August 15, 2009 | 2:10 pm

Shades of gray

Posted by Ilana Angel

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I have long hair.  I get a lot of compliments on it and it is actually quite beautiful, if I do say so myself.  I had always planned to cut it all off when I turned 40 because I thought at 40 I should have an easy, short and sophisticated look.  When I went to get it cut I panicked and worried that if I cut it all off the change would be too dramatic for me and I would freak out so I decided to cut just my bangs.  Not the best idea I’ve ever had.  I looked like Cleopatra for several weeks and decided right then that I was going to leave my locks alone and in spite of officially being middle aged, I was going to rock long hair. 

So here I am 3 years later and I am faced with yet another hair dilemma.  Do I embrace the sudden shades of gray that are appearing at an alarming rate or do I revere each and every gray hair as a sort of badge of honor knowing I have earned them?  Why is it that when men get gray hair it is sexy and dignified?  Speaking of which, why it is that men don’t have to shave their legs, wax any part of their body OR cover their gray hair.  Sorry… I lost focus for a minute.

I’m sitting at home counting the hairs to see if it’s worth the trouble.  Perhaps I could just pull them out instead of coloring them.  Considering I have just counted gray hair number 412, I’m thinking that yanking these puppies out is probably not an option.  As I look at the box of hair color, which clearly states the promise of 100% gray coverage, it occurs to me that the model on the box cannot possibly be over the age of 25.  Am I to believe that this supermodel needs to cover her gray hair?  I’m not buying it.  She is a fake! 

I’ve now decided that I’m going to keep my glorious gray hair.  The young single girls may have higher boobs, flatter stomachs, fresher eggs and fewer wrinkles but what they don’t have is hard earned and sexy gray strands of flowing fantastic hair.  I shall hold my head high, love my gray and wear it with pride.  That could all change of course the moment a waiter calls me Ma’am instead of Miss.  Should that happen he’s going to get an earful so I hope HE is keeping the faith.