Great Gray Hair Products and Makeup Round Up!

*This post contains some Amazon Associate links. I just wanted you to know that I haven't been paid to talk about any of these products and none have been gifted to me. I simply like the following items and would love to share what I've found with you! To read my complete disclosure, please see HERE! Thank you! *

Hair Sisters!  \(^-^)/ (I feel like calling you "Hair Sisters" instead of "Silver Sisters" for a change. Is that ok?) Hair Sisters, I am back once more with a few of my recent favorites. You can see from the photo below that I have totally thrown my "natural beauty products only" aspirations out the window. Actually, it was done out of yellowed hair desperation.  If I could find and afford only eco beauty products that truly work, I would easily choose to steer clear of anything conventional. That said, one, maniacal night, I was driven to order all of the hair  products that I feared the most on Amazon. Products that promised to make my lack-luster gray, SPARKLE!!!!!  I really needed help.

A purple toned gel to hold your style but not yellow it, some V05 goop to soften and smooth, and a RINSE (go ahead, you can laugh) to brighten up even the most dull heads of hair. That's what I've got for you today. Because I've neglected to cart myself off to the salon since last summer *gasp* , my hair has kind of paid for it. As time has gone on and I've gotten more white than gray hair, my color tended to take on brassy, yellow tones. Going to see my hairstylist Lydia helps immensely. She gives me a trim and a clear glaze with a hint of blueing in it to brighten my white. I REALLY need to go see her, but in the meantime, being busy with homeschool and all, I decided to try a temporary fix at home.

Here's a picture that I quickly took this morning. I tried smiling, but honestly, I just HATE taking pictures of myself. (I do it for YOU Hair sisters!) I feel like when I smile, it's even worse- my eyes squint and I get chipmunk cheeks and my nose scrunches up. Not a good look.  The point of this picture is to show you that after using the above products, my hair was brightened quite a bit! 

Ok, here's at least a half-smile. It's more "me" than the serious photo above. ;)

So you can see that my hair is quite white and bright at the moment. I've been trying out this trio of products for about a month now. Let me tell you about each one, and how I've been using them....

For starters, I'm still using whatever shampoo and conditioner is lying around our shower. It's usually a Renpure Organics Argan Oil Shampoo & Conditioner. Recently though, I've been more conscious to use a "purple" shampoo and conditioner at least a couple of times a week. You can see my "My Favorite Products" page for a list of my top natural and more conventional purple shampoos and conditioners. Since I've use up my "eco" ones for the time being, I've been using my 

Pantene Silver Expressions Color Enhancing Shampoo and Conditioner.  I like the stuff! No, it's not natural, or super special, but I feel that it works quite well when I need to get some of the yellow out and to brighten up.

After I wash my hair, this is when I...... USE MY NEW RINSE!!!! Maybe I'm naive, but I've always thought that rinses were something that grandmothers in the 1950's used. I might be wrong. Also, I've heard horror stories about white haired people (like myself) who accidentally turn their hair purple from a bluing rinse. I don't want to do that! After little free time and limited extra money for a trip to the salon, I became brave enough to try a rinse for in-between visits. I've heard that a lot of people get good results from Roux Fanci-full Rinse #49 Ultra White Minx. Guys, this is the stuff!
Thumbs up! I think it totally worked for me, and no purple hair look included! Apart from being terrified about the chemicals and annoyed every time I have to apply it, this is it! It works.

With damp, post-shower hair, I wrap a towel around my shoulders and stand over the bathroom sink. (Don't imagine this scene.) Roux Fanic-Full Ultra White Minx is a very watery, purple color rinse that deposits an undetectable amount of bluing onto your hair, neutralizing any yellow tones until the next time when you wash it out. Surprisingly, I personally have not had any purple staining on my hands or scalp or even white towel. Maybe I'm just careful with washing my hands and where I apply it, but I find the color in this rinse not to be a problem. You can read the reviews on Amazon to see how other women apply this rinse to their hair, but I just carefully squirt some from the pointed tip of the bottle onto the top of my head and then comb through. CAREFUL TO AVOID DRIPPING INTO EYES! I've also poured a bit into my hands, and then leaned over the sink or tub and applied it directly to the areas of my hair that are most yellow. One thing I've noticed is that it pays to saturate your ends and other places that are dull.

Next I put my hair up in pony tail for a few or I go right to drying my hair. I've only ever dried it on warm/hot with a brush, but see no yellowing with this product. In fact, my hair comes out whiter and brighter than before!

After drying my hair I've been using my large Conair curlers that have a velvety surface.  I know heat styling isn't the best, but my hair is so poofy and unruly, it REALLY helps to smooth down the frizz. I like to use my Giovanni 2chic Avocado and Olive Oil Super Potion as a heat protectant most of the time. It also helps to smooth out the hair shaft. After curling, I comb my hair, and if I want to set my style, like I did today, I use a small, dime size dab of One 'n Only's Shiny Silver Gel! I wondered if "purple" gel was any different from everyday clear gel products. It doesn't seem to be, and this gel is not what I would call "SUPER hold," but I like it a lot. For one, it doesn't make my hair stiff or crunchy at all, but it does help to keep down some of my flyways. Also, I figure, the purple tone isn't yellowing my hair, so why not. It can only help, right?

Finally, IF....if my hair is still frizzy, which is not always the case, or it it is lacking some shine, I will apply the teeniest, tiny baby finger, fingernail's worth of VO5 Conditioning Hairdressing for Gray/White/Silver Hair. Seriously, what is hairdressing even? All I can say is this stuff WORKS! Any split ends are immediately mended. Your hair gets a nice, soft shine. YOU MUST USE IT SUPER SPARINGLY THOUGH. This tube will last me until 2060. I know it. Sometimes I use a bit of the V05 on second day hair to make it a litter softer and shinier too. It comes in handy, and at this price, I highly recommend it for your gray hair tool kit!

In the makeup department, there are just two, quick things that I wanted to show you. Both of which I am wearing in these pictures. The first is Physicians Formula Organic Wear 100% Natural Origin Work It Full Flared Fit Mascara. I just love it! I've been wearing Physician's Formula mascaras for several years now. Many of their formulations are more natural and their mascaras make my lashes happy! I've tried four different types of Physician's Formula mascaras, but this one is my favorite. "Work It" not only makes my eyelashes longer and fuller with one swipe, but it lasts all day and only comes off with soap and water. It's pretty close to waterproof, but without feeling heavy or clumpy or waxy. It just great!

Also, I really love my new Origin's Matte Stick in Gingersnap.  These little, velvety lipsticks come in four matte colors. (Right now it looks like two colors are in stock.) I love them. The formula is creamy, highly saturated and has a lot of staying power. I feel like they moisturize my lips and I adore the matte finish. In fact, I like mine so much, that I can't wait to try another! I just read that "Eggplant" is not as dark in person as it is online, that it's more like a rose color. That might be my next one. Oh, and it's buildable color. I can apply it over chapstick for a more sheer look, and no lip liner needed.

And so my hair sister,s that is the scoop!

Until next time, be nice to your hair!!!
xoxoxoxoxoxo,
Lauren :)

When You've Got the Gray Hair Blues. My 4 Top Tips for Getting Through the Hard Times!

Negative! Whoooo ME!!!? (Yes.)

It hit me right after New Years. This little voice inside my head that started saying: "I just wish I had a hair color like everyone else." "I don't want to be different. I don't want to be a gray-haired lady." Then the negative thoughts included what-if questions like: "What if it really really ages me?" and "what if it just looks terrible?" 

Probably most damaging, I then started to hyper-focus on all of my hair flaws- the yellowing ends, the frizz, the way it was white on top but a muddy brown on the bottom. I was in the rut of all hair-ruts. I had a bad case of the gray hair blues.

What followed was a frantic Pinterest search for women who made their gray hair look great. I was going to try to gleam some tips off of them. This was followed by a sudden and impulsive decision to cut my hair into a pixie cut again. I emailed Jon at work, I called my Mom at home. Should I do it? Should I do it!? Jon was supportive as always, and my Mom begged me not to, being in her opinion that my gray hair was too pretty to cut off.

I'm glad that I came to my own decision that I wouldn't be any happier with a short style, and that I was being rash, before I had time to schedule an appointment at my salon. That said, WHAT WAS GOING ON to cause these sad feelings of hair hate all the sudden!!? This June will mark the 5th anniversary of deciding to start this gray hair journey. For the most part, even through the toughest, early stages, I've stayed pretty positive. What was eating at me now?

I thought about all this for a while, and I realized that it has been the recent lack of care and attention that I've given to my hair! I know this sounds trivial, but my first tip is:

1.) You have to realize that having gray hair takes just as much, if not MORE care and attention than your dyed hair color did.

In September of 2014 we unexpectedly became the parents to a little 9-week-old puppy. Nearly overnight my world changed for quite a while. Instead of taking the time to blow-dry and style my hair each day, or schedule regular trims and hair glazes that removed the yellow, brassy tones, I stayed home. I was chasing a puppy who needed to go out to pee every 30 minutes and who wanted to chew up my house. There wasn't a lot of self-care going on, especially with my hair. 

Without the time and attention to drying my hair properly and styling it, due to my hair's texture, you're just left with a frizzy, poofy mess. Without regular trips to the salon, my white hair tends to yellow on the ends over time, from heat styling and product build-up. It's kind of a vicious cycle. If I don't take the time to make my difficult hair texture presentable, I look unkempt, but if I do use some of the products or heat styling tools, then I look yellowed.

The point is, I kind of let me hair care go to the wayside for a while, and ended up cutting a whole bunch of length off, twice, because I couldn't stand it. What I SHOULD have done was found the time to care for my hair's needs. 

Fast forward to this summer and fall. Once again I became very busy. This time with Noah, his busy summer and then school refusal in the fall. Now I'm a homeschool Mom, and it would be fair to say that once again, I've kind of put my hair care on the back burner.

I've come to suddenly realize this, and I think it is precisely  the reason that I've been having the gray hair blues! Yes, I've been using gray-hair-specific shampoo and conditioner, and styling products that don't seem to leave deposits behind that yellow.  Still though, it's not enough, I haven't been to the salon in, gosh, seven months or more. I've found that going about every 3 months to trim the old, brassy ends off and having a clear glaze with a very slight  purple tone, it does wonders to make my white hair brighter and helps with the unruly texture. I'm long overdue.

Ok, so practical tip - (one which I intend to follow up on ASAP)- be sure to schedule regular "maintenance" with a trusted and loved professional. Whether that be tiny trims just to keep your ends nice and a good shape to your cut, or a conditioning treatment or shiny glaze. It doesn't have to be expensive or time consuming or full of chemicals. It can be the basics. Find an establishment that works for YOU and your needs.

2.) When you're feeling blue, reach for the blue. First things first, when I'm feeling like I don't love the look of my hair color, I make sure that I've recently tried a gray-hair-specific shampoo and conditioner, which are usually tinted blue or purple. These can work wonders in just an application or two, to brighten up your whites and possibly your whole outlook on things. I talk about my favorite gray hair shampoos and conditioners HERE! There are several in different price points. Some are more natural too. Sometimes this little boost is enough to get you back on track. It's quick and easy too.

3.) Go the extra step. Don't just resort to your old stand-by. If your hair is long enough, nothing is easier than a quick ponytail. That ponytail is my go-to hairdo when I'm sad about my hair. It just kind of pulls everything up and away from my view. The catch is, wearing a ponytail, for me personally, doesn't make me feel pretty or good about myself. I feel rather sloppy. I have yet to be able to make one of those fancy, sleek yet perfectly volumized ponytails on myself. 

The thing is, if you're not feeling good about the way your hair looks, you need to stop what you're doing and try something different. This is when I take down my ponytail and go back to my set of rollers. The heat styling isn't great for my white hair, but it gives me bounce and body and volume. I also took another step. I didn't want my hair hanging in my face and I wanted to try something fun to raise my spirits. Enter barrettes! Barrettes and cheap, easy to find, easy to use. They add some youthfulness. 

So you see, changing the way you style your hair, taking the time and making the effort to do something different will really really help to hopefully change your feelings. From a new styling cream, to voluming rollers, barrettes, headbands, A NEW PART ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE, they can all work wonders! 

4.) POSITIVITY IS THE WAY TO GET THROUGH YOUR GRAY HAIR GROW-OUT AND ON TO LIKING AND BEING OK WITH YOU HAIR!

They say that positivity is a choice (I think they say that about happiness too), and I think in REASONABLE circumstances, everyday circumstances, this can be true. When I had my last, allergic reaction to hair dye and couldn't find a natural dye that would work to cover all of my gray and the henna had turned my hair bright red and brittle, I knew I was pretty much out of options. I was the 33-year-old Mom of a six-year-old and I had a giant skunk stripe of shockingly white hair coming in. I realized that I had a choice. I could stay scared and bummed and grasping, grasping at anything that could help. Like homemade concoctions that only stained my white hair a pale yellow, not back to it's original dark brown. Or, I could not give up, but surrender and JUST GO WITH IT! See where this new journey would take me!

When you surrender and you just float down stream, you start to relax. And, when you start to relax, a lot of the time we begin to feel calm enough to see things from a new perspective- a more POSITIVE perspective. My gray hair STRUGGLE became an ADVENTURE! An interesting adventure at that. I decided to see it as:"Oh boy! whaaaaat IS my REAL color underneath all that dye? How exciting that soon the big mystery if my color will be revealed." I also looked at it as: "Woo Hoo! My own, little chance to be a social deviant! Ha! Defy convention. TOWANDA!!!" The other, most amazing thing that came from this positive outlook that kept me on this path - I MET ALL OF YOU MY SILVER SISTERS!!! I would have never ever met all of you and would never have been the recipient of so much love, encouragement and support in my life, had I not gone gray and connected with all of YOU!  We've connected with each other, here, on Facebook, in  our respective groups and with our friends and family. Our silver is a "conversation piece" that has fostered all kinds of talks and reaching out and the making caring relationships. Now isn't that worth it!? :)

It's fine and NORMAL to have our down days. I sure do! Nobody is constantly positive. Then you'd be a scary Stepford wife or a humanoid robot only programed for "perma-smile." That's not real. You're real. Just know that over the years, I have learned time and time again, that my attitude about this whole journey has been one of the biggest helps or hindrances to my happiness regarding my gray hair.

Until next, know that ALL THINGS MUST PASS. You'll feel better soon if you just use a bit of TLC and positivity. You can do this Silver Sister!!! \(^-^)/

xoxoxoxoxox,

Lauren 

P.S. PLEASE, stop by any time to my Facebook page and feel free to join and share your stories or pictures with our other Silver Sisters! I love hearing about your "adventures too." 

My Eight BEST Secrets for Dealing With the EMOTIONAL Ups and Downs of Going Gray!

Hi Silver Sisters, it's Lauren from September 2018!  I have the most amazing update for you - my husband Jon and I have launched our very own hair care line!  I have learned so much on my gray journey, and our new products incorporate all of my "tips and tricks" for making silver hair look terrific.  I am leaving all prior recommendations in place because I hope that they will continue to be helpful to people, and I will continue to use and enjoy many of the products that I have written about in the past. My opinions still stand on them. 

I hope that you will take a look at our new line By The Way, Your Hair Looks Fabulous!™  - it is a complete line of hair-care and styling products made especially for Silver Sisters AND for anyone who wants their hair care to be more natural and more affordable! 

- - 

This post is a hug from me to you. A hug that says: "I know that this is hard. Really hard. But you know what? I know that YOU CAN DO THIS! Remember deep inside, past all of the worry and doubt, that you are strong and you are determined and you are full of courage. Now onward my Silver Sister friend!"

Yesterday, I hit 900 subscribers on the How Bourgeois Facebook page. If you would have asked me three years ago, if I ever thought I'd have even 500 subscribers one day, I would laugh and say "never!" But I'm so glad that I'd be wrong, because today my life is richer, full of wonderful, new friendships and I see over and over the goodness that helping each other can bring.

It's YOU guys. My blog friends! My silver sisters, my beautifully caring readers! It is YOU who I see time and time again, leaving comments and notes and sending emails to help and encourage myself and to others around us. What a gift it is for me to witness such compassion and camaraderie in a world that can sometimes be cold and sadly cruel. You are shiny, bright role models for the human race!

What I'm getting at is THANK YOU DEAR READERS!!! Thank you for being there and thank you for pitching in to help each other. You are amazing and incredible and I am ever so grateful for you each and every day. And so, I hope to always be able to give back to you too. To send out as much encouragement and support and warmth as you have.

That's why I've thought long and hard about my journey to gray, and have compiled the things that helped me the most as my gray hair grew out. These are the "secrets" that helped to make this quite emotionally rocky, "adventure" go a bit more smoothly. It's kind of the companion post to my "Seven Best Tips & Tricks for Successfully Growing Your Gray Hair Out."  I hope some of these little tips can help you along the way too!

I love you guys! Thank you from my heart! \(^-^)/

******************************************************************
So you've made the decision that it's time for you to stop coloring your hair. Whatever your reason may be, you're ready, you're scared, and you're dreaming of the day when your transition is all complete!

(Scared me. Worried me. But hopeful me too....)

It takes a lot of getting ready to start your gray hair grow out. You might scour the web for hours on end, looking for advice and information on how to gracefully go gray. You could be searching for words of wisdom that make sense of this momentous change! And, quite possibly you're finding yourself desperately searching images for inspiration and encouragement. Looking for women who have blazed this trail before you, and came out looking half-way ok!

Yet for all of the prep-work and reading up and planning on how to handle this COLOR change, it's easy to arrive unprepared in regard to riding the roller coaster of EMOTIONAL change- when we dare to go gray.

(Sad me. Several months in.)

But fear not my Silver Sisters!
As you have arrived at secret #1.) The MOST IMPORTANT SECRET!

"For all of the turmoil and emotional ups and downs during our transition to gray, there is FAR MORE happiness and freedom and positives in the end."

Fear, sadness, feeling ugly, feeling old, not wanting to venture out into the world for worry of what they'll say and think.... Every not-so-great feeling you might have now, it is so worth it in the end, you'll see! The good out weighs the bad, trust me on this one. :)

Secret #2.)

"One day soon you're going to feel normal again. Your won't feel like you with gray hair, you'll just feel like plain, old normal YOU!"

From the moment that those strikingly obvious roots begin to show, and your fear and worry creeps in, to the oh-so- "interesting" looking skunk stripe that takes over later, and all you want to do is wear a bag over your head and sob. It feels like things will NEVER be the same.  A week while growing out your gray hair can sometimes feel like a month, a month like a year! If you're anything like me, you've been standing in front of the mirror wondering WHEN WILL THIS END!? When will I finally feel like I look half-way normal?  Will it ever NOT BE ABOUT MY GRAY HAIR again!?

Well, the answer is "YES!" Yes, yes, yes. Believe it or not, there will come a day, sooner than you think, where you'll wake up and it will be business as usual. You won't wake and look in the mirror and think of the gray. (You'll look in the mirror and think about how you want to style your hair that day.) There will come a time when you walk into work, or a family party or a friend's get-together and the talk isn't about how your gray hair is coming along. (You'll talk about anything else but your gray, because it's old news!) One day, things will settle down and you will be back to just being you. You will not be defined by the choice to stop coloring your hair, you will not be defined by your hair color!

Secret #3.)

"Growing your gray hair out is like childbirth, the memories of all the hard stuff will fade, it will quickly becomes a thing of the past!"

I know this comparison might sound a little silly, but believe me, as somebody who has been through both situations, I was surprised to find that after my gray hair grow out ordeal, the stressful memories faded fairly quickly. When you're in that "eye of the hurricane", and you have a few months of new hair growth, it can just feel so major! Every time you step out of your house, you might be bombard by worries of what you look like to the world. "Will people stare at me at the grocery store?" "Will I hear snickers from kids at the library?" It can be enough to make a person stay home! (And feel really down on themselves too.)

But as your hair grows, so will you self-confidence! So will the compliments, so will your hope! And at some point, your gray hair will be all grown-in. You'll be sporting a new color and a style or length that just feels right, and that is when all that you went through starts to change to become a mere memory. And then....then....before you even have time to notice, those memories....they fade! It's funny, apart from the photographic  evidence, there is little I remember about the months of growing my hair. Especially, I have let go of and mostly forgotten the difficult times. Have hope....HOPE HOPE HOPE....it DOES get better! :)

Secret #4.) 

"Decide to change your FEAR into FEARLESS!"

Here's the truth- when you wake up tomorrow, you have a choice to make. You can either choose to spend the day worrying about your gray hair, OR you can choose to spend the day being fearless and free and not wasting time on fear. Because the fear will do nothing. It won't help you or your hair one bit. It'll just suck up your energy and make you feel sad.

(I CAN do this!)

EMPOWER yourself! See your gray hair grow-out as a MISSION! See this experience as a mission to help other women who are struggling and going through the same thing. GIVE THIS DIFFICULT JOURNEY PURPOSE! The purpose is to help others through your courage. Be a living example that things will be ok. Little in this world feels better than helping others. Help drive change in our society for the acceptance of gray hair and other "signs" of aging. GIVE HIGHER MEANING TO YOUR DECISION TO GO GRAY. :)

Secret #5.)

"Create your DREAM TEAM!"

 It's time to huddle up. Nothing, seriously NOTHING helps to quell the doubts that can creep in like a good, supportive team cheering you on!

When I first started growing out my hair, I was SUPER insecure. Everyday I dreaded school pick-up at the end of the day. I thought that I must look completely crazy to all of the parents and teachers. I feared that I was looking exactly like a skunk! Luckily for me, each time I ventured into Noah's school building and rounded the corner past the library, I'd hear called out: "SILVER FOX!!!" And then I'd smile, take a deep breath and know that I've got this! The person yelling "SILVER FOX!" , reminding me to stand tall, was my friend Elisabeth, who was also our school librarian at the time. She was one of the first people on my TEAM! And what a contribution she has made to my success, just by being there for me with positivity and fun encouragement. :)

So get a group together, seek out those who are willing to help. For example, I called around to salons looking for somebody who would be pro-gray. I was VERY lucky to quickly find my hairstylist Lydia, who not only did not try to convince me to dye my hair again, but fully, whole-heartedly let me know how much she thought my gray would ROCK! That was huge. Every time I go in for a trim or a hair treatment, it's like an emotional high-five for my decision to go gray.

Surround yourself with supportive family members if you can. My Mother and Father-in-law were spectacularly encouraging. I appreciated their warm, positive words so much. My Father-in-law even came across a new book about one woman's experience with going gray and bought me a copy! How nice is that!?  My team felt strong.

And for those of you in a relationship, sometimes the support of a partner can mean the world. From the get-go, my husband Jon was nothing but encouraging. He was open to having a 33 year old GRAY HAIRED WIFE! Which I think, the thought must have been at least a bit scary. But even if it was, he hid it well. Jon kept me looking on the bright side when I was feeling low. Reminding me that things would get better. How lucky I am.

I hope that you can find some family and friends and co-workers and professionals to be on your team too! Don't give up in your quest to find them, because I promise you will! As your hair begins to grow, more people will approach you with questions and more often than not, kind words. Use those interactions as opportunity to make more team members!

Secret #6.)

"Practice the art of acceptance. Accept the fact that you have gray hair and well, it just might be a little uncomfortable for a bit. Accept the situation, sit with it, and know that this too shall pass."

We can do anything much more easily if we know that there is an end point. We know that one day, your hair will be all beautiful and nicely grown out. We know that this is only a temporarily difficult time.

Say to yourself each day: "This is only temporary. I will just hang on and soon this will be over." And in the meantime, remind yourself  over and over with your gray inspiration pictures and your going gray support groups online and your encouraging websites that things WILL be ok, and very soon for that matter!

Secret #7.)

"Baby steps. It's all about day by day."

 Don't do a week at a time, do a day at a time. If you are having a particularly bad day, one where you are hating your 4" of gray growth or wondering WHEN THIS WILL EVER END!? Remind yourself to just take it one day at a time. It's easier to deal with a day's worth of doubt, then a week's worth. Remember, tomorrow is a new day. A new opportunity for a new outlook. A chance to chose positivity and fearlessness!

And something REALLY fun about taking things day by day, is getting to TREAT YOURSELF EACH DAY! Every single day, do something fun to brighten your spirits. Change up your hair style, find a new hair styling product, put on a new pretty headband, look for sparkly barrettes online. Go out shopping for a hat. Like me, LEARN TO CROCHET AND MAKE YOURSELF LOTS AND LOTS OF HEADBANDS AND HATS!!! :)

Purchase a vibrant, new lipstick. Play around with clothing colors, eat chocolate, take a yoga class, check out some great books from the library. Just do nice things for yourself each day, because right now, you need that extra TLC!


Secret #8.)

"Look at things from the bigger picture.  Your family still grows, the seasons still change in amazing ways, you still see beautiful sunsets that make you grab the camera. Life goes on!"

This winter you might be sporting gray hair to your ears, next winter might be swishing around with flowing gray hair, pretending you're a snow princess! And see, life goes on because IT'S JUST HAIR!

I've told this story before, (I think) but I'll tell it again. When I was a sophomore in college, I went to a local cosmetology school for a haircut. My boyfriend at the time had always said he liked short hair on girls, and on this particular day I was feeling slightly daring. I'm not exactly sure why, but upon climbing into the chair I said: "I want a pixie cut!"

I'd never had short hair before, and with my thick, wavy and unruly mane, there is probably a reason for it. But, none-the-less, I received the cut that I had requested. It wasn't a cute pixie cut, at least on me. If you thought I already looked like a boy with my baggy "skateboarder" jeans and tee-shirts and skateboarding sneakers, then now I REALLY looked like a boy, and not a cute one!
One look in the mirror and I was devastated. What had I done!?

I remember riding my bike with tears streaming down my eyes, all the way to the dorms. Thankful for the cover of darkness. Once inside my room, my friends tried to console me, but even they understood the mistake that I had made. I couldn't stop crying. And for some reason, some how, we ended up in a friend of a friend's dorm room. There was a girl in there whom I had never met before. She asked kindly what was wrong and through my tears I explained.

And then she changed my life. In the nicest of ways, with no judgment, only with genuine words she said: "My sister had cancer. She lost all of her hair. She was devastated, but you know, it's just hair, it all grows back. Your hair will grow back too." *Pan to me. Sobbing IMMEDIATELY stops. FOOT INTO MOUTH. Turning bright red.* And yeah, in a single instant I got it, I UNDERSTOOD...... IT'S JUST HAIR!

I'm glad this person's took the time to speak with me. I'm so thankful. I think that is why, 10+ years later, I was able to eventually go through with growing out my hair. It was the constant reminder to myself that it's just hair. I know this doest discredit how HARD it is to have gray hair and show it to the world. This doesn't negate the sad emotions, the fear, the odd stares we might sometimes get, but it does help to put things into perspective a little, doesn't it?

And so my beautiful, warm-hearted Silver Sisters, this is where I will end my post for today. It's not always fun to end with the most serious point, but I felt secret #8.) helped me greatly when the going got really tough. It helped me to take a deep breath and keep my eye on my goal, which was to get all of my gray hair grown out. In the end, I am so happy that I decided to take this journey. Thank you so much for being here with me!

P.S.!!! If you enjoyed this post and felt that it helped you out a bit, please feel free to share this information with others! Together, let's encourage, support and help each other! \(^-^)/ <3 p="">