Baddiewinkle: “Stealing Your Man Since 1928”

Baddiewinkle became an Internet sensation at the age of 85. Now this 88-year-old proves on the regular, life doesn’t stop being fun once you reach a certain age — including when it comes to experimenting with fashion, beauty and hair colour. Today she has over 2 million followers on her Instagram!

“Took me forever to blow this shit out!!! Lol”
– Baddiewinkle turning age 88

“Age doesn’t have a thing to do with beauty” – Baddiewinkle

Zandra Rhodes: The Pink Lady

76-year-old English fashion designer Zandra Rhodes pre-empted the pink hair trend by several years. “I didn’t start colouring my hair until the very early Seventies. I was working as a textile designer so I would use bright clothing dyes on my hair. I now use a product called Pinkissimo, in Manic Panic Pink,” she revealed to The Sunday Telegraph.

Beatrix Ost: The Violet Lady

76-year-old artist, producer, designer, actress and writer, Beatrix Ost knows how to rock her violet locks. “Live your life as a piece of art” Beatrix tells National Geographic. Beatrix Ost has over 44k followers on her Instagram and inspires others to take the plunge and go purple as well.

Eveline Hall: Hot Flash

70-year-old singer, model and film actress Eveline Hall, teamed up with photographer Patrick Demarchelier and the talented hair artist Armin Morbac in Dusseldorf for Henkel Beauty Schwarzkopf 2013.

Eveline Hall tells French Elle; ‘What’s the best age? I would say it’s this very moment. I would like to be an inspiration for young women, to prove there are no age limits. My face reflects my life, my personality. One has to forget about surgery and liftings, one can be beautiful and sexy, but one can no longer be young.’

‘What’s the best age? I would say it’s this very moment. I would like to be an inspiration for young women, to prove there are no age limits.” – Eveline Hall

Everyday over 50’s women with rainbow hair colours…

It’s not just actresses, models, designers, singers and internet stars that are confidently sporting these vibrant hair colours. It’s also your every day business woman, retired teacher, artist, and Grandmas who are enjoying brighter hair colours, and showing us you can look cool at any age.

Lisa Hale: The Silver Stylist

55-year-old stylist and blogger Lisa Hale, owner of www.madeuplove.com is The Silver Stylist. Her silver metallic hair has and almost ice blue tone. Perfect for those less daring, but that will want to show their own unique flair.

“Just because we’re mature doesn’t mean we can’t be flashy, stylish, and have a crazy flair for life.” – The Silver Stylist

Dolores Forsythe: The Blue Lady

Jewelry designer Dolores Forsythe owner of dforsythe.com know how to rock natural grey and vivid blue hair.

Elizabeth Sweetheart: The Green Lady.

Fabric designer, Elizabeth Sweetheart, age 74, is known in her area of Brooklyn as the Green Lady. Elizabeth loves rocking green hair, but it’s not just the hair colour… “I’m from Nova Scotia, where green is in your surroundings. I missed nature when I moved to New York. I started wearing green nail polish, and it spread all over me.” Elizabeth tells New York Magazine.

Gerry Visco: The Pink Purple Makeover.

61-year-old Gerry Visco teamed up with Refinery29, Wes Sharpton and Roxie Darling at Hairstory to give her a vivid hair makeover.

Visco’s no stranger to daring hair. She’s quick to remind Refinery29 that she was one of the first people in New York City to have fuchsia hair back in the day. “They did an article about crazy-coloured hair in the Soho Weekly News in the late ’70s and the minute I saw it, I [knew] I had to have that colour!” she tells Refinery29. “It was so unusual back then — people would scream at me on the streets. People found that colour very upsetting, for some reason.” These days, people are much more accepting (even in the professor’s lounge at Columbia), so she decided to go back to her pink hair days — with a twist.

Gerry Visco says that everyone loves her new look. “I got around 200 likes on Instagram, which is a lot,” she says. It’s no surprise that when it comes to women dyeing their hair bold colors, Visco’s motto is, “Age ain’t nothin’ but a number.”

“I feel like if a person is able to pull it off, they should do it,” she says. “I think, sometimes, with older women, they’re afraid to be cool.”

“I think, sometimes, with older women, they’re afraid to be cool.”

She lists the ladies of Advanced Style and Baddie Winkle as her inspiration, saying, “There are some women who truly do enjoy dressing up [in fun styles]. They don’t think that just because they’re a little older, they can’t look good.”

Victoria MacKenzie-Childs: The Rainbow Lady

New York city based artist Victoria MacKenzie-Childs, gets husband Richard to help colour her hair! Victoria and Richard MacKenzie-Childs live aboard the Yankee Ferry, their floating art studio, and base of business for Victoria and Richard Emprise.

“I found the rainbow hair made so many people happy, I have to keep it this way!” – Victoria MacKenzie-Childs

Advanced Style: Shocking pink

Photographer and author, Ari Seth Cohen from www.advanced.style captured this wonderful woman’s neon pink hair colour on camera. “I noticed a lack of older people in fashion campaigns and street style sites,” he says. “I wanted to show that you can be stylish, creative and vital at any age.”

Sandra Martin: Neither punk nor blue-rinse prissy

“Blue was just another colour to me until I went azure about 20 years ago. Since then it has become a signature, and trigger for conspiratorial high-fives from pierced and rainbow-hued young males.” author Sandra Martin tells Zoomer magazine.

“My blue hair has taught me that a tiny bit of outrageousness makes an old crone seem less threatening and more human. The other day, an ancient homeless person glanced up from the pavement he had been contemplating, shook his grizzled face and exclaimed:”Hey, love your colour. You look like a blue jay flying past.” Women stop me on buses and in washrooms to ask how I do it, as though my hair is like a blueberry meringue pie that they could make for themselves if only they had the coveted recipe.”

“Back in the late 1990s, dying your hair to match the rainbow was something only teenagers did to drive their teachers or their parents crazy. Grownup women with children and jobs didn’t indulge in such hirsute shenanigans. That’s one reason the azure plunge appealed to me. Because it is an extreme version of the blue rinse of my mother’s era, I considered it ironic and selfreferential – a postmodern colour, if you will. Besides, unlike the yucky colours that chartreuse and cerise turn as they fade, I figured blue would make my grey hair whiter as the colour wore off between applications.”

Hairdressers behind the trend…

Lets not forget the hair colour artists that are behind these colourful chic designs. These trend setters are the ones who encourage their older clients to take the plunge. Whose creativity and skills help women find their confidence and feel stylish and beautiful at any age. Proving there is no age limit to being yourself.

Hair by Alyssa Wiener

Alyssa Wiener, 23, a Stylin’ stylist who has become an Instagram sensation for her artistry with dynamic hair colour and design, said the rise in popularity of vivid colours with older clients has been fueled by a shift in thinking among customers and stylists. Wiener rarely uses vibrant colour straight out of the tube, creating unique blends and adding depth one section at a time. “It’s really more about high fashion, more vogue than grunge” she tells Andrea Bell for CT News.

Madeline Rosenbluth | Hair by Alyssa Wiener

“I can cover it when I really need to be a grown-up,” said Rosenbluth, a retired teacher in her late 60s, during a recent morning at Norwalk’s Stylin’ salon. “But I am at the point now that I can do whatever I want. That was my mother’s philosophy. When she turned 90, she would tell everyone, ‘I’m old. I can do whatever I want.’”

Peggy Morey | Hair by Alyssa Wiener

Peggy Morey, 66, who is not afraid of color. Morey, in the shop for a refresher, has a bolt of red peeking out from her brunette bob. The trio is a concentrated cluster in an area where older women who have gone “true blue” are a bit more dispersed. All three say a day rarely goes by without some love for their locks.

Marilyn Robinson | Hair by Alyssa Wiener

The 72-year-old Norwalk resident, told CT News after years of watching younger customers experiment with purple, green, blue and red hues, she took the plunge. “I had bought this beautiful pink silk dress to wear to a wedding and I decided I need to put some colour in my hair to match it.”

Hair by Victoria Rudenko

 

 

Hair by Anya Goy: Rainbow Hair Grandma

Rainbow hair specialist Anya Goy has been colouring her Grandma’s hair rainbow colours for the last 10 years. In fact her Grandma was her very first rainbow hair model.

“I didn’t realise just how much fun coloured hair brought into my life. Most of the joy came from the reaction of young children and their mothers. Fun for the children as they pointed and embarrassment for the mothers when apologising for the children’s remarks. The colours brought sunshine into many lives other than my own.” – Anya’s Grandma.

 

Hair by Nadine Donovan-Agiesta

Nadine Donovan-Agiesta‘s 83-year-old client, Loraine, changes her colour every week! Nadine tells her story…

“Since her husbands passing 3 years ago Loraine has been having these vivids and a change of colour WEEKLY! She said it cheers her up because people stop her in the street and are always happy and say lovely things like “I love your hair” and “I wish my nana would do that” or “you go girl”. Loraine said compliments from strangers have stopped her from being depressed and get old too fast. I love making her happy. Loraine’s been with us for 15 yrs. I hope we have her for 20 more.”

Hair by Ella Parrie

Ella Parrie‘s client, Ms. Elizabeth, had her hair coloured for the first time in her life at the age of 92. Ella tells her story…

“Ms. Elizabeth is 92 years old and has never before coloured her hair. After seeing a current guest of mine with magenta roots working at her care center, Ms.Elizabeth requested purple roots in her hair! She is on her last days and suffers from dementia, but insisted on purple roots! Ms. Elizabeth is such an inspiration, making each of her days count. I was truly honored to meet Ms.Elizabeth and to be part of something so incredibly amazing! Ms. Elizabeth teaches us that beauty and dreams are timeless.”

So, if you choose just a splash of colour, or a full head of hair, here are some great looks to get you started. Would you choose something subtle? Or are you bold enough for a full headed bright colour?
Maybe start with something subtle and once you garner enough compliments, you will find yourself addicted to the fun it brings to your life, heads turn, smiles come your way, there will be no stopping you and watch out- you will be as colourful as the rainbow!

About the Author…

Yasmin Mariess has been turning heads since 1976, and is a self employed photographer. She lives on the beautiful island of Guernsey, in the Channel Islands and enjoys wearing fairy wings as her role as the Fairy Queen and changing hair colour on a whim. Addicted to the dye bottle from an early age, she’s now swapped dark brown for purple, or maybe blue or green- anything but brown!

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