All the Times Andie MacDowell Has Opened Up About Her Decision to Go Gray

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There are still so many unfair (frankly sexist) beauty standards women — especially those in the public eye — are expected to adhere to. While some feel pressure to maintain dyed hair instead of transitioning to silver strands as they come in, Andie MacDowell is ditching the dye and letting her hair go gray. The 64-year-old actress is "happier" with her natural hue, she recently told People. (Related: Jane Fonda's Perspective On Aging Is So Refreshing)

The actress was inspired by her older sister's "full-on silver" hair, she told the magazine. "I thought she looked so much more beautiful being silver. I was jealous," said MacDowell. The pandemic also played a role in her shifting mindset. "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," she shared. "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."

This isn't the first time MacDowell has shared her thoughts on letting her hair go gray. "I'm salt-and-pepper. I always correct people: 'It's not gray, it's silver,'" she said in a 2021 appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show. "I'm enjoying it. It's not that I'm 'letting myself go,' I don't think of it that way," she added. (FYI: Here's how to transition to gray hair with stunning highlights.)

For her, having gray hair is about being authentic."Honestly, it's exhausting to have to be something that you no longer are," she told Interview Magazine last October. "I was finally like, 'You know what? I'm not young. And I'm okay with that,'" she said, doubling down on her refreshing perspective about how society talks about aging. "I hate the word 'embrace,' because it always sounds like you're having to accept something, and I don't feel like that," she said. "It's like I've taken a mask off or something."

MacDowell's two daughters, actresses Rainey and Margaret Qualley, have cheered their mom on throughout her hair journey too. "When I first started wearing my hair gray, my daughters kept saying I looked badass," she told InStyle last October. "It was heartwarming to see such a positive reaction because I had some resistance to the idea in the beginning. I think it's badass to embrace where you are [in life] and be fearless. That is exactly what I am doing," said the Groundhog Day actress.

While MacDowell admitted it feels like a "constant daily job" to be kinder to herself in her recent People interview, sage reminders from her daughters help keep her in check. "If I ever say anything demeaning about myself, because I've taught [my daughters] not to do that, they'll say, 'Why are you doing what you told us not to do?'" she said. (Related: Your Negative Self-Talk Could Be Harming Your Health — Here's How to Stop)

"Aging is a really, really intimate educator on loving yourself," she told People, adding, "You can't stop it. It's going to happen." Props to MacDowell for reminding others that it's powerful and fun to live authentically as yourself at every age.