GHOSTS Are Real, Says A Hair Care Company

A recent study conducted by John Freida found something out that will be truly horrifying for some women: grey hairs are on the rise. Specifically, grey hairs in 20-somethings are on the rise.

The Daily Mail reports that 32 percent of British women under the age of 30 are already finding silver strands and that two-thirds of those women attribute their early aging to stress. Twenty years ago, though, only 18 percent of women under 30 saw grey.

There is much debate about the cause of increased color loss. While many women blame stress and note the coincidence of their first grey hairs and trying times in their lives (like a breakup, new job, or being Kate Middleton), some scientists still insist the sign of aging is purely genetic. The people at John Freida favor the former opinion, though, and have even given a name to the budding demographic of hair dye purchasers: GHOSTS, or Grey Haired Over Stressed Twenty Something.

Whether or not GHOSTS are real, or if there are just more people with the early-grey gene, society has two options. We can let grey hair remain a shameful thing for women that they spend hours trying to cover, and welcome 25-year-olds onto the bandwagon of self hatred. Or we can try to create a world with more women like British Vogue writer Sarah Harris, who started going grey at 16 and has fully embraced her head of gorgeous silver hair.

There's nothing wrong with covering grey hairs. (Heck, I cover my brown hairs with orange because having control over my hair color is fun!) But if stress really is to blame for the increase in hair aging, let's not add another thing for 20-somethings to have to worry about. And let's not make us spend our meager incomes on salon appointments.

Because, really, grey hair isn't so bad.