Andie MacDowell gets candid on embracing her natural hair in quarantine: 'I'm a silver fox'

Like many others in quarantine, Andie MacDowell is embracing a natural look.

In a clip from "The Drew Barrymore Show" published Monday, MacDowell opened up about her decision to stop dyeing her hair in coronavirus lockdown, while showing off her curly silver locks.

"I don't know what's gonna happen in five years," she said. "I might color my hair again, but I'm enjoying it right now."

Host Barrymore opened the segment by referencing a USA TODAY report about women who say they've felt liberated from societal beauty standards and are embracing relaxed looks in quarantine.

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MacDowell, 62, said she could relate.

"What happened was, I wasn’t coloring my hair, and it was half-colored back here," she said, touching the back of her head. "You could see my roots, and my daughters kept telling me that I looked bad a--. And the idea that I could look bad a-- really appealed to me. So I went for it, and I am enjoying it."

MacDowell also noted that she prefers a specific descriptor for her natural hair color.

"I always correct people: ‘It’s not grey, it’s silver,' " she said. "It’s not that I’m letting myself go. I don’t think of it that way."

And going silver has its perks, said the actress, recalling how she and a fellow "silver fox" shared a moment at the grocery store.

"I went to the grocery store, and I saw a man there, a 'silver fox' guy," she said. "I immediately just put my shoulders back, and I was like, ‘And so am I,' you know? We both just shot a look to each other. It’s like, I’m a silver fox. That's where I am right now."

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Academics say in the absence of a large-scale study, it's impossible to make broad assumptions about how women's attitudes and behaviors toward appearance may be changing. It is clear, however, that women are spending less money on beauty products, which has left some sectors of the billion-dollar global industry reeling, according to a report from the consulting firm McKinsey & Co.

Kate Mason, a gender studies professor at Wheaton College, told USA TODAY that what is evident is that the pandemic has changed the way many women present their bodies to others.

"Social distancing and mask-wearing give us more discretion over how much, or which parts of our appearances we show," she said. "I think anything that gives people a little bit of a break from these social norms so they can evaluate what works and what doesn't, can be a good thing."

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Contributing: Alia E. Dastagir

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Andie MacDowell says she embraced natural 'silver' hair in quarantine