Andie MacDowell on deciding to go grey: I felt that I would be happier

Andie MacDowell decided to stop dyeing her hair during the pandemic. She turned up to last year’s Cannes Film Festival with a full head of dark grey hair. She looked fantastic, although I kind of thought that she needed to rethink her makeup now that she’s fully grey. Andie was also at this year’s Cannes, and her makeup did look a lot better. She made the adjustment! Last year, she also talked about how her team – including her agent – pushed back on her for going grey. They told her that she wouldn’t get work as a grey-haired actress, that she needed to try to look younger, etc. She didn’t care. Andie recently chatted with People Mag about the decision to go grey and how happy she is with her hair these days. She also talks about aging and menopause.

Why she decided to go grey: “My sister’s full-on silver and she’s only 18 months older than me. I thought she looked so much more beautiful being silver. I was jealous. During COVID, I could see the roots with my face and with my skin and my eyes, and I liked it. I felt that I would be happier. And I am happier. I really like it. I’m 64, and this is the time of my life. Eventually, I’m going to be silver. And I wanted to have this experience of feeling what it is.”

Self-acceptance: “Your belly gets bigger as you get older too. And I’ve had three babies. I’m constantly having to work on loving that part of my body. It’s so hard.”

Her daughters helps her love herself: The actress says her daughters, actresses Rainey Qualley, 32, and Margaret Qualley, 27, whom she shares with ex-husband Paul Qualley, remind her not to be so hard on herself. “If I ever say anything demeaning about myself, because I’ve taught them not to do that, they’ll say, ‘Why are you doing what you told us not to do?'”

There’s only so much she can do: “Even if you work out, and I work out all the time—I hike, I do yoga, I eat super healthy—there’s only so much you can do.”

Going through menopause, too, has taken its toll. “Believe me, it gets even harder. Because after menopause, your hormones change, your shape changes. And I’ve got a very perceptive eye. So you see it. I will see it on other people, I’ll see it on myself.” Though she says it’s a “constant daily job” to be kinder to herself, she’s getting more successful each day. “Aging is a really, really intimate educator on loving yourself,” she says, “because you can’t stop it. It’s going to happen.”

[From People]

I know “pretty privilege” is a thing and I get tired of beautiful women complaining about how hard it is to be pretty, but I legitimately have sympathy for Andie here – she was a renowned beauty in her youth, a famous model and actress who was constantly praised for her looks. And to then age in public, on the screen and on red carpets, and to try to do it with grace? It must be incredibly difficult. What I enjoy about Andie in particular is that she does look so natural. It’s refreshing to see the lines on her face and her curly grey hair. She’s aging like so many European actresses, without the excessive fillers and plastic surgery. It’s nice. I wish more actresses would do it this way, although I understand why they don’t.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

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