Forever young, I want to be forever young...
Despite my love for alliteration, "The Gray" portion of this experiment is by far the scariest. My idea of "embracing the gray" is twofold:
One: Literally embracing gray. I'm only 33 years old, but I am about 40% gray. That's right - I'm one buzz-cut away from Jaime Lee Curtis. Part of "The Gray" of this experiment will be my attempts to embrace my premature hair aging and see what it would be like to resemble my actual self.
Despite my love for alliteration, "The Gray" portion of this experiment is by far the scariest. My idea of "embracing the gray" is twofold:
One: Literally embracing gray. I'm only 33 years old, but I am about 40% gray. That's right - I'm one buzz-cut away from Jaime Lee Curtis. Part of "The Gray" of this experiment will be my attempts to embrace my premature hair aging and see what it would be like to resemble my actual self.
True Story: The research sparked by a recent hair appointment was the impetus for putting this whole experiment together. My roots were on a rampage, and I wanted to know my "safest" option for hair dye. I've been coloring my hair since I was 18, but in the last couple of years I have colored it several times a year in a futile attempt to hide the gray stripes lurking in my formerly chestnut tresses.
But guess what I found out? There is absolutely no such thing as "safe" or "green" hair dye. There are conflicting viewpoints on this topic, and The American Cancer Society has actually given hair dye the OK, but other research indicates that the chemicals that make them work are the ones that up your risk of bladder and bone marrow cancers. Twenty-two of the ingredients found in pretty much all of the commercially available hair dyes in the US have been banned in the EU. BANNED. For toxicity.
But guess what I found out? There is absolutely no such thing as "safe" or "green" hair dye. There are conflicting viewpoints on this topic, and The American Cancer Society has actually given hair dye the OK, but other research indicates that the chemicals that make them work are the ones that up your risk of bladder and bone marrow cancers. Twenty-two of the ingredients found in pretty much all of the commercially available hair dyes in the US have been banned in the EU. BANNED. For toxicity.
And so, I'm going to try to find out what happens when I work with my hair guy to grow out my color. I'm dreading it. But Les assures me that he thinks it "will be fun" to see what I would look like with gray hair. He's married to me, so he's stuck with me either way.
I'm going to think of it as an adventure. The point is to let my body be what it is, and love it anyway. If it turns out to impede my heart's progress too dramatically, well then, back to the risky dye or less-risky highlights I may go.
Two: Embracing the shades of gray about all of the trade offs we must make in our lives. Things like the pros and cons of recycling, ethical questions about the foods we eat, and where to spend our time and our money. If there were easy answers, I suspect we'd all be doing the right thing every time.
