Redheads rejoice! Scientists have some GLORIOUS news for you

They may have been butt of numerous schoolyard jokes, but it looks like the redheads among us will be having the last laugh if a recent study from the Erasmus University Medical Centre in the Netherlands and Unilever is anything to go by.

Conducting a study into 'perceived age', researchers provided an independent group with more than 2,500 photos of bare-faced strangers and asked them to guess their age.

Interestingly, the individuals who possess the MC1R gene were considered to be the most youthful, with many participants underestimating the subject's age, reports Cosmopolitan this week.

And yes, you guessed it, that particular gene, which creates melanin, is the one responsible for the production of red hair.

So, in addition to boasting a head of stunning red hair, you guys are going to look super-youthful while the rest of us frantically dye our roots and bathe in anti-ageing creams.

Jealous, us? Yes.