jadedomega
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Interesting article from mirror.co.uk
AS a Natural Born Redhead, I applauded the news last week that we have become a rare and coveted breed.
A model agency has issued an appeal for flame-haired models to meet a growing demand from clients.
It seems blondes are passe and brunettes are boring. What advertisers want on magazine covers and billboards are beauties with red locks, pale skin and, dare I say it, freckles.
"I get so many briefs asking for natural redheads," says Lesley Middlemiss, director of Tyne Tees Models in Whitley Bay, North Tyneside, which put out the plea for new redheaded talent.
"There is a huge demand for them at the moment yet I only have one natural redhead on the books - and the last time she was booked for a job she'd dyed her hair blonde.
"A lot of women with red hair don't seem to realise how beautiful it is. I think they're so used to being on the wrong end of jokes that they don't think of themselves as model material."
In demandThe modelling industry, however, is clearly struggling to keep up with demand. At Storm model agency in London only 17 of their 160 UK models are redheads.
Gavin Boardman, the agency's senior woman's booker, says red hair is having a "fashion moment".
"Red has always been seen as a bit anarchic. Now the context seems to be more natural and Pre-Raphaelite."
Simon Pepper, a booker for Sandra Reynolds model agency in Norwich, says coffee-pot makers Bodum asked him for a redhead recently and he couldn't help as they didn't have a single one on the books.
"There's a definite shortage, but it's a very popular look. It's a classic case of demand being greater than supply.
"It's not just women either - redheaded men are in demand, too."
Once ginger-haired men like Mick Hucknall and Chris Evans only contributed to the embarrassing image of the redhead.
Mick was ridiculed when he was snapped in too-tight trunks on a beach and when Chris was sacked by Virgin radio, he became known as the "ginger whinger".
Between them they not only confirmed the bad reputation of redheads - but gave credence to the myth that redheads are somehow inferior weaklings because of their pale, sensitive skin.
Now British actor Damian Lewis, star of Band Of Brothers and The Forsyte Saga, who recently dated Sex And The City beauty Kristin Davis, is considered one of the world's most eligible bachelors, so it's not just women enjoying the red renaissance.
It's finally time for redheads to enjoy their moment of fame.
Figures of fear
Scientists reckon the first redhead walked the Earth some 20,000 years ago, but historically those with red hair have always been treated with prejudice, suspicion, and disdain.
They were buried alive by Ancient Egyptians as a sacrifice to appease the sun god, turned out of Cornish dairies because it was believed they would turn the milk sour, while pagan witches thought the fat of a redhead was a vital ingredient for a host of unsavoury spells.
In modern times "ginger nuts", "carrot tops" and "copper heads" have been the object of schoolyard bullying - and gentlemen, of course, have always preferred blondes.
On top of that we've had to put up with the belief that redheads are fiery and hot-tempered.
This image is probably based on the fact that Scotland has the highest number of redheads in the world - about 13 per cent of the population compared to two per cent of Americans - and the Scots descended from the Celts, who were violent warriors.
But in defence of my fellow redheads, I must point out that the Celts arrived in Britain in around 1180 BC - and no studies have ever been carried out on redheads and their tempers in the considerable time that has elapsed since then.
So redheads, Titians, strawberry blondes and copper tops the world over have every right to celebrate now our day has finally come. But why has it taken until 2004 for redheads to be recognised?
Bright stars
Celebrity hairdresser Andrew Jose reckons glamorous stars like Nicole Kidman, Patsy Palmer, Julianne Moore and Gillian Anderson have made the public see redheads in a different light.
"Suddenly being a redhead is super cool," says Andrew. "It has always been a rare thing to have red hair and for some reason it seems to be even more scarce today.
"I don't get many natural redheads in my salon, but I've seen a huge increase in the number of people wanting to go red.
"They've seen how gorgeous people like Nicole Kidman look with red hair and also realised that it gets you attention, whatever shade of red you go for. It's not like in the past when red hair was automatically written off as geeky. It's getting attention for all the right reasons."
Andrew reckons the trend for paler skin and make-up that allows your skin pigment to shine through has also helped the redheads' cause.
"The whole look is now seen as natural, unique and very special," he says. "With red hair you don't need any dramatic styling - it speaks for itself. Every shade is fabulous."
He adds: "Only yesterday there was a little boy outside the salon with a vibrant shock of red hair. A few years ago people might have stared and thought: 'I'd hate it if my son had that hair.' But this lad really looked striking, and everyone who saw him started to smile. Red radiates warmth."
Advertisers and casting directors once only used redheads in quirky, nerdy roles - you only have to think of Bonnie Langford as Just William's lisping, irritating friend Violet Elizabeth to see how the rot set in.
But in a dramatic taste turnaround, Italian Vogue recently photographed five flame-haired sirens together, while hot young models Lily Cole, Maggie Rizer and Karen Elson have acted as trailblazers.
A DYING BREED
WHILE more people than ever are "dyeing" to become redheads, the natural breed is dying out fast.
According to experts, redheads could be extinct as early as 2060 because there simply aren't enough of them to keep the hair colour going.
Dr John Gray of the Oxford Hair Foundation says: "The way things are going, red hair will either be extremely rare or extinct."
The problem is that just four per cent of the population carry the red hair gene, known as MC1R.
Because the gene is recessive, it is diluted whenever carriers have children with people who have the stronger brown hair gene.
Ireland has 320,000 natural redheads but worldwide it is estimated that just one per cent of the global population are redheads.
Meanwhile, the red hair-dye industry is booming, especially in Asia and Latin America. Sales in Mexico went up 21 per cent last year, and 1lb of red hair dye is sold annually in Japan for every woman aged over 15. Among Korean 20-somethings, nearly eight out of 10 have dyed their hair red, says the Korea Times.
** If this is in the wrong place, feel free to move it Mods.
. That would be too bad, because red hair is gorgeous. It's interesting that red dye is so popular in Asia, too. I did notice that most girls had red hair instead of black hair when I went there on vacation 
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