Sunday, March 1, 2009

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. A number of women will notice that their hair thins and lacks life, for others it will appear to be dry and coarse. As we get older our hair starts to get drier, and needs more moisture. Older hair often loses some of its elasticity and the consistency alters. This is because as we get older the size of our hair follicles get smaller and hair growth slows down. Therefore there is not as much new growth to replace what is lost.

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.

If you wish to keep your grey, try to use a hair shampoo and conditioner that is targeted specially for grey hair. Grey hair can look yellow or greenish on a number of people. To neutralize the yellow colour and leave your hair shiny and good-looking, try using a greying shampoo that has a violet based colour, instead of your usual shampoo. Highlights or lowlights can camouflage any grey you want to mask by blending them into the rest of your hair. The same with hair colourants, keep away from going more than a couple of shades lighter than your own hair colour to steer clear of looking older than you really are.

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.

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