How To Keep Your Hair At Its Healthiest

I'm pretty sure we're all sat down at one point in our lives by an adult and told that if you pluck a gray hair, a couple more will grow back. This age-old question, and many more, are answered in Allure's Q&A on everything you need to know about keeping your hair at its healthiest.

Now ain't nothin' wrong with a little aging—as evident in the hugely popular #grannyhair trend of women dying their hair gray to embrace the ridiculous stigma. What's important, though, is keeping your entire body healthy, hair included. Allure spoke to Nicole Rogers, an assistant clinical professor dermatology at Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans, about how to maintain a gorgeous mane.

Just as you'd wear a hat in the sun to protect your face, the same goes for your hair, as well. Rogers encourages people to throw on a cap if you're out in the sun for more than a half hour. But—if you're not a fan of hat hair, you can actually use a leave-in product that coat the hair and keep it protected. Good to know, as I've always only thought about my skin when it comes to sun protection.

As for plucking gray hairs, she says, "gray hair runs in families, so if your grandmothers had white hair, you'll probably get it too, and at about the same age. At first, the follicle stops absorbing pigment, for reasons we don't understand, and then the pigment-producing cells shut down entirely. There's no pill or herbal supplement to reverse this process."

If you're one that wants to stick to your hair color, she suggests eating antioxidant rich foods like fruits that can rid of the free radicals that kick up graying. Or, you can rock the gray trend and have what women are literally paying salons for, for free.

When it comes to your hair, like the rest of your body, take care of it! Aging hair doesn't only mean graying—it refers to damage, as well. To check out the rest of the Q&A and find out what happens to pregnant women's hair and other interesting facts, take a look at it here.

Images: Moyan Brenn, Lip Jin Lee/Flickr