In a society that often upholds youth and vitality as the ultimate beauty standard, women with grey hair were once (and still are in some cases) shunned for showing a sign of ageing.
Yes, sadly, an unrealistic portrayal of beauty, emphasising flawless youthfulness while disregarding the natural signs of ageing has been perpetuated for decades.
And this unattainable standard has forced women, particularly in the entertainment industry, to resort to hair dyes, wigs, and other artificial means to conceal their grey hair.
However, a remarkable shift has recently taken place as more and more female celebrities boldly step into the spotlight with their unapologetically silver locks, inspiring women everywhere to follow suit.
Read on to see the women leading the charge.
01
Andie MacDowell
Actress Andie MacDowell stopped colouring her hair during the COVID-19 pandemic. And the Groundhog Day star explained during an interview with Katie Couric that she doesn’t care what people think about it.
“It makes me laugh when someone says it makes me look older. You know I’m 65, what do you think, I look 75 just because I let my hair go?”
“But I don’t care, I want to be old. I’m tired of trying to be young. I don’t want to be young. I’ve been young. And to be an older person trying to be young, what an effort. That’s a lot of effort. I just can’t keep up the charade… I can’t,” Andie said.
The actress then shared with NewBeauty in March 2024 that she was sick of the double standard women face when it comes to hair colour and ageing.
“For me, it’s fascinating that it’s such a curiosity and interest to people… I think also, it’s important to stop and think about that interest and curiosity — because it wouldn’t happen if I was a man,” Andie said.
“It happens because I’m a woman. We have to look at that. We have to look at why there’s interest in me having silver hair, because if I were a man, there would be no question I had silver hair, right?”
02
Jennifer Aniston
In June 2023, Jennifer Aniston took to Instagram to promote her hair brand LolaVie’s newest product. And in her post, Jen had unmistakeable streaks of grey in her hair.
But fans loved the Friends star embracing her natural colour. One commented, “Your grey hair is BEAUTIFUL!! It suits you so much and makes your eyes pop even more,” while another wrote, “Thank you for leading the way on grey!!!”
03
Sarah Jessica Parker
In 2021, paparazzi shots of Sarah Jessica Parker went viral because she had grey hair, with many at the time calling her ‘brave’. But in an 2022 interview with Allure, SJP spoke about her grey hair and simply explained, “I can’t spend time getting base colour every two weeks. Can’t do it. Nope. Too much.”
She also asked fans to stop calling her ‘brave’ for embracing her natural hair colour. “It became months and months of conversation about how brave I am for having grey hair. I was like, please please applaud someone else’s courage on something,” the And Just Like That actress said.
04
Helen Mirren
Helen Mirren has worn her hair grey for years. But she explained why in 2020 and told People, “I did it because I’m lazy. Honestly, I’m so lazy about my hair! It’s a lot of work and as wonderful as many hairdressers are, I don’t want to sit in a salon for hours. I just can’t be bothered with that.”
The four-time Oscar winner continued to say that going grey can be a “positive thing.”
“I think women were just so terrified of having white or grey hair because it immediately put them into a different category. And of course, you are in that age group. I’m sorry, but you are! So, why not just embrace it, go along with it and welcome it? Make it a positive thing as opposed to a negative thing.”
05
Meryl Streep
Meryl Streep famously had grey hair for her role as the iconic Miranda Priestly in the 2006 film The Devil Wears Prada. But almost ten years later in 2015, Meryl began wearing her hair grey in real life and has pretty much done so ever since.
06
Jamie Lee Curtis
Jamie Lee Curtis has long marched to the beat of her own drum but in 2017, she took things to the next level and began rocking her natural grey colour. According to Yahoo News, the Oscar-winning actress stopped dying her hair because she didn’t want to put “burning chemicals on her head” anymore.
07
Diane Keaton
For most of her career, Diane Keaton either had blonde or brunette hair. But at the 2014 Golden Globes, Diane showed up rocking a full head of grey locks. And the actress has never looked back, wearing her hair grey ever since. In her memoir, The Again, Diane explained her decision and wrote, “The exhausting effort to control time by altering the effects of age doesn’t bring happiness.”
