Friday, September 3, 2010

A rant about going grey - on purpose, by moi

From The National NewspaperAs far as I can tell, 
I have three grey hairs on my head – and have had for 
the better part of a decade. If you happen to be nearby 
when they next grow in and I spot them, for example
travelling in a car, I apologise in advance for whatever 
danger I pose by my spasms of removal while staring 
into the rearview mirror. 




For some reason, the offending hair must always be


pulled immediately, no matter what I am doing, as 
though to leave it in place would contaminate the 
others around it. So you can understand how perplexed I 
am by the current trend of women going out of their way 
to dye their entire heads silver.

Why, Pixie Geldof? Whither Kelly Osborne? 

Fashion blogger Tavi, blue hair? Really? You too, 
Lady Gaga on the cover of Vanity Fair?

Are you all thumbing your nose at the anti-ageing frenzy? 



Making a comment about our obsession with youth? 
Are you bored, or insane? Will you have grey hair 
when you really have grey hair?
I, for one, plan to go the distance on this one. 
Twenty years from now, I will take note. Nothing 
ages a woman like grey hair, in both my opinion and
that of the American screenwriter Nora Ephron. 
Women fight this battle daily, and I see them 
winning and losing it, in great stripes of greying 
roots they hoped no one would notice as they ducked 
to the supermarket.

It is one thing to actually go grey naturally and rock 

it, as the 46-year-old model Kristen McMenamy has 
done this summer in Vogue. Few women pull this 
off – Helen Mirren, Judi Dench, Jamie Lee Curtis 
are all that come to mind – while the rest look in 
need of a good thick conditioner.
It’s not fair that most men effortlessly pull off grey, 
even prematurely. And that in many cases (George Clooney) 
they look better for it. 














Of course men also go bald, so I don’t dwell on it. 
Even more interesting was a recent photo I saw of 
Lady Gaga’s dye job showing it had actually morphed 
from whimsical silvery hues to the flat, powdered, 
multi-toned look of real grey hair.

Then again, the next time I saw her it was yellow. 

Also, Lady Gaga is a performance artist who in the 
Vanity Fair article confesses to avoiding 
relationships because she’s afraid they 
will steal away her creativity, 
so let’s take a grain of salt there.
And, in this case, pepper as well.

No comments:

How to be a happy expat

Because a cloud wall makes you want to take a selfie.  After 10 years living in the UAE, some of that time happy, some miserable and ...