Grey Hair Part I: Why Do We Get Grey Hair?

Just how is it that people view grey hair today? It seems as if that for every article you see about preventing the onset of grey hairs, there’ll be something else written about how trendy it is to dye your hair grey or “silver.” Whatever your take is on grey hair, the reality is that there isn’t anything we can do to prevent it. Sure, we can mask it but sooner or later - be it in your twenties or your fifties- we are all going to succumb to grey hair. When that first grey hair appears, is actually linked to genetics and whenever it was that your parents or grandparents first started to go grey will be an accurate indicator for you. From then, it’ll take around 10 years before you go fully grey.

Why do we get grey hair though? Well, without trying to scare you off with too much biology, within us there are cells called melanocytes. They produce the pigment, melanin, which you may well be familiar with. Melanin is what gives colour to our eyes, skin and hair. Melanin comes in two colour forms: black/brown and reddish/yellow. How these come to be in our individual hair strands gives us that wide spectrum of human hair colours. No grey colour is produced. We do not grow grey hair. So where does this grey come from? Gradually and at different times in our lives, the melanocytes in our strands of hair begin to die. Melanin ceases to be produced and we are left with grey hair. The grey colour we are left with is actually the natural colour of hair strands lacking in pigment. Pigment-free hair is usually almost entirely transparent and it simply appears grey or white because of the way that light reflects off it.

Keep an eye out for our next blog as we’ll be explaining how you can add grey hair to your hair systems. In the meantime, if you feel we can be of assistance to you on any matter, grey hair-related or not, then please just get in touch via our website or social media pages.