gray hair

Stress is a miserable thing regardless, but a growing body of health and medical research is making it clear that its adverse effects are wide-ranging and even more insidious than previously believed. And if poor health isn't bad enough, I've got five reasons that, at least for the sake of our health and beauty, we should all learn healthy coping strategies. To find out more, just keep reading.

Going gray is part of the natural aging process, and while many opt to eschew any and all hair dye by letting nature take its course, a few young trendsetting women are actually using hair dye to go gray . . . by choice. Nineteen-year-old model Pixie Geldof is a fan, telling The Times, "I’d been blond for three years and fancied a change," she says. “I wasn’t thinking about the color, I just put on a bunch of toner one day, and there it was. It was rad," she adds. Pixie's not alone in her absence-of-color hue. The old-timey shade has been spotted on the heads of hip Londoners, and has been seen everywhere from the runways of Giles Deacon to Gareth Pugh.

"Gray has always been seen as distinguished on men," Bumble and Bumble's Neil Moodie told the paper. "But on women it’s seen as aging, which isn’t necessarily true — the model Kristen McMenamy looks incredible [with it]. Normally, if you bleach hair, you can put in an ash tone to stop the brassiness, and it goes a slight grey-blue, so it also has that punk element," he explains. Thinking about going gray yourself? Don't attempt to turn yourself into a silver belle at home. Head to a salon for the professional treatment. Otherwise, you could be in silver hell.

Did you ever think it might be possible to actually reverse gray hair, turning it back into the natural color it once was? It does sound rather outlandish — even fantastical — but according to scientists at L'Oréal's research and development center near Paris, the treatment could be just about 10 years away from coming to fruition.

"When hair goes gray, there is a progressive disappearance of the melanocytes (pigment-producing cells) from the hair. While there are still melanocytes in the hair, there is still hope that it could be re-pigmented," L'Oréal's Patricia Pineau told the Daily Mail. Supposedly, the process would involve some type of oral component, along the use of specially formulated haircare products. What do you think of this treatment in the works? Is it just messing with Mother Nature, or do you welcome what science has to offer when it comes to antiaging developments?

No matter your age, I'm sure you remember the first time you spotted a gray hair on your head. For me, I was 24. A random occurrence, I thought, although my dad was pretty much completely silver-haired by his late 20s, so I couldn't be too sure. The majority of you said you have already found your first gray hair, and since my initial unearthing, I've detected several more "natural highlights," as my hairdresser likes to say. But would it be so bad to be a young gray-haired lady, after all? Vogue writer Sarah Harris doesn't think so, recalling her early discovery of gray strands as a teenager.

"I was 16 and mortified," Harris tells The Times. By her 20s, she truly started to embrace her light locks, saying, "I slowly grew fond of the way my silver flickered when it caught the light." While she realizes that she's lucky to have a soft, silken texture to her hair, Harris acknowledges it's a lot of work. "Gray hair, unless styled and conditioned, can look washed-out and neglected. Grooming is crucial," she says. Therefore, she spends more time on her strands, protecting her hair from the sunlight to reduce yellowing, all while investing in good shampoos specifically designed for silver tones. To find out why she'll probably stay with the gray for a while, just keep reading.