5 common myths about grey hair busted
Whether you’re a silver fox now or you feel like it’s in the post, there are a lot of alleged facts about grey hair that just don’t stack up to scrutiny. How many of these have you heard?
1. Stress causes grey hair
Sorry, but not really. While stress is a contributing factor it’s not your wayward teens that are causing the greys (both emotional stress, and physical stress like overdoing the bleach and products can affect your colouring). It’s simply genetics that plays the biggest role in whether you will be part of the fifty percent of the population that has grey hair last the age of fifty.
2. If you pluck grey hair, more will grow back in its place
This is totally bogus. Plucking a grey hair leaves your hair follicle exposed, but it’s not possible for more hairs to grow from this one place. Also, plucking the odd grey with tweezers won’t affect the other hair near it. However, you do run the risk of damaging the follicle which could lead to a lack of any hair (grey, or otherwise) growing at all. So best to leave the tweezers alone.
3. You can cover greys with hair colour
A few grey hairs spied in the mirror while you brush your teeth and many women will make a hair appointment the same day to ‘fix’ it. But the truth is less than rosy. While many people can cover their greys with a simple colour at home or at the salon, many can’t. You might have noticed that grey hair has a wirier texture than normal hair, and this can be resistant to dye.
4. Lifestyle choices can increase your chances of going grey
This one is actually true. Smoking is another form of stress for your hair and can cause hair to go grey sooner. Vegetarians or those that don’t eat enough B12 (commonly found in meat) can also be susceptible – a supplement can help.
5. You can wake up one day with grey hair
Well kind of, but your hair doesn’t actually change colour, it just starts to grow grey. So more likely you just didn’t see the greys until they made their presence known en masse.
Are you grey or heading in that direction? Have you embraced it? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.