‘People do a double-take when they see my face’

Emily Cunningham is a nursery manager from Cheshire. When people clock my long, naturally grey hair from behind, some assume I must be an eccentric older lady who refuses to chop it short. But then they see my youthful wardrobe staples of skinny jeans, trainers and headbands and it probably confuses them.

Wild and wavy

I’ve noticed people do a double-take when they see my face, but my grey hair certainly hasn’t stopped me getting compliments or attention from men – quite the opposite. Sometimes I hold my hair up in the mirror and from behind I instantly look like my equally grey but shorthaired mum, who’s 62. Keeping it long, wild and wavy, rather than straightening it, makes it look youthful from the back and I wish I’d embraced my grey sooner.

‘i wish i’d embraced my grey sooner’

I was only 16 when I started going grey, and I hated it then because it made me look older, so I dyed it back to my natural dark brown colour every week.

Feeling brave enough

But by my early 20s I felt brave enough to let the grey shine through, albeit with a few blonde highlights. It’s five years now since I last coloured it, because I’ve learned to love my grey. In fact, a lot of people don’t believe me when I tell them that it’s my natural colour. Fortunately, 32 is the oldest anyone has guessed that I am, which was a couple of years ago. With such a lot of grey hair, it could have been far worse!