Glad to be grey

THE mirror never lies. With brutal honesty, it tells you of every blemish, every wrinkle. And it is the first to bring you the shock news that you are in possession of your first grey hair.

That unhappy reminder of the passing years is soon joined by another, and another. The next thing you know you are at the hair care counter in Boots, studying the various boxes and bottles that promise eternal youth through tinted tresses. It is time to live and let dye...

Or is it? Soon to join those colorants is a new product, Grey Chic, by L'Oreal. The Paris-based cosmetics firm claims this is the first rinse on the market that does not try to cover up greying hair. Instead it intends to make it look as sleek and glamorous as possible.

Helping L'Oreal to promote the glad to be grey message is silver-haired actress Honor Blackman who as a young woman shot to fame as Pussy Galore in the James Bond film Goldfinger. Now 74, she still revels in her sex appeal.

"Sexuality is either there or it isn't. You cannot acquire it," she said in a recent interview.

"I've always been told that I'm sexy. Although I don't know exactly what people mean, I do think I've been a woman before my time. I still like flirting and hope I will do when I'm 90."

She added: "I don't mind getting older."

Blackman is far from the only celebrity role model for anyone who has decided to let nature take its course - just think of York's own Oscar-winning actress Dame Judi Dench and the trademark grey crop she has had for years.

Former sex kitten Brigitte Bardot is now a more mature moggie, and she looks great in grey. Writer and broadcaster Germaine Greer recently celebrated the sexuality of the older woman by posing for a magazine photo shoot wearing nothing but a smile under her grey locks. And three years ago Elizabeth Taylor briefly abandoned her trademark black bouffant for shocking silver, and what an impact it made.

Men, too, are making the most of monotone. Forget the John Major years: grey can be fun. George Clooney shows no sign of reaching for the Grecian 2000 - and his pin-up status is none the worse for it, as shown by the crowds of swooning women who turned out when he was in Britain to promote Perfect Storm.

Des Lynam remains the housewives' favourite despite - or perhaps because of - his silver tresses. The young pretender for his crown, Gary Lineker, is going down the same path.

These people are not hiding their age but celebrating it. And they are flying the flag for a generation that is becoming more powerful with each passing year.

One in three of the population is past 50 and in ten years' time nearly half of the workforce will be older than 45. The richest age group in Britain is now the newly retired, with people in their 60s averaging assets of £133,500 compared to £2,200 for twenty-somethings.

So should you stay grey, or succumb to the pressure to hit the bottle (of hair colorant)? York image consultant Sally Hanley, of First Impressions, says it depends on the individual.

"Grey hair that's in good condition, regularly cut, in a style that's designed for your face shape, can look fabulous," she said.

When it comes to creating the right look, hair colour is only the third most important factor, however, after skin tone and eye colour.

"People's natural colour changes with age," she said. "If someone used to have black hair and they have gone silver, but colour it black, that can look false.

"Their skin tone has changed, maybe their eye colour is softer."

Margaret Lawson, from The Groves, York, wrote a stirring endorsement of Tom Jones's right to stay a sex bomb at 60 in the Evening Press in June.

"I have opted to stay grey because I've tried everything else and I am quite happy with it," she said.

The opinion of your partner also has to be taken into consideration, she says. "My husband John likes it. But a lot of men like younger women."

That is their folly: "Many older women have a lot going for them."

Ultimately, however, it comes down to what feels right for you, said Margaret, 65. "Some of my contemporaries go on the Micklegate Run in high-heeled shoes and tinted hair. There's nothing wrong with changing your hair if you're going grey and don't like it."

Picture - George Clooney shows no sign of reaching for the Grecian 2000 - and his pin-up status is none the worse for it