Monthly Archives: June 2013

A Grey Hair Treatment That Takes 30 Seconds or Less (And Really Works!)

Grey hair treatment has been around since ancient times, when dyes were obtained from plants. Henna, indigo, and senna were some of the most well-known dyes used from ancient times until the mid-19th century, when synthetic hair dyes hit the market. Even people who have embraced grey or white hair have long used special violet-tinted rinses to beautify hair.

While there are more options than ever for grey hair treatment, most of them are time-consuming, and many are expensive. What’s more, treating grey hair takes a long-term commitment, since hair grows at a rate of about half an inch per month.

Here are four grey hair treatment options, along with information about how much time they require.

  1. The cost of salon coloring puts this grey hair treatment option in the “luxury” category for most people.

    Having Hair Professionally Colored at a Salon

    A great hair colorist is an artist, and some of these artists are very well-paid. Staying on top of grey roots requires a trip to the salon roughly every six weeks. A great coloring job is not a lunch-hour procedure, but takes a couple of hours. While a respected hair colorist can get beautiful results, having hair professionally colored is expensive. Additionally, top colorists are in high demand, so it may take a while before you can get in for your first appointment. And it’s a good idea to book your next appointment before you leave the salon, because appointments fill up fast with a great colorist. Count on investing three to four hours every six weeks or so if you choose professional salon coloring as your grey hair treatment.

  2. Coloring Your Hair Yourself

    Coloring your own hair is less expensive than going to a salon. However, most home hair colorists don’t have the skill to go more than a shade or two lighter or darker than their natural color and still get good results. Count on dedicating an hour to an hour and a half every six weeks or so to this grey hair treatment. If you have very long hair, applying color will take longer, and you may need to buy two kits to color all your hair.

    Covering grey generally requires the dye to remain on your hair for 25 to 30 minutes for best results. Afterward, thorough rinsing is required. Most home color kits include conditioner that is left on for a few minutes before being rinsed out.

  3. Letting Nature Take Its Course

    Sometimes people grow tired of the hair color treadmill and decide to let their hair go natural. To make the changeover to your natural grey pattern, you’ll want to use temporary rinses while your artificial hair color grows out, unless you’re OK with having increasingly grey roots. The longer your hair, the longer it will take to make the change from colored hair to natural hair.

  4. Today you can fight grey hair from the inside out.

    Get Away Grey

    Today you can take an all-natural supplement designed to treat grey hair before it grows in. Grey hair increases as the body is less able to successfully break down circulating hydrogen peroxide in the body. Get Away Grey helps the body replenish catalase, which helps break down hydrogen peroxide before it can bleach hair. You simply take two Get Away Grey capsules per day after a meal, and that’s it. Within 8 to 12 weeks, you will notice hair growing in with your natural color, with no dyes required.

    Taking two capsules a day only takes seconds, and that compares very favorably to the hours required when you dye your hair regularly. Plus, Get Away Grey is all natural anti graying alternative and doesn’t require applying harsh chemicals to your hair. Get Away Grey is the future of grey hair treatment, because it works from the inside out and requires next to no time out of your day.

Photo Credits: marin / freedigitalphotos.net, Ambro / freedigitalphotos.net

The 5 Most Surprising Causes of Grey Hair (Which Ones Are In Your Life?)

Few people make it to age 50 without some grey hair. Some people begin to go grey as early as the teens, while others reach 50 with very few grey hairs. What makes the difference between going grey and keeping your natural hair color? Multiple factors influence how rapidly a person’s hair turns grey. Age, of course, is the primary determinant for how much grey you have, but there are many others. Here are five causes of grey ha you may not have known about.

  1. Thyroid disorders are fairly common, and can cause premature grey hair.

    Thyroid Disorders

    Thyroid disorders such as hypothyroidism (an underactive thyroid) can cause premature greying and accelerated greying. In the US, hypothyroidism affects around 4.6% of the population. It is more common in Caucasians, somewhat less common in those of Hispanic heritage, and far less common in those of African heritage. But here’s the good news: if thyroid disease is diagnosed, it can be treated effectively. Like most diseases, the sooner hypothyroidism is diagnosed, the more successful the treatment and the less likely the patient will suffer from associated problems like prematurely-grey hair.

  2. Prolonged “Fight or Flight” Reaction

    Our bodies naturally respond to a real or perceived threat with what is commonly known as the “fight or flight” reaction, which activates the immune system and the cardiovascular system. When such a reaction is prolonged, the body releases three important chemicals: adrenaline, norepinephrine, and cortisol. Adrenaline accelerates the heart rate, slows digestion, and constricts blood vessels. Norepinephrine increases heart rate and affects the “focus” centers in the brain. Cortisol raises blood pressure and blood sugar and hardens arteries. Prolonged or repeated release of these chemicals ages us from the inside, and eventually those effects show on the outside, with less youthful skin, greying of the hair, and in some people, hair loss.

  3. Your Genetic Makeup

    You will probably start to go grey around the age when your parents did. Family history is a strong predictor of greying hair. Additionally, your more distant ancestors affect how soon your hair goes grey. Caucasians tend to start going grey at younger ages, while those with Asian and African ancestors tend to go grey at later ages. Also, men tend to start going grey at younger ages than women. You really can’t do anything about your genetic makeup or chronological age, so if your parents went grey in their 20s or early 30s, chances are you will too.

  4. Nutritional Deficiencies

    Deficiencies in B vitamins (particularly B12 and folic acid) have been associated with accelerated greying. Zinc deficiency is also associated with faster greying, as are low levels of magnesium. If your hair has not started to go grey yet, you’re smart to consume a healthy diet that provides a broad range of nutrients. If you have the typical busy Western lifestyle, however, eating right can be a challenge, and you might consider taking a vitamin supplement so that greying due to nutritional deficiencies can be forestalled.

  5. Any excuse to quit smoking is a good one, including vanity.

    Smoking

    Everyone knows that smoking is bad for the heart and lungs. The oxidative stress on the body caused by smoking also accelerates aging, and this includes aging of the hair. A study published in the UK in the late 1990s found that the incidence of grey hair before age 50 was 50% higher in smokers. If you smoke, you could be accelerating the rate at which your hair turns grey. Remember: there’s nothing wrong with using vanity as your motivation to quit smoking.

Some factors that contribute to hair turning grey are controllable and some are not. There are many good reasons to learn to manage stress better, consume a healthier diet, have regular medical checkups, and quit smoking, including the desire to postpone greying for as long as possible.

Today, you can also fight grey hair from the inside, with a product called GetAwayGrey. As we age, the body produces less of a substance called catalase, which breaks down hydrogen peroxide circulating in the body. GetAwayGrey helps boost catalase levels so that more hydrogen peroxide is broken down before it can bleach your hair. Fighting grey from the inside is a much simpler, more convenient way to address grey hair than using harsh chemical dyes every six weeks, and it’s far less expensive than visiting a good hair color specialist in a salon. GetAwayGrey fights grey naturally, from the inside out.

Photo Credits: Ambro / freedigitalphotos.net, idea go / freedigitalphotos.net

Why Do Presidents Always Go Grey? The Surprising Answer

For as long as photography has existed, people have noted how being the President of the United States appears to age a person. Compare a picture of just about any president at his inauguration with a picture taken at the end of the term, and you’ll notice a difference in how he looks.

For some, the change is dramatic, while for others, the aging process is more subtle. But grey hair is perhaps the defining trait that people notice in the age progression of US presidents. What’s behind this apparent presidential aging phenomenon? Are there unknown grey hair causes affecting those in the Oval Office?

Barack Obama in 2007

Mitt Romney and Barack Obama in 2012

Presidents Who Appeared to Age Most

Look at a photograph of Abraham Lincoln taken in 1860 and compare it with a photo taken in 1865, and you’ll see what almost appears to be two different people. Some of this may be attributable to the primitive photographic technology of the time, but there’s no denying that serving as president during the Civil War took its toll. Bill Clinton, who took office at age 46, looked quite a bit older in 2001 when he left office, with considerable grey hair. And as President Obama’s second term continues, many people have noted how much more grey hair he has in comparison to when he was first elected in 2008.

Presidents Who Appeared to Age Least

Even though Ronald Reagan served two terms, he appeared to age less than many other presidents, although photos from late in his presidency do show more grey hair. Harry Truman was another president that didn’t look considerably different when he left office than when he was sworn in. Neither Gerald Ford nor George H.W. Bush looked that different at the ends of their presidencies as they did at the beginning. Truman was 61 when he took office, Ford was 61, and the first President Bush was 65.

Harry Truman in 1945

Harry Truman in 1952

The “Reason” Presidents Appear to Age So Much

If you think about presidents who appeared to age significantly during their terms, you’ll find two important commonalities: they were usually younger when they took office, and they usually served multiple terms. Bill Clinton was only 46 when he took office, and Barack Obama was only 47. Abraham Lincoln was 52 when he took office, and that is not considered old today.

By contrast, the presidents who appeared to age least were generally older when they took office, and in some cases served shorter terms as president. Gerald Ford was already 61 when he became president, and only served for three years. Ronald Reagan was 70 when he became president, and even though he served two terms, he had already done most of his aging before becoming president.

So really, the “surprising” reason presidents appear to age so much while in office is because often they are sworn in and serve during the exact years when the effects of aging become most noticeable: the 40s and 50s. Look at a picture of any 55-year-old and compare it to a picture of the same person taken at age 45, and you’re likely to see just as big a difference. Most 70-year-olds have as much grey hair as they’re going to have, and unless health declines, they often look very similar a few years later.

The phenomenon of rapidly-aging presidents is mostly perception. In fact, S. Jay Olshansky, human longevity expert and professor in the School of Public Health at the University of Illinois at Chicago, published a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2011 showing that presidents who die of natural causes actually have longer average lifespans than the average male, at 79.8 years.

Olshansky sums it up this way: “What we do know is that if you take any 50-year-old man or 40-year-old man and you follow them for four years or eight years, chances are they’re going to be losing the hair that they have and in many instances a significant portion of it will turn gray.”

Considering normal greying often coincides with the ages politicians reach their peak professionally, maybe the next president should keep a steady supply of Get Away Grey in the White House medicine cabinet. This revolutionary grey hair treatment fights grey hair from the inside, by helping to replace an enzyme called catalase that breaks down the circulating hydrogen peroxide that bleaches hairs before they emerge from the scalp. Adults of all ages have discovered this amazing grey hair treatment, one that’s effective and far less trouble than repeatedly using harsh chemical dyes to fight grey.

All photos © Wikimedia Commons

Forget Plastic Surgery! 5 All-Natural Ways to Look Younger in Minutes

Plastic surgery is expensive, takes you out of commission while you heal, and the results aren’t always that good. Fortunately, there are a lot of perfectly-simple ways you can look better using natural ingredients you probably already have on hand. Here are 5 great ways to look younger in minutes and do it fast, naturally.

  1. Standing tall projects confidence and makes you look younger.

    Stand Up Straight

    Your mother and your elementary school teachers were right: you don’t look good when you slouch. When you stand or sit up straight, you instantly look younger, more vital, and five pounds slimmer. To get into the good posture habit, imagine how you would sit or stand if you were on camera. You can even use your phone to send periodic reminders throughout the day to straighten up that spine.

  2. Make a Natural Moisturizing Face Mask

    Mix two tablespoons of mayonnaise with one teaspoon of sweet almond, grapeseed, or olive oil and apply to your face. You can even go an extra step and make your own mayonnaise for this mask. Using a hand mixer, beat one egg yolk. While continuing to beat the egg yolk, very slowly add 2/3 cup of olive oil and a few drops of fresh lemon juice. Continue beating until it forms an emulsion. Leave it on your face for 20 minutes and rinse with lukewarm water. Refrigerate any leftover mayonnaise and use within 24 hours. You can use this mask to soften your hands too.

  3. Use an Avocado-Based Deep Conditioning Hair Treatment

    Did you know that the oils in the avocado are very similar to naturally-occurring oils in the scalp? For this treatment, you need half of a slightly overripe avocado, one tablespoon of honey, and 1/4 cup of olive oil. Mash the ingredients together to form a paste, apply to dry hair, and cover with a shower cap and towel to hold in heat. Leave the mixture on for 20 minutes, rinse, and shampoo as usual.

  4. Removing dull, flaky skin from your hands makes them look younger and feel softer.

    Apply a Gentle Scrub to Revitalize Hands

    Besides your face and hair, your hands give away your age the most. Keep them soft and free of flakes with a simple scrub paste. Mix 1/4 cup brown sugar with enough almond or grapeseed oil to form a paste. Apply the mixture to your hands as if you were washing your hands, and continue for about a minute. Rinse the paste off with lukewarm water and pat hands dry with a soft cloth. Apply two or three drops of almond or grapeseed oil to hands and distribute it as you would lotion. After a minute, it will sink into skin, leaving hands extra soft.

  5. Make Your Own Lip Balm

    Chapped lips not only look bad, they’re uncomfortable. You can make lip balm that’s better than just about anything you can buy. You’ll need a small, heat-resistant, sealable container, two tablespoons of olive oil, half a teaspoon of honey, slightly less than a teaspoon of grated beeswax, half a teaspoon of coconut oil, and a vitamin E capsule. If you have a particular favorite essential oil, you can use a drop or two of that as well. Combine all ingredients—except the vitamin E (and essential oils if you plan to use them)—in a small saucepan and warm over low heat while stirring just until everything melts and is blended together. Take it off the stove and let it sit for two minutes. Poke a hole in the vitamin E capsule and squeeze the contents into the mixture. Add a drop of essential oil if you want, and stir. When it’s blended, pour the mixture into your container.

Taking a longer view, you can look your best by ensuring you go to bed early enough to get enough sleep, moisturizing skin daily, exercising regularly and eating a balanced diet. You can also take two capsules of GetAwayGrey every day to help fight grey hair naturally. GetAwayGrey helps replenish levels of catalase, an enzyme that we produce less of as we age. Catalase breaks down hydrogen peroxide in the body, and hydrogen peroxide is what bleaches hair before it grows. You don’t have to resort to harsh chemicals or resign yourself to grey hair—you can fight it naturally with GetAwayGrey.

Photo Credits: Ambro / freedigitalphotos.net, Africa / freedigitalphotos.net

Do These Celebrities Look Better With Grey Hair or Without?

For better or worse, celebrities are trendsetters, and men and women everywhere tend to take style cues from those who spend a lot of time in the public eye.

But celebrities, like everyone else, get older and develop grey hair. And while famous people have access to the most expensive stylists and grey hair treatments, some celebrities have stopped trying to stay ahead of grey with hair dye.

Here are five celebrities with grey hair. Do you think they look better with or without the grey? Be sure to vote and let us know what you think in the comments.

  1. Kate Moss

    Perhaps the most famous model of the 1990s, Kate Moss still owns any runway she walks. A couple of years ago, Moss started showing up to events with blonde tresses streaked with grey. Never afraid of capturing attention, Moss has embraced a range of looks during her long career. What do you think? Does Moss rock the grey or not?

    Kate Moss in 2005

    Kate Moss in 2005

    Kate Moss in 2010 (photo: nypost.com)

  2. Bill Clinton

    When Bill Clinton became president 20 years ago, he had light brown hair with just a bit of grey mixed in. Today, his hair is mostly white, which makes sense for a man who is approaching 67 and who served two terms as leader of the free world. When men go grey, it’s not seen as that big a deal when compared with women who deliberately go natural as they get older. What do you think? Was Clinton more handsome before or after going grey?

    Bill Clinton in 1993

    Bill Clinton in 1993

    Presidents Bush and Clinton in 2005

    Presidents Bush and Clinton in 2005

  3. Nichelle Nichols

    It’s hard to believe that Lieutenant Uhuru is 81 years old! Nichelle Nichols, who sang with Duke Ellington and Lionel Hampton before boarding the USS Enterprise, has embraced her grey hair and always appears impeccably turned out in public appearances. Of course, nobody would expect a woman of 80+ to have the luxurious black dos she rocked back in the day. What do you think of Nichols’ grey and proud look?

    Nichelle Nichols and Star Trek castmates at a NASA function in 1976

    Nichelle Nichols and Star Trek castmates at a NASA function in 1976

    Nichelle Nichols in 2009

    Nichelle Nichols in 2009

  4. George Clooney

    Now approaching 52, George Clooney has had a place on “sexiest man” lists for a couple of decades now. When he first shot to superstardom 20 years ago, Clooney had the kind of thick, dark hair that men want and women swoon over. Today he’s rocking a more mature look, with grey at the temples and an overall salt-and-pepper look. But according to women everywhere, he’s definitely still got it going on.

    George Clooney and porcine friend in 1990

    George Clooney and porcine friend in 1990

     

    George Clooney in 2012

    George Clooney in 2012

  5. Diane Keaton

    From The Godfather‘s Kay Corleone to Annie Hall to Erica Barry in Something’s Gotta Give, Diane Keaton has had an amazing career, playing beautiful, accomplished women at every stage of life. Now 67, Keaton has let a little grey blend in with her signature honey-colored locks. Her careers in blogging, real estate development, and motion pictures show no sign of slowing down. What was your favorite Diane Keaton look?

    First Lady Nancy Reagan, Warren Beatty, and Diane Keaton in 1981

    First Lady Nancy Reagan, Warren Beatty, and Diane Keaton in 1981

     

    Diane Keaton in 2011

    Diane Keaton in 2011

Very few people make it to 50 without some grey in their hair. While some go completely silver, others have more of a salt-and-pepper pattern, and still others develop one or two dramatic grey streaks. Hair coloring is a long-term commitment, and many people are starting to question the chemicals they regularly put on their hair to fight grey.

Now there’s another grey hair treatment option. GetAwayGrey is a proprietary anti graying natural supplement that helps your body break down excess circulating hydrogen peroxide, which is what causes hair to go grey in the first place. Many people have found that this natural way to combat grey is the perfect way to age gracefully, without hair dye and without looking older than the calendar indicates.

All Photos © Wikimedia Commons unless otherwise noted.

5 Celebrities Who Went Prematurely Grey

Sure, celebrities have access to the best beauty and hair treatments the world offers, but nobody gets to opt out of aging. Since celebrities’ work is often based on the image they project, they have to make a special effort to look good and stand out, and by the time they reach their 40s and 50s, that generally means coping with grey hair just like everybody else.

Here are five celebrities who went grey, how they’ve dealt with it, and how it has affected their careers.

  1. Jamie Lee Curtis


    Jamie Lee Curtis

    Jamie Lee Curtis

    Jamie Lee Curtis started her acting career with roles in horror movies, but has since become widely respected for her work in a range of movie genres, in the publishing field, and on television. In recent years, she has gracefully let her grey hair blend in with her honey shade, and it hasn’t slowed her acting career, despite the scarcity of great roles for confident women in their 50s. Curtis has taken on more voiceover roles in the past decade, on both the big screen and television, and has steadily gained widespread respect for her philanthropic work on behalf of children’s hospitals.

  2. Anderson Cooper


    Anderson Cooper

    Anderson Cooper

    News anchors don’t necessarily have to have movie star looks, but Cooper is perhaps the most readily-identifiable television journalist working today, partly because of his dramatic white hair. White hair adds gravitas in a profession with an audience that demands more than just good looks. The all-white look generally works best on people who have dramatic eyes or other dramatic features that give them a unique look. But while Cooper rocks the white hair, you’ll have a much harder time finding a female news personality with extensive grey.

  3. Ruby Dee


    Ruby Dee

    Ruby Dee

    Acting legend Ruby Dee is now over 90 years old and has a career that spans film, television, and stage. The recipient of a Screen Actors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award, Dee earned an Oscar nomination for best supporting actress in the movie American Gangster at the age of 85! Dee’s white hair is beautifully offset by her rich, caramel complexion, and she carries her white locks better than many people half her age. Then again, anyone who looks this good at 90 should have whatever color hair they want.

  4. John Slattery


    John Slattery

    John Slattery

    Best known for his role as Roger Sterling in television juggernaut Mad Men, John Slattery went grey early and embraced the look. Like Anderson Cooper, Slattery has piercing eyes that go well with an all-white mane. Slattery has great comic timing, but could he pull off the free-spirited roles played by dark-haired actors his age like Jim Carrey? It’s hard to say. Would Roger Sterling be such a deliciously sly character without the silver hair? Slattery owns the role of Roger Sterling so thoroughly it’s hard to imagine anyone else playing him.

  5. Stacy London


    Stacy London

    Stacy London

    Television fashion expert and style reporter Stacy London is known for the signature grey streak in her dark hair, which she has had since childhood. She even has a clause in her contract with Pantene stipulating that she will not be made to give up her grey. In the world of fashion, a recognizable, signature look is powerful currency, and London makes no effort to hide her very recognizable streak of grey. If she weren’t such a high-profile, recognizable celebrity, do you think London would still keep her dramatic grey streak?

Grey hair is an expected part of aging. As people age, they produce less of a substance called catalase, which breaks down hydrogen peroxide in the body. It’s the hydrogen peroxide circulating in our scalps that bleaches hair before it emerges. GetAwayGrey is a new way to prevent grey hair before it grows by helping the body replenish catalase so it can more effectively break down hydrogen peroxide. The result is hair that grows back in its natural color, and a break from the hassle of dealing with harsh, chemical dyes every few weeks.

Grey hair may work if you’re in a profession where you need to stand out, but most everyday individuals would rather stick with their natural color as long as possible, and GetAwayGrey helps them do that.

All photos © Wikimedia Commons