New book explores women's avoidance of gray hair
8:15 p.m. Sunday, October 7, 2007
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While researching her new book, Going Gray: What I Learned About Beauty, Sex, Work, Motherhood, Authenticity and Everything That Matters, author Anne Kreamer found that gray hair can be a real liability in the professional world. That probably explains why 65 percent of American women color their hair, compared to only 9 percent in 1950.
Joy Wylie Matthews, a dentist and dental school instructor, has been dying her hair for 25 years.
"My main thing is when I sit down and I'm with a patient like this and the student is here, I don't really want to show, I don't want that, I call it the line of demarcation," Matthews said.
A few high profile women, have apparently found gray hair to be an asset, including Lawrence mayor Sue Hack and Kansas governor Kathleen Sebelius. Of the eight female state governors in the country, Sebelius is one of three sporting silver hair.
Stylist Jim Grimes says it's the transition from color to gray that scares many women. But it can be done gradually, over a year or so, with highlights to cover re-growth and the results, he says, can be anything but aging.
"I like gray hair also, because often times it has interesting pattern and shapes on the head," Grimes said. "And provides wonderful sheen. And it's really very, very nice. But I look at the gray hair with the haircut and the finish and the body and how it all goes together. It can be very sexy."
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