How To Get a Gray Attitude

April 25, 2018 ·

Ladies I get it, going gray is not fun no matter what your age. All the stereotypical statements go through your head that people say from “I am so old,” “Grandma Hair,” “Frumpy old lady.” You name it you’re thinking it. So what are you to do? Default to what society says is beautiful and young? Allow your negative self-talk to keep you from being true to yourself? Or keep on dying your hair, so it looks entirely unnatural for your age? Maybe give up and add more toxins every two weeks so that you can feel accepted? I think NOT.

I know gray hair is not for everyone, but I don’t think I need to remind everyone that Beauty Reinvented is all about women that WANT to go gray.

Photo Credit; Rick Gomez Photography

When you are feeling down, and very unattractive how do you pick yourself back up and get in the game? How do you feel confident when all your peers are sporting golden locks or rich chestnut hair? I have created a list for you ladies to print out and post to your mirror or somewhere you will see it on a daily basis. I am your biggest cheerleader because I felt everything you are feeling. I didn’t have a gray-haired role model that did videos or wrote a blog about it when I was first going through this crazy gray transition over two years ago.

When your gray hair journey gets hard, and you are at your last dark hair strand NOW that’s when you need to push for your gray and own it even more. You need to look at yourself in the mirror and tell yourself “This too shall pass.” Ladies, it’s a hair color that means nothing except for a bold, fierce and downright powerful attitude. If you dyed your hair pink, purple or green like a lot of women, not just teens are doing do you think anyone would care? So why do they care about gray? Think about that for a second.

Here is the plan, read this list below, print it out to give yourself the encouragement you need to get through each day. I promise you it gets more comfortable you have to commit and not look back.

I designed a couple of hats like the one I am wearing in this photo that is available on my website. Perfect for the days where you are just like I can’t take it anymore. It’s a fashionable statement to help you through the growing out period. You have seen me wearing this hat a lot on my Instagram. I love how I make a statement without having to say a word.

Silver Sister Spotlight with Hillary

April 20, 2018 ·

The silver sister circle gets smaller, meet Hillary a gorgeous woman that lives in my backyard (well, not literally) but here in Miami! The funny thing is is that Hillary and I have shot with the same photographer (Yes, the fantastic photographer that does all my photo shoots) but we have never met! How crazy is that! We met through Instagram so ladies this shows you the power of social media and connecting. Hillary and I are working on something extraordinary for all of you so keep checking back to the blog for updates. Don’t forget to show Hillary some love and follow her on Instagram.

Hillary is a native New Yorker and went to the Fashion Institue of Technology. After graduating from F.I.T., she was a senior buyer at Bergdorf Goodman for over ten years. Hillary modeled for a short period as a teenager but was told she wasn’t the right “All American” look. Fast forward to her adult life, Hillary married an Ambassador to Cuba, Belgium, and Uruguay which led to being overseas until 2009 when she moved to Miami.

Hilary reentered the modeling world at age 50! She went to an audition for a Zumba dancer and not only booked it but was used for all advertising of the Zumba Gold program. From there she was encouraged to pursue agents etc., and she did. Hillary is represented worldwide, and it’s been almost five years as a full-time model. She has several TV commercials running at the moment along with ads for fitness, health, and beauty. Hillary says she loves the creativity of this business, but you also need to deal with an enormous amount of rejection- something people often don’t realize.

Q: Tell us when you first started seeing gray hair.

A: I first started seeing my gray hair as early as my mid-20’s! My hair was naturally very dark, so they stood out. I loved it and thought it looked like strands of tinsel. I never thought about covering them up. By the time I turned 40, I was indeed salt and pepper.

Q: What made you decide to go gray?

A: I decided to keep my gray because I loved being unique and I think it appealed to my rebellious side. With each negative comment I received (and there were many) it only made me more determined to stay true to my personal choice – not what the beauty industry and society dictated.
Going gray is not for the timid-it is a bold statement. Twenty years ago the internet was new, and there wasn’t an online gray hair support community or chat groups- no info about the process, products to use, etc. Now it is so much easier and beautiful to connect worldwide with like-minded women “The Silver Sisters.”

Q: You are a busy working model how has your gray hair enhanced your career?

A: My hair is my signature along with a 100% natural look. That’s the image I chose as my brand. As a model, it has been both an asset and hindrance. The concept of accepting gray hair is becoming something other than “old lady/grandma,” but the reality is that advertising is still youth-oriented. Women always search for any way to look younger and ads will continue to be marketed towards that. It happens often that a client will choose a woman my age with dyed hair over gray for that very reason. There is a fallacy about dyed hair equals youth, and gray hair equals old. But it is slowly changing and I am proud to be one of the pioneers.

Q: What has been your most exciting booking as a gray hair model?

A: Being chosen as the first mature gray haired model in the Athleta catalog in 2016 was thrilling I was featured alongside young women of all body types and ethnicities- I was truly proud to represent my generation.
I also had my first magazine cover in 2017 – M Magasin Sweden the images are unedited and marketed to women over forty.

Q: What advice do you have for women wanting to go gray?

A: My advice is to go for it!! You will never regret it. Surround yourself with people (online virtual and real) who support You being You. Gray hair does inspire comments from virtual strangers that no other color will- so be prepared. Many are very kind and genuine- enjoy those and learn to ignore the rest which inevitably comes from other women being cruel just because of their insecurities. Gray hair will make you stand out- Own it. Confidence is the key.

Ladies with a Gray Attitude

April 18, 2018 ·

Let’s face it you have to have a fierce attitude when you go gray. Now, this is not a negative attitude, it’s not an unattractive attitude it’s an attitude that shows confidence and self-worth.

PC: Rick Gomez Photography

From my experience, I felt very uncomfortable when I first decided to ditch the dye. I would look in the mirror and separate my hair and say OMG what are you thinking? What are you doing? I would flip through magazines and see hair campaigns with girls my age sporting gorgeous brunette glossy locks and then I would see commercials with girls in slow motion running with their beautiful freshly dyed hair waving at me. I felt so alone, so weird and so unattractive. Can you relate?

“When Society Says NO, You Say YES!”

PC: Rick Gomez Photography

In life, we all know the saying it’s not what happens to you it’s how you handle it or something along those lines. I decided to start looking at myself as lucky, lucky that I had hair, lucky my hair was gray, lucky that I could be an inspiration to other women wanting to embrace their gray hair. That’s when it all changed for me and my gray hair and I became friends. How long did this take? Probably a good year into the transition. What made my hair journey so much easier is that I didn’t try and stay the same with the style of my hair. I cut it to a chic bob and kept cutting it every six weeks so the black dye would quickly disappear. You can’t half-ass going gray you are either in or out. There is no “Let me kind of see how this looks” or “Oh I will just do gray a little bit.” Cut your hair and get over it. It’s not cute to have hair on the ground and gray roots that will never catch up. That’s, where the fierce part comes in you, have to grab your personal gray movement by the roots and go for it. Ladies hair does not define you and cutting your hair is a necessity to your gray hair journey.

“You Can’t Half-Ass Going Gray, You Are Either In or Out.” Nikol Johnson

Maybe you have a boyfriend, spouse or partner that is not supportive. You and only you have to Own Your Beauty. Your gray hair journey is not for anyone else to decide Period. You are running this race no one else. So if you don’t have a support system head on over to my private Facebook group called Beauty Reinvented and join the other ladies that are going through the same thing you are. Remember it all starts from within.

Silver Sister Spotlight with Melanie

March 6, 2018 ·

Hey, beauty industry hear us ROOOOAAARRRRR! That’s right next up is our beautiful Melanie a thirty-nine-year-old retired Social Worker turned full-time wedding florist and part-time beauty YouTube guru. She is a Mother of a precious six-year-old daughter, married to her best friend and loves all things beauty, specifically makeup and skin care.

Melanie like most of us is trying to figure out how to care for her new gray hair situation. Melanie started going gray in her mid-twenties and fought it for years until in her mid-thirties she decided to finally let go and embrace the new her by letting her gray grow out. She comes from a long line of strong German women who went gray very early in life. Both her Mother and Oma have the most beautiful silver hair and they were her inspiration to finally give herself permission to “let it go.” Melanie feels it was the best decision of her life and has not looked back. She loves the journey that she is on and she is so excited to see so many Silver Sisters embracing their natural beauty when it comes to their hair.

Follow and show Melanie some love on her social media outlets here: Instagram, YouTube

1. Tell us why you made such a powerful video titled “Why is My Hair Gray on Purpose.”

For the most part, the vast majority of my regular subscriber base was really supportive of my decision to let my hair transition. They were super encouraging. But others, not so much. I decided to make a video about why I chose to embrace my gray hair because while I received a lot of support, I was also constantly getting comments on my video from people as to why I would ever even consider letting my hair go gray. People told me I looked 20-30 years old than my actual age. It honestly got to be frustrating either deleting or constantly responding to these comments that were clearly aimed at making me feel like I was making the wrong decision. Comments like “You’d be so much prettier if you didn’t have gray hair.” really started to anger me. My decision to go gray was based on a personal choice. A choice I did not feel I needed to get permission for from anyone. My gray hair actually made me feel 1000 times more confident and beautiful than my “fake blonde” hair ever did. My gray hair was me. I stopped fighting the inevitable and embraced a new version of me and I loved it. And the negativity from others surrounding that decision honestly just irritated me and I wanted to address people’s “concerns.”

2. You decided to stop covering up your gray, how did that make you feel? Were you liberated or did you feel like it was a mistake?

I felt amazing once I finally decided to take the plunge. I guess I had a little confidence boost from the fact that so many younger girls were dying their hair gray at the time. I figured, no better time than now! I went to my hairdresser and we came up with a game plan to transition my blonde to gray. There was never a single ounce of regret. As soon as I saw my hair gray in the mirror, I knew I had made the right choice. I loved the way it looked! I knew it would take time to grow everything out, but I knew I could do it. Having the help of a talented hairdresser really made the transition much easier for me.

3. As a Mom with gray hair, how do you encourage your daughter to embrace her beauty and self-confidence?

I have always encouraged my daughter Stella to be herself. I have never imposed a certain beauty norm on her. She has always naturally gravitated towards being more of a girly girl. Her style is definitely feminine. As soon as she could choose her own outfits, I let her pick her clothing. She was under the age of 2 the first time she showed me a preference in the way she wanted to dress and how she wanted her hair. She didn’t like pigtails or ponytails, so I never made her wear them. She liked accessories like necklaces and I let her style all her accessories by herself. She is always so proud of what she comes up with. While it doesn’t always “match” it makes her happy and that is all I want. I also make sure she knows that beauty is more than just someone’s outward appearance. Being beautiful on the inside by being a kind and caring person is far more important than any outfit or the lipgloss you wear. I’m proud to say that my girl is one of the kindest more generous little kids I know. I’m so so proud of her!

4. How has your personal style changed with gray hair?

Honestly not a ton. I think the season of life I am in, the mom to a super busy 6-year-old season doesn’t really allow me much focus on style. I am a classic soccer mom leggings/yoga pants and tunics kind of girl right now. Fashion is really not at the forefront of my mind at this point in time. I hope it gets to be again someday, but I’m ok with where I am at right now. I work for my job and my current lifestyle. My makeup has changed a bit. I do tend to gravitate towards cooler colors now that my hair is not blonde any longer. Warmer tones don’t always look best so I have to be careful. But I will still rock a rusty brown eyeshadow if I feel like it 😉 I don’t think your hair color should really dictate your personal style necessarily. You may need to make some tweaks to feel like you look your best, but that is 100% up to you.

5. What advice do you have for women just starting out in their gray hair journey?

My biggest piece of advice for someone starting out on their journey is to ignore the negativity that some people may throw your way. Don’t let “well-meaning compliments” like “You look so much better/younger/healthier with your blonde, brown, red hair” faze you. If you think that now is the time for you to start on your journey, then do it! And don’t look back, unless YOU want to. Do not let other’s dictate your journey in life. If you want to be gray, be gray. If you don’t because you are just not personally ready, then wait. But do it for you! It’s not necessarily easy to grow your hair out. While a good hairdresser can get you started, it’s a very different reality to wake up in the morning and see yourself with such a drastically different color. It can feel like you are having to let go of something big. But look at it as a new, exciting journey where you get to be the new you. Wiser, bolder, more adventurous. Embrace this new look and just go for it. Just don’t listen to others. No one has the right to tell you how to rock your hair. That’s up to you 😉

Feel The Thunder

February 28, 2018 ·

Aging and acceptance are not easy because if it were than I wouldn’t need to create a movement about it now, would I? How many times have you looked at a magazine, social media picture, cosmetic counter beauty image and thought that you were not good enough? That your beauty wasn’t good enough? Wasn’t your body good enough? Hell, your fashion sense was off? I hope you start feeling the thunder of your inner beauty rising just reading this blog post.

Photo Credit: Rick Gomez Photography

If you don’t know the song Feel The Thunder, you can listen to it here. Just put it on and continue reading. I love this song because I hear it every morning when spinning and the lyrics are on point:

Not a yes sir, not a follower
Fit the box, fit the mold
Have a seat in the foyer, take a number
I was lightning before the thunder

You don’t fit the mold ladies; you are a beauty leader, you are not one to fit into a box, a hair dye box that is. You are the lightning before the thunder. Start stripping away all the nonsense you keep telling yourself. Infuse your day with positive mantras, if you struggle with mantras I am going to give you three to write on post-its, write with lipstick on your mirror, record your voice on your phone and play or better yet my favorite is to set your mantras as a reminder on your phone so each day without thought they pop up and infuse your day with positivity.

I am beautiful and love that I don’t look like everyone else.
Gray hair is empowering; it gives me special beauty powers.
Aging is something I accept with grace and gratitude.

Reach deep down and find what makes you tick, what makes you happy about yourself. The time is now ladies, not tomorrow because we are only given today so make the best of it and don’t look back.