Having grey hair as a twenty-something can seem pretty depressing. One strand will make you feel old, a whole head of it will you feel paranoid as though you’re wanted by women in white overalls because you’ve escaped from the nursing home again. No seriously…in a world where since we were born grey hair has been THE ultimate sign of ageing, it’s clear in terms of let’s say the hair Olympics, we’ve been given the silver (literally). What’s worse is that one season grey hair will totally be in fashion and you can strut around, shouting to the world ‘well mine’s natural’ and then the next it’s not, and you’re walking around town with a massive beanie on your head hoping people won’t notice. It’s tough - especially as it's something you have very little control over. But as I've got older, I've started to realise that having grey hair is not the end of the world. Just search #grannyhair on Instagram and you’ll fnd that some of the stigma around being a female silver fox is dissipating. In fact, if you're a young woman who's willing to keep her grey hair natural, it can make a pretty cool statement, that’s if you’re brave enough to take it on.
For me, my grey hair story starts in sixth form. I was going through a tough time, what with growing up and trying to get through my A Levels, and unfortunately all that stress started the ‘premature greying’ process. At first it was just a small patch under my fringe, then it started to grow and spread, leaving me with grey streaks only on the left side of my head. I was pretty upset about it and coming out to friends when I was 18 felt like I was telling them I had two belly buttons or something. It just felt weird. But I wasn't the only one, and you're not either. So to help us own the silver and tell everyone else what they’re missing out on, here’s the things you’ll only know if you have grey hair…
Changing rooms can be terrifying
Unlike being at home where your nice, lovely mirror only shows you from one angle, changing rooms are like voluntarily going into a small space which magnifies all of your bad angles - including your grey hairs. You’ll be minding your own business, trying on something (most likely with palm prints) and then BOOM. The grey hair alert spotting begins. And thanks to the 360s worth of mirrors you’ll soon discover grey hairs you didn't even know you had.
Wearing your hair up becomes a styling challenge (but if done well is totally Instagram-worthy!)
If you have a whole head of grey then you probably don’t worry about this because you'll just look cool anyway. But for those of us with streaks putting your hair up can mean visibly exposing them, so the challenge to either hide every single strand or arrange it so the streaks look perfect. And boy does it take forever, but in the end we all know it's completely worth it. If you need ideas my personal fav is to use my streaks to create stripes that fade out into the ponytail bit.
Deep deep down it makes you feel like a superhero
Like Cara's brows or Kim Kardashian's ass, having grey hair can make you feel super special because you know you have something uniquely awesome about you. It may not give you super powers but there's something exciting being apart of the grey minority. Plus it also helps that quite a few superheroes have grey hair. Did we mention the X-Men series alone has two female supers with grey hair?
You just hate Frozen
And, no it's not because of that song, although after all the nickname calling you'll probably want to scream at the person just 'let it go.' Thanks to Elsa's grey hair and Ana's streak, people can't help but to comment or nickname you after the characters. At first it can be fun, but then it just gets beyond annoying and those classic French words get tossed around a lot in your head. But obviously you don't say them, because Disney princesses don't swear.
**You find comfort in how many celebs are rocking silver hair **
When you're feeling a bit shit about how you look with them, finding who else has grey hair makes life so much better, mainly because you know you're not alone. And for those who didn't know Rihanna, Jourdan Dunn, Cara and even Kylie Jenner have rocked silver in the last couple of months. .
Going to the hairdressers becomes an embarrassing ordeal
No matter how hard you try to hide it, going to the hairdressers means you'll inevitably end up flashing your silver because of having your hair washed. It may suck to start with, but once you're hair is all finished there's no denying that it was all worth it.
Talking to your mum about your hair makes you feel like you’re middle-aged
When you’ve got to that point of chatting to your mum about what she uses on her greys, you instantly start to feel old. But on the plus side, it's great knowing your mum actually understands. And with all the dye you'll probably buy over the years it helps to have someone on hand who cares, understands, and has money.
Like this? Then you might also be interested in:
Kylie Kardashian's Proof That Grey Hair Is Still A Thing. So Here's How To Do It Right.
Science* Has Worked Out Exactly When You're Going To Go Grey
Follow Natalie on Twitter @NatalieTurcoWil
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.