badge of honor? Why not. An intentional hairstyle, a choice? Again, why not.
Back in the annals of hair history (say, the fifties and sixties), showing dark roots was considered tacky, slovenly. It went hand-in-hand with wearing matted, fuzzy slippers to the grocery store, a cigarette bobbing between lips smeared a garish orangey-pink. Then, that same look became an actual, sought-after hair style, sexy and young – the reverse ombré (well, minus the slippers and bobbing cig).
Now, with the closure of hair salons due to the need for social distancing, a new take on the reverse ombré is having its day. Rather than dark roots on light, it’s light roots topping any shade under the sun.
These are stressful, frightening, out-of-our-comfort-zone times. It’s a time for reflection too – of the abundance we’ve taken for granted, our habits as consumers, the ways we use time and resources. For many women, roots, and what to do about them, may be up for reassessment too. Why not? Those bold stripes are asserting themselves more stridently day by day.
Why not give them a long close-up squint in the looking glass. Lean in. What tune is your band of unruly roots singing?
“Look at me!”
“Wee, I’ve grown!”
“See, I’m not so bad, am I?”
And, what will you say back to your glossy-glass visage?
“Hmm, the contrast isn’t so stark as I imagined it would be.”
“I actually kind of like the color.”
“Now that I’ve seen more, I’m kind of curious to see it through.”
Maybe some of that, with a splash of:
“Oh dear, Bill has no idea how gray I actually am.”
“Oh dear, Bill doesn’t even know I dye my hair.”
“Oh dear, Bill can be such a simpleton. I’m 82 for god’s sake.”
How you choose to answer the call of your new-found roots is, of course, up to you. It’s a choice. A cosmetic choice, to be sure, but still, a choice every woman surely has the right to make for herself. You may decide you’ve seen enough to know you’ll cover it up at the first opportunity. Or, you may be thinking, “It’s time.”
After all, it’s only hair, and lord knows there are more pressing matters to attend to.
Speaking of which, don’t abandon your loyal hair stylist, who is likely struggling with lost income. A skilled colorist can work wonders to ease the growing-out process, adding low-lights and high-lights to blend new growth with old, giving you a head-turning (in a good way), très au courant, reverse ombré.
Insert: Shameless plug for GRAY IS THE NEW BLACK, one woman’s (meaning me) memoir of coming to terms with age (hair, yo-yo dieting, binge eating, relationships – meaning sex – past sixty, etc.). It’s funny, timely, timeless, relatable and sometimes sad.
AND, the e-book is free on Kindle Unlimited or only $2.99 for non-subscribers. (The paperback – published by the awesome Otis Books, and distributed by equally-awesome Small Press Distribution – is currently out-of-print; second printing forth-coming, which is very cool indeed.)
Check out some of the reviews of GRAY IS THE NEW BLACK: A Memoir of Self- Acceptance – all good (not that I would likely post bad ones, well, that’s not true, I would).
Dorothy RiceDorothy Rice is the author of the memoirs GRAY IS THE NEW BLACK (Otis Books, June 2019) and THE RELUCTANT ARTIST (Shanti Arts, 2015). Her personal essays and fiction have been published in journals and magazines including The Rumpus, Brain Child Magazine and Hippocampus. After raising five children and retiring from a career managing statewide environmental protection programs, Rice earned an MFA in Creative Writing from UC Riverside, Palm Desert, at 60. She also works for 916 Ink, a Sacramento youth literacy nonprofit. You can find Dorothy at dorothyriceauthor.com, and on twitter at @dorothyrowena.
I loved your book, Dorothy. Your hair looks great. For your sisters who couldn’t embrace the gray before the pandemic closed all of the salons, it is not a great look. I’m one of them and not a very happy camper.
Thanks, Laurie. I know, right?! When it wasn’t something you planned, it can be irritating. And it looks like you have darker brown hair, like my sisters and I. The first inch or two can be very stark!
Dorothy, I love this! When I read your book, Gray is the New Black, I toyed with the idea of growing my hair out, but couldn’t quite bring myself to do it. Now, though, is the perfect opportunity, as you say. I even have a paragraph about that in my story, “Don’t Stand So Close to Me.” And I love that you call it reverse ombré – that makes me feel so much more glamorous! Thanks for sharing with us!
I know, I love the reverse ombre. One of my daughters-in-law said it to me when I was about six inches into the grow out and I thought, wow, that sounds pretty legit!
Wonderful! I’ve been dying my dark hair 22 years, at the first sign of little silver. My next appointment was the day salons shut down. It’s been 7 weeks now and I am finding out just how gray I am! I commented to my husband yesterday (who never notices). He thought it was distinctive! I can’t wait to get back to the salon!
I’ll bet it is distinctive! But I can certainly understand wanting to get back to the salon. Some days (if I’m completely honest) I feel the same.
So far I kind of like it. I never intended to keep coloring my hair forever, just buy 5 to 10 years. We’ll see how it continues to change but most likely it’s adios to coloring.
Yes, I’ve been hearing that from a number of people – the adios to coloring, that is. Even my older sister, who I thought would never consider giving up the hair dye, is giving it some serious thought. The unintended consequences of a pandemic!
Wonderful Dorothy, your book sounds like it speaks to me! Will order and add to my night table stack along with the zillion old New Yorkers I haven’t read yet – if we don’t have the time now, when?
Will also check your website and please try mine!
http://www.WorldThruBrownEyes.com
As for my grey roots – I’m 76 for god’s sake!
Thanks, Dana. I hope you enjoy it. The first edition is out of print – hopefully the publisher will get the second printing out by this summer. In the meantime, I did put an e-book together. Amazon Kindle. I will for sure check out your website! I love the last line – you’re 76, for god’s sake!! I don’t know what people think sometimes.
Great Dorothy, will try to get you on my Kindle!
Stay safe, stay gray!
Perfect timing, Dorothy, to go gray gracefully. I’m luckier than some in that my natural hair was dark blond, so the contrast isn’t that noticeable. Before the pandemic, I’d already had my colorist do highlights, so now my hair looks like a combo of platinum and gray (see my photo in the lower left of the prompt image). It helps not to look like Cruella de Ville, reverse ombre. I retired a couple of years ago and am comfortable with being gray-haired, although now I’m doing a freelance job with people I’ve never met in person and who see me virtually. There is only one other woman on the team, and the men over a certain age have gray hair, so why not us?
Glad you enjoyed it! Yes, blondes have an easier time with the transition, it seems. Mine was a dark brown, but honestly I got to where I liked the reverse ombre look, though it’s mostly cut off by now. It is such a double standard with the men. Oh well …
Well, you have gorgeous hair with or without the gray, Dorothy! (I have long hair as well and am always happy to see another “woman of a certain age” embracing that choice.) Have you noticed how many models we’re seeing these days that are gray and look fabulous? They even have gray dye for those who want to go gray but haven’t yet…it’s a minor trend with young people (Ariana Grande, Lady Gaga to name two). My hair is still dark for the most part but when I do spot those silvery hairs, I never pull them because I actually feel a certain tenderness towards them…I’ve earned them!
Well, thanks for that! I’ve been questioning the long lately – but I know from past experience that whenever I hack it off, I end up regretting it because it’s so much harder to style when short. My daughter dyed hers gray for awhile. It looked great but it’s actually a very hard color to achieve – unless it happens naturally, lol. And yes! You have earned them.