Gray Hair Treatment

There is a widespread confusion about our ability to reverse gray hair. A number of commercial products make unfounded claims of being able to reverse gray hair naturally. Reversing gray hair naturally is widely understood as reversing the graying process from within. Most of the products that claim to do so are of natural origin and thus also claim to be carrying no health risks. However, there are some products, often called progressive hair colorants that make claims of reversing gray hair naturally too, which in this case means they add no extra color to your hair just bring back your natural hair color. Let us have a look at such claims:

1) As regards the ability of some nutritional pills to reverse gray hair from within such claims seem completely unfounded. No herb, herbal extract, vitamin, mineral or dietary supplement or their combination have been proven to date to reverse the graying process. Scientists on all continents are relentlessly searching for such substance but nothing is currently available yet and any such claims are purely made up to sell their overpriced products. However, in some instances in people suffering from vitamin B deficiency a dietary increase of vitamin B intake can help reverse their gray hair.

2) Progressive hair colorants do not reverse the graying process either. All they do is to color your hair from outside. Their claims of reversing gray hair naturally are due to the fact that they use no artificial pigments and therefore are not suitable for all colors and shades. However, for people whose hair is in the shades of black and white that is between blond and black but not brown or red these products really make the impression of reversing their hair color naturally. This is different from hair colors that always change your original color to a certain degree. If your hair color is between blond and black progressive hair colorants will not affect the color of your pigmented hair which gives you very natural impression. Additionally, progressive hair colorants, as their name indicates, change your hair color gradually which appears to be more natural than a sudden change you get from regular hair dyes.

However, to conclude, there is no product available yet that can really reverse your grey hair naturally as most people would understand such statement.

Grey hair can be stubborn and difficult to cover. If you try to colour it, it sometimes turns a smoky unnatural colour and in other cases it simply does not cover your grey at all. So, how do you get 100% grey hair coverage each and every time you colour your hair?

The key seems to lie in choosing the right colour for your hair type. There are several types of hair dyes including temporary (washes out with a single shampoo), semi-permanent (washes out gradually over about four weeks) and permanent hair colours (will not wash out at all). The main difference of each type of hair dye is the strength of the developer used. Colour developer is the ingredient that is responsible for pushing the colour beneath your cuticle layer so that it cannot be easily washed out.

In grey hair, this cuticle layer is extremely compact and difficult to open making it hard for the colour to penetrate inside the hair strand. If you do not succeed at doing this, the colour will wash out very easily and fade over the next few shampoos. To make sure that you get the pigment into the hair strand, use a permanent colour with at least 20 volume hydrogen peroxide as the developer.

Difference in hair colour is given by the amount of pigment that is in the hair strands. Blond hair has the least amount of pigment, then there is red followed by brown and black. Grey hair is lacking pigment altogether. In order to get your colour back into grey hair, you need to go through all of the stages depending on what colour you want to achieve. If you want blond hair, the process is quite simple. All you need to do is use a golden colour. If you want brown hair, on the other hand, you will need to choose a colour with a red or warm base so that you can get a natural looking brown. If you use a green or ash base, you will end up with a greenish or smoky cast.

When covering grey, you should also leave the colour on for the maximum amount of time allowed by the instructions. Doing so will give the colour sufficient time to deposit in the stubborn and coarse grey strands. The only time that you can save on time is if your hair is 30% grey or less. In those cases, the grey hair will absorb enough colour to make it look like you have natural highlights and you can avoid the rest of your naturally pigmented hair going too dark. So, if you have had poor results when it comes to covering your grey, try to follow these tips to get complete coverage and you will have beautiful results every time.

There are three major ways to renew your hair colour in order to cover your grey. You can choose to go to your hair salon and have your hairdresser provide a professional hair colouring. This involves washing, bleaching and then adding your colour of choice – none of which is good for your hair. The second choice is to buy a colonisation kit at your local drug or department store. Again, it will normally involve first bleaching your hair and then adding the colour of your choice. And again you are beginning your process by harming your hair. Thirdly, you can choose to purchase a single-chemical colonisation process. This usually works by applying it during your shower, letting it stay on your hair for as long as you want the colour-depth to return, and then rinse it out. This is not nearly so damaging to your hair as the bleaching processes.

The downside to any of these processes, including both the above and most of the other alternatives out there, is that they are only changing the colour of your grown hair and after a week or so you are beginning to have visible growth of your grey hair. After two weeks it becomes noticeable, making renewing your chosen colonisation process necessary, renewing the damage you are causing to your hair. It is not natural and must continue to be used to keep your chosen colour looking natural and keep your roots coloured. None of it is natural and all of it is damaging, more or less, to your hair.

Would not it be nice to renew your original hair colour naturally? There are several herbal tonics and rubs/shampoos out there which say they will restore natural hair colour. You choose any of them at your own risk. However, some are more risky than others. Any natural colour restoration system which depends upon either being a rub or a shampoo sounds more like an artificial dye job. You need to seek out the ones that are taken internally. Tonics and teas would appear to be the most effective of all natural hair colour restoratives - but do they really work?

A word of caution is required here. There are many such teas and tonics available claimed to restore your natural hair colour. However, there is no scientific evidence at the moment that any existing medicine, diet, herb, supplement or natural product such as tonic or a herbal tea can prevent or reverse greying hair. It is not possible yet to revive the dead pigment producing cells at the root of your hair and if you decide to buy any product promising to change the colour of your hair naturally you are most likely wasting your time and money.

Dying hair has become a common fashion these days among women as well as many men. You may use colours to add shine to your hair or to cover your gray hair. You may either use a home colour or go for a professional colour. Professional colours offer solution for a wide variety of requirements, while home colours are suitable for gray coverage and one to two levels of lightening. There is a wide variety or professional hair colours available in the market. Making the right choice may seem quite difficult.

Depending on your requirements, you can choose from different types of hair dyes. The first category is temporary hair dyes, which usually last for 1-2 shampoos. Such hair dyes are good for some occasions such as Halloween. However, they may last longer on blonde hair or porous and chemically treated hair. Temporary hair dyes come in both spray and liquid form. They usually contain FD&C dyes.

Semi-permanent hair dyes are the second category of hair colours. They usually last for 4-6 weeks. You can use them to blend gray hair without lightening the colour of your existing hair. Some semi-permanent hair colours contain only food grade dyes or FD&C dyes with an alkalizer. Some use oxidative dyes with an alkalising agent. Herbal hair dye henna is another form of semi permanent hair colour, which comes in red tones. However, it is not suitable for porous hair. Manufacturers use different ingredients including metals, oxidative dyes and other plant pigments to alter the shade of henna.

Progressive hair colorants are another category of hair colours. The more often you use them, the more colour they deposits on the outer surface of your hair. You need to be careful in using progressive dyes as some of them use lead acetate and other metallic components that can be harmful to your health if used inappropriately.

Permanent hair dyes contain various ingredients. Some use natural ingredients, while some may use many chemicals and concentrations of oxidative dyes. Chemicals like ammonia and monoethanolamine are very common in permanent hair colours and are known to be highly allergenic. Monoethanolamine colour is good for you if your hair is porous and fades quickly. Ammonia can make some hair prone to breakage depending on the other ingredients present in the hair colour.

It pays to have some basic understanding of the ingredients in a particular hair colour before you start using it. Most hair colours contain certain chemicals that may cause several problems such as hair loss, itchy scalp, flaking scalp, rashes and nausea. Such chemicals include various synthetic and toxic or allergenic ingredients. Have a careful look at the labels before you pick up a colour and always use a patch test before applying any such products to your scalp.

Grey hair at a young age can have various causes, such as vitiligo, vitamin B deficiency, thyroid imbalance, constant and extreme stress, alopecia areata, bad diet, etc. but its greatest trigger is genetics, causing the premature death of pigment-producing cells in hair follicles. When it comes to treating grey hair caused by one of the aforementioned health conditions then the focus should be on tackling the primary reason. In treating genetically determined, premature grey hair, any effective therapy should involve interference with our genes. However, at the moment, no such treatment exists that can halt or reverse the dying of pigment-producing cells called melanocytes. There are some commercial products out there, though, containing vitamins, minerals and a Chinese herb Fo-Ti that are supposed to stop and reverse grey hair but the only evidence supporting the claims made by their marketers refers back to the old Chinese legend of an old villager, Mr He, from one thousand years ago. Vitamins B, namely PABA and folic acid, have been observed to stop greying in individuals with diets poor in vitamins B but they cannot help reverse grey hair in people suffering from chronic vitamin B deficiency, let alone in cases of genetically-determined greying hair.

Therefore, the only available and effective treatment option for premature and age-related grey hair is to cover it. There are two principal colouring options for covering grey hair, which include hair dyes and progressive hair colorants. Hair dyes can be temporary, semi-permanent, demi-permanent or permanent, depending on the durability of their colouring effects. The ability of the pigment molecules to penetrate into the hair shaft determines the stability of the hair colour. Each hair consists of at least two layers, the cuticle, which is an outer protective layer, and the cortex, which is hidden under the cuticle. Permanent hair dye is, as its name says, the most stable of the hair colouring options and the most effective method of covering grey hair amongst hair dyes, as its large molecules get trapped in the cortex of the hair and resist being washed out but it is also the most drastic method of dyeing hair. Hair dyes are popular, especially with female consumers. Men usually look for more subtle options of covering their grey hair as for a man dyeing hair is socially less acceptable. Progressive hair colorants, with their slow and gradual mode of action, seem to be the right product for men.

The marketing of progressive hair colorants is typically targeted at male customers but these products can be also successfully used by women. They colour hair gradually and unnoticeably and only affect your grey hair. They can be applied selectively so that you can leave certain areas untreated to look more natural. Progressive hair colorants are easy to apply, no plastic gloves are needed to apply them (with very few exceptions), and you just have to spread them on your white areas. Their mechanism of action consists of the chemical reaction involving one or two substances from the colorant, which in the presence of atmospheric oxygen produce synthetic pigment on the surface as well as in the pores and for some of them also in the cortex of your hair. As the substance is drying in the air, the chemical reaction begins and lasts until the next shampoo wash. Hence, the longer the substance stays in your hair the better. The downside is that progressive hair colorants have to be reapplied quite frequently, which makes them more expensive compared with the majority of traditional hair dyes. Progressive hair colorants are either metallic based or use organic chemicals.

The occasional controversy surrounding these products results from a wrong understanding of their mechanism of action and the purpose they were designed for. Their aim is not to cover all your grey hair with a single application. For people with more than 50% of their hair white, it is practically impossible to achieve full white hair coverage with these products, no matter how often they apply them. They were designed for people who would like to reduce the amount of their grey and wish to do it discretely and unnoticeably. Frequent shampooing reduces the effectiveness of these products as does exposure to direct sun.

Herbs have been used in the traditional folk medicine of all nations for ages to treat premature aging conditions such as premature gray hair. Admittedly, traditional medicines have not always been effective in reversing or preventing gray hair and to this day no herbal or medicinal cure for age-related and genetically-determined graying hair exists. Nonetheless, herbal remedies have experienced a tremendous revival in popularity recently and now account for well over 50% of trade with hair care products. Their attractiveness stems mainly from the general belief that they are free from harmful side effects and can stimulate natural healing processes in the body and thus reverse medical conditions naturally.

By far the most popular herbal remedy for reversing gray hair today is Fo-Ti root. It can be found as a principal active ingredient in almost any natural gray hair product. Fo-Ti (polygonum multiflorum), is a climbing plant native to China and now widely grown also in Japan and Taiwan. In traditional Chinese medicine it has been used for thousands of years as a popular longevity tonic because of its assumed ability to counteract the body’s aging processes. In China it is well known under the local name He shou wu, which stands for "black haired Mr. He". The legend has it that an old villager, Mr. He, who lived in the 9th century A.D. took Fo-Ti and restored his black hair, youthful appearance and vitality and fathered children at the ripe age of 60. He lived to 130, maintaining his natural hair color. In addition to influencing the aging processes, Fo-Ti is credited with many other health-providing properties highly valued in traditional Chinese medicine. Among other things, it is also believed to extend hair growth cycles and thus it can be frequently found in many commercial hair regrowth products. As is so often the case with herbal cures, Fo-Ti has never been clinically studied as a potential gray hair treatment. There is no scientific or recent empirical evidence that it can help reverse graying hair.

PABA (para-aminobenzoic acid) and folic acid are two vitamins from the group of B vitamins credited with the ability to reverse greying hair. Their presence in the body is thought to be essential to maintaining one’s original hair color and it is possible that a shortage of one of these two vitamins might lead to hair turning gray. Their extra intake can be beneficial in gray hair conditions caused by vitamin B deficiency but will not restore your original hair color in conditions caused by hereditary factors or old age. Nevertheless, these two vitamins are used in almost any commercial gray hair remedy out there.

There are many other herbal ingredients such as ginkgo biloba, eleuthero root, Asian and Siberian ginseng, gotu kola, green tea, rosemary, chamomile, horsetail, etc. that you can find in natural grey hair products, having mostly auxiliary functions, such as promoting a healthy scalp environment or providing additional nutrients to your hair follicles. Some other herbs, such as sage, can be used to add color to your hair, working as a natural hair colorant while also giving your hair more shine, which gives the impression of there being less gray hair. One traditional method of reversing graying hair, originally from India, which may sound anecdotal, is rubbing your fingernails against each other to help stimulate circulation (as nerve endings are located under the finger nails), thereby reducing the amount of gray hair.

One can conclude that no scientific proof seems to exist that any exercise or herb, vitamin, mineral or nutrient contained in the natural remedies can reverse premature or age-related graying of hair. If you decide to try any commercial herbal remedy for gray hair, keep in mind that besides there being no guarantee of its effectiveness, no daily dosage has been established and side effects might occur, despite the general belief that herbal remedies are safe and free from them.

For most females dying their hair has become a part of their monthly routine. Some men have resorted to dying their hair using regular hair dyes, too, but many others are looking for less noticeable alternatives, such as progressive hair colorants. Progressive hair colorants work stepwise by changing the hair colour for several days after they have been applied, which makes the change less noticeable and allows the user to control how much grey he/she leaves untreated. One thing that both types of products - conventional hair dyes and progressive hair colorants - have in common is that all of them contain chemicals that can be potentially harmful to their users.

Both, hair dyes and progressive hair colorants work by a chemical reaction involving the components of the colorant and the oxygen in the air. The principal difference between the two is that the chemical reaction in conventional hair dyes lasts only for a few minutes as the substance is being applied to the hair versus working slowly for several days in progressive hair colorants. The chemicals that fuel these chemical reactions are typically poisonous and can trigger allergic reactions.

P-phenylenediamine (PPD), is believed to be the leading cause of hair colour allergic reactions with ammonia, hydrogen peroxide, diaminobenzene and, to a lesser extent, also metallic compounds said to account for their fair share, too. Metallic compounds such as lead acetate or bismuth citrate are found mainly in progressive hair colorants whereas PPD, ammonia, hydrogen peroxide and diaminobenzene are typical of conventional hair dyes. One of the recently applied molecules used in progressive hair colorants is 5, 6-dihydroxyindoline that is usually described as the best option amongst the chemical molecules contained in grey hair colouring products but it has also been found to cause allergic reactions.

Herbal hair dyes might appear to be a healthy alternative to traditional hair colouring products. Unfortunately, the natural hair dyes are no stranger to causing allergic reactions either and were recently found to be even more allergenic than most chemical products. Thus, when choosing hair colouring agents you should always consider the potential health risks as most of them contain substances that can cause poisoning if used carelessly and can lead to severe allergic reactions. You should always use a patch test before applying any such product and closely follow the application guidelines in order to minimise exposure to potentially harmful substances.

Lead is one of mankind’s oldest used metals. Lead and its compounds have been used for thousands of yeas in all walks of life, from construction to gastronomy. It is not so long ago that sewage pipes were made from lead. If you have renovated an old building, you might have noticed leaded pipes as they were replaced. They are easy to recognise by their unusual weight. However, lead and most of its compounds are today known to be toxic. Lead is a potent neurotoxin that over time accumulates in soft tissues and bone. Nevertheless, because of its low reactivity and solubility, lead poisoning usually only occurs in cases when the lead is dispersed and after long term exposure.

Lead acetate is one of the main active substances used in progressive hair colorants. It is valued due to its ability to change the colour of your white hair gradually and unnoticeably. Like lead, it is toxic, although it has been used for centuries as a wine sweetener. Since the beginning of the 1980s, lead has been withdrawn from many products, such as gasoline, paints, pipes, etc., and in the last decade lead compounds such as lead acetate have become the target of increased attention. Lead acetate has been withdrawn from hair dyes in several counties of the European Union and Canada but there is no universal ban within the EU, let alone on elsewhere. However, lead-based hair dyes continue to be available in stores in most countries in the world.

In one recent study, conducted in the US, people using lead acetate-containing hair colorant were observed but no absorption of lead into their blood stream could be registered. Hence, it was determined that lead acetate-based hair colorants can remain in use but the concentration of lead acetate may not exceed 0.6%. Most of the currently available hair dyes contain a maximum of 0.4% of lead acetate. In spite of that, these products may not be applied on facial hair or cut scalp and if redness or inflammation appear their use must be discontinued. You should properly wash your hands after applying them.

Since the toxicity of lead has become more apparent in recent years and it is even suspected of being carcinogenic, bismuth has become its increasingly important substitute. Following a ban on sales of lead-containing hair colorants in some countries, the products affected have been reformulated to include bismuth citrate. Bismuth, like lead, also happens to be a heavy metal but it is thought to be much less toxic and it has not been found to be carcinogenic. Nevertheless, the same cautious handling is required when applying bismuth-based hair colorants as with lead-based products.

Few things in life are certain however gray hair is something most of us begin dreading and fighting back against by the time we enter our early thirties. Gray hair seems to begin with a few strands that sneak up on us. We diligently puck them out day after day until we come to the realization that if we keep pulling them all out we will not have any hair left at all.

Making the decision to color your hair does not mean that it has to be an all or nothing venture. There are many color options available that provide coverage and are fairly low maintenance. These options include demi and semi permanents colors, high lights, low lights, blending or foils, all of which will although you to ease into coloring especially if this is new to you.

Growing in popularity is the color option of blending; which is essentially using both high lights and low lights giving you a natural fresh look. This process is an attractive option because larger chunks of hair are colored starting close to the base which enables you to get away with less frequent touch ups.

Blending is also unique in that several different shades can be used to create deep rich color which gives the illusion of more shape and volume. To create a more youthful look use colors that are a few shades lighter than you natural color this will give you a sun kissed looked. Another option which is been seen more and more is with the use of foils going bold, the options are really endless which will allow you to find something that not only makes you look and feel great but that also captures your personality.

If you choose to use a full color ensure that you use proper maintenance protocol. Touching up the roots is essential, there is nothing worse then having an inch on new growth showing at the base of your hair. It is best to get your roots dealt with every four to six weeks depending on how fast your hair grows. Generally the average is about a half an inch per month. If you are coloring yourself do not try to save time by simply applying a new dose of color to your entire head of hair, this will lead to an uneven and unnatural appearance as well as cause unnecessary damage to the ends and over processed shafts of your hair.

Choosing to color your gray is only one option. If you decide to embrace your gray or white hair remember to use a violet or blue based shampoo to wash away the yellow. These specialized shampoos also help to maintain your hairs vibrancy and clarity making the dullness a that affects gray and white hair a thing of the past. Gray or white hair can be extremely attractive when it is worn with confidence and you have the proper hair cut, this does not mean that you have to get your hair all cut of and start using rollers. Many men and women look fantastic with their natural grey, silver or white hair. Talk to your professional stylist about your options and decide on a hair care option that works for you.