Author: Jayne Mayled
I first met Jayne in May, when we bonded over our mutual love of style and wanting to encourage women to feel great about themselves at every age. Both of us agreed that fighting ageism is about offering women a choice to dress, look and feel however they want, without external pressure, and we have both been inspired to start business with this in mind. Jayne doesn't believe that every woman should have to go grey in order to embrace their age, but wants to support and empower women who decide it is right for them, through offering a beautiful hair care product that isn't second best. This is her inspiring story... (p.s look out for an exclusive offer to enjoy at the end of this piece thanks to our special collaboration with White Hot Hair!) - Jacynth
Grey is the new black
Six years ago, when I was in my mid-fifties, I decided to stop colouring my hair and embrace my natural grey. It’s fair to say I was amazed by the reaction I got... at my age it’s perfectly natural to have grey hair, but when everyone from close friends to business colleagues and even complete strangers had something to say about ‘being brave’ or ‘giving up’ I realised I’d somehow broken some unspoken rules.
I’d been colouring my hair for 35 years. While toying with the idea of letting my grey hair show through but wondering if it would be interpreted as the official sign that I’d ‘checked out’ of looking even half decent, my hairdresser of many years said, “You need to change what’s in your head before you change what’s on your head.” These words of wisdom, combined with my experience of the transition from coloured to natural white hair and people’s reactions, ultimately led me to create the White Hot brand.
Knowing that grey hair can take some maintaining and after a lifetime of loving beauty products, I wanted to use hair products created especially to care for my ‘new’ hair type, and which importantly, were positive and celebratory. Having worked for many years in various roles within the beauty industry, I’m passionate about efficacious products. However when it came to finding a hair care brand that really matched my requirements I spotted a gap in the market.
I was adamant that I still wanted to feel great, no matter what my hair colour.Just because I’ve chosen grey hair, it doesn’t mean I’ve changed as a person. I’m most definitely not waving the white flag of surrender. It’s simply a more positive approach to the irrefutable fact that we are all getting older and recognising that not everything we do to feel good has to be about looking younger.
Don’t get me wrong, there are other products out there for grey hair, but they just didn’t ‘speak’ to me, or make me feel joyful and gorgeous when I bought them. I don’t associate grey hair with giving up or checking out, and with many women finding their first grey hairs in their 20s and 30s, it certainly shouldn’t be a signal that says ‘I’m ‘old’; I wouldn’t use any products that made me feel that way. Grey is a hugely aspirational colour in fashion, interiors and cosmetics – so why not for hair?
And so began the White Hot journey. White Hot is a capsule range of six products for white and grey hair, from an everyday shampoo to styling products, all designed to brighten, cleanse, condition and add texture and definition. The ingredients have been carefully chosen to reflect the fact that the texture and condition of grey hair is different to hair that still has its pigment.
However, the products are just one part of the story. It’s just as important to me to spark debate and discussion about the acceptance of grey and white hair in women. We’re an ageing population: the over 45s make up 50% of women in the UK and that’s only set to grow. We’re living longer, working longer and yet it seems we’re expected to strive for eternal youth. There’s no doubt that choosing white or grey hair still seems to break some unspoken rules and really, we need that to change - not just for us, but for future generations of women.
If you’ve embraced your white and grey hair, as a follower of Jacynth’s blog you can take advantage of an exclusive offer: Get 20% off any full size White Hot product by using the code LOVE20 at the checkout. Visit whitehothair.co.uk
