Grey hair is definitely in.
With more celebrities, such as Andie MacDowell and Jane Fonda, embracing the intentional ageing trend, we’re starting to see just how good grey can look.
But for those not so into the salt and pepper style, we have good news to share.
Scientists have finally figured out what makes our hair turn grey, which means they’re a whole lot closer to creating a treatment for it.
Yes, this means that we might not have to resign ourselves to years of plucking and colour treatments.
The exciting information comes from a New York University Grossman School of Medicine study, which saw scientists examine the cells that control our hair colour.
What they found out is that as we age, our melanocyte stem cells (McSCs) get stuck between growth compartments in our hair follicles. Essentially, this means the cells lose the ability to mature and create the protein pigments that give hair follicles their colour.
If scientists can figure out how to prevent these cells from getting stuck then we might be able to keep our colour for longer.
As scientists haven’t reached that stage yet, it might be a good time to consider embracing the grey trend.
Just look at Jamie Lee Curtis, who decided to let her hair go grey while getting it coloured.
“The epiphany came when I was sitting in a hair salon thinking, ‘What the eff am I doing putting a chemical on my head that burns?'” Curtis told Everyday Health in 2017 (quote via Insider).
“What does it say that you walk into a room and not one person’s hair is her natural colour?” she added. “You go, ‘What?'”
For those not ready to take the plunge, we might be relying on a good hairdresser and some expensive colour treatments for a while longer.
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