The first time I found a gray hair, I was 23 years old. I literally screamed, collapsed on the edge of the bathtub, and started hyperventilating. I cursed my poor genetics and declared my virgin hair’s days numbered. (Drama much?)

I didn’t touch my wiry strands for almost a decade. That all changed when Madison Reed’s Italian-made, ammonia-free at-home dye kit filtered through my inbox. The message said celeb colorist Sally Hershberger sat on the board and planned to use it in her salons. It was practically a neon sign: It’s time.

Within a week, I had emailed chipper Chelsea, my online consultant, five times and sent her countless shots of my hair in different light. We agreed that warm, golden Tuscany Brown would add luster to my locks. Yet for some reason, I felt an overwhelming urge to call the whole thing off.

The purple trifold box, filled with illustrated instructions and hotel-size packets, sat on my table for three days. Finally, I snapped on the black plastic gloves and got naked (not necessarily in that order), afraid of brown muck smeared on my clothes or towels. (Turns out I could have kept my pants on; I remained clean as a whistle.)

The simple process — from applying barrier cream around my hairline to final rinse — took about an hour and a half. Afterward, I checked every strand around my temples. The grays were gone.

At our Grammys party that night, my hard work went unnoticed by our edit crew — and isn’t that precisely the point?

Available at madison-reed.com.