Women who’ve never had a single grey hair
They’re not fibbing — we asked their hairdressers!
SPOTTING your first grey hair is a depressing moment for any woman, right up there with wrinkles and tummy rolls.
A third of women discover their first silver strand by the age of 30 and the average 50-year-old has lost 50 per cent of her original colour. Little wonder a middle-aged woman who insists she has yet to find any grey is viewed with envy, not to mention suspicion.
But that’s what TV presenter Claudia Winkleman claimed recently. ‘I don’t have grey hair yet,’ said the 44year-old, whose glossy black bob is her trademark. So what’s her secret?
Hair colour is created by pigment cells, melanocytes, within the hair’s middle layer — the cortex. When these cells are damaged or die, hair is stripped of its colour and looks silver or white. ‘It is part of the ageing process, and affects both sexes equally, ’ says Glenn Lyons, clinical director at the Philip Kingsley Trichological clinic in London.
The most common cause of grey hair is genetic. There is also evidence that stress can cause grey hair by depleting the body’s stores of vitamin B.
ANTONIA HOYLE spoke to four lucky women — and their hairdressers to make sure they weren’t fibbing — to find out what it’s like to have permanently youthful locks.
My friend says my black hair looks like a wig
JACKIE COHEN, 64, is a retired social work manager. She lives in Barnet, Herts, with her husband, Raymond, 69, a jeweller. She says: My ABSeNCe of grey is more likely to prompt disbelief than envy. even those who accept I’m not dyeing it on the sly aren’t always complimentary: one of my friends said I have got to the age where my short, black cut is so dark it looks unnatural, like a wig.
But the truth is I’ve never dyed my hair. The health implications of the chemicals in artificial colour put me off experimenting when I was younger. Now, I’m lucky not to have the hassle of endless salon appointments. One friend spends every third Saturday afternoon at the hairdresser. It costs her £100 a visit — I couldn’t be doing with the small talk, let alone the eye-watering expense. A quick £30 trim every six weeks is enough for me.
I must have saved thousands over my lifetime and my hair — which I’m told is naturally shiny and full of bounce — seems all the better for it.
Although my mother was dark-haired and didn’t get her first grey hair until her 60s, there were many years I was convinced I would succumb to silver.
Aged 35, I was diagnosed with a skin condition called vitiligo. The causes are unknown, but sufferers lose their natural pigment, leading to white patches of skin. A specialist warned me it could also affect my hair, turning it white overnight. I’d go straight to the bathroom mirror every morning half expecting to have lost my hair colour. Thankfully, it didn’t happen and, unusually, I grew out of the condition in my mid-50s. My ambition is to hang on until 70 without the help of hair dye. Jackie’s freelance hairdresser, Marc Scott-Taylor,
says: ‘I’ve been cutting Jackie’s hair for five years. She doesn’t dye it and hasn’t got any grey. Usually by the time you reach your 60s the quality of your hair and its pigment goes. Jackie is very lucky.’
I’ve been mistaken for my son’s blonde sister
DIANE HAMBLEY, 41, is an emergency call handler from Cwmbran, South Wales. She is engaged to Ray, 43, a driver, and has two children, Charlie, 21, and Alyssa, 11, from a previous relationship. She says: My HAIr has no split ends, stretches down to my waist and, best of all, doesn’t contain a single grey. Lit-
tle wonder I love it. Fewer than 2 per cent of blondes are natural, and I’m willing to bet that only a fraction of
those are over 40. You can tell my hair isn’t dyed because it’s a soft shade, rather than peroxide-induced platinum.
If I did find a grey, I wouldn’t dye because I don’t want to look fake. But I have been blessed with good genes. My great-grandmother was still blonde in her 80s, my 94-year-old grandmother has only a smattering of grey and my mother, Elizabeth, 63, is still a natural blonde.
My friends are jealous that I can pass as a woman in her late 20s, as is my daughter, who inherited her father’s dark hair. Not so long ago a group of my son’s friends mistook me for his sister when they met me for the first time — mortifying for him, but fabulous for me.
I have dyed my hair before, aged 30, after being diagnosed with the autoimmune disease Lupus Erythematosus, in which the body attacks the skin, leaving it dry and scaly. Side-effects include hair loss, and I developed a tiny bald patch on the top of my head. I was prescribed steroids and the hair loss halted but, not thinking rationally, I decided to dye my then bob pillar-box red in case it was my last chance to experiment.
Afterwards my hair became so dry it felt like a matted clump whenever I washed it. Four months later, I had the colour stripped out, and decided to be grateful for what nature gave me and grow my hair long instead.
It’s hot and heavy, but I am hoping that I, like my great-grandmother, will stay blonde until my dying day.
Diane’s hairdresser Bonita Bean, of Convenient Cutz in Cwmbran, says: ‘I’ve been trimming Diane’s hair for the past year and she definitely doesn’t dye it — bleach makes the hair dry and brittle, whereas hers is smooth and sleek. She is incredibly lucky.’
My lifestyle keeps me brunette
TraCy Posner, 55, is the director of a health and beauty company. she lives in London with her husband, robert, 47, a charity manager, and has a grown-up son and daughter. she says: SIttINg in my hair salon recently, a woman pointed at my hair. ‘I’d like mine the same as she’s coloured hers,’ she told her stylist. I laughed, as did my hairdresser, because my chocolate brown bob is entirely my own shade, and it always has been.
I’d never have imagined I could be in my mid-50s without a single grey hair. It is extraordinary really, especially as my mother and grandmother both went grey in their 20s.
I’ve been through plenty of greyinducing stress, too — ten years ago I was diagnosed with a brain tumour. I had an operation to remove it, was left paralysed and had to learn to walk and talk again afterwards. But the part of my hair that was shaved for surgery still grew back brown.
I think my healthy lifestyle plays a part. I take vitamin supplements and omega-3 oil, which helps to prevent the ageing process. I barely drink and do Pilates twice a week. I have a professional blow-dry once a week and a trim every six weeks.
Am I nervous about discovering my first grey? A bit. I regularly scrutinise my scalp under the bright lights of my bathroom mirror and would definitely dye it if the need arose. given my devotion to my hair, it would be a natural progression.’
Tracy’s hairdresser, Mo nabbach of M&M Hair academy in London, says: ‘tracy has been my client for 20 years and I can confirm she doesn’t have a single grey hair. You can tell the difference: dyed hair looks flatter, as there are no natural, different shades running through it.
You don’t see many grey redheads
Tanya BoyTen, 43, is an account manager for a clothes company. she is single and lives in Hebden Bridge, West yorks. she says: I ALwAYS assumed that going grey was part and parcel of getting older — yet here I am, in my mid-40s, without a single silver strand. I am fairly sure the secret lies in my hair colour. After all, how many greying redheads have you seen?
My thick auburn mane is part of my identity now. Yes, I can be fiery — something my dad attributes to my hair colour. But having red hair makes me feel mysterious and interesting.
that said, I haven’t always been enamoured with it. As a school girl, I got called all the obvious names like ‘ginger nut’ and ‘copper nob’.
At 25, I had highlights to make it look lighter. to dye red hair you have to strip the pigment with bleach before applying colour. I remember sitting in the salon for most of the day, and although I loved the result, the chemicals left it incredibly dry.
I’ve been too scared to colour it since in case it is ruined for good. which is a shame — like many redheads, my hair has grown more auburn with age and I’d like to enhance the redness with dye.
without wanting to sound egotistical, my lack of grey means I have been mistaken for a woman in my mid-30s. Hairdressers are amazed by my good luck and at work customers insist I must be dyeing it.
My mother, a brunette, had grey strands by 40, but I’ve inherited my red hair from my maternal grandmother. I’m not vain and like to think that if I did find a grey hair, I would handle it gracefully.
Tanya’s hairdresser, Georgia Brown, of sGM Hair in Hebden
Bridge, says: ‘I’ve been cutting tanya’s hair for three years. She is really lucky to have lovely, thick hair without any grey. But red hair — especially a strong red like hers — does retain its pigment for longer. Natural redheads have different tones in their hair which are harder to recreate with dye, which is why dyed redheads can look more artificial.’