Why More And More People Are Proudly Going Gray

Why More And More People Are Proudly Going Gray
Why More And More People Are Proudly Going Gray

More and more people, both men and women, are proudly showing their gray hair nowadays. For so long, hair has not been considered “pretty” if it was graying or gray. However, that is changing more and more.

Even celebrities and famous people are starting to show off their gray hair proudly. It has even become a trend that younger people have started to join in on. Even the occasional teenager and young adult have decided that being gray looks cool.

This new trend is picking up more momentum almost with each passing year. Perhaps you are curious about it, or maybe you are considering showing off your own gray. Either way, this is a subject that it is worth knowing more about.

Why People Try To Avoid The Gray

To truly understand why people are starting to take pride in their gray, it is necessary to look more closely at gray hair and some of the reasons why people avoid it in the first place. The first reason why people tend to avoid gray is, obviously, due to a need to keep up appearances.

Feeling the pressure to conform to what our culture deems as beautiful can require all kinds of things sometimes. Some of the things people do to improve their appearances include plastic surgery, tummy tucks, makeup, and more.

Covering up gray hair is, therefore, just one of the things that people do to follow the social norms. Also, people take it for granted that gray hair is a sign of age. As obsessed as our culture is with hiding our aging, it is no wonder that this most obvious sign is one that people want to cover up.

This is more so with women than with men, since many men tend to prefer younger women. The pressure to stay looking younger is, therefore, much greater for them. Sometimes, however, the pressure is not from the culture or other people.

Both men and women can love looking young, especially if they feel young still. When you feel young, you may not like to start looking like you are getting old, whether it is by getting crows feet or wrinkles, age spots, or gray hair.

More than avoiding grays, changing your hair color can simply be a way to change up your whole look. Playing with colors like this can be a lot of fun if you are tired of your hair looking the same way every day or if you want to draw attention to your hair or simply want to have a bit of fun.

Why More And More People Are Proudly Going Gray

The Most Common Reasons People Choose Gray

People can choose to go with their gray for a number of different reasons. It is even possible to choose to dye your hair gray while you are still too young to have few, if any, gray hairs of your own. Though this is something that is done even less often, this makes doing so only stand out all the more.

To Avoid Chemicals

There may be a ton of different hair coloring products out there, but there are some ingredients that are common. For the most part, hair color ingredients are not good for you at all. Some of these common ingredients are quite the opposite.

Ammonia is one of the more common ingredients, especially in permanent dyes. This not only dries out your hair, but it is responsible for the burning sensation that can sometimes affect your scalp when you are dying your hair.

While ammonia is used to lighten your hair, another chemical called paraphenylenediamine (PPD) is just as often used to darken your hair. This is every bit as bad of a chemical as ammonia is. PPD has been known to cause severe reactions.

Parabens are also frequently found in hair colors. There has been a lot of controversy about whether paraben causes cancer. Paraben is found only in small amounts, which is low enough amounts to be deemed safe.

However, it can build up over time, especially if you use a lot of other hair products that also have paraben in them. These three coloring chemicals are just a few of the more common ingredients in hair colors that are bad for you.

All of that being said, if you are trying to be healthy and to live a natural life, you will not want to use any of these chemicals. True, there are some hair colors that are more natural than others. However, even these often have something in them that you should avoid.

If you struggle to stay healthy or are sensitive to chemicals, then choosing to not dye your hair may be even more important to you. It is far better to stay healthy and gray than to damage your health just to color your hair.

To Save Time And Money

While coloring your hair yourself can save you some money, there is no denying the fact that having to consistently color your hair is an expense. If you go to a stylist to get your hair colored, this expense adds up to even more.

To hide the roots of your hairs effectively, you have to touch up your color every few weeks for as long as you want your hair to be colored. This can add up to hundreds of dollars every year that you could be spending elsewhere.

On top of that is the amount of time that it takes to color your hair. While getting everything ready, dyeing your hair, and then putting everything back the way it was may not seem like a whole lot of time, if your schedule is already crammed then every minute is precious.

If you are going with a lighter hair color, you often have to lighten your hair first. This only adds to both the cost and the time that you will be wasting by having your hair colored. Products to lighten your hair have to be bought separately if you are doing your own hair, or you have to spend a longer amount of time at your hair salon.

If you have highlights or more than one color in your hair, this is another factor that adds to the cost and the time. There are a host of ways that you can get your hair colored, but anything more than one color costs.

Some people are not pinched on money and find that relaxing in the chair of a hair salon is a great way to relax. However, there are plenty of other relaxing hobbies that you can take up in the time you are not getting your hair colored.

To Attract Attention

Silvery grays can look quite dazzling, and soft grays that are nearly white can make quite a statement when they are paired with streaks of bright colors like red, pink, or even purple. Besides being eye-catching, other grays can look downright classy.

It all depends on what exact shade of gray that you are going for. The fact that it is still relatively uncommon for people to choose to go gray means that you will attract some amount of notice. The younger you are when you make this decision, the more notice you are likely to attract.

Blondes, brunettes, redheads, and people with black hair are seen every day. However, grays are a much less common color to see and can stand out in a crowd. Besides standing out, if you wear your gray hair with confidence it can make the statement that you are truly comfortable in your own skin and in yourself.

Some people don’t like to stand out, preferring to blend in, and there is nothing wrong with that. But id you want to be more memorable and easy to spot, or like making yourself into some kind of a statement, then this could be a good reason for you to go gray.

It Is A Medal Of Wisdom

While gray hair is a sign of old age, most people have at least heard that gray hair is a sign of wisdom too. It shows that you have lived long enough to gain experience with life.

More and more people are referring to gray hair as silver, no matter what shade of gray you have, for this reason. This can be referred to as your ‘silver medal’ of wisdom in some circles and capitalizes on the fact that, while gray has some negative connotations, silver is considered to be valuable and desirable.

Thinking of gray as a silver medal can require you to change your way of thinking a little. However, since it is bound to happen eventually, it is far better to start thinking of your gray hair in this way sooner rather than later.

The more people begin seeing silver hair as a medal to be desired, the more people there will be who choose to have gray hair, and the more it will be looked upon as a normal or even a good thing to have.

How To Be Proud And Gray

Why More And More People Are Proudly Going Gray

Whether or not you choose to go gray, you should always remember that it is your decision. If you are feeling pressured to color your hair in any way by anyone about the fact that you are starting to show some grays, then you should put your decision on hold.

Caving into pressure can often lead to resentment later on. This is not to mention the fact that it really doesn’t help your self-esteem to feel like you must change yourself to fit in. In order to feel confident about going gray, you should first change your mindset.

You will probably not be able to change your mindset all at once if you have always believed that gray hair was something to be avoided. One thing that you can do to help change your mindset is to take a look at some famous people who are proud of their grays.

Helen Mirren and Jamie Lee Curtis are two women who arguably look even better with gray hair than they do with hair that is colored. And these are just two of the more well-known women. There are actors, models, designers, and all kinds of other people who outright rock gray hair.

Some of these people have blogs that tell in detail their stories of what prompted them to go gray and their journey of what they went through. These can be very inspiring to read if you are doubting that you could go through with it.

These blogs sometimes put you in touch with other people, both men and women, who are making the same decision you are. Getting to know these other people who are going through the exact same thing is literally a support group if you choose to let it be one.

Final Thoughts

One reason why some people avoid going gray is that they think that gray looks plain and drab. The truth is that there are so many options for gray hair that there is not enough space to name them all.

Gray hair that has a purple undertone to it is often a great option for almost anyone. This is what is called a ‘warm’ gray, and it goes with almost any hair tone and face shape. The purple in it tends to bring out the pink in a person’s cheeks, helping them to seem healthy and even young.

Other grays are cool and can have blue undertones to them. While these grays look good on some people, these ten to bring out any yellowish or greenish colors that might be in a person’s complexion, which is not exactly flattering.  

You may be surprised by the fact that even hair shades that are somewhere between light blonde and gray also have some form of an undertone to them that is not yellow. The point is that gray does not have to look dull or bland by any means.

So, if you are thinking about going gray yourself, it is definitely something that is well worth your consideration. Thanks to the fact that more and more famous people are going gray, it is getting easier and easier for ordinary people to follow suit.

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Christopher is the founder of Hair Loss Geeks, which launched back in 2011. At the time there wasn't any credible information on the internet about hair loss. As someone suffering from hair loss himself, Christopher began his extensive research journey. After launching the site, he later graduated from Boston University in 2012 with his PhD in Biochemistry. What started off as a hobby project quickly became a bigger focus as it grew. Christopher hopes everyone can learn from both his experience and research.

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