Author Annika von Holdt from Copenhagen, Denmark, was shocked when she started to notice grey hairs in her early twenties.
Despite plucking them out, Annika, now 53, said they kept coming back.
She decided to turn to hair dye – and ended up dying her hair every two weeks for more than two decades.
However, she's now embracing her stunning silver locks.
But it seems like the look is too much for some men to handle, as Annika admitted she's being bombarded with penis pictures from "perverted" men.
Talking about discovering greys in her twenties, Annika admitted: "I was horrified. I plucked the greys to the point where I realised that plucking them was only going to get me bald.
"I dyed my hair for decades. After every vacation without access to dye, I looked like someone had dropped a bucket of acid on top of my head, so I had to dye at least every two weeks.
"And already after a few days, I had this white landing strip on my head. It was a vicious cycle."
Annika finally decided to stop dying her hair six years ago and embrace her natural grey.
She said: "The upkeep got exhausting. I am glad I smartened up and got out. My hair has never been prettier or more healthy than now.
"It's rather shockingly silver and down to my waist, so people certainly notice. I get a lot of compliments for it."
She added: "My hair is always a topic, no matter the event. Strangers stop me on the street, even grumpy airport security people stop to compliment my hair when I pass through airports.
"Many ask me how I got the colour because they want it too."
However, it is not only positive attention that Annika has attracted, with many inappropriate messages finding their way into her inbox.
"I get a lot of sexual interest," she said.
"Pictures of erect penises, other porn images and lurid suggestions are sent daily to my inbox.
"They are just perverts hiding behind a keyboard with too much time on their hands."
Annika has been with her husband for 25 years, and says that he loves her grey hair.
The only problem is the lack of hair care products designed for grey hair though – something that Annika says she is looking to tackle.
"Silver hair lacks the protective properties of melanin and is extremely defenceless against oxidative degradation, notably yellowing," she said.
"Since all the line-ups for grey hair are grounded in purple dye and rely on a quick-fix that gives the illusion of a result but no solution, I realised that if I wanted something to prevent my cold hair colour from yellowing, I would have to create it myself.
"I teamed up with a laboratory that could help me formulate the products I could not find anywhere on the market. I am using my own products. But they are not for sale yet. I expect the line to launch in September this year."
Annika added that she hid her grey hair for so long because of the stigma around ageing – and she believes that it's time to put an end to it.
"Grey hair is synonymous with ageing in many ways," she said.
"Generally, you are no spring chicken if you have grey hair. But the trend is changing as many younger women and celebrities have liberated their greys.
"However, there's a stigma around ageing in general. Just look at the "anti-ageing" semantics in the beauty industry.
"They're suggesting that ageing is undesirable that ageing is something that needs "treatment".
"I know that I have inspired a lot of women to embrace their grey(t)ness and uniqueness, and I am proud of that. In my opinion beauty is individual and ageless."
Get all the biggest Lifestyle news straight to your inbox. Sign up for the free Daily Star Hot Topics newsletter
Source: Read Full Article
