花白头发曾被认为是年迈的象征。但现在，“奶奶灰”色头发非常流行，人们不再只把这种颜色和衰老联系起来。许多女性选择去展示并欣然接受她们天然变白的头发。究竟是什么推动了这一时尚趋势的反转？

Grey hair can be the beginning of the end. A silver signal that youth and beauty are fading and only old age remains. And while grey at 60 may not be surprising, many start to turn prematurely as young as 20. If we want to hide it, modern haircare products allow us to easily cover up our natural grey and preserve our youth a little longer. But these days, many people – and women in particular, are ditching the dye to show their natural colours. Why?

"Research has shown that our hair follicle production can be influenced by factors such as hormones and stress, but some people have a genetic predisposition to lose pigment or go bald more than others," says a report on the BBC website. In addition, Prof Desmond Tobin, a hair and skin pigmentation specialist at the University of Bradford in the UK, says that it is normal for people with a European background to start greying in their early 20s. Research which he participated in found that different races have different average ageing rates - with African and East-Asian backgrounds tending to whiten later.

For many men, going grey may not be a big deal. It's now seen as a sign of sophistication, says UK newspaper Metro. It uses adjectives such as rugged, unique and fashionable. But for many women, these qualities don't seem to apply. Kate Dinota, a New Yorker who started turning grey when she was seven, states that the everyday woman feels a pressure not to age. At 28 and after 14 years, she decided to stop dying her hair and let her grey hair show. And she's not alone.

Since 2008, worldwide search interest in 'grey hair' has increased dramatically, Google Trends shows. This may have been driven by celebrities such as Ariana Grande and Lady Gaga, who have both had silver locks. "People are torturing their hair to get the look," says renowned hair colourist Rita Hazan, who has worked with celebrities such as Beyoncé and Mariah Carey. Indeed, this trend was what persuaded 30-year-old Stephanie Tunchez from Texas to stop dying her natural hair two-and-a-half years ago. People were paying money to achieve a look she had already.

But to many women, the transition is not an easy one. Indeed, Kate experienced doubt from others with her initial decision. "People were like, 'Are you sure? What about your career? You're so young?' Like that seems silly," she reports. She believes there needs to be better representation of grey-haired women of all ages. In this way it is hoped that, like many men, women will feel more confident about letting it show and will feel more comfortable going grey gracefully.