Would a Self-Respecting Baby Boomer Woman Color Her Hair?  Or Not Color Her Hair?

 

What is your position on hair coloring?  Do you do it or are you going gray?  Are you radical about the issue?  Do you think that no self-respecting baby boomer woman should color her hair?  Do you see this as a phony attempt to stay young and deny the passing of time and accumulation of maturity?  

I've read some forum posts recently about the benefits of going gray.  I've seen my peers going gray for the most part.  Some of them never colored their hair.  Some did, but have chosen to stop.  One stopped because she became concerned about the chemicals.  For some, we haven't had the discussion about just what motivates them to 'go gray'.

 

My story follows, of course, but it is incidental to the main bloomer chorus line and the decision.  I suspect that baby bloomer women are driven by their full schedule. 

 

Many of us are still part of the sandwich generation.  We have children on one hand and parents needing care on the other hand.  Many of us are still in the working world because we need money or we have rewarding careers.  While we want to look our best, we want to achieve that by being able to make the run in as much of a straight    line as possible.   

 

If we can achieve a look we find comfortable and complimentary which requires less monetary and energy investment, we are likely to choose it.  I believe we are exercising our mature wisdom to do so.

 

Some of us will color our hair to achieve a texture we want or a complexion compliment we need.  Contrary to the purists, gray hair is not complimentary to all complexions.  A light ash coloring or a frosted tip application can keep a bloom on our coloring that helps us appear at the best level matching our energy. 

 

Then, some cut their hair shorter because those perky cutes are cute, darn it. And often they are easier to maintain.   Remember, we invented brush rollers and hot rollers.  We have the right to be just sick and tired of them.  Some mature hair thins and was fine from day one.  The shorter styles present with attractive energy.  Some have hair texture and face shapes that work well with longer styles.  I say, good for you, girl. 

 

Personally, I have a good time coloring my hair.  I don't have a lot of gray hair and with a strawberry blonde to light brown natural color, the gray doesn't show very much anyway.  At least that was the case the last time I checked.

 

I do it myself, having found some products that I like to use.  I used to color my hair before gray because I have very fine hair. The coloring gave my hair more body and let me forego permanent waves which I didn't care much for.  I don't care much for extreme colors and have found shades that must be pretty near the natural color because it takes months for the roots to be very obvious.   That shade choice is a guess because I really cannot remember what my natural color is.

 

As hair styles have become more casual, I like to be able to have a style that will let me shower and run.  If I really want to, I can blow dry.  If I want to get FANCY, I can grab a curling iron.  But the days of roller curlers and the big bag hair dryer are history.   In a more humid climate, I cut my hair pretty short in summer because it will curl just a bit and give me even more freedom.  That little big of curl happens with coloring and without.  In winter, I let my hair grow into more of a long bob which lets me play with clips and headbands.   The scissors often come out when I cannot find clips or headbands that do not give me a headache.  Not matter what color my hair is, I cannot stand hair in my face, but control tools that make my headache won't work either.  I am just intolerant of suffering pain or irritation.

 

What has been your choice for hair coloring and style?  What was your motivation.   I would love to hear from you about your choices.  There is not wrong statement here….all the choices are individual.  I encourage each beautiful, baby boomer woman to make choices that help her bloom attractively.