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Is it a silver anomaly, or a sign of deficiency?
Ever wanted to pick the brain of a beauty editor? Or get beauty product recommendations from someone who has tried them all? You’ve come to the right place. In our weekly series, beauty editor Hana Hong answers your biggest skincare, hair care, and makeup questions, all submitted by Real Simple readers. Tune in every Tuesday and submit your own burning beauty questions here for a chance to be featured.
Reader question: Why is my hair graying already? It’s definitely too early—I’m not even 30! And is there any way to get it back? — Laura Irene
As you age, it’s only natural to lose melanin in your hair. Like all signs of aging, different people age differently and present hair color changes at varying times. Generally speaking, grays usually start to sprawl across your scalp in your 30s, and plan an ultimate takeover by the time you reach your 60s.
But for others, the process may begin as early as their 20s. If you’re seeing gray and thinking, “But I’m so young!” find comfort in knowing that it’s not necessarily a cause for concern. The timing winds down to genetics—chances are if your parents developed gray hair at a young age, you will too. Feel free to call your parents and yell at them.
That being said, if premature gray hair isn’t in your gene pool, or the rate of graying hair is significant, it may be a symptom of something else. One of the biggest culprits, according to trichologists and hairstylists? Stress (surprise, surprise).
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I know it might sound like a cop-out response, but stress directly affects the stem cells that are responsible for regenerating hair pigment. “Stress releases a chemical called norepinephrine into the hair follicle,” says William Gaunitz, FWTS, certified trichologist and founder of Advanced Trichology. “The melanocytes that create melanin …….