Our world is full of BIG issues these days: numbers of Covid cases, failing economies, overflowing ICUs, and the heartbreak of missed graduations, proms and other momentous events. But what am I obsessed with? If I were a better person, it would be sewing masks for others or organizing food drives. Nope. It’s hair. Quarantine hair.
I haven’t seen my real hair color since 1985.
That’s when I started highlighting my hair. I see Angela, my wonderful hairstylist every 4 1/2 weeks now, and schedule travel around my salon appointments. Here in Ohio we are eight weeks in to our shelter-in-place order. Salons are closed. It’s been ten weeks since my last hair coloring, and 15 weeks since my last haircut.
I have learned that my natural hair color now is silver, for the most part.
There is a tiny amount of brown, a little gray, and mostly silver. I am fascinated with watching it come in. Today I actually measured it with a ruler. (In case you’re wondering, ten weeks past my last color equals one inch of growth.). It seems to grow faster on the crown than near my face.
As I’m almost three months in, I’m pondering whether to let myself “go natural.”
And now I see silver everywhere.
I’ve started saving pictures of chic, fashionable, beautiful women rocking silver or gray hair.
My Instagram feed now features silver-haired babes. I’ve joined Facebook groups for women growing out their silver or gray hair. (Beauty Reinvented , Going Gray Gracefully , Silver Sisters ). “Before and after” photos have become my new obsession.
I have a million questions. What will it look like if I grow it out? How long will it take? Will it be healthier, or have a different consistency? Will it be curlier? How aging will it be? (I know if will be aging — but how much?). Should I cut it super-short, to get rid of the colored hair? Should I have my colorist add some highlights to make the transition less severe? Or does that slow it down? What is purple shampoo, and should I use it?
Unfortunately no one in my house shares my obsession, or is even slightly interested in the color of my hair.
I have not been as obsessed with my hair since. . . well, ever. I suspect there are several reasons that HAIR has taken over my newsfeed and my brain, in ascending order from trivial to philosophical:
- I’m bored.
- It’s a distraction from the troubling and sad things I could be thinking about.
- I am feeling my age, and struggling with the capricious nature of health and mortality. My hair might be a symbol of my youth.
Or maybe I’m just really shallow.
And now I really want to know: Is anybody else obsessed with their quarantine hair?
For other hair mistakes we’ve made, please see Hair-Don’ts. . . epic fails from the quest for good hair.
