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Few women welcome gray hair with open arms. When the salt outnumbers the
pepper, most of us—as many as 75 percent of women, according to various
sources—turn to the beauty industry for an all-over color correction.
But once you start dyeing your hair to cover the grays, how do you know
when enough is enough?
But if you’re on the fence, consider these tell-tale signs you should go gracefully gray:
1: Your hair feels dry and brittle
Traditional hair dye that deposits color typically won’t damage your
‘do, says Melissa Piliang, M.D., a dermatologist at the Cleveland Clinic
and a member of the American Academy of Dermatology. But if you engage
in the more involved ritual of processing your hair to lighten it in
preparation for a light-colored dye, damage is almost certainly in your
hair destiny. “The hair fiber has a coating called the cuticle,” says
Dr. Piliang. “When your hair is healthy, the cuticle looks like the
shingles on a roof, all laying down. When it’s damaged, the shingles can
flake off or peel back. Bleaching wears away cuticle.” The result? Hair
that can be described as ‘straw-like,’ dry and brittle, or frizzy.
Split ends, flyaways, and hair of varying lengths are other sure signs
of damage and breakage, she says.
2: Your grays return within two weeks.
If you can’t seem to keep up with the advance of your gray hair
(either at the roots or all over), it may be worth it to leave your
coloring days behind you, says Sarah Nitz, contributor for Latest-Hairstyles.com.
“If you have an appointment at the salon every two weeks, but you could
go every week, it might just be time to let it grow in,” she says. “You
want to enjoy every minute of your pending (or current!) retirement,
traveling, visiting with friends, not visiting the salon.”
3: You notice your scalp is newly itchy and irritated.
Whether you’ve been coloring your hair for days or years, unexplained
itchiness, soreness, or oozing of the scalp may indicate you’re
allergic to the hair dye, itself. “A fair number of people are allergic
to an ingredient in hair dye called p-Phenylenediamine (PPDA), which is
what gives the dye its permanent color,” says Dr. Piliang. “The symptoms
can be pretty mild in the beginning so people don’t always recognize
it.” While all hues of permanent dye contain PPDA, semi-permanent dye
and wash-out colors often don’t, though they do require more frequent
application, she advises.
4: You’ve dyed your hair progressively lighter.
If your once lustrous mane has gone from it’s original honey gold to
highlighted ash blonde to full-on platinum over your years in the
styling chair, it may be time to give up the ghost. “When you’ve gone
lighter and lighter to camouflage your silver roots, so that you’re
almost white, that’s a sign,” says Nitz. “If you’re going so light with
your hair color that it only slightly differs from what’s growing in, it
makes sense to stop coloring.”
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