Friday, November 28, 2008

How Does Aging Affect Your Hair?

By Jennifer Summers

As we age, our hair produces less melanin, the same melanin that gives our skin its colour. The most evident sign of aging is the changing colour of our hair. This is the reason our hair becomes grey. At any age grey hair can appear. It's not always a sign of aging. It is caused by a decline in pigment (grey hair) or a complete loss of pigment (white hair). The cause for it is not fully understood.

Age also has an effect on our hair in other ways. As we get older our hair is prone to getting drier, and so needs more moisture than ever before. Older hair also loses some of its elasticity and the texture alters. A number of women will notice that their hair becomes thinner and lacks life, for others it seems dry and coarse. This occurs because as we age, the size of the hair follicles diminish and hair growth slows. Consequently there is not so much new growth to replace what we lose.

Sebum (oil produced naturally by our skin) lessens as we age, and as a consequence our hair, therefore, lacks its natural shine and softness. And our production of keratin also slows during the menopause. This particular protein fibre is a must in maintaining healthy, strong hair. Going bald, having thinning hair and coarse hair is a subject that affects many men, plus facial hair. To conceal your grey hair opt for the right shade of hair colour. If you use a dark colour it can draw attention to a dull complexion. So do not use a colour more than a couple of tones darker or lighter than your own hair colour.

Lowlights or highlights can conceal any grey you want to disguise by merging them into the rest of your head of hair. The same with hair colourants, stay away from going more than a couple of shades lighter than your own hair colour. That way you will not end up appearing older than you really are. Grey hair can appear yellow or greenish on many people. If you fancy keeping your grey hair, opt for using a hair shampoo and conditioner that is made especially for grey hair. To counteract the yellow colour and leave your hair shiny and good-looking, why not use a greying shampoo that has a violet base colour, instead of your everyday shampoo.

As the years go by your hair loses its elasticity and then it becomes more difficult to style, so try opting for a protein treatment to use once a month to support your hair. For both women and men, thinning hair can be given a more voluminous look by using volumizing products such as conditioners and mousses. Apply a weekly deep conditioning treatment - that is recommended for aging hair. Moisturizing (conditioning) your hair is a necessity as we get older. This will preserve the moisture levels in your hair. - 16650

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