Beauty, Hair
Rather than the negative connotations of the past, grey hair is now ultra chic and fashionable. Women are challenging those silver foxes and wearing this new colour with pride. When Jayne Mayled talked with her hairdresser about stopping colouring her hair she encouraged her to change what was in her head before changing what was on her head. Banish the negative and embrace the positive, as grey or white hair is a colour choice, and not a sign of no longer caring or giving up.
Grey hair needs special care to look its best, grooming and styling is vital, losing the colour from your hair occurs when the hair follicle stops producing melanin, which is a natural pigment, and when this happens there’s a change to the hair fibre. Grey hair is colourless and is usually coarser, when the texture changes hair can become more difficult to manage. Jayne wanted products that worked well, smelt divine and made her feel gorgeous when she used them. Unfortunately they weren’t that easy to find, so she set about creating them herself.
White Hot is a capsule collection of six products which brighten, cleanse, condition and add oomph and definition – all feeling and smelling luxurious. Working with expert formulators Jayne carefully chose ingredients to reflect the fact that the texture and condition of grey hair is different to hair that still has pigment. White and grey hair can be yellow, flat, fluffy or wiry, so the products were created to specifically treat these concerns.
Smoothing and strengthening Keravis™ and a touch of Blue Lupin for optical brightening and dazzling shine, Shea Butter extracts to detoxify and ‘grab’ yellowy tones and White Truffle for its moisturising properties. The multi-purpose Lifeshine Oil is based on Baobab Oil from the African ‘Tree of Life’, bursting with light-giving and moisturising nutrients.
Jayne isn’t content with just giving us the ammunition for gorgeous grey hair; she is on a mission to get the acceptance of grey and white hair recognised in women. Grey hair is a colour choice and one being taken by younger women as well as our generation, its thought that more than 32% of British women are going grey under 30. Stress is said to be a major factor and John Frieda has even named this demographic, GHOSTS, Grey Haired Over Stressed Twenty Something’s, I can’t see how this will be in any way helpful to women who say they become invisible as they get older.
As Jayne says “We believe that grey hair is just a colour choice and we don’t share the huge assumption that everything we do to feel good has to be about making ourselves look younger. But there’s no doubt that choosing to be grey still seems to break some unspoken rules and lots of us are talking about it”.
One such person is Denise O’Neill creator of the blogspot Grey is OK! She shares her story here:
Grey is OK!
I am a middle-aged woman who became the Big 5-0 in March. I am proud to be 50 and I don’t try to pretend otherwise – just happy to age gracefully. I have looked after myself, I am healthy and I know who I am. I have entered an exciting new phase of my life where I am enjoying ‘me’ time and I am loving it! My two wonderful children, who mean the world to me, are now adults (21 and 18) and, whilst I will always be their Mum and on-hand when they need me, they are beginning to stand on their own feet and less reliant on me.
I am also grey and have been grey for the last five years. I’m not the old ‘over the hill’ grey – but the new generation ‘grey and chic’ grey. And, I want to inspire other women to have the confidence to give grey ago. I want women to have CHOICE. I’m not saying that women should not dye their hair but they should have the confidence to choose. There is a huge trend for women going grey and it is becoming very popular. Grey is just another colour of hair – it’s no big deal!
So I want to shout it from the rooftops ‘Grey is OK!’
The way I see it, the beauty of grey hair is one of nature’s best kept secrets and is only revealed if you give it a try. If you don’t like it, you can always dye again.
In September 2011 I created a blog page which describes my journey to grey and what I have learned on the way: Grey is Ok! My blog describes how I have learnt to adapt my look to showcase my new grey colour – in my clothes, make-up and jewellery, and I describe my perception in how grey is viewed by society and how I would like things to change.
I am a member of a Facebook group called ‘Gray and Proud’ which was set up a few years ago in the USA. It is made up of women from many countries, including the UK, France, Spain, Finland, Ireland, The Netherlands, Italy and as far away as Australia and New Zealand – but mostly the USA (hence the spelling of grey/gray). It is a wonderfully positive group of women (and some men) who offer support to each other and provide guidance on everything to do with grey hair, including which hair products to use, how to style hair. We talk about the whole package. We share our pictures and stories and everyone is so positive and happy. We also want to inspire other women of the world to feel confident to take the step to go grey.
Another fabulous page on Facebook is ‘GGG Going Gray Guide’ which provides professional information on everything about grey hair and associated beauty.
The Grey Tsunami
In the past, when we thought of grey hair on women, we thought of the ‘little old lady’ image. Times have changed and many women want to be their real, natural, authentic selves. Many are tired of being a slave to the dye, of the long and expensive hair salon appointments and of putting chemicals on their scalps.
I believe that the ‘grey revolution’ is happening now from the ground up. Grey haired women are beautiful, sassy and confident. Usually, trends are set and promoted by the large fashion and beauty industries and the consumer follows. But, my perception is that ordinary women are taking the lead in ditching the dye and becoming the trailblazers for grey. I wish the fashion and beauty companies would hurry up and catch up with us. If they would only wake up! There is a real market for products for caring for grey hair, fashion, make-up, jewellery and accessories. Grey-haired women are ready to spend their money on these things – money they save from expensive hair salon colouring.
White Hot available from Boots prices from £12.00
