Deciding to go natural and showing my grey hair was the easiest thing to do in the world, yet at the same time one of the hardest things to let go of. As a woman I always feared grey hair. As a Persian woman I absolutely dreaded it. We all grow up with one core understanding, or so I thought, grey equals old. I would get root touchups every two weeks. I had no idea how grey I was since I always kept up with my root touchups; grey didn’t sound sexy at all.
Why did I go natural?
There came a point in my life that I realized I love myself with all my flaws and imperfections and I wasn’t going to hide anything or apologize for who I was and how I looked. I must admit, silver hair color being a trend a few years ago helped my decision in going natural tremendously. When I noticed people with dark hair would dye their hair to look like my natural hair color, I didn’t see why I should keep coloring my hair… And I was really curious to know how grey I was. I noticed however as I began this journey, grey isn’t necessarily grey. As my roots began to grow I could actually conceptualize the possible colors I would be working with. Grey was the predominant color of course, but I noticed a few pure white strands as well as this beautiful silver that flowed throughout. To make the transition easier, I cut my hair real short and for the last time I bleached my hair to get to platinum blond.
April 2017, Short haircut to start going natural
I tinted my hair silver with this sulfate-free purple mask. As my roots were growing, it just looked like highlights. I kept my natural grey bright using this purple shampoo so my natural grey hair would match the silver color.
May 2017, Silver toned hair using the purple mask and shampoo
Once my roots were long enough, I cut my hair short again and got rid of the ends that had the silver color and, Voilà!…I was all natural.
November 2017- Natural roots growing and blending with my silver toned hair
Going natural had its downsides at first. Though slight, there was a bit of a learning curve. Grey hair tends to be a bit coarse, wiry and stubborn and it can have many fly-aways; hence the formulation of our amazing Nourishing Hair Oil to tame the unruly grey.
March 2018- Final haircut to get rid of the colored ends and go natural
Benefits of going natural:
Low Maintenance & Low Cost: It will save you a ton of money and time. No longer do I have to journey to the salon every two to three weeks, nor do I have to experiment with home coloring kits.
Healthier and Safer: On a healthy note, I no longer have to worry about what all of those chemicals are doing to me, no more bleaches, no more synthetic dyes, my head is all natural and organic now, it might even be vegan but I don’t really want to find out! :-)
Trendy: Going grey these days has become quite the trend and gray hair happens to be one of the most sought-after hair trends. We gotta keep up with the trend, right?
Sexy & Gorgeous: Just like you, your grays are beautiful and deserve to be embraced and loved. And who doesn’t love such expressions of and self-love and confidence?
How to brighten and soften grey hair:
I must say, I do use more products to nourish, moisturize and strengthen my hair now than I did before. I am trying to reverse the effects of all those years of abuse bleaching and coloring my hair. Besides, gray hair tends to be drier than the pigmented hair. To keep your gray hair looking its best, you need to pamper it with some high quality nourishing oil.
Nourish Hair. I use nourishing hair oil to keep my roots strong and ends from splitting. Using the oil as a hair mask also makes the stubborn grey hair softer and more manageable. Herbal tinctures can also be very beneficial such as sage, rosemary or horsetail but you have to be careful of the ones that might leave a yellowish tint on your beautiful silver color. Olive oil and argan oil can be used as great hair masks too, both are great for moisturizing, protecting and repairing damaged hair. As with any oil used as a mask, you can either leave it overnight or just leave it for at least 30 minutes or more before washing it out. Apply a few drops again after your shower while your hair is still damp to help lock in the moisture and keep the hair soft.
Protect Hair. Gray hair like our skin, can be damaged or turn yellow if exposed to too much sun (UV rays), chlorine, or the mineral deposits in your water. Try wearing a nice hat on sunny days to protect both hair and skin. If you swim, you can wear a swim cap or rinse your hair thoroughly with clean water before and after swimming so that it doesn’t soak up the chlorinated water. If you don’t have soft or filtered water throughout the house, you can get one of these inexpensive shower filters to protect your silver locks and your skin from harsh minerals and chlorine in the water.
In closing I have to say, going grey has been extremely liberating and empowering for me. I wear my silver proud, and get attention from many people. Though bold, it is no more bold than just being my natural self. So I challenge those who are accustomed to coloring your hair, to either ride the trend or just get a little lazy. I can guarantee you’ll save money and time in the process! My most asked question: why did you go grey? Simply because it’s BEAUTIFUL and I want to finally be MYSELF!
Thank you for this blog post. My wife is starting to go natural and we came across this blog. She is now determined to let it go all the way. She hasn’t colored her hair in 6 months and its starting to look beautiful.