50 shades of grey

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For decades, the fateful discovery of that first grey hair is, for men and women alike, undesirable. Refusing to accept our findings, we banished and plucked them, resisted and hid them, denied and dyed them. Up until now, grey hair has not been the most prominent of accessories. You don’t see boxes of ‘Silver Grey’ lining the supermarket aisles, nestled confidently between ‘Dark Cocoa Brown’ and ‘Golden Honey Blonde.’ Neither did you often hear someone asking their hair stylist for a nice charcoal tint to cover their tresses. It is only recently that grey hair has surprisingly sparked the latest trend.

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Of course, we have always had our glorious ‘Silver Foxes’; having made grey look dashing for years. We’re looking to you Clooney. ‘McSteamy’ or Eric Dane (former Grey’s Anatomy star) has been simultaneously making ladies melt and rocking the salt-and-pepper-do, whilst Richard Gere’s gentleman good-looks have been getting better with each grey strand.

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What about the women? Hollywood stars like Helen Mirren, Judi Dench and Meryl Streep have long been flying the ‘au-natural’ flag; their snowy bobs highlighting their feminine and natural beauty. But, it is the younger generation that is speeding up the greying process, on purpose. Rihanna recently dyed her black locks dark slate, proclaiming on Instagram, ‘gray is the new black.’ Other young celebrities like Kelly Osbourne, Nicole Richie, Ellie Goulding and Little Mix’s Perrie Edwards have all given the ‘Silver Look’ a test-run, and have received many mixed reviews. From some wondering why one would ever try to look old, to others believing that grey is the next ‘thinking-out-of-the-box’ revelation in hair colour, the debate continues as to whether this trend is here to stay. Developments have already been made, with the likes of Osbourne and Edwards blending in subtle violet and pink tones to their blank silver canvas. So will we soon see Oxford Road swarming with a sea of grey hues? Will the Learning Commons suddenly appear to be a new old people’s home? We’re going grey just thinking about it…

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