Sunday, May 17, 2009

going glitter

going glitter

i come from a lineage of hardcore & off-the-hook hairdyers. when i was little, i would watch my mother dye my grandmother's hair to jetblack. my mother is always between chocolate and black walnut fuchsia. that is what my people do. this is how we roll.

until recently.

every woman who has found a gray hair knows the horrible pain of the backwards eye rolling & focusing to tweeze it in the mirror. that shit hurts. then, it gets to the point that you can't get them anymore and you give up and hit the bottle. l'oreal, that is.

about four years ago, i started seeing those gray hairs. it wasn't a battle with mortality, but it was my personal battle of being perceived as old and, even worse, being perceived as acting old. no child wants an old mom. responsible is one thing, but acting old is an entirely different bucket of worms.

i would love to give credit to a woman, but i have to give it to my man, robert downey, jr. oh em Geee. there was a photo of him with his glitter rockin' and i thought "why is he hot & sexy & not acting old with a little glittercrust? why do women feel a need to dye, dye, dye when robert there can just smile & sparkle?"

after that moment of clarity, i just started to embrace my glitter and let it grow out. this, of course, slays my mother cuz when we are together, her jig is up. (sorry, mother.) i asked all three of my children what they thought about it and they actually like it.

on tuesday, i got in the chair and said 'virgin hair, please' and i started all over on a new journey of me. i might grow it out, i might keep it short, but i am keeping the glitter, each and every sparkle.

10 comments:

Keely said...

Glitter on, Doll-Baby!

My own mother never dyed her hair. She was a blonde, and when her "glitter" came in, it was pure white. By the time that it had completely taken over her entire head ... she simple told people that she was a platinum blonde!!! [grin]

(((HUGS)))
Keely

karenleigh said...

You are just completely glitterful.

fiwa said...

This is why I love you.

Your glitter is beautiful - rock it, sister. My glitter is still has that ugly yellow tone to it, so I'm not rockin' it yet. Sides, I like being red.

And honey, the dictionary entry on "cool" has your name in it. You could never be old. Old is a choice and it's one you have opted out.

MJFredrick said...

Gorgeous!

I've had gray hair since I was 25, and I dye it furiously. If my hair was shorter, and it wouldn't take so long to grow out, I might go gray just to stop the madness :)

KathyA said...

Go for it!

Sis said...

LOL I am LOVIN this...I'm like Keeley's mom, I'm a dirty blond and my glitter is coming in white as snow. I thought it was "disguised" until I saw myself in the cardoor mirror in the sun one day, and almost fell over in a dead faint.

But I had the same idea as you, that day - embrace it, sistah, and rock on!
XOXO

Marilyn said...

Greetings from another glitter sister! I'm embracing the glitter too, but why oh why must the glitter be wire-y and stick straight up???

A bird in the hand said...

I come from a family who didn't care about glitter because it came so very late in their lives... My mother kept her glitter but she was so young-at-heart, no one noticed.

you rock, as usual. xoxo

Brown Bee Studio said...

Dawn you are so glitteriffically awesome I just about cain't stand it! I cain't remember my Momma bein' anything but a lil bit pepper with a whole lotta glitter...frosted hair was THE in thing and I remember ladies askin' her who does her hair. She always just laughed and laughed....
So I lurves me some glitter (even though I only have one or two tiny flecks right now) and I lurves me some Dawndiggity! xoxo Andie

Anonymous said...

Amen to the glitter. I very recently had the same revelation. Lots of glitter! I insisted to the hair dresser that I really want to know what color it is therefore gotta let it go. He assured me I would have a change of heart by then. I don't think so. No more! Let it grow - let it glow - let it glitter!

J.F.A. Glitter P.