I had been meaning to grow out my natural, i.e. gray, color for quite a few years. I made attempts to stop dyeing my hair a couple of times, but always relented at the 5th month mark when my roots got terrifying. My 20-year journey of hair coloring had gone from semi-permanent dark strawberry blonde – to cover the stray grays in my natural red hair – to pretty much a full-on permanent platinum blonde. Egads.

The last time I dyed my hair was in November 2019. And we all know what happened in 2020. It just seemed rather silly to be coloring my hair during a world-wide pandemic, so I let it grow out. Over the course of the next two years, I followed the routine of letting it grow a few inches and then blunt cutting a few inches off myself. I wear my hair in a long bob so it’s an easy style to maintain. It was so satisfying to chop off those fried, dried ends, and let the healthy hair gradually take over.

Last week I wielded my scissors and cut 4″ off the last of my dyed hair. It was momentous to me to have a head full of natural colored hair. I really like the color striations of ash blonde, dark pewter and light gray that are coming in. As a natural redhead, I was always so curious as to what would hues would appear. I am quite delighted with how little maintenance my hair requires now. Basically none.

There is one thing that I have to get used to though: not being a redhead anymore. When you are a redhead – especially when young – your hair gets a ton of attention (both good and bad). It is part of your identity. But I am learning that growing older and getting less attention is not necessarily a bad thing. I can just do my own thing without commentary. Being healthy and feeling good about yourself is its own kind of bliss. 🙂

~Marilyn