Look after your crowning glory

Whether it’s the odd strand of gray hair, the annoying gray roots that ruin your expensive color job or the increasing number of bad hair days - there’s no denying that age affects the way our hair looks and behaves.

Taking better care of your hair is vital as you get older - what you got away with when you were twenty just won’t work in your forties or fifties.

So what sort of things do you need to look out for?

Color Change

Obviously - we all know this one. The most obvious sign of aging hair is a change in color. As we age, our hair follicles produce less melanin - the pigment that gives hair its color - and hair becomes gray.

Which shade of gray you go depends entirely on the color of your hair before melanin production stopped and can range from dark gunmetal gray hair to a very pale silver gray hair and even combinations of several shades.

Graying can begin as early as in our 30s although some are lucky enough to retain their youthful hair color until well into our 60s. Sadly, the latter isn’t the norm and most of us find that graying starts around the mid 40s mark.

If you want to know when graying will affect your hair - take a look at your parents. If they went gray either early or late you are more likely to follow in their footsteps.

Genetics do play an important role in graying, though, with Caucasians going gray earlier than Asians, for example. Very dark to black hair often goes gray with more style - that lovely blue silver color that needs no enhancement. Again - that’s less usual than the ‘pepper and salt’ mix that most of us get stuck with.

Hair Thickness

Hair is basically astrand of protein that grows through a follicle - a small opening in the skin. Each hair will usually remain with us for about 4-5 years before it’s shed and replaced with a new hair.

Although genetics determine the thickness of your hair, most people experience some hair loss with age. As we get older the rate of hair growth slows and each strand becomes thinner. The result - thin, fine hair rather than the thick, lush hair we used to toss and flick around for effect in our youth.

For some women - especially those with less thick hair to start with - thinning hair can be quite severe. We lose hair differently than men - female pattern hair loss tends to lead to less density of hair over the entire head resulting in a visible scalp for some.

Dryness and lack of shine

Hair consists of around 13% water. As we age our hair loses some of this water and becomes dry. Dry hair is less shiny than hydrated hair so the result is often dull, unhealthy looking hair.

If you’re suffering from dull, dry hair then you should try not to use heated appliances such as straightening irons, curling tongs and even hair dryers in your hair care routine, at least no more than is absolutely necessary.

Look after your crowning glory

If this all sounds a little depressing - don’t worry - you can do a lot to restore the shine and gloss of healthy hair. Starting from the inside out - since diet is so important to hair - you should nourish and condition and give your crowning glory masses of tender loving care.

Keep your hair color topped up - if that’s the way you want to go - and get a great cut regularly.

The upside is that the extra attention will repay you ten fold. There’s nothing better for your self esteem than knowing your hair looks great. Great hair really can make you look ten years younger.