Is grey the new black?

Every magazine I pick up lately, and we are not talking about just the women's glossies, has had a piece on the - how surprising - fact that we should all allow our hair to go grey naturally.

Hmmm.

I don't have a problem with the concept of going grey. I have only ever coloured my hair for fun, and because it is a boring colour to begin with. But who are we trying to kid here? In whose best interests is this little campaign? The feminists will do as they please, as they should. The hairdressers and the big cosmetic companies don't want us to stop colouring our hair. Haven't seen any grey-headed Playboy Bunnies lately.
When Lancome fired Isabella Rosellini as their "face" because she was too old (Please!), her hair wasn't grey, and her beautiful face just keeps getting more beautiful. I haven't bought another Lancome product since that day. Clearly they haven't gone broke on the strength of my little protest, but it made me feel better.

We all of us associate grey hair with the crone. Now here's a thought... we are younger longer now, we have some of us 20, 30 years between ceasing to be an active mother (or indeed being able to give birth) but we are not at the crone stage yet. We need an extra face of the feminine goddess now. We don't go straight from maiden to mother to crone anymore. What do we call this new phase? It is certainly a time when many of us can please ourselves. We are old enough to know what we want, and what we don't want. We are still feeling feminine (mostly), and are probably, finally, comfortable in our own skin.

So is this where grey becomes the new black? Is this when the hair colour we have all been taught to fear becomes alluring, attractive, flattering, a badge that shows this is a woman, not a girl, and not yet an old lady.

In a strange way I look forward to the old lady with her wrinkles, her chin hairs and her wild untameable hair.
I look forward to one day throwing away all the mirrors and being Baba Yaga. Will people then really look at your face, into your eyes and see who and what you are?

And as for the two white streaks appearing at my temples? I kind of like them, like racing stripes.
I am not going to fuss about hiding them. So we will see, maybe I'll get bored and go and get hot shocking Schiaparelli pink put in again. It's just hair.