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Is stress turning my hair grey?

<div class="theconversation-article-body"><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/theresa-larkin-952095">Theresa Larkin</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-wollongong-711">University of Wollongong</a> When we start to go grey depends a lot on <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36631178/">genetics</a>. Your first grey hairs <a href="https://elifesciences.org/articles/67437">usually appear</a> anywhere between your twenties and fifties. For men, grey hairs <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22077870/">normally</a> start at the temples and sideburns. Women tend to start greying on the hairline, especially at the front. The most <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36631178/">rapid greying</a> usually happens between ages 50 and 60. But does anything we do speed up the process? And is there anything we can do to slow it down? You’ve probably heard that plucking, dyeing and stress can make your hair go grey – and that redheads don’t. Here’s what the science says. <h2>What gives hair its colour?</h2> Each strand of hair is produced by a hair follicle, a tunnel-like opening in your skin. Follicles contain two different kinds of <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1534580720301040">stem cells</a>: <ul> <li>keratinocytes, which produce <a href="https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/body/23204-keratin">keratin</a>, the protein that makes and regenerates hair strands</li> <li>melanocytes, which produce <a href="https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/body/22615-melanin">melanin</a>, the pigment that colours your hair and skin.</li> </ul> There are <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK459156/">two main types</a> of melanin that <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36631178/">determine hair colour</a>. Eumelanin is a black-brown pigment and pheomelanin is a red-yellow pigment. The <a href="https://theconversation.com/studying-the-complex-genetics-behind-hair-colour-reveals-how-melanin-affects-us-171088#:%7E:text=Eumelanin%20is%20also%20known%20as%20the%20brown-black%20pigment%2C,is%20due%20to%20low%20amounts%20of%20both%20pigments.">amount of the different pigments</a> determines hair colour. Black and brown hair has mostly eumelanin, red hair has the most pheomelanin, and blonde hair has just a small amount of both. <h2>So what makes our hair turn grey?</h2> As we age, it’s normal for cells to become less active. In the hair follicle, this means stem cells produce less melanin – turning our hair grey – and less keratin, causing hair thinning and loss. As less melanin is produced, there is less pigment to give the hair its colour. Grey hair has very little melanin, while white hair has none left. Unpigmented hair <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6290285/">looks grey</a>, white or silver because light reflects off the keratin, which is pale yellow. Grey hair is thicker, coarser and stiffer than hair with pigment. This is because the shape of the hair follicle becomes <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6290285/">irregular</a> as the stem cells change with age. Interestingly, grey hair also grows faster than pigmented hair, but it <a href="https://elifesciences.org/articles/67437">uses more energy</a> in the process. <h2>Can stress turn our hair grey?</h2> Yes, stress can <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6290285/">cause your hair to turn grey</a>. This happens when <a href="https://faseb.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1096/fj.05-4039fje">oxidative stress</a> damages hair follicles and stem cells and <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/physiology/articles/10.3389/fphys.2022.839859/full">stops them producing</a> melanin. Oxidative stress is an imbalance of too many damaging free radical chemicals and not enough protective antioxidant chemicals in the body. It can be <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36631178/">caused by</a> psychological or emotional stress as well as autoimmune diseases. <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22077870/">Environmental factors</a> such as exposure to UV and pollution, as well as smoking and some drugs, can also play a role. Melanocytes are <a href="https://elifesciences.org/articles/67437">more susceptible to damage</a> than keratinocytes because of the complex steps in melanin production. This explains why ageing and stress usually cause hair greying before hair loss. Scientists have been able to link less pigmented sections of a hair strand to <a href="https://elifesciences.org/articles/67437">stressful events in a person’s life</a>. In younger people, whose stems cells still produced melanin, colour returned to the hair after the stressful event passed. <h2>4 popular ideas about grey hair – and what science says</h2> 1. Does plucking a grey hair make more grow back in its place? No. When you pluck a hair, you might notice a small bulb at the end that was attached to your scalp. This is the <a href="https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/body/23435-hair-follicle">root</a>. It grows from the hair follicle. Plucking a hair pulls the root out of the follicle. But the follicle itself is the opening in your skin and can’t be plucked out. Each hair follicle can only grow a single hair. It’s possible frequent plucking could make your hair <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18713071/">grey earlier</a>, if the cells that produce melanin are damaged or exhausted from too much regrowth. 2. Can my hair can turn grey overnight? Legend says Marie Antoinette’s hair went <a href="https://www.healthline.com/health/marie-antoinette-syndrome">completely white</a> the night before the French queen faced the guillotine – but this is a myth. Melanin in hair strands is chemically stable, meaning it can’t transform instantly. Acute psychological stress does rapidly deplete melanocyte stem cells <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-1935-3">in mice</a>. But the effect doesn’t show up immediately. Instead, grey hair becomes visible as the strand grows – at a rate of <a href="https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/326764">about 1 cm per month</a>. <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7432488/">Not all hair</a> is in the growing phase at any one time, meaning it can’t all go grey at the same time. 3. Will dyeing make my hair go grey faster? This <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9953601/">depends on the dye</a>. Temporary and semi-permanent dyes should not cause early greying because they just coat the hair strand without changing its structure. But permanent products cause a chemical reaction with the hair, using an oxidising agent such as hydrogen peroxide. Accumulation of hydrogen peroxide and <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10232955/">other hair dye chemicals</a> in the hair follicle <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36631178/">can damage</a> melanocytes and keratinocytes, which can cause greying and hair loss. 4. Is it true redheads don’t go grey? People with red hair also lose melanin as they age, but differently to those with black or brown hair. This is because the red-yellow and black-brown pigments are chemically different. Producing the brown-black pigment eumelanin is more complex and <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1034/j.1600-0749.2002.02017.x">takes more energy</a>, making it more susceptible to damage. Producing the red-yellow pigment (pheomelanin) causes <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016953472030375X">less oxidative stress</a>, and is more simple. This means it is easier for stem cells to continue to produce pheomelanin, even as they reduce their activity with ageing. With ageing, red hair tends to fade into strawberry blonde and silvery-white. Grey colour is due to less eumelanin activity, so is more common in those with black and brown hair. Your genetics determine when you’ll start going grey. But you may be able to avoid premature greying by staying healthy, reducing stress and avoiding smoking, too much alcohol and UV exposure. Eating <a href="https://www.healthline.com/health/melanin-in-hair#b-6-and-b-12">a healthy diet</a> may also help because vitamin B12, copper, iron, calcium and zinc all <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6290285/">influence melanin production and hair pigmentation</a>.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/239100/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/theresa-larkin-952095">Theresa Larkin</a>, Associate Professor of Medical Sciences, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-wollongong-711">University of Wollongong</a> Image credits: Shutterstock This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/is-stress-turning-my-hair-grey-239100">original article</a>. </div>

Beauty & Style

Expert's number one complaint against grey nomads

An Aussie farm contractor has taken aim at "entitled" travellers at campsites, many of whom are "grey nomads". Victoria, aged in her 30s, spends a lot of time on the road travelling for work as she "runs the bar and does a bit of camp hosting" at Charlotte Plains, an outback sheep station and campground almost 800 kilometres west of Brisbane. Through her job, Victoria said most of her clientele at the campsites are over the age of 50, and she claims most of her problems are with these older travellers. Although she "doesn't want to generalise too much", she does "feel the need to speak out about them" so the younger generation "know what not to do" and become "better people". Speaking to <a href="https://au.news.yahoo.com/the-game-changing-trend-taking-over-australian-4wd-camping-sites-021745171.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Yahoo News Australia</a>, Victoria said in addition to their "general sense of entitlement", grey nomads, in her experience, had a tendency to "mansplain" issues she's acutely aware of, flout campsite rules, disregard safety policies and even resort to stealing from her. "I've experienced a lot with grey nomads," she told Yahoo. "I've worked on farms for years. I'm very experienced with operating machinery. I drive my caravan well, a lot better than a lot of these guys, some of whom even need help reversing." "But I guess the biggest issue I find is handling grey nomads, in particular is theft. I travelled South America in my 20s, and the only thing that ever went missing was a jar of Vegemite. Let me tell you, if my stuff is not nailed down, with grey nomads around — they've stolen it." Victoria said it's "more than just toilet paper" that goes missing at campsites, recalling, "It will be hose fittings that are still on the hose. It could be a whole hose. A grey nomad stole my jockey wheel the other day — it's travelled the whole country in the same spot, and then the other day somebody sole it. Even my sunglasses." "I don't want to categorise all baby boomers into one, but it's just that these are the people that I deal with," she argued, adding "there are bad people in every generation" but she says she rarely encounters badly behaved travellers under 40. While Victoria says she doesn't want to over-generalise, she's been astounded by some of the disrespectful actions she's seen at the hand of the elderly travellers. Speaking out in a bid to raise awareness of campsite safety and to deter young people from "acting like baby boomers", Victoria said she hopes by making her ordeals public it'll promote more courtesy from grey nomads in the future. "The next generation is growing up fast," she said. "Hopefully the younger ones don't do the same things and are bit more courteous to others". Image credits: TikTok

Travel Trouble

Hope: A double-edged sword in the human experience

Hope has long been cherished as a source of strength in times of adversity. Yet, as explored in this edited extract from his new book The Human Condition by author Tony Grey, this fundamental emotion is not without its complexities and potential pitfalls. --- As in the host of challenges explored in The Human Condition, the feeling of expectation and desire for something beneficial to happen, which we call hope, is as fundamental to the human condition as the will to survive; they’re linked within the evolutionary imperative. As Cicero pointed out, “dum spiro spero” (while I breathe I hope). Hope is a rolling prayer to life as time moves on, a whisper to the soul that things will turn out all right. The sentiment is generally unchallenged. Why should it be? In times of trouble, we need the balm of hope. Samuel Johnson said, “Hope is a species of pleasure, and perhaps, the chief pleasure this world affords.” While usually positive about hope, Greek philosophers were sometimes ambivalent about it, citing its propensity, through wishful thinking, to encourage indolence or actually cause harm. In Sophocles’ play Antigone, the Chorus sings, “Hope whose wanderings are so wide is to many men a comfort, but to many a false lure of giddy desires.” Plato observes that hope breeds a confidence which can exacerbate a precondition of arrogance in the powerful, leading to serious wrongdoing. “It is among these men that we find the ones who do the greatest evils.” Napoleon and Hitler are examples. And so is the Japanese government responsible for the Pearl Harbour attack. At the World War Two surrender on the deck of the USS Missouri, a Japanese general was heard to say when he looked at the sky blackened by Allied aircraft flying past and the sea bursting with warships, “How did we ever hope we could win?” On the other hand, Plato stressed the motivational properties of hope when directed towards a good aim. And Aristotle links hope with the virtue of megalopsychia (high-mindedness) resulting from its inspirational role. I have an experience of this in my family. My nephew was born to my sister with intellectual disability, and other difficulties. His condition seemed hopeless. Nevertheless, from the first, hope was my sister’s support; it gave her the energy to carry on. Through the gloom it afforded a glimpse into the future where progress beckoned. And all along she demonstrated that hope is ineluctably linked to love. Aided by her husband, the father, she worked day and night teaching and inspiring the boy. When old enough he went to a special needs school and gradually progressed, indefatigably supported at home. Over time his condition improved so that eventually he could take and keep a simple job, cook food, and have friends (similarly disabled), a state absolutely unforeseeable at his early stage of life. Throughout all the difficulties, frustrations and threats of despair, hope sustained my sister and guided her to the wonderful achievement of saving a human life. In most instances, hope is personal in the sense that something specific to the individual or those who are close is wanted. However, it can range far beyond that into areas involving others such as team sports, politics, economic activity, justice, national and tribal identity, international relations – notably war, and pandemics like Covid. Within these fields, hope calls out for the survival and well-being of humanity and its prospects for moral and material progress. Such hope embraces faith in something bigger than the individual. If human beings have a purpose, its linked to that, and its fulfillment is somehow bound up in hope. This approach cries out for exploring a whole array of other challenges inherent in the human condition. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Tony Grey is an accomplished author residing in Sydney. His latest book, The Human Condition, ambitiously explores the hurly burly of human existence, and is available now for purchase through Halstead Press Publishers. Tony is the founder of Pancontinental Mining, a former director of Opera Australia and the Conservatorium of Music, and a former trustee of the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Other books by Tony Grey include Jabiluka, East Wind and Seven Gateways. His writings have featured in the Australian Financial Review, Quadrant and the Australian. Image: Getty Images

Mind

Why "Grey Divorce" is on the rise in Australia

It seems that the older generation is taking a page out of the millennial playbook and saying, "Thanks, but no thanks" to marriage. According to a recent report by <a href="https://www.seniors.com.au/documents/australian-seniors-series-love-after-50-report-whitepaper.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Australian Seniors</a>, the trend of "Grey Divorce" has become so prevalent that one in three couples in Australia decide to call it quits after hitting the big 5-0. It turns out that once the kids have flown the nest, some couples find themselves facing a conundrum. And no, it's not a midlife crisis involving sports cars and questionable hair dye choices. It's the dreaded "empty nest syndrome" – the sadness and upheaval that parents experience when their adult children finally leave the family home. The report clearly highlights that almost half of these later-in-life divorces are triggered by the empty nest syndrome, followed closely by increased financial pressures (35 per cent) and retirement adjustments (34 per cent). But the report also reveals a silver lining. Many singles over 50 are discovering greater happiness and fulfilment in their solo acts. It's like they've found the secret formula for joy, and it doesn't involve a partner – just personal space, independence, financial control, peace and quiet, and less stress. Who needs a spouse when you can have tranquillity and control over the TV remote? In fact, more than half of single people over 50 reported being content without a committed partner, and almost one-third claimed that their relationship status was a positive influence on their happiness. Move over, relationship goals; it's time for solo satisfaction to take centre stage. And for those still treading the murky waters of late-life love, there's hope yet. The report offers some sage advice from those who've managed to keep the spark alive, including open and honest communication about changing needs, supporting personal growth, and maintaining independence. While the report concludes that overall divorce rates in Australia have actually hit an all-time low in recent years, the over-50 crowd appear to be shaking things up and going their own way. So, whether you're contemplating marriage or dealing with an unexpected guest cancellation at your wedding, just remember – there's a 50/50 chance you'll be navigating the exciting world of "Grey Divorce" someday. Image: Getty

Legal

The life-saving item no Grey Nomad should travel without

When General Practitioner Paul Kelly hung up his stethoscope after nearly 40 years of dedicated service, he had a retirement dream shared by many Australians – hitting the open road and exploring the world with his wife, Robyn. However, with a history of heart problems, he was understandably hesitant about venturing far from medical facilities. His concerns were put to rest when a groundbreaking device, <a href="https://cellaed.io/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the CellAED personal defibrillator</a>, became available. Compact enough to fit in the glove box, this innovative device has opened up a world of possibilities for adventurers like Paul and Robyn. In Australia, a staggering 20,000 people suffer sudden cardiac arrests outside of hospitals each year. Sadly, only 10% of them survive. The introduction of CellAED, a handheld defibrillator, is changing these grim statistics by providing a lifeline to those in remote areas. Paul and Robyn are enthusiastic members of this country's growing community of grey nomads. According to ABS data, nearly 16 million caravan and camping trips were made last year, with the majority taken by individuals in the age group most at risk of cardiac arrest. Therefore, it's not surprising that an increasing number of travellers, like Paul, are arming themselves with a CellAED as they embark on adventures across the country. Paul attributes the device to giving him the peace of mind and confidence to travel far and wide. In the past year alone, he has spent over four months caravanning along the picturesque Murray River, explored the coastlines of New South Wales and Victoria, and even managed a European holiday to France. With no intention of slowing down, Paul's trusted travel companion, the handheld defibrillator, has granted him the freedom to explore the heart of Australia without constant worry. "Hopefully, we'll never have reason to use it," Paul says, "but it sure takes the stress out of wondering what we'd do in an emergency." The CellAED defibrillator was developed by the Australian startup, Rapid Response Revival. This groundbreaking device is a game-changer because it's more affordable, portable and easier to use than conventional Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs). Luke Starr, a spokesman for CellAED, emphasised the importance of addressing the issue of cardiac arrests in remote areas. He noted, "A key reason why so few survive sudden cardiac arrest is because help is too far away or too slow. CellAED was created to tackle that problem. "Travelling with a CellAED personal defibrillator isn't just about looking after yourself. It's about giving your traveling companions and the people you meet along the way a fighting chance if the unthinkable happens. Sudden cardiac arrest is survivable if it's witnessed by someone who knows what to do," Starr added. Starr further advised, "One of the best gifts you can give your travelling companions is learning how to recognise cardiac arrest and what to do if it happens. If someone has collapsed, is unresponsive, and isn't breathing normally, call emergency services, start CPR, and get a defibrillator onto their bare chest. If you can do this within the first couple of minutes of an arrest, you'll be giving the patient their best chances of survival." The CellAED invention aims to offer more people the opportunity to survive cardiac arrest without relying on sheer luck. With CPR training and a CellAED handy, individuals are prepared to save lives from cardiac arrest wherever they go. The groundbreaking invention comes after new research pointed towards alarming statistics about heart conditions in Australia, revealing that people living in regional, rural, or remote areas are 90% more likely to die from heart conditions caused by high blood pressure than their urban counterparts. The Heart of Inequality report from the Mary MacKillop Institute for Health Research (MMIHR) at ACU underscores the stark disparities in heart disease outcomes across Australia, particularly affecting regional and Indigenous communities. Key findings from the report include the continuous increase in the burden of chronic heart disease, with hundreds of thousands of hospital admissions for heart-related conditions among Australians aged 35 and over. Moreover, Indigenous Australians living in remote areas develop heart failure on average 20 years earlier than the general population. So, as Australians continue to explore this vast and varied country, lifesaving innovations like the CellAED defibrillator are playing an increasingly crucial role in ensuring the safety and well-being of adventurers, particularly those in remote areas. Images: CellAED

Travel Trouble

Embrace grey hair with our simple healthy hair tips

While in the past going grey may have been seen as a negative of the ageing process, today women are embracing this as a stamp of wisdom. And why not? It’s en vogue and can look really attractive too. Thank goodness the days of “having” to hide your natural colour are gone! But just because you’re going natural, doesn’t mean there’s no effort involved. Knowing how to care for and style your grey locks is key and can make all the difference between “stylish and sixty-plus” and “stuffy and sixty-plus”. Read on for our top tips and tricks for healthy, happy hair. Focus on your cut – A great cut is essential for any hair colour but especially for grey hair. Chances are good that you may have been dyeing your hair in the months/years leading up to embracing grey… so a decent chop may increase the health and vitality of your locks. Speak to your hairdresser about a style that suits both your face shape and lifestyle. Swap your shampoo – Grey hair is far more prone to breakage and can also become quite dry and coarse. Ensuring that you’re using a moisturising shampoo at every wash can help keep strands in good condition. Condition well – If you’ve been wary of conditioner in the past due to your hair being on the oily side, now is the time to become friendly again. Conditioning with a moisturising formula is essential after every shampoo. If you’re still nervous about hair becoming oily, you can try a shampoo for “normal” hair, which will nourish without weighing hair down. Treat yourself to an at-home treatment – Once a fortnight, treat your hair with a shampoo specifically formulated for grey hair. After washing and conditioning, apply a clear colour glaze or gloss which is designed to coat the cuticle, boosting shine and general vitality. Take care when styling – As it’s prone to dryness and breakage, applying a thermal protectant to your hair before heat styling is a great way to prevent damage from occurring. Simply comb through hair and style as normal. It’s also a good idea to try and have a day or two off a week from using your hairdryer/hot implements to give hair a good break. Images: Getty

Beauty & Style

10 best tips for gracefully growing out grey hair

<h2>Pro tips that make going grey so much better</h2> There’s no avoiding it. At some point, you will have to deal with grey hair. Of course, how you deal with it is up to you. Some women start growing out grey hair as soon as it begins to appear. Others begin their journey by pulling out greys and then spend years dyeing it before deciding it’s too much of a hassle to do the constant cover-up. Even if you’ve found the <a href="https://www.readersdigest.com.au/healthsmart/beauty/how-to-find-the-best-hair-colour-for-your-skin-tone" target="_blank" rel="noopener">best hair colour for your skin tone</a>, having to touch up your roots every four to six weeks can get old. No matter what your path is, going grey isn’t for the faint of heart. “Many women find it challenging to grow out grey hair,” says hairstylist Krysta Biancone. “This is because it usually occurs gradually, so the transition from natural hair colour to grey hair is not easy.” But it’s not all doom and gloom when it comes to going grey. In fact, it can be incredibly empowering, liberating and downright gorgeous when you make it to the finish line, and it can even make you look younger. But first, there are a few things you need to know. We asked top hairstylists around the country to divulge their best tips for making this transition as easy as possible. <h2>Add highlights</h2> It might sound counterintuitive, but adding subtle colour can make the transition to grey more seamless. “When you first decide you’re nearly ready to go natural, a step in the right direction would be to start going lighter. That way, the roots grow in a little more gracefully,” says hair stylist and colourist, Kali Ferrara. “This can be done easily by a skilled colourist, with a lighter base colour in conjunction with highlights.” One word of warning: steer clear of warmer colours like reds and strawberry blondes when growing out grey hair. Ferrara says these hues could backfire and show even more contrast with your roots. <h2>Go a little darker</h2> On the flip side, you could choose lowlights. But instead of adding a shade that’s slightly darker (which is normally what you’d do with lowlights), try to match your non-grey hair colour. This will help blend without adding a brand-new shade to the mix. “Lowlights create some contrast and will give hair a more salt-and-pepper look that can be very becoming,” says celebrity hairstylist Gina Rivera. Just be sure not to go darker than your hair colour, says Rivera. Doing so can create too much contrast and bring more attention to the fact that you are transitioning to grey, which won’t look good in photos or in real life. <h2>Chop it off</h2> Ready for a big change? Ferrara recommends growing your roots as long as you possibly can and then getting a super-short haircut to get rid of all the leftover colour. How short you go is totally up to you. A pixie cut can be chic and low-maintenance, but if you’ve never had short hair, that could be too big of a change. A short bob looks good on just about anyone, so that may be your best bet, though a stylist will be able to help you determine just how short will be flattering for your face shape. In general, slimmer faces tend to look great with hair that hits just under the jawbone, while fuller faces may want to go slightly longer (think a few centimetres below the jaw). “While this can be a dramatic change, it can also be just the new look you may be looking for!” Ferrara says. “Think of your natural hair colour as a new adventure – a new, liberated you.” <h2>Cover roots as they grow in</h2> If you’re growing out grey hair but your roots are driving you nuts, there are a few ways you can hide them. One easy solution is to cover them with a headband, hat or chic scarf. Another option is root spray or powder. “These products can mask the roots very effectively,” says master stylist Lorrene Conino. “Just spray the exposed areas after you style your hair.” Just shake the bottle well, hold it about 15 centimetres from your roots and spritz it on. These products offer instant coverage on grey hair without an expensive trip to the salon. <h2>Don’t slack on trims</h2> If you can’t bring yourself to do a big cut, regular haircuts (even little ones!) can help make the process go faster too. Aim for a trim every six to eight weeks. This will help you get rid of split ends and maintain healthy hair during your growing-out period, says hairstylist Nia Jones. After all, she explains, you may as well keep your hair looking as good as possible as you go through this tricky transition. Another bonus? Even if you aren’t getting a drastic cut, snipping a bit each time will get rid of old colour. <h2>Prevent brassiness</h2> As more and more grey starts growing in, make sure those strands look as good as possible. Although grey hair is less vibrant than hair of other colours, it still can become dull and uneven if not properly cared for. Sun exposure, washing hair with water that has a high mineral content, and improper hair care are just a few reasons grey locks can turn brassy. Luckily, there’s a quick fix: using shampoo and conditioner designed specifically for silver or white hair can help tone down brassiness by balancing out the warm undertones, says Biancone. You can also include purple toning products into your maintenance routine. Why purple? To understand how a purple product works, you need to know a bit about colour theory. Essentially, on the colour wheel, purple is opposite of yellow. This means that purple shampoo or toner helps to neutralise unwanted yellow or brassy tones that can come along with greys. Try adding toning drops to your shampoo or conditioner once a week to keep your hair the colour you want it. Taking this small precaution when caring for grey hair can help create luscious-looking locks with longevity. <h2>Go big on moisture</h2> The texture of grey hair is quite different from the hair of your youth. George Papanikolas, a celebrity hairstylist, explains that it’s typically more coarse, frizzy and dehydrated. To combat this, he recommends arming your strands with moisturising products that will keep it silky and shiny. <h2>Don’t try to remove hair dye on your own</h2> Let’s say you’ve been dying your hair to cover up those greys but wish you hadn’t. Well, even if you’ve just been using root touch-up kits as new greys grow in, you should never try to lift or remove hair dye on your own. “Chemicals are typically used to remove colour, and you need to know what you are doing,” warns Rivera. “If you don’t, you could end up really damaging your hair.” If this is a route you’re intent on exploring instead of waiting for the colour to grow out, book an appointment with a professional. Just be aware that removing hair dye is tricky and often takes multiple appointments. For an easier, much gentler option, try using a clarifying shampoo to lighten the dye on your strands, says Jones. These shampoos are formulated to remove excess buildup and give you a deep clean, but they may also help wash away some colour. Just don’t use them more than once a week. These products give hair a deep clean, and using them too often can strip your strands of natural oils that add hydration. <h2>Experiment with new styles</h2> Whether you’re trying to cover up the grey or want to embrace it, Jones suggests playing with different styles outside of the boundaries of your everyday look – ie, a ponytail, a different part that flatters your face shape or a brushed-back style that ‘hides’ roots. Changing things up allows you to play with your style, and it also makes growing out grey hair look cool and intentional. Who says blondes have all the fun?! This article originally appeared on <a href="https://www.readersdigest.com.au/healthsmart/beauty/10-best-tips-for-gracefully-growing-out-grey-hair" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reader's Digest</a>. Images: Getty

Beauty & Style

Unlocking the Silver Revolution: The Truth About Grey Hair and the Empowering Journey to Embrace the Grey

In a recent poll by midlife connection organisation, Connected Women reveals that two-thirds of women over the age of 50 haven’t embraced their grey hair (67%). With hair starting to go grey in our 30s and 40s, that’s a long time to hide those pesky greys! What causes grey hair? According to Harvard Health, hair doesn’t ‘turn’ grey. Once a strand of hair is a particular colour, it will stay that way unless it is dyed. After the age of 35, hair follicles produce less colour, so when that strand of hair falls out it will be more likely to grow back grey. Can stress cause grey hair? There is very little evidence to indicate that this is true, however, research shows that in mice, in response to a fight or flight situation, hair follicles are impacted and the pigmentation-producing stem cells can be lost. Without stem cells available to produce pigment cells, the hair will go grey. So, can we now legitimately blame our grey hairs on our kids, or our husbands. What happens when you pluck your grey hairs out? Don’t do it! Not only will it simply grow back grey, but according to Trey Gillen, hairstylist and creative director of education at SACHAJUAN, doing so can also traumatise the follicles which could mean NO hair grows back. When is the right time to go grey? This is something that only you can decide. If your hair is dark brown or black, your greys will be more noticeable, so you’ll need to have regular (two to four weekly) trips to the hairdresser to cover them up. At some point you will most likely grow weary of trying to stem the tide and it will be time to just embrace the grey. You will know when you’ve had enough! If you have lighter hair, then your greys will be much less noticeable. Lighter hair gives you a much longer window between coloring appointments in the initial stages of going grey, and later you can use the greys as ‘herringbone highlights’ as per Sarah Jessica Parker’s beautiful mane, which is wonderful way to gracefully embrace going grey. <img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2023/05/Phoebe-headshot-EDITED.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /> <span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder; color: #212529; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol', 'Noto Color Emoji'; font-size: 16px; background-color: #ffffff;">Phoebe Adams is the founder of Connected Women, an organisation providing a community for women over 50 to connect with each other and build meaningful friendships. With a rapidly growing community in Perth, Sydney, Wollongong, and Melbourne, Connected Women provides a safe and welcoming space for women to come together and share experiences. To learn more about the organisation and how you can get involved, visit <a style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #258440; text-decoration-line: none; background-color: transparent; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;" href="https://www.connectedwomen.net/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">connectedwomen.net</a>. <span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder; color: #212529; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol', 'Noto Color Emoji'; font-size: 16px; background-color: #ffffff;">Image credits: Getty Images

Beauty & Style

Explainer: Why does hair turn grey?

For many people, grey hair is a fact of life. It’s a sign that we are getting older and that our bodies are going through change. To understand why hair turns grey, we first need to understand why it has colour in the first place. The answer is a special type of cell known as a melanocyte. These produce melanin, the pigment that gives your skin, hair and eyes their distinctive colours. Melanin comes in two forms, eumelanin (black or brown) and pheomelanin (reddish-yellow). Combinations of these two create the spectrum of eye, hair and skin colours found among humans. One way to understand how melanocytes determine hair colour is to think of these cells as tiny printers, applying their ink to paper. The paper in this case is our hair strands, formed of keratin, the same protein that makes up our fingernails. Just as a printer sprays ink onto a sheet of paper to produce an image, melanocytes produce pigments that are embedded into the growing hair strand, providing them with colour. The melanocytes live within the hair follicle, so each hair strand has its own colour-producing printer. While some people’s melanocytes print a lighter ink combination, such as blonde or red, others have darker colour palletes and so have black or brown colourations. Now that we understand how hair gets its colour, we can understand why it goes grey. In hair, grey is not a colouration like any other shade: it is the lack of colouring. The keratin of people with grey hair lacks pigment because their melanocytes have died, revealing the natural grey-white colour of the keratin protein. Because each hair strand has its own melanocytes, some go grey before others. Exactly what decides which strands go grey first is still unknown. However, age, exposure to chemicals and even the climate can influence how early the melanocytes die. The strongest influence, however, is written in our genes. The genetic influence on hair colour is so strong that if your parents have grey hair, yours is likely to grey at around the same time as theirs did. Image credits: Getty Images  <img id="cosmos-post-tracker" style="opacity: 0; height: 1px!important; width: 1px!important; border: 0!important; position: absolute!important; z-index: -1!important;" src="https://syndication.cosmosmagazine.com/?id=19408&title=Explainer%3A+Why+does+hair+turn+grey%3F" width="1" height="1" />  <div id="contributors"> This article was originally published on <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/science/biology/explainer-why-does-hair-turn-grey/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cosmosmagazine.com</a> and was written by Jake Port. </div>

Beauty & Style

Carrie’s shocking revelation as she roasts cohosts

Carrie Bickmore has slammed her male co-hosts after they joked about a <a href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/entertainment/tv/veteran-newsreader-reportedly-fired-for-going-grey" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Canadian news reporter for being fired</a> just because she had grey hair. Lisa LaFlamme, 58, announced she would be leaving the CTV National News presenter and said she was “blindsided” and left “shocked and saddened” by the allegedly sudden decision to end her contract. The company rejected claims that LaFlamme was let go from her job because of her grey hair and that she would instead be replaced by a younger male. The Project co-host, who is only 35, was speaking about the issue to the rest of the panel before revealing that she is in fact “fully grey” under her blonde locks. However, comedian Peter Helliar went a step too far saying that he hoped burger chain Wendy would remove any grey hairs found in their food after changing their red-headed girl in their logo to grey. A shocked Carrie snapped saying this isn’t a problem for males who are able to continue their day-to-day jobs without worrying about ageing. “Is that what you’ve taken out of this story? You guys don’t have to worry about this, do you?” she asked. Her co-host Waleed Aly then teased asking if there was something Carrie wanted to say to which she responded: “I’m fully grey under here”. Aly pointed out that grey hair appeared to be less acceptable in the US and Canada but the UK, where Carrie had a three month stint at, was more open about it. “Yes, I did notice that in the UK. I’ll move there and do it!” she said. Images: Ten

Veteran newsreader reportedly fired for "going grey"

A veteran newsreader has reportedly been fired from one of Canada’s most-watched television news programs after "going grey". Lisa LaFlamme announced she would be leaving the CTV National News presenter said she was “blindsided” and left “shocked and saddened” by the allegedly sudden decision to end her contract. “At 58, I still thought I’d have a lot more time to tell more of the stories that impact our daily lives,” she said in the Twitter video. “It is crushing to be leaving CTV National News in a manner that is not my choice.” The news anchor said she was asked to keep the details of her termination confidential, as the company released a statement saying the decision had nothing to do with LaFlamme’s hair colour or age and was simply “a business decision”. LaFlamme, like many people around the world, stopped dying her previously brown hair throughout the pandemic, a decision she told viewers she wished she had made sooner. “I finally said, ‘Why bother? I’m going grey.’ Honestly, if I had known the lockdown could be so liberating on that front I would have done it a lot sooner,” she said during the network’s year-in-review special. LaFlamme has been in the anchor job since 2011 but has been with the news outlet for 35 years, and still had two years left on her contract at the time of the “blindside”. Bell Media, which owns CTV National News, said it knew many viewers would be disappointed LaFlamme “would be leaving her position”, and regretted the way the news had been revealed. It added it would launch an independent investigation into newsroom practices. “CTV regrets that the way in which the news of her departure has been communicated may have left viewers with the wrong impression about how CTV regards Lisa and her remarkable career,” Bell Media tweeted in a statement. “We have always taken matters regarding any discrimination very seriously and are committed to a safe, inclusive and respectful work environment for all our employees, devoid of any toxic behaviour." “Consistent with our policies, we are taking steps to initiate an independent third-party internal workplace review of our newsroom, which will take place over the following weeks.” Image credits: CTV News

Hairdresser reveals why you should NEVER pluck your grey hairs

A world-renowned hairdresser has cautioned people against plucking out their grey hairs, claiming it does a lot more harm than good. Grey hairs are caused by the follicle failing to produce melanin, and therefore lose their colour: a process that is most often caused by the natural ageing process and sometimes stress. Trey Gillen, hairstylist and creative director of education at Sachajuan told Yahoo that trying to pull out grey hairs is cause for more damage. He said, “Plucking can traumatise the hair follicle, and you can damage it to the point where it will no longer grow any hair.” “If you're a serial plucker, repeated 'plucking trauma' can even cause infection, scar formation, and bald patches.” In recent years, scientists have finally proved what conventional wisdom has been telling us for decades - that being stressed causes hair to go grey prematurely. However, in a stunning revelation, researchers from Columbia University also found the process can be reversed in hairs that have only recently turned grey. Scientists say that reducing stress could stave off grey hair, and it is hoped drugs could be developed to further prevent the unwanted process. Image credits: Getty Images

Beauty & Style

For the love of Greys – retiree volunteers and retired ex-racers

It’s an unexpected match made in heaven, but retirees hoping to give their time to a good cause could find one in a four-legged friend looking for a home. With National Volunteer Week (16 – 22 May 2022) soon upon us, it’s timely to recognise all volunteers. But there’s a very special group of retirees who go the extra mile for Greyhounds. Contrary to popular belief, Greyhounds are big goofy sooks and will swamp you with adoration and love. They’ll also adopt a place on your couch or bed as a loyal pet. This is why many volunteers and foster carers not only adopt a grey or two, but also actively want to save them from greyhound racing. Not surprisingly, the RSPCA <a href="https://kb.rspca.org.au/knowledge-base/what-are-the-animal-welfare-issues-with-greyhound-racing/#what-needs-to-change" target="_blank" rel="noopener">does not support greyhound racing</a> due to the many unresolved animal welfare concerns associated with the so-called sport. These concerns motivate rescue groups, as well as activists. CPG (the Coalition for the Protection of Greyhounds) is a dedicated group of volunteers across Australia who work together to inform the public about the cruelties of dog racing – <a href="http://www.facebook.com/CoalitionForTheProtectionOfGreyhounds" target="_blank" rel="noopener">FB</a>,<a href="http://www.greyhoundcoalition.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> </a><a href="http://www.greyhoundcoalition.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">web</a>,<a href="https://www.instagram.com/coalitionprotectgreyhounds/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> </a><a href="https://www.instagram.com/coalitionprotectgreyhounds/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Insta</a>,<a href="http://www.greyhoundcoalition.com/cpg-in-the-media" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> </a><a href="http://www.greyhoundcoalition.com/cpg-in-the-media" target="_blank" rel="noopener">media coverage</a> Retired nurse Annie is one of CPG’s amazingly enthusiastic volunteers. She’s a media spokesperson for the group and is often busy doing radio and newspaper interviews. Her love affair with Greyhounds started long ago. “I saw an ad on Facebook by Gumtree Greys for foster carers, applied and was introduced to Holly. This beautiful black greyhound girl had been an Irish Champion and ‘Bitch of the year’ in 2012. She was bought by an Australian syndicate at two years old and kept to breed from,” said Annie. Holly whelped many litters until she was nine years old and had her last puppies by caesarean. When Annie took Holly to be desexed, the vet said she was a mess inside and had been sewn up with nylon non-dissolving sutures. “Holly taught me all about how gentle, quirky, dorky, loving and unintentionally hilarious greyhounds are, like the way their jaws quiver when they are happy. All of my future foster greyhounds learnt how to become great pets with guidance from gorgeous Holly,” said Annie. “I foster greyhounds because they deserve the chance of a good life as a dog and pet, not just a product or commodity. Greyhounds bring me so much joy. In return, I speak out for them because of what they suffer on Australia’s many racing tracks.” Annie says she’s appalled by the fact that in 2021, there were <a href="https://greyhoundcoalition.com/2021-australian-track-deaths-and-injuries/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">212 greyhound deaths</a> on Australian dog tracks and over 10,000 injuries, according to statistics from official stewards’ reports. Because of this, she volunteers for CPG and other greyhound-related voluntary bodies. She’s also a motorbike enthusiast and uses her motorbike riding to raise money for greyhound welfare. Alicia – one of CPG’s newest volunteers – is semi-retired. She works part-time in journalism and interior design, but adores Greyhounds. Her male black Greyhound, Fluffy, is now nearly seven years old and has been retired from racing for four years. “Fluffy is one of the lucky survivors from the greyhound racing tracks, as he only won one race and is loving his retired life on the couch! He’s a soppy sook despite his size and the name suits him down to the ground as he is not an Anubis or Nero by nature,” said Alicia. “My lovely boy is very nervous due to his past racing days. He’s frightened of loud noises such as cars or motorbikes, as well as thunder and lightning. He absolutely loves children and babies, as he instinctively knows they won’t harm him.” She says greyhounds are ideal companions for retirees as they are lazy couch potatoes, love cuddles, are very affectionate and generally don’t need more than one walk of 20 minutes a day. “I volunteer with CPG by writing content for publication. They really need more people who have at least five years’ experience writing news releases and placing them with media outlets. Greyhounds are innocents with no voice, so we speak up for them,” said Alicia. She said CPG’s <a href="https://greyhoundcoalition.com/5-key-demands/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">five-point plan</a> is aimed at reforming the racing industry. As well as increased penalties for mistreatment, the plan includes tracking each dog from birth to death so they don’t ‘disappear’, reduced breeding, sanctuaries and safer tracks. Fran, previously a lecturer in Environmental Science, is spokesperson and leader of the Tasmanian activist group <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Let-Greyhounds-Run-Free-425546354301519/?ref=page_internal" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Let Greyhounds Run Free</a> (LGRF), which formed as a result of the ABC's Four Corners program on live baiting and the subsequent Parliamentary Inquiry into the Tasmanian Greyhound Industry. LGRF has held several rallies against greyhound racing, and continues to lobby for the end of this cruel, archaic industry. Fran began her greyhound journey back in 2000 when she came across a Greyhound Adoption stall at a local event. She was instantly hooked after meeting a few of these four-legged beauties and adopted the timid and scared Miss Ruby. It was Ruby who introduced Fran to the dark life of a racing greyhound. Ruby was soon joined by regal Jena. Ruby was terrified, and Jena was injured and a severe epileptic - why we may never know, and it was then that Fran vowed she would do whatever she could to end greyhound racing. All these years later, having had the joy of six hounds and several more foster hounds, she now has the privilege of living with Paddy and Jennifer Jane. Paddy became well known in promotions for Let Greyhounds Run Free's rallies. He is also a champion at helping timid and shy foster greyhounds come back to life after their traumas, and adjust to life as it should be, in a safe and loving home. “I have stories about all the beauties who have blessed my life. They are the most gentle, loving, soul-filled, quirky beings and I'm so very grateful I met ‘Miss Ruby Two Shoes’ way back then in 2000” says Fran. Meanwhile, retired lawyer Jeff is also a tireless campaigner, volunteer and lover of greyhounds. He’s been a supporter of the worldwide campaign to end greyhound racing for the last 15 years or so. “When my pet greyhound died in 2015, I promised myself to continue fighting for the cause. That was the year when the live baiting scandal broke in Australia,” he said. “I followed the news reports and the inquiries closely. When an opportunity arose to become an admin at the new Facebook group ‘<a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/1376102522706650/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ban Greyhound Racing – Australia Wide</a>’, it was an ideal way to support the growing anti-racing campaign.” Jeff said the group’s focus has always been on activism. “There are many other social media outlets where people can share pictures of their rescued greyhounds and discuss their care, behaviour and feeding. On our page, we try to be a resource for current information about the Australian racing industry.” Those interested in adopting or fostering a goofy hound, should contact one of the groups listed <a href="https://greyhoundcoalition.com/links-to-greyhound-rescue-groups/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>, while anyone interested in volunteering with CPG, can find out more <a href="https://greyhoundcoalition.com/volunteering-with-cpg/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>. For further information about greyhound welfare issues, see CPG’s hot topics listed <a href="https://greyhoundcoalition.com/media-resource/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>. Images: Supplied

Family & Pets

Five celebrities embracing their grey hair

More celebrities are staying away from the hair dye and embracing their natural colour in a move that is a particularly big deal for famous (and not so famous) women. A sign of ageing adopted by silver foxes like George Clooney and Pierce Brosnan, it hasn’t been one that applies to celebrity women for a long time - until now that is. “In the past, we have seen trends dominate fashion such as the perm era, the highlight decade, balayage, vivid colours and tonal work,” Robert Eaton, the technical director of Wella Professionals, told <a href="https://www.glamour.com/gallery/celebrities-gray-hair" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Glamour</a>. “Now there is a move toward natural hair enhancement, and grey blending (a style that uses natural greys as highlights) is the new movement in hair colour.” Here are five celebrities that have proudly embraced their silvery locks to take inspiration from. Andie McDowell <img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/03/andie-macdowell.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /> Image: Getty Images The Groundhog Day star revealed how she embraced her “true colour” after she wasn’t able to touch up her roots during the coronavirus-induced lockdown. “I went natural and embraced my true colour,” she captioned a behind-the-scenes <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CLuUNV_rwWL/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">photo</a> from a photoshoot. “I want to be proud of where I am in my life! I don’t want to be ashamed of my age.” She even went against the advice of her managers, sharing with <a href="https://www.glamour.com/story/why-andie-macdowell-decided-to-go-gray-even-though-her-managers-said-it-wasnt-time" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Glamour</a> how they said ‘it’s not time’ for her to go grey. “And I said, ‘I think you’re wrong, and I’m going to be more powerful if I embrace where I am right now’,” she told the publication. Salma Hayek <img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/03/salma-hayek.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /> Image: Getty Images Salma Hayek has become known for sharing her makeup-free selfies on social media, and has extended that openness to her hair colour. Notable shots of her greys come from 2020, after she shared a snap of her hair <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CBgaLbuD1iU/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">before and after</a> touching her roots. Later that same year, she shared another <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CFefv3pHT-J/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">photo</a> of her “white hair of wisdom”, which has reappeared in photos of her on-and-off ever since. Jane Fonda <img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/03/jane-fonda.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /> Image: Getty Images After debuting a silver look at the <a href="https://www.glamour.com/story/jane-fonda-gray-hair-oscars-2020" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2020 Oscars</a>, Jane Fonda spoke out how she felt “so happy” when she decided to go grey the following year. “Enough already with so much time wasted, so much money spent, so many chemicals - I’m through with that,” she said during <a href="https://www.ellentube.com/video/jane-fonda-on-why-older-women-are-braver.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">an interview</a> with Ellen Degeneres. The 84-year-old revealed she had begun to go grey at 82 and that her Oscars look - which took her stylist seven hours to achieve - was inspired by her salt-and-pepper roots. Sarah Jessica Parker <img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/03/sarah-jessica-parker.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /> Image: Getty Images The Sex and the City star made waves by appearing on the cover of <a href="https://www.vogue.com/article/sarah-jessica-parker-cover-december-2021" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Vogue</a> with grey in her hair and spoke to the publication about the ageism women face in Hollywood. “‘Grey hair, grey hair, grey hair. Does she have grey hair?’ I don’t know what to tell you people,” she said. “It’s almost as if they almost enjoy us being painted by who we are today, whether we choose to age naturally and not look perfect, or whether you do something if that makes you feel better.” Dawn French <img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/03/dawn-french.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /> Image: @dawnrfrench (Instagram) Dawn French first <a href="https://nz.news.yahoo.com/dawn-french-dramatic-hair-makeover-091047038.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">debuted</a> her greys in June 2021 in a dramatic change from her classic Vicar of Dibley-esque brunette bob. The 64-year-old <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CQN5UKKrNu6/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shared</a> that she was changing her hair colour to “happily welcome the grey”, and has continued to update fans on social media with her progress since. Images: Getty Images / @salmahayek (Instagram)

Beauty & Style

How efficient is the human brain?

What is the difference between human brains and those of other mammals? Potentially, energy efficiency, according to a <a style="font-size: 14px;" rel="noopener" href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-04072-3" target="_blank">study</a>, published in Nature. <div class="copy"> Neurons in the brain communicate with each other via electrical pulses. These pulses, generated as ions such as potassium and sodium, enter the cell through an ion channel. The channels act as an “on-off” switch by changing shape to alter the flow of the ions, either letting them in and generating an electrical signal, or closing to prevent the signal getting through. Now, a team of researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology have found that the number of ion channels in the human brain are at a lower density than in other mammals’ brains. They have hypothesised that this has helped human brains become more efficient. The researchers analysed neurons from 10 mammals – the most extensive electrophysical study of its kind to date – and found that bigger neurons lead to more ion channels in a relatively constant ratio of size-to-channels. What this means is that bigger neurons can still handle all the electrical pulses they are bombarded with because they have the ion channel capacity to process the ions. No matter the brain size, the energetic cost to run each mammal’s brain was about the same. The human brain is the exception That is, in every mammal except humans, who had a much lower density of ion channels than expected. “Previous comparative studies established that the human brain is built like other mammalian brains, so we were surprised to find strong evidence that human neurons are special,” says former MIT graduate student Lou Beaulieu-Laroche. Graphical abstract. Created on imgflip by Cosmos. One benefit of a lower density of ion channels may be that less energy is used on pumping ions into neurons, which could then be diverted to other processes, like creating more complicated synaptic connections. “If the brain can save energy by reducing the density of ion channels, it can spend that energy on other neuronal or circuit processes,” says Mark Harnett, an associate professor of brain and cognitive sciences, a member of MIT’s McGovern Institute for Brain Research, and the senior author of the study. “We think that humans have evolved out of this building plan that was previously restricting the size of cortex, and they figured out a way to become more energetically efficient, so you spend less [energy] per volume compared to other species.” In this case, the human brain could run on the same amount of power as other mammal brains but perform more complex procedures with the excess energy diverted from ion channels. Harnett hopes to study where that extra energy is being used and whether there are any specific genes responsible for ion channel density exclusive to humans.  <img id="cosmos-post-tracker" style="opacity: 0; height: 1px!important; width: 1px!important; border: 0!important; position: absolute!important; z-index: -1!important;" src="https://syndication.cosmosmagazine.com/?id=172198&title=How+efficient+is+the+human+brain%3F" alt="" width="1" height="1" /> </div> <div id="contributors"> <a rel="noopener" href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/science/biology/how-efficient-is-the-human-brain/" target="_blank">This article</a> was originally published on <a rel="noopener" href="https://cosmosmagazine.com" target="_blank">Cosmos Magazine</a> and was written by <a rel="noopener" href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/contributor/dr-deborah-devis" target="_blank">Deborah Devis</a>. Deborah Devis is a science journalist at Cosmos. She has a Bachelor of Liberal Arts and Science (Honours) in biology and philosophy from the University of Sydney, and a PhD in plant molecular genetics from the University of Adelaide. Image: Getty Images </div>

Mind

7 sneaky reasons your hair is going grey too soon

What causes grey hair? Although silver-grey hair is a trendy hair dye colour, many people don’t go grey by choice. And there are different factors that contribute to the process of premature greying. Technically, premature greying is defined as going grey before age 20 if you are white, or before age 30 if you are black, but getting grey hair in your 20s, 30s, or 40s can feel like too soon. In general, grey hairs happen when melanin (natural pigment or colour) stops forming. In general, 74 percent of people aged 45 to 65 will have grey hair with an intensity of about 27 percent, according to a 2012 survey in the British Journal of Dermatology. However, there is a lot of variability. Why does that happen? Here are the reasons why your hair might be turning grey sooner than you’d like. Your parents greyed early You’ve probably always wondered what causes grey hair? Well, steel-coloured locks are partly in your genes, says Dr Doris Day, clinical associate professor of dermatology and author of Forget the Facelift. A 2016 study published in Nature Communications isolated one gene variant linked to greying after researchers analysed hair features of 6,000 Latin Americans. Though you might be surprised about just how much grey you have if you’ve been colouring your hair for years (or decades), says Dr Day. And you can blame mum and dad. Just like whether you go bald or not, greying genes come from both sides of the family, says Dr Day. You may have an autoimmune condition The autoimmune skin disease called alopecia areata can lead to bright white strands. As the National Alopecia Areata Foundation (NAAF) explains, people with the condition develop small, round, smooth patches on the scalp, and they can completely lose hair on their head or body. “This happens because your immune system attacks your hair follicles, making your hair fall out. When it grows back, it grows back white,” explains Dr Day. If you notice worrisome hair loss or a bald patch, talk to your dermatologist. Your environment is polluted Pollutants and toxins can cause you to grey faster, according to the Library of Congress. These chemicals generate free radicals – or oxidative stress – that damage melanin production and speed hair ageing. But once hair grows out of the follicle, it’s dead, adds Dr Day. “It’s really about what gets to the follicle level that will make the most marked difference. While these environmental issues may have an impact, other reasons, like stress, matter more,” she says. (More on that in a minute.) You're super stressed When US President Barack Obama entered office his hair was dark. Five years later, people were concerned: He completely transformed to silver. The link between stress and grey hair is hotly debated. However, says Dr Day, “stress will accelerate your genetic destiny.” Meaning, if you’re not going to go grey any time soon, stress is unlikely to change your hair colour. But if going grey is in your genes, stress can make your hair turn grey faster and earlier – unless you make an effort to manage stress. You're exposed to cigarette smoke If you’re still asking yourself, “What causes grey hair?”, you may want to blame the cigarettes in your house. Whether it’s you or someone else doing the puffing, exposure to cigarette smoke can affect your hair colour. Research published in the Indian Dermatology Online Journal found that smokers have 2.5 times greater odds of early greying, likely because of the huge amounts of free radicals generated by lighting up. Count this as one more reason to quit – or encourage a loved one to break the habit. Your hormones are changing One glance at a photo of you a decade ago can tell you this, but your hair is not the same now as it was then. So, what causes grey hair to start? Thanks to hormones, your hair can change over time in texture, density, and, yes, colour. “This process starts to be most noticeable when you turn 30. That’s the age when people start to come in and complain about these issues,” says Dr Day. Experts are still trying to understand precisely how hormones (like oestrogen, progesterone and cortisol) influence greying, she says. And certainly, there are women in their 50s going through menopause who have not a strand of grey hair. It may be a trifecta of events coming to a head: your genetics, environmental factors and hormonal changes. It's your age You may not be ready for the grey, but your hair is. Melanin production – what gives hair its pigment – decreases with age. For every decade after you turn 30, your risk of going grey increases 10 to 20 percent, according to the Library of Congress. So while some people may be able to maintain their natural hair colour for longer, it’s inevitable. “In time, everyone’s hair goes grey,” according to the site. Image credit: Shutterstock This article first appeared in <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.readersdigest.com.au/healthsmart/beauty/hair-and-nails/7-sneaky-reasons-your-hair-is-going-grey-too-soon" target="_blank">Reader's Digest</a>.

Beauty & Style

"I stand with you": Grey’s Anatomy star speaks out after decade of silence

Katherine Heigl, who played Dr. Izzie Stevens on Grey’s Anatomy from 2005 to 2010, has spoken out once more about the “cruel and mean” working conditions on the show. In a 2009 interview with David Letterman on his late-night show, she told Letterman about her experience working on the Shonda-Rimes-created medical drama, saying, “Our first day back was Wednesday. It was … I’m going to keep saying this because I hope it embarrasses them, a 17-hour day, which I think is cruel and mean.” The backlash to that interview was swift and immense, with US broadcaster Diane Sawyer informing Heigl “no one feels sorry for you”, and whispers of Heigl being “difficult to work with” and “ungrateful” following her for the decade since. Posting on Instagram in support the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) strike over the weekend, Heigl wrote, “Some of you may remember over ten years ago I was very vocal about the absurdity of the working hours crews and actors were being forced into by production. Even Diane Sawyer interviewed me and not so kindly informed me “no one feels sorry for you.” I very publicly and for many many years after got my ass kicked for speaking up. When I first spoke up I was speaking on behalf of myself and my crew on Grey’s. Today things are a little different for me. I am in the fortunate position of being able to say no. To turn down a job if it requires more than I can bear. And in all honesty… I’ve kind of aged out of giving a shit if I piss people off by creating boundaries that protect my health, sanity and work. So this post is not for me. It is for the crew. It is for my family from another mother. It is for the champions and support systems and talented bad asses that I have the privilege of working with. I stand with IATSE. It is time for reasonable and fair work conditions, wages and hours to be more than just a priority, they need to be the norm. Period. To all the crews on all the sets all over this great big world of ours. I support you. I stand with you. I thank you. Not one show. Not one movie. Can exist without you.” <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CUOOQdWvBCm/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="13"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CUOOQdWvBCm/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by Katherine Heigl (@katherineheigl)</a> </div> </blockquote> Heigl’s post comes ahead of a strike vote amongst IATSE members, following the breakdown of talks between the union and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. IATSE members are campaigning for, amongst other things, longer turnarounds between production days and improvements on meal and rest periods. The union is concerned about harmful working hours (which Heigl addressed in her 2009 comments and recent Instagram post), unlivable wages for the lowest-paid workers and consistent failure to provide reasonable rest during meal breaks, between workdays, and on weekends. In an <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2021/01/28/katherine-heigl-firefly-lane-profile/">interview with the Washington Post</a> earlier this year, Heigl talked about the anxiety she experienced during the “shunning”, culminating in her decision to seek help in 2015, following a flare-up of anxiety after the birth of her son. Image: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/Getty Images

Why couples fight while travelling

Redrawing the Boundaries with Your Partner Whatever arrangements you’ve negotiated over the years with your partner during your settled years, nomadding will necessitate a whole host of new agreements. The most important agreements that you’ll have to come to are: 1. Personal space People need to know that ‘this is my space, this is your space, and this is our space’. 2. Being realistic Knowing that when space is limited and resources are limited, space will inevitably be violated, even with the best of intentions. Some couples find themselves tested in odd ways. They might discover that circumstances will force them to go to the toilet in front of each other, especially if the weather is bad, or if someone gets sick. And, to be blunt, it’s di cult to hide explosive diarrhoea in an RV. 3. Things that have to be joint responsibility out of sheer necessity The Top-Ten Reasons Couples Fight In spite of people’s general impression that they are unique, the same rubbish tends to play out in the majority of relationships. Probably because unless you had extremely enlightened and communicative parents or teachers and you were an attentive student, the majority of people aren’t taught how to have relationships. They’ve usually done things by being exposed to (often bad) examples, or they’ve winged it and made a right mess of things. It helps if you know that your arguments with your partner are not special. 1. Accuracy of recollection These are arguments that start when people have very different memories about what was said, by whom, to whom, about what, and what, if any, agreements were made. These are the arguments where someone is likely to say, ‘Oh, if only I’d recorded that conversation.’ Given that smartphones today come with the capacity to record, there’s no excuse not to record conversations that might have major implications. It might seem weird at first, but it forces people to up their game and actually say what they really mean and stick to a promise if they make one. 2. Agendas You might think that you’re doing the same thing for the same reason. You might not be. Agendas aren’t always deliberately hidden. Sometimes people aren’t clear or don’t communicate clearly about why they want something, even though they think they have. 3. Sometimes it’s just innocent bad communication and misunderstanding This leads to a ‘Why are we in Goondiwindi?’ conversation. ‘OK, So, remind me again. Why are we in Goondiwindi?’ ‘I don’t know. I thought you wanted to go to Goondiwindi.’ ‘I didn’t want to go to Goondiwindi. I only wanted to come to Goondiwindi because I thought that you wanted to go to Goondiwindi.’ ‘I didn’t want to go to Goondiwindi. I only wanted to go to Goondiwindi because I thought that you wanted to go to Goondiwindi.’ At this point either laughter or a heated argument ensues, depending on the current state of the relationship. 4. Cooking ‘I can’t eat that.’ ‘I won’t eat that.’ ‘Why are you the only person in the world who can burn water?’ ‘Why do I always have to do all the cooking and the washing up?’ 5. Family ‘You’ve always hated my sister.’ ‘You’ve always thought my brother was a loser.’ ‘I really don’t want to drive a thousand kilometres just to catch up with your stupid cousins.’ 6. Interior design ‘I’m no expert but I really don’t think the burnt amber curtains go with the lime green walls.’ ‘Why do you keep buying these knick-knacky pieces of crap?’ 7. Money This is so self-explanatory we’re not even going to give an example. 8. Sex Ditto. In serious cases both sex and money issues need the intervention of expert help. 9. The children Don’t think that just because they’re out of sight, they’re out of mind. Your children will continue to be a part of your lives wherever you happen to be nomadding. If you’re still arguing about them after all these years then nomadding isn’t going to change that. 10. Tidiness and cleaning This is a major issue for several reasons: People confuse ‘untidiness’ with ‘unclean’. The two are related, but not at all the same thing. You can have a perfectly clean things that are a mess, dirty stuff that looks ordered, or both. People’s standards of what constitutes tidy or clean vary tremendously and even if people have similar standards, they’ll only clean what they can see. Short people tend to ignore high places, tall people tend to ignore low places. Also, when dealing with a couple the ‘clean freak’ of the two ends up doing ‘all the work’ and can tend to be a bit of a martyr about it. And crucially, when you live in an RV every bit of dirt shows up, because while you can hide things in a larger space, a small space has no ‘give’. For more about cleaning see page 206 Who Gets the Blame? The ‘It’s your fault’ arguments can get ugly. The only way out of these is that people need to: <ol> <li>Negotiate who is responsible for what. 2. Honour those responsibilities. 3. Accept that when someone is responsible for something, the non-responsible party has very little right to criticise the responsible party. After all, if they could do a better job, maybe they should have taken a responsibility in the first place. It’s all about drawing the line and establishing healthy boundaries.</li> </ol> Growing Together One thing we hear time and time again is that, while nomadding couples might face a challenge or two on the way, they deal with these challenges together, as a team. The result is that couples find that they not only grow as individuals, but together. It’s not that a pre- nomad life necessarily drives couples apart (although, to be frank, it often does), but when you factor in year after year of focusing on careers, mortgages, children and all sorts of other stuff attention is not necessarily on the couple. Credit: The Grey Nomad's Ultimate guide to Australia, New Holland Publishers, RRP $32.99 available from all good book retailers or online at <a href="http://www.newhollandpublishers.com">www.newhollandpublishers.com</a>.

Domestic Travel

Eating out as a "grey nomad"

Eating is one of many people’s favourite subjects, here we’d like to go into a bit of detail about food and cooking in general as a nomad. Food Storage and Preservation Not all RVs have refrigeration or freezing, and those that do will require electricity to run them, which might not always be available. When you consider the space limitations that you’ll have to deal with then nomads have to rethink the way that they do food. Consider the following options <ul> <li>Dried ingredients, such as nuts, dried fruit and grains are high-density, lightweight foods that you can graze on all the time.</li> <li>Leaf vegetables, like Chinese greens and spinach, as well as cauliflower and broccoli, don’t store well, so consume them as soon as possible.</li> <li>Root vegetables and squashes like pumpkin store for a long time especially in cold conditions, but ‘a long time’ doesn’t mean ‘forever’ so don’t wait until they start sprouting before you consume them.</li> <li>Cans are wonderful for wet foods, but they are heavy, so where possible see about buying foods in UHT or Tetra Parks.</li> <li>You might be amazed at what you can accomplish with limited utensils. Clever cooks just love sharing their cleverness with other people and if you just ask around, you’ll get some great tips. For those of you who like watching videos, we have links to several below to get you inspired.</li> <li>If you can, stick to meals that are simple to prepare. This is where a slow cooker might be of great help. The great advantage of slow cooking is that you can buy cheaper but tougher cuts of meats that are more flavoursome, but that lend themselves to long, slow cooking to bring their flavours out and to tenderise them until they melt in your mouth. Slow cooking is also easy, you can just bung in a whole bunch of ingredients in the morning, set and forget, and by evening your meals are ready. Of course, you need a steady supply of power to make this work, but that’s what trailer parks and/or solar electricity are for. Slow cooked meals also freeze really easily, so leftovers become the gift that just keeps on giving.</li> <li>Alternatively, if you have above-average re-making and maintaining skills you can cook anywhere that you can get your hands on firewood, as long as you’re not using an open fire at a time or place where there’s an extreme fire danger.</li> <li>If you’re in a town for a while and have made friends and contacts with access to a kitchen, it might pay to make up a whole bunch of meals like curries, soups, stews and the like that can be frozen and reheated in a microwave later.</li> </ul> We’d strongly recommend getting your hands on a copy of an excellent book by Lisa Kathleen Daly, Healthy Eating for the Time Poor (New Holland, 2018). The book was written for stressed-out urban parents who want to spend far less time in the kitchen but still give their families nutritious meals, but the principles in the book can be easily applied to nomads who want to spend more time enjoying Australia and less time cooking but who don’t want to compromise too much on flavour and healthy eating. Lisa lived in Kakadu in the Northern Territory and in Monkey Mia in Western Australia for over a year, so she’s no stranger to camping and nomadding. Credit: The Grey Nomad's Ultimate guide to Australia, New Holland Publishers, RRP $32.99 available from all good book retailers or online at www.newhollandpublishers.com

Domestic Travel

How “Grey Nomads” are travelling around Australia

Many of us have heard the term “grey nomads” being thrown around, but what does it actually mean? The term is used to describe Australian retirees who travel around Australia for an extended period of time in a caravan or motorhome. A recent study found that grey nomads represent the highest proportion of those staying in caravan parks, at a massive 40 per cent. Jill Weeks, author of Where to Retire in Australia spoke to <a href="https://thenewdaily.com.au/life/travel/2019/05/31/grey-nomad-australia/">The New Daily</a> about grey nomads who travel the country. “There’s not exactly a typical [grey nomad],” she said. “You’ve got the initially retired ones who like to do a lap of Australia. They’re thinking, ‘Right, we’ll buy the caravan, and we’ll take trips around Australia’,” “You’ve got these other ones that might do shorter trips, just to test things out. Or maybe they’re going to visit family or friends. Or they might have a specific destination they’re travelling to for a reason,” she explained. “Then you’ve got these other ones that I find particularly interesting. Because they either work or volunteer around Australia.” There are grey nomad volunteer and work programs across Australia, which have some volunteers helping out at local history centres or on community projects. “They say to the grey nomads that come in, ‘What did you do, or what do you do now?’ – for example, they had people painting picket fences, they had people helping out at the school,” Weeks said. “They had one chap that came along and they said, ‘What’s your expertise?’,” and he said, ‘I don’t have any skills, I can’t do anything’. “And they found he was a judge, and they said, ‘Right, well we’ve got a task for you. You’re going to lecture at the local high school in legal studies’.” Some grey nomads have gotten their days down to a perfected routine. That’s the case for Jock McLean and his partner Robyn. “When I stopped flying after 40-odd years, I decided I’d buy myself a little camper van, and travel around Australia to see the things I’d visited but [this time] have a good look around each town. So, that’s how I started,” Jock said. They definitely have their favourite spots around the nation. “The seafood [in Port Lincoln, South Australia] is magnificent, and we used to go to Fisherman's Wharf, and buy a dozen oysters and half a kilo of prawns and then drive somewhere and park the van where we had a magnificent view of the sea. We’d eat the oysters and have a glass of white wine,” Jock said. “I describe [the grey nomad lifestyle] to people as sitting in your lounge room, and looking out through a big picture window at a whole panorama going by. You see the countryside, you see fellow travellers, you see animals. You’ve got this whole kaleidoscope moving past you. It’s constantly changing.”

Domestic Travel

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