Gray hair? 'Go ahead and rock it'

TAMPA (FOX 13) - While many of her customers come in to color their grays, 43-year-old salon owner Heather Goodwin is embracing hers.

"I mean, instead of trying to, quote, 'look young,' I wanted to look my best. And with all of the choices I had here at the salon, I felt like it was the right choice for me to try,” Goodwin explained.

Annie Van Horn also works in a salon. Like Goodwin, the 38-year-old has any color available at her fingertips, but she likes her own. 

"I feel like I'm just doing what feels comfortable for me. And my color is great naturally, so why not go ahead and rock it?" offered Van Horn.

Both women started going gray fairly young.

"I first started noticing my hair going gray in my mid-20s," said Goodwin. 

"I first noticed my first gray hair when I was 19," said Van Horn.

They have covered their grays over the years, sometimes getting creative.  But the upkeep became time consuming. 

"Once I got into my 30's, I was having to color my hair every 10 days,” said Goodwin.  

"I had been coming in every two weeks to get it colored because there was like a huge white line around my face," said Van Horn.

Both ladies are getting positive feedback for their choice to go natural. 

"People will stop me anywhere I go and say ‘I love your hair.’ and it's all different ages of people -- men, women, younger, older -- they all have a comment to say," said Goodwin.  

"I get a lot of compliments,” Van Horn continued.  “A lot of people can't believe it's my natural color. They think I bleach it or do it gray this way on purpose.”

The women said the touch of gray has not aged them at all, but rather turned back time. 

"I feel like it does make my face look younger, to have the gray hair. When my hair was darker, I felt like it aged me a little bit," said Van Horn. 

"I think it makes me feel, personally, more youthful because I feel beautiful so to me,” Goodwin added. “When you feel good about yourself, it definitely shows your best traits.”