90 of 93 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
The Artificial Approach to Going Gray: Faking Youth, April 29, 2007
This review is from: Going Gray, Looking Great!: The Modern Woman's Guide to Unfading Glory (Paperback)
I was very excited to discover this book existed, since I'm growing out my dyed hair to allow my gray to show. It is hard to find any information on caring for gray hair, since in America it's assumed that a woman will start dyeing her hair the minute she spots her first gray hair. I was discouraged to find this book was already out of print, even though it was published in 2004. I managed to track down a copy at my local library, to my delight.
When I sat down to read it I was at first very happy with this book. It had many interviews with women who had let their hair go gray, and talked about their experiences. It had a lot of affirmations for gray hair that inspired me. The discussions of what to do to keep your hair from getting the `yellow' tinge gray hair can acquire (stay out of the sun, avoid water with a high mineral content, avoid harsh alkaline chemicals such as permanent waves and straightening) and what colors in clothing and makeup best suited gray hair were very helpful to me.
But I was horribly disappointed with the turn the book took halfway through. The author encourages "looking younger" by using BOTOX or collagen injections. She advocates using expensive "age defying" moisturizers and makeup lines. Though many sources of skepticism about the claims of these expensive beauty products exist, she asserts that the more expensive products really do help. She lists products from very expensive companies that she swears are "worth" the cost, and will make women look younger and better. Not only cosmetics, but expensive hair styling products and shampoos and conditioners are raved about. She also recommends going to a colorist and having your hair highlighted/lowlighted so that your gray hair will "pop." The message seems to be that if a woman decides to go gray she must counteract the negativity of this image by being hyper-fashionable in all other ways, having a short stylish cut, using expensive beauty products and styling products, using minor cosmetic surgical procedures to look artificially young, and especially dyeing her hair to keep it looking "gorgeously gray" in a very fake manner.
I can't tell you how this disappointed me. The author's message that a woman can't truly embrace her natural looks, that even her gray hair isn't really `gray' hair, but a styled and dyed approximation of what gray hair looks like, a la Hollywood, makes me horribly saddened.
I believe the author and publishers really mistook their target audience here, which I suspect is the reason this book is out of print. I believe the reasons most women let their hair go gray include 1) being fed up with the expense and hassle of dyeing hair, 2) a desire to stop poisoning their body with carcinogenic chemicals, and 3) a desire to embrace their true age and stop trying to be artificially young. If I wanted to look artificially young and didn't mind exposing myself to carcinogens in makeup and personal care products I'd just keep dyeing my hair, without question. And if the expense and hassle of dyeing my hair is too much for me, what on earth would make me want to buy or even be able to afford highly expensive products or cosmetic surgeries?
I was also disappointed with the way natural hair dyes were presented. They were dismissed by the author and many of her interviewees as "turning the hair orange." The web site Henna for Hair tells that pure henna does in fact turn solid white hair orange, but adding tea tree oil or lavender oil will counteract this effect, and give the hair the true red color that henna is known for. For those who don't necessarily want gray hair yet, but are disturbed by the harsh chemicals of commercial dyes, body art quality henna and indigo and various other herbs can create beautiful natural hair colors of red, brown and black. As in all other areas, the author emphasizes the chemical and artificial over any natural products for hair and skin.
I'm glad I read this book, since I did get some good ideas on color and styles, and good affirmations for gray hair. The early parts where many gray-haired women stated that age is an attitude and that if you act or feel old you'll be treated old, regardless of hair color, rings true. I hope that someday someone writes a book about going gray for women who are doing so because they want to use more natural products and avoid dangerous chemicals, in both hair dye and cosmetics. That would be the gray hair book I'd cherish.
I'm looking forward to the book `Going Gray: What I Learned about Beauty, Sex, Work, Motherhood, Authenticity, and Everything Else That Really Matters' by Anne Kreamer. It comes out in a few months. I've read the article for `More' magazine that inspired it, and I'm hoping that this book will be the book about gray hair that I've been looking for.
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54 of 55 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The smartest money you'll ever spend on haircare, April 3, 2005
This review is from: Going Gray, Looking Great!: The Modern Woman's Guide to Unfading Glory (Paperback)
If you have gray hair and have "gone natural" or are considering it--or know someone who is--then this book is invaluable. (It's also unique; an out-of-print "Silver/Gray Beauty Book" is around that features 1980s hairstyles, makeup schemes, and pre-sunscreen skin damage, but otherwise, this book is it.) The approach of "Going Gray, Looking Great" is to treat gray as a color choice--an intentional choice among the many that available to us (but the only one that can't be faked convincingly)--and as a range of colors from icy to ivory to warm gray to charcoal, etc. The author, hair experts, and women who've gone gray at various ages discuss every facet of gray, from the physical process, to cultural attitudes, to how to decide if it's for you, to growing it out, to choosing clothing, makeup colors, hairstyles and products that pull together your best look. Makeovers show how subtle changes in hairstyle, makeup, or special coloring techniques (lowlighting, etc.) can make a dramatic difference in a woman's beauty. There is a chapter on gray with curly hair (Anglo, Latina, and African American) and tips for how to handle the transition from warm to cooler tones that a "frame" of gray around the face can give one's complexion. The tone of the book is upbeat but not pushy about whatever choices the reader wants to make. I especially like how a variety of opinions are given, unlike the typical beauty book. It's well produced, nicely photographed, and the makeup and hair artists make the models look like themselves, but more beautiful. It's a resource to turn again and again for encouragement and ideas--definitely the best money I've ever spent on haircare. In a perfect world, Diana Lewis Jewell would start a website to keep the conversation going. Until then, this book is highly recommended.
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21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Part beauty book, part introspective journey, July 17, 2004
By A Customer
This review is from: Going Gray, Looking Great!: The Modern Woman's Guide to Unfading Glory (Paperback)
I wish this had been available three years ago when I was trying to decide to gray or cover. This book is filled with practical advice, tips, real-people experiences, and makeovers. Hard to do all that in one book, but it works. In many ways,it is a coming of age book for women, and it written in a friendly and personal style. I found the suggestions weren't just reprints of tired ideas - there were some original ideas and practical suggestions. A book to buy and recommend to friends.
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