One of the better stigmas to be on it's way out in 2019 (along with those attached to diverse body types and talking about mental health) is aging naturally, and wearing greys is set to be one of the biggest hair trends next year.
Pinterest has reported a 879% increase in searches for “going grey” (and not in the trendy Kardashian way) with a surge in users who are looking for ways to wear their silver hairs naturally without resorting to expensive coloring treatments and root touch-ups.
It shouldn’t be that surprising; studies show that the average British woman will discover her first grey's before the age of 25. With silver hairs arriving anywhere from the age of 18, whether or not you're ready to start going grey is one thing our hair follicles aren’t concerned about.
But while going grey has traditionally been more of an acceptable reality for men (even coining its own niche bracket of hunk, the ‘Silver Fox’) this same axis connecting male greys to George Clooney and Sex and the City's Mr. Big usually connects women going grey to menopause, aging and a loss of sexual prowess and desirability. Really, why should George Clooney and fictional characters get all the glory?
Luckily In 2018 there’s been a shift in attitude as we embrace the fact that (shockingly) grey hairs sometimes happen before the age of 35 and don’t always accompany a draw full of sensible clothes and La Mer wrinkle creams.
This marks a pivotal change from 2014 – only four years ago – when Charles Worthington conducted a survey that showed that one in five women felt shocked and upset when they discovered their first grey hairs, while 32% of the women in the same survey stated that they would resolve to hide their greys until the day they died. (until the day they died)
But as of 2018 things have started changing. Contributing to the trending positivity towards natural grey was Clairol’s ‘Face your First’ campaign in October, which has been the first campaign of its kind to encourage women to make their own decision about whether or not they want to cover up their grey hairs or show them off.
Either way being your own body it really comes down to the individual as to weather you want to allow grey's to come through: but the general consensus seems to be that it's time to wear silver hairs with pride.
A wave of celebrities have supported the trend of going grey naturally in 2018 with Chrissy Teigen tweeting about growing an iconic Cruella De Ville stripe and Katie Holmes appearing on on stage at the Grammys in January with silvers peeking through her up-do. Meanwhile the natural silver man of Vogue’s Sarah Harris has become a hallmark of her personal style.
For 2019, Grey is here to stay.