Grey hair. Don’t care

The pandemic-induced lockdowns have revolutionised the way we treat our hair. With vanity taking a beating like never before, #greyhair is rocking Instagram

Saiyami Juvekar, a Mumbai-based psychologist and educator, was in her early teens when she realised she was going grey. Panic struck. “My family was worried about what people would say, who would marry me. The entire crown was turning silver. I was only 13.” And thus, began the journey to mask greys. In the last 34 years, she has employed a variety of tactics. She’d cover it with a broad cloth hair band in school, and keep the hair partitioned a certain way to avert the judgmental gaze.  In college, she resorted to hair colour and tried home remedies, from using chai powder to henna, for a natural shade. “My standard line to the hairdresser was, ‘I need maximum coverage’. These efforts would obviously cost me a fortune. It felt as if I had altered my life to hide my rapidly-whitening head.” 

That is, until lockdown. With salons shut, Juvekar’s regimen of two decades came to an abrupt halt. A part of her was fed up of colouring it regularly anyway. “Fortunately, my husband has a head full of grey and has never bothered to colour it. He encouraged me to take the plunge.” Putting up a picture on Instagram revealing her natural mane, she captioned it:  “Finally living the choices I make... Most of my life my haircut and hairstyles were all about hiding the premature greys. Adding layers and layers of chemicals on what was natural and organic, though untimely. From now on, I feel free—free from those limiting beliefs of how I should look and from the need for approval. I feel light and confident.” 

Publicist Rajshree Suresh, 23, is allowing her silver strands to grow out. Suresh says she finds it funny when people don’t react to them like they used to

Incidentally, this celebration of grey is occurring across the globe. The hashtag #greyhair has more than 1.5mn tags on Instagram, with users of all ages taking to social media to proudly flaunt their locks. In fact, Martha Truslow Smith, a 26-year-old graphic designer who found her first grey strand at 14, started an account called Grombre (Going grey with grohm bray) on Instagram. The idea behind the platform is to create a safe space for women to unabashedly be themselves. The account, now 233k followers strong, features women of all ages in various stages of greying hair.  Here, followers open up and share their stories. With Rihanna and Lizzo endorsing the trend and unveiling grey hairstyles on Instagram, the narrative around the once-maligned biological change associated with ageing is slowly changing. 
Priti Pathak, a communications professional, has learnt to be unfazed even if friends point out the grey strands. “The lockdown gave us time to be comfortable with change. After the city opened up, even when salons were back to business, I wasn’t ready to head there. I thought to myself, do I really want to go back to coloured hair?” 

Juvekar says her daughter’s friends sometimes ask if her mother is, her grandmother. “I try to make my daughter understand that grey hair is as natural as black or brown, and that it’s hardly something to be ashamed of.”

Viresh Bhat started greying in his teens and would end up colouring his hair every 20 days. He has now decided to embrace the more-salt-than-pepper look

Publicist Rajshree Suresh, 23, finds it funny when people see her grey strands and don’t react to them like they used to. “In fact, when I met my friends during the lean period, they all admitted to having gone grey in the lockdown. It’s no longer the taboo it used to be.” Juvekar says she has been encouraged by compliments that have come her way. “Strangers have come up to me to ask if I’ve coloured my hair platinum!” she laughs. 

The “greyvolution” is not restricted to women, though. Like Juvekar, Viresh Bhat, a wealth manager, started greying in his teens. “I would head to the salon every 20 days. In the lockdown, when I was compelled to stop dying it, I couldn’t recognise myself,” he laughs. Avanish Agarwal, marketing head for Nutridock, a delivery kitchen, believes it’s not just the genes that lead to premature greying, but also an unhealthy lifestyle. “Being in the hospitality business meant attending parties, hustling and drinking more than you should. Not to mention the stress that comes with being in the marketing and sales sector.” 

Digital marketer Avanish Agarwal, 30, believes diet and lifestyle play a role in early greying

Amis Ahmed is the founder and chief visionary at Speaking Herbs, an organic and cruelty-free wellness brand. He says when you choose to colour your hair, more than 95 per cent of the time you are agreeing to put toxic ingredients into your system, including p-phenylenediamine, ethanolamine and  resorcinol, all of which are proven to be either carcinogenic, endocrine disruptors or associated with organ toxicity. “The after effects do not stop there. You wash these off your hair, and they end up in water streams, polluting oceans and choking marine life. When you choose not to colour your hair, you are embracing yourself the way you are, but also protecting your health and surroundings.”

Celebs growing out their greys

. In September 2020, Salma Hayek, 54, took to Instagram to share her take on grey hair.  “The white hair of wisdom. #whitehair #hairspiration,” she posted. 

. Comedian Kevin Hart shared with his followers that he will be letting his natural colour grow. “PS I have always had a shit load of grey hair...I was just a frequent dyer. I’m not working right now so I said F*** IT,” he wrote.

. Actor Lara Dutta Bhupati also shared a picture of her grey locks on Instagram and wrote, “A few greys rearing their heads! But I guess now is a good time to embrace our true selves! I guess now I know which part of my brain is working overtime!”

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