The rise of the silver-haired influencers

“THEY are not grey hairs! They are my wisdom highlights!!” is the view many women hold true as more and more embrace their silver strands.

When people talk about grey hair, most envisage an old lady in a rocking chair knitting booties for her grandchildren.

That stereotypical view has long been blasted out the murky dyed waters as women of all ages have become icons of sophistication and being cool.

So much so that silver-haired influencers have become the envy of the younger generation.

Douyin, the Chinese equivalent of TikTok, has seen a major growth in elderly influencers quietly taking over a share of the market.

According to Jing Daily, 79-yearold internet celebrity Grandma Wang, who has a strong following of more 15 million users, has broken her own record for the highest single-session sales while live-streaming. Wearing tight skirts, dancing to pop songs, and preaching “self-love” to younger women has earned the grey-haired grandma iconic status.

Other elderly influencers like Grandma Tian and Woshini Wanglaoye’s followers are mostly female users, between the ages of 18 and 35. Followers consider these “silver-haired” influencers “trustworthy”.

Since grey hair has become trendy, beauty brands have to realise that people no longer want to see flawless, “younger looking” women with dyed hair. They have had to move with the times and a more enlightened market by using women who have unashamedly embraced their age and all the wrinkles and greys that go with it.

Celebrities like Dame Helen Mirren, Jane Fonda and Andie MacDowell are all L’Oreal ambassadors who front their skincare ranges targeting the over 50 group.

Fonda embraced her grey hair at age 83.

“I tell you, I’m so happy I let it go grey. Enough already with so much time wasted, so much money spent, so many chemicals. I’m through with that,” she told Ellen Degeneres.

At this year’s Cannes Film Festival mature stars proudly showed off their perfectly styled grey hair, wearing glamorous gowns as they stepped on to the red carpet.

One of the most striking reveals was that of 63-year-old actress MacDowell, who arrived at the event wearing an evening gown with her long curly greying hair flowing over her shoulders.

It was such a breath of fresh hair seeing the star, who is so well known for her mane of curly dark hair.

“You could see my roots, and my daughters kept telling me that I looked badass,” MacDowell said in a February appearance on Drew Barrymore’s talk show.

“And that idea that I could look badass really appealed to me, so I went for it, and I’m loving it.

“When I first did it, I went to the grocery store because we had no place to go and I thought I looked good,” she said.

“I saw a man there, a ’silver fox’ guy – you know, a guy that you register and go, ’Oh, he's a silver fox’. And I immediately just put my shoulders back, and I was like, 'And so am I’.

“We both just, like, shot a look to each other, and I was like, ‘I’m a silver fox’.”

Jodie Foster, who received an honorary Palme d’Or at the festival, wore her hair in a shoulder-length bob with grey streaks visible around her hairline. The 58-year-old actress was effortlessly chic in a white figure hugging gown with silver beaded details.

Wearing a long flowing yellow gown, actress Mirren with her striking white hair styled up in a casual chignon once again shone on the red carpet.

Since Mirren stepped out and showed off her white main, she actually became more sophisticated and cool at the same time.

She truly inspired many women to look at grey hair in a different light. There are many younger women who should take a page from Mirren’s stylebook to improve their look.

Sex and the City fans were pleasantly surprised when on-set images of Sarah Jessica Parker and Cynthia Nixon showed that they joined the grey-hair movement.

They have been spotted showing off their greying tresses as they shoot episodes of the Sex and the City reboot, And Just Like That.