Have you ever noticed more silver hairs after a stressful week at work or a tumultuous time in life? It’s become common knowledge that , seemingly exemplified by popular media and people like former U.S. president Barack Obama — who entered office with a head of black hair only to end his first term grey.
But despite its popular representation, experts say stress plays a relatively minor role in the loss of hair colour. A hard workweek is less to blame for your grey hairs, they say, than your parents. Meanwhile, a growing movement of is demonstrating that going grey is a process to be embraced, not reviled — and something to be considered before you reach for the hair dye.
Embracing silver without the awkward in-between stage Embracing silver without the awkward in-between stage The main culprit behind early greying is your DNA. It’s believed our genetics drive “90 to 95 per cent or more” of premature greying, said Dr. Jeff Donovan, a dermatologist, hair loss specialist and director at the Donovan Hair Clinic in Whistler, B.
C. If you have a family history of early greying, you’re “very likely” to experience it yourself, he said. Our hair is naturally white.
To get its colour, specialized cells inside each hair follicle inject a pigment called melanin into hair as it’s produced, Donovan explained. When something goes wrong in this process, new hairs end up with less or no colour — what we perceive as greying. Chief among the causes are one’s genetics an.