Beauty : The Sterling Silver in Those Shades of Gray

Three years ago, Century City accountant Lori Nebenzahl had had it with dyeing her hair. Her thick dark brown hair started to gray in her mid-20s, just like her dad’s had, and she had been coloring it ever since.

Her hairdresser gave her the option of slowly growing it out, but Nebenzahl, now 45, didn’t have the patience. “We decided the most painless way was to cut it all off,” she says.

Nebenzahl joins Elizabeth Taylor and Emmylou Harris as one of the growing number of women (and men) who have decided to go natural. But going gray can be a long process, especially if you have dyed hair.

The Decision to Gray: “It’s what God gave you,” says Robert Hallowell, a movie hairstylist. “So many times it brings out the rosiness in women’s skin color.” Going gray is a personal decision. Some women are comfortable forgoing the dye route in their early 30s; others wait until they are in their late 50s.

“We have to change our perception of beauty and age,” he says. Some movie actors are already there. Hallowell has worked in the past with actor George Clooney, who, along with Richard Gere, is one of Hollywood’s silver sex symbols. “Clooney’s been prematurely gray for years,” says Hallowell. “He’s never looked better [than] now that he’s gray.”

Getting There: If you’ve never dyed your hair, going gray is easy--just do it. But if you have colored your hair, it’s best to go gray gradually and work with a hairdresser. As your hair grows out, use your regular hair color for accents. Then, as your hair grows in, you can cut off the darker ends and slowly add fewer accents until you don’t have to dye it at all.

Gray Hair Problems: The biggest problem in maintaining a luxurious mop of gray hair is that it can turn yellow or red. “It turns yellow if you’re a smoker. If you have copper pipes, you can get a green tinge. Galvanized pipes that rust can make your hair reddish,” Hallowell says.

Fortunately, there are easy solutions to these problems. Many shampoos have been developed in the last few years for gray hair. If your hair is too white, buy a chamomile-based shampoo to add a little yellow and tone it down, he says.

If your hair is already too yellow, Clairol Shimmer Lights shampoo is a good product to tone down that yellow.

Texture: With gray, the texture of hair can change. If your hair becomes coarse or wiry, Hallowell says a shampoo for dry hair will soften it up.

Barbara Thomas can be reached by e-mail at barbara.thomas@latimes.com