Aging With Greys

I am getting older.  We are all, aren't we?

I have a great interest in the study of aging.  Maybe it's because I am getting to that certain age, where I am noticing grey hair and wrinkles, and I am reading magazines that have advertising for things like Botox and Restylane.  Cheers of  "look younger", "fight the signs of aging" and "anti-aging technology" grace the pages of the magazines and TV ads.  As a middle-aged woman in a youth-obsessed culture, it's difficult to avoid these types of messages.

I did a little research and discovered some popular American personalities that were born in the same year as me, 1966.  What I came up with was Janet Jackson, Salma Hayek, Halle Berry, Cindy Crawford, and Daisy Fuentes.  I actually had no idea that these women were all my age.

When I look at these ladies, I can't help but notice they all look beautiful and I don't see a speck of grey (at least in the pictures I found).  They don't appear to have any wrinkles, either.  Are these the role models I have for women in my age group?  I thought Cindy Crawford looked really good, but then I found an article that said she most likely used Botox.  Am I at the age where women my age are starting to think about injections?  Surgery?  Plumpers?

I plan to age with greys - I used to colour my hair, but now I just highlight.  I think, if I colour my hair to hide the greys, when will it end?

Don't get me wrong, I am not against women dyeing their hair.  I am all for supporting women in what they want to do to make themselves feel better.  If a dye job can bring a woman a sense of well-being and happiness, then I am all for it.

Embrace the age you are, and enjoy the inner beauty that shines through.  When you are happy in your own skin, when you are being true to yourself, it is easy to accept that beauty is more than skin deep.  There is beauty in every age.

Have an awesome day!

~ Angela Gentile