10 Myths You Should Never Believe About Gray Hair

Remember the first time you found a gray hair? All you wanted to do was pull it out, but your mom probably told you not to. She said, “Pluck one gray hair out, three more will come to its funeral.” Since that day, you’ve never dared pull a gray hair from your own head.

But did you know that is just a myth? There are many myths about gray hair that don’t hold a fraction of truth in them. See all of the myths about gray hair and why they just aren’t true below!

1. All gray hair is coarse

You were always told that once you went gray, your hair would become coarse right? Not only is gray hair unsightly, it is also unpleasant feeling. This isn’t happening because the hair turned gray. The coarse feeling occurs when oil flow has begun to reduce to the hair follicles. This just so happens to occur when women are older in age (but can happen at any age), which is why people assume that it is the hair color causing the coarseness.

2. You can’t color gray hair at home

You’ve been under the assumption that you can’t color your gray hairs at home, right? Maybe a friend told you this or even your hair stylist, but it just isn’t true. There are so many products you can pick up from the supermarket that cost a fraction of what a salon visit would run you for. If you’re nervous about coloring your grays at home, you can watch this YouTube tutorial.

3. Stress turns hair gray

Your mom used to tell you and your siblings that you were the reason she had gray hair, right? Well, you’re not! It actually might have been your grandma’s fault. Stress is not a cause for gray hairs. “Stress contributes to but doesn’t cause gray hair,” Stephanie Brown, colorist at Nunzio Saviano Salon, told Good Housekeeping. This means that it can speed up the process, but having one stressful day does not mean you’ll wake up with gray hairs the next day. The gray hairs were in your genetics already!

4. Plucking grays makes more gray hairs grow back

This has to be the biggest myth of them all. Your mom, your grandma, your sister, your friends, your hair stylist — they’ve all told you this one multiple times. Turns out, they were all wrong. Simply enough, if you pulled out one gray hair and two hair grew back in its place, that would take care of a different issue many older women suffer from — hair loss. That isn’t the case. Plucking a gray hair actually damages the hair follicle and thus means it’ll take that hair longer to grow back.

5. You can’t style gray hair

Now, because gray hairs are typically coarse, they can be harder to style. The solution for this isn’t tough. Because coarse hair has less natural oils, you’re going to want to hydrate your hair with oil-based products. Stylecraze has a list of 7 homemade oils that are perfect for gray hair!

6. Your hair will turn white from fright

This is a great old wives tale. Whoever thought of it was certainly clever! But there is no proof behind it. You will not turn gray overnight, nor will your hair turn white if something terrifies you. The graying process takes a great deal of time.

Click through to the next page to learn other gray hair myths!