For the past 15 months, hats have been a constant in my life — snappy fedoras mostly — as I sought to hide the unsightly evidence that I was ditching dye and allowing my natural hair color to grow out. Only in the last month have I started to go topless, more confident in my now shoulder-length strands of dark gray and — lookie there! — striking silver streaks.
The first months of my journey were the toughest, and in my weakest moments I had to resist the urge to skulk back to the salon to retrieve my former artificial color and highlights.
If only I’d had “Silver Hair: A Handbook” (Workman, $16.95), a new book by British-born hairstylist Lorraine Massey, who told me she is “rebranding” gray hair as “silver,” and refers to streaks as “sparkles” or “tinsel.” I love it.
“I’ve worked with women all my life and seen all the various stages, in their 30s, 40s, 50s, and the struggle that comes with all that,” she said by phone from her home in New York. “More and more women are secretly desiring to be free but they don’t know how.”
“Silver Hair” tells you how. It’s an overdue pep talk for women who no longer have the time, money or will to mask their natural hair color but are reluctant to act. Massey’s info-packed book provides straight talk on what to expect during the transition, DIY hair-care recipes and tips for adapting your wardrobe and makeup to your new look.
Most reassuring are the personal stories of women of all ages who transitioned and the no-shame photos of them at every grow-out stage.
Massey, 51, founder of Devachan salons and author of “Curly Girl: The Handbook,” said she has been growing out her cascading spirals for more than two years, learning to cope with her natural color through trial and error.
“I’m at the point where what’s wrong with looking your age? You can still have lots of energy and tons of style and look fabulous at any age,” she said.
“I think it’s all just your perception of your own life and own self.”
Highlights to blend the gray, er, silver as it grows out, and toners to neutralize uneven shades can ease the transition, but “the better way is to allow it to just do it. Cut it if you dare and just let it grow out.”
“There is no Holy Grail answer … ,” Massey said. “You’re going to have roots. It’s going to be hard, but once you make up your mind, it’s going to be fine.”
Her most urgent advice: Drop shampoo with drying sulfates and smoothing products with silicone, which essentially wraps your strands in plastic, blocking moisture absorption and triggering frizz, she said. (Massey will be releasing her own line of natural hair-care products in April; visit curlyworld.com.)
I’m still figuring out how to manage my ‘do, and when I do, I’ll update my photo above. But I don’t regret going natural. Not for a silver second.
“She Speaks” is a weekly column by women writers of the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Reach Christie Wilson at cwilson@staradvertiser.com.
