Tiptoe into Gray?

Wig Shown Above: Bethany Wig by Rene of Paris in color Silver Stone

   If you are, do you plan to tiptoe in using a transition color or two over time, or do you plan to close your eyes, jump in and make a drastic overnight change? I recently learned that giving up one’s current hair color(s), especially a couple of colors I’ve fallen in love with and are used to seeing myself in consistently was not so easy.

   I learned that no matter how much you think you are excited about embracing that lovely new silver, gray, white, or a mix of it all, it’s a big change. Though change can often be exciting, it also comes with a tiny bit of fear—what if I don’t like it?

   Some of you will be braver than I, and I envy you. I wanted to share my experience about jumping in and not taking the tiptoe approach. That’s not to say I didn’t think things through—I was sure I’d considered everything. I did my research; I watched YouTube videos to see others in the same color wig I thought would work for me. I compared colors the best that I could, and in the end, I just went for it. As it turned out, I jumped too soon. The wig brand was great, the wig itself well-made, the color was as described, and it was on sale. What more could I ask for?

   Here I am, a wig blogger, wig owner, and wig researcher, and yet I had forgotten one of the most important things: wigs have color, we have color—and those two things aren’t always complimentary. I know about skin tone, and under-tones. I have even written about it. But until I saw that one shade/combination of silvery-white-light-gray on myself, and realized it made my face look ruddy, I knew I’d never understood the clash of tones at all. The color/shades in the wig would have been so striking on someone with yellow under-tones, but with my pink under-tones, it just made me look as if I had an eternal blush.

   Back to the drawing board, as they say. I have since learned what shades of gray-silver-white, etc., will work best with my skin.

   Confession time: I also made mistake number #2. Mistake #2 is making a big change before one is ready for it. When I went from shaded cappuccino or even SS Café Latte Macchiato, my two favorites, to silver-mist—it was just too much for my brain. When I looked in the mirror, it was like looking at a stranger. I wasn’t ready.

   Trying different colors is one thing but making a big switch while thinking—this is it, the new me, is a bit more jarring. Of course, as one gets older, we expect changes, and that includes hair color. But when one ages with bio hair there is a transition period in most cases. We can watch the silver or gray come in slowly as our old bio hair color fades away and gets trimmed off. There is time to mourn and celebrate the change, both a natural thing.

   Transitioning into gray color wig colors might seem simple and straightforward, but it's not. At least it wasn’t for me. Switching from brown, blonde, or any other color to gray can be a significant change. I think of the advice I read, and even wrote about but I didn’t take: If you want to transition to gray wigs discretely, the key is to start with a little bit of gray and stick with undertones that best suit you.

   If you are like me and you think that switching over all at once is too drastic, maybe consider what I am considering now: going through a transition period. Fortunately, there are wig colors that can help us with that. Depending on your patience and resources, you can find other ways to make the big change happen and doing it in steps might be psychologically easier to handle.

   Whatever you decide, don’t make my mistake. Know your skin tone, and just as important, your under tone. Just as important--know if you are psychologically ready to see yourself in an all gray or silver wig from this day forth. Of course, there is no law that says you can’t wear a gray wig some of the time and switch back and forth. But for most women, it will be a this is the new me moment, and this is the color family they will stick with. That is, of course, up to each individual. For me, I felt the time was now, and that all my wigs going forward would be shades of gray. And though I still want that, I just haven’t found my shade yet. But I will! Here are some links to YouTube videos by Taz and Eileen talking about this topic, and I hope it will help you as it did me. I shall now take my own advice and spend some time with both of the videos as I ponder what my gray color or colors will be and find a transition color to get me to my goal.

Until next time,

VickieLynn