Woman opens up about embracing gray hair in her 30s

Randi Honeycutt has ditched hair dyes once and for all.

Woman opens up about embracing gray hair in her 30s
ABCNews.com
December 7, 2023, 4:19 PM

After years of dying her hair, one woman is embracing her grays and inspiring others to do the same.

Randi Honeycutt, 39, is a Florida-based content creator who has loads of videos and followers excited to follow her journey.

While she currently confidently rocks a head full of silver strands, Honeycutt revealed that she previously dyed her hair for nearly two decades after she started noticing her changing hair color at 17 years old.

Randi Honeycutt is opening up to the world while inspiring others by taking everyone through her natural gray hair journey.
Courtesy of Randi Honeycutt

"I was absolutely embarrassed and mortified," Honeycutt told "GMA." "There was nobody else my age that I knew that had any gray."

She added that the gray hair made her feel "abnormal" at such an early age.

"The world convinced me that gray hair was awful and the only route was to dye it," she said.

Initially, Honeycutt said she tried to hide the gray hairs that would grow in, but by her 20s, she was dying regularly, and would see new roots growing in every 2-3 weeks.

Honeycutt went on to share how the upkeep became really expensive and attempting to dye her hair herself became very cumbersome, while also leaving her with a messy bathroom.

After nearly two decades of dying her hair, Honeycutt hit a turning point when she turned 36. She sold her house and decided to become a full-time traveler for a year. After weighing out her options of either finding stylists to maintain her color while on the road or attempting to do it herself, she ultimately decided to just let her gray hair grow out.

"I was just so tired of trying to manage and schedule my life around hair dyes that I was like, 'Let's just do this,'" said Honeycutt. "And if I don't like it, I can always dye it back. Not a big deal."

While she initially thought she would be a little more fearful to grow out her gray hair, she said she found comfort in a community of women online that were going through similar growth processes and sharing their journeys.

Honeycutt said it "felt really empowering to see them all thriving, and feeling free from hair dye, and just feeling like they can fully embrace themselves."

Fast forward to today: Honeycutt is on a mission to destigmatize graying hair and promote self-acceptance.

With more than 44,000 followers, she posts videos about everything from accepting and embracing her silver mane to the products she uses to maintain it.

"It makes me feel so good to know that I can impact the way that other women think about their gray hair, and just give them an alternative to hair dye if they're feeling frustrated with it," said Honeycutt.

Reflecting back on her own journey, Honeycutt mentioned that growing out her gray hair made her more confident.

"It made me realize that I don't have to hide behind hair dye or anything else to be of value and to be worthy," said Honeycutt. "I am worthy just as I am, regardless of anything else, regardless of wrinkles, of hair color, of beauty, of any of it -- I find worth in myself now, as opposed to finding worth in what other people think about me."