#HairStory @jetsetsarah ・・・ Aaaaand they’re back! On my 49th birthday 2.5 years ago (pic 2), I cut off the waist-length locs I’d been growing since 1997 (pic 3). My rationale: I could no longer keep up with coloring my grey every three weeks, and the only person I knew with grey locs was Toni Morrison. She’s a regal and elegant woman, but she’s 35 years older than me! My goal was to have a big bodacious silver ‘fro to replace my then signature top knot (pic 4) by the time I turned the big 5-0. I even started an Instagram hashtag, #froby50. 👵🏾 But as much as I wanted to love the ‘fro life, the ‘fro life didn’t love me back! My “frogress” was neither as fast nor as easy as I’d imagined (pic 5). Ironically, my strands weren’t as silver as I thought. And even more ironically, I was disappointed that they weren’t! And after decades of dreadlocks, learning to care for my unlocked kinks was a pricey (oh, the butters, gels, puddings and creams!) time-consuming, and frustrating task. In a nutshell, the ‘fro life was just too high-maintenance for me. 👵🏾 So last week my longtime and super-talented stylist Lizette Eugene (DM for her info if you live in South Florida) - who’d encouraged me to keep my locs when she cut them off, and kept them herself when I flippantly said I didn’t want them - permanently reattached them! It took five hours and what I can only describe as #blackgirlmagic to make it happen. And I couldn’t be more thrilled. 👵🏾 In the 2.5 years since cropping my locs I’ve learned to love my silver kinks and am now looking forward to rocking an ombré crown. I’ve been inspired by an online community of other silver sisters who have shown me that going grey doesn’t mean getting on a one-way train to Frumpytown. (Believe me, if I’d known about the fierce and fabulous @runtowardyourlife, I’d never have cut them in the first place!) And thanks to @sofistafunktheskirtco and @ceeceesclosetnyc, I’ve learned to rock a headwrap like a true queen (and not just when I’m having a bad hair day). 👵🏾 So here’s to wearing whatever hairstyle you like; coloring (or not!) your grey; and the freedom to change your mind. Do you, ‘grammers. And I’m gonna keep on doing me. Now w
