Grey Matters

I cried. It was the beginning of the end of my youth. I walked out teary-eyed and told the husband who was only too happy to have me admit I had human tendencies. I phoned my mum,my grandmother,and two aunts (one of whom lives abroad) to give them the heartbreaking news.

Luckily,the next few ones took their time in coming. But now,a decade and a few dozen greys later,I’m still asking myself the same question I did on that vile Sunday —To dye or not to dye?

It may seem naïve: grey hair is hardly a beauty blizzard. Women (and men) have been colouring their hair for centuries. There are countless new hair-colour labels today in five shades of black and seven of brown. Besides,the (still) most beautiful woman in the world,Aishwarya Rai,actively promotes hair colour.

Scientists state grey hair is caused when your body stops making melanin,a substance responsible for putting colour into your hair. Sometimes,your body doesn’t produce enough melanin even when you are in your early 20s,or produces less when you age.

L’Oreal is reportedly developing a pill that will prevent hair from greying altogether,but experts say this will do more damage than good. Moreover,the cosmetic company says it’s based on a fruit extract but aren’t willing to reveal which one. The pill is purported to be launched in 2015,but the first casualty of it will be its founding company’s own business.

Getting on in years aside,an alarming rate of men and women in their early 20s are beginning losing their natural hair colour. A British study claims almost one-third British women under the age of 30 have started to go grey,and two-thirds of them blame stress. John Frieda,a popular hair-care brand in the UK that carried out this research,calls this consumer demographic GHOSTS,or Grey-Haired Over-Stressed Twenty-Somethings.

I have several friends who began to grey in their 20s,a few of these would have a head full of platinum if they didn’t dye at all. But they’re slaves to the dye-box or the five-weekly trip to the salon. And I suspect they hate their budding roots more than their streaks of grey. Moreover,the chemicals even in the best brands are damaging.

Like everything else that has to do with vanity,to colour one’s hair or not should be a matter of personal choice. But what’s especially interesting is our changing attitude toward grey hair. Sarah Hill,a contributor for British Vogue in her 30s now,began to grey at 16. “I’m proud of my silver hair and it’s definitely silver,not grey,” she is quoted in a newspaper article. “Grey sounds ageing. Silver is more glamorous.”

Would we want George Clooney any other way but silver-haired? I didn’t think so. But women with salt-and-pepper hair are barely considered grandmas these days. Grey hair seems to be all the rage among women in fashion. Kate Moss showed up at a Longchamps soiree with her grey roots showing. And Mary-Kate Olsen,the 23-year-old fashionista who owns the chic label,The Row,showed her chalked roots recently too. Lady Gaga tried going grey just for fun last year,as did Kelly Osbourne,singer Pink and the popular 14-year-old fashion blogger Tavi Gevinson.

I’m going to hold on to my silvers for a little bit longer. And if I’m in doubt again,I’ll remind myself about the Oscars after-party joke going around: “How do you recognise the young actors here? They’re the ones with wrinkles.”

namratanow@gmail.com