Hair And Age - by Editor

Your hair plays an important role in making you look younger or older. So, look after it.

Although most of us put a lot of time, effort and money into ensuring our skin stays wrinkle-free for as long as possible, few of us invest much time or effort into ensuring our hair stays healthy. Our hair tells our age, just like wrinkles do, so if we spent as much time looking after our hair as we do looking after our skin, we'd look, and feel, a lot younger.

Grey hair

One of the first indicators of age is grey hair. However, as most of us know, grey hair is by far an accurate indicator, and many people start graying right from their teens! Some choose to cover their grey hair, while others choose to let is stay natural. Remember that grey hair does make you look a lot older than you would look with coloured hair, but many hair dyes tend to make hair brittle, so be particular when selecting a hair colourant. If you are lucky enough not to start greying until you are in your fifties, you will no doubt look younger than your friends who need to colour their hair. However, if need to start colouring hair before then, go through your options carefully, and then make a selection.

Mehendi

Mehendi is one option considered by many women for covering their grey hair. This is not a very good choice because Mehendi dries out hair and causes it to be brittle in the long run. Also, after applying mehendi, if you want to get brown or blonde highlights, you will not be able to until almost a year after applying mehendi, because the colour will appear reddish.

Highlights

You could also opt for highlights, and request your stylist to colour all grey hair. In this manner the rest of your hair will stay healthy, your greys will be covered, and your hair will look fantastic!

All-over Colour

Opt for a temporary, gentle, herbal colourant. 33-year-old Sunaina swears by Clairol Loving Care, which just deposits colour on grey hair without impacting natural hair. Go for the gentlest hair colour that you can find in the market, especially if less than half your hair is grey. If most of your hair is grey, consider a stronger hair colour.

Nourishment

Nourish your hair at least once a week. Do not neglect this step if you want your hair to remain healthy and free of split ends. Egg does a great job of nourishing your hair, as does curd or oil. With regular nourishment your hair will have bounce and shine - else, your hair will look dry and coarse, almost like hay, adding years to your face!

Cut

Your hairstyle can take away or add years to your face, and can do a lot for your look. If you want to look glamourous, opt for long hair, cut in steps, and well styled. If you want to look younger, nothing works as well as a simple blunt cut. Curls make you look younger, while ironed hair makes you look older and a little sharper. A soft, straight look, curled in at the bottom makes you look younger, while curled out makes you look older and more glamourous. Similarly, hair cut very short, think Halle Berry, can make you look ultra glam, funky and cutting edge. Similarly, hair that reaches your waist makes you look younger, since it is easier for a young person to grow hair very long.