Somewhere in the world at this moment, a very scary story is being told to a group of little girls, maybe at a sleepover, perhaps by a campfire, possibly under a sheet with only a flashlight to creepily illuminate the underside of the narrator’s face. After the careful building of suspense, culminating in some terrifying climax, this story will end with the following sentence: “And when she awoke, her hair had turned…COMPLETELY WHITE FROM FEAR.”
You want scary? I’ve got a scary story for you: It really happens, though usually not overnight. Research shows that stress and trauma can, indeed, accelerate the grays. Mostly, heredity dictates when and how we go gray. However, there has been much buzz lately about President Obama’s saltier temples, spurring the media to postulate that the stress of the early days of his presidency are accelerating the aging process for the leader of the free world. The New York Times recently published an article on this very topic.
Let me break it down: Hydrogen peroxide, which is present in the hair follicle, is a natural oxidant. Remember Sun-In, the spray that turned our hair fluorescent orange in the Eighties? Pure hydrogen peroxide. The same stuff that comes in the industrial brown plastic bottle that fizzes when applied to a skinned knee.
High levels of hydrogen peroxide in your hair retard the production of pigment, which results in gray hair. Now, the flip side is that we naturally produce an enzyme called catalase that breaks down hydrogen peroxide. When catalase function decreases, the levels of hydrogen peroxide rise. So the question is, how do stress, fear, terror, anxiety, etc. affect catalase production? The jury is still out.
Shut the front door! What next? Stress causes spontaneous, explosive incontinence? I’m getting stressed out just imagining the possibilities.
Thanks to L’oreal Feria T42 Deep Beige Brown, I am prepared, if not to alleviate life’s stressors, at least to not look completely ravaged by them. It is a new shade, and it totally rules. Now that I can’t afford to have my hair colored professionally, my stylist recommends Feria as one of the best OTC alternatives, and so far, so great.
As for stress, well, bring it on.
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Any recommendations for men other than shaving my head?
On you , and on most men, it looks handsome and distinguished and foxy. Unfortunately the double standard reigns in my opinion. But you can certainly dye just like a woman if you like.
(and break like a little girl…?)
ur sweet.