by Silva Payne

Created on: April 11, 2009   Last Updated: January 16, 2010

One of the most obvious reasons to not start dying your hair once it turns grey, is the expense. Once you start, you will have to keep going back to the salon every couple of weeks to have the roots touched up if you want to maintain the colour you have chosen. For those of us women who do not have this routine as part of our lives (and yes, there are women who do not visit salons) this is probably one of the main reasons why we choose not to colour our hair. Not only having to find the time (at least an hour) and the money to cover the process, but the smell of the salon and the endless twittering of the stylists and other patrons is enough to convince us that we do not want to do this more than once or twice in our entire lives, and certainly not every 14 days!

But why should we hide the grey at all? The power of advertising seems to have grown substantially over the past decade, along side the obsession most of the western world has with the concept of "celebrity". We are bombarded with images of film stars flaunting their glossy coloured locks and told that it is a treat we are worthy of. Do we really believe that these celebs actually use the products they are advertising? Do we remember that they have a number of assistants to create their "look" for hours before they step outside? It would seem like the answer is yes to the first question and no to the second for the majority of women. So where are the older women who wear their grey hair with dignity?

Dame Judi Dench, and Helen Mirren. Both women are British stars of the acting world, which may have something to do with it, and both work more on the stage than they do in film or TV. However, both have recently made their mark in the box office successes of "James Bond" and "The Queen". Undoubtedly, these women are beautiful, successful, appreciated and adored, and most importantly they have grey hair and wear it naturally. It is difficult to imagine someone like Cher allowing nature to reclaim her locks.

It is not so much the colour of the grey, it is the distribution of it and the cut that is important. People say that grey hair ages a woman, but often that is because the hair is scraped back into a ponytail and left to grow long and unmanageable. Getting a good hair cut and then maintain it takes less time overall than sitting in a salon having your hair dyed and then retouched. Just as selecting the right spectacles for your face is important, having the right style for your face and lifestyle

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