Influencer, 41, who spent $21k dyeing her hair is now embracing the grey mane

A woman who spent $21,000 dyeing her hair after turning grey in her twenties has revealed she has since learned to embrace the look – despite cruel trolls calling her grandma.

Miranda Parker, 41, from Michigan, first noticed her hair going grey in her mid-twenties, and tried to cover it up by visiting the salon every month and dyeing it brown. 

In between appointments, the social media influencer would touch up the roots at home to not let her greys show.

However, after 12 years of visits to the salon in which she spent an estimated $21,000, in July 2018, Miranda decided to cancel her regular appointments and let her grey hair grow free.

‘When my hair first started to turn grey I didn’t want to embrace it and did everything I could to cover it up,’ said Miranda.

‘Often I wished I could just let it grow naturally, but at the time, I just didn’t have the confidence to do that.

‘I was so tired of monthly hair appointments to color my grey. 

‘It would last about two weeks, then I was using a root touch up to hide it for two more weeks until my next appointment. I felt embarrassed by it.’

Posting images of her grey hair on Instagram, Miranda’s social media following quickly grew, as her grey-positive message resonated with other women online. 

Now, she receives dozens of messages per day from other women who tell her that grey hair looks gorgeous and that she has allowed them to feel like they can embrace their own silver locks. 

‘I hoped that a high profile female celebrity would come out and embrace grey hair to make it acceptable for other people too,’ she added.

‘After years of that not happening, I realised that I could be that “celebrity”.

‘At the time I had no idea I would be making an impact and helping other women realise we have a choice in the matter.

‘But I wanted to show that having grey hair doesn’t mean that you’re “letting yourself go” or that you look old.

‘Society says grey hair makes you look older and old equals bad.

‘For me it has been the total opposite. Growing my grey has given me freedom to be me and become more confident than ever in who I am.

Whilst Miranda says that 99 per cent of comments are positive and uplifting, she has received rude comments from trolls who ask why she is choosing to look old.

Trolls have said ‘hey grandma’, ‘you look like you are 60’.

Miranda even had one friend say that she wasn’t going to let her go grey, however these sceptical comments, quickly turned into compliments when they saw how stylish her hair looked.

‘I know my true beauty is on the inside so I’m going to let the outside look like what I want it to look like and not how anyone else says it should look.

‘Most of my friends and family have been supportive and encouraging.

‘I did hear some scepticism from a few who said, “Why would you want to look older?”‘

‘I had one friend say, ‘You know I can’t be letting you have grey hair.’

‘But eventually that scepticism turned to compliments.’

Miranda hopes that by sharing her natural hair to her followers on Instagram, she can encourage more women to embrace their perceived flaws and transform their lives.

‘There’s something so beautiful that happens along the way through your grey hair journey: you learn to truly not care what anyone else thinks,’ said Miranda.

‘This trickles into every other part of your life.

‘You realise you are living this life for you and not the opinion or approval of anyone else.

‘I know who I am, I know what I stand for, and my confidence has grown tremendously through this process.

‘I have been able to gift this perspective to other women as a result of sharing my journey publicly and that is my favourite thing about it.

‘The opportunity to encourage all women to embrace their perceived “flaws” and just watch what happens in your life when you do, has been priceless.’