Millennials catching their first signs of gray hair are tapping into an old trick that might be new to them: warming a bit of coconut oil in your hair before you shampoo. It’s called pre-shampoo oiling, and has been a part of hair care routines for generations. A 2003 study published in the Journal of Cosmetic Science found that coconut oil, when applied before washing, was able to reduce the amount of protein loss from hair better than mineral oil and sunflower oil. You can easily feel that difference in gray strands, which tend to be drier than pigmented hair.
Why does gray hair act differently?
Gray hair is not simply a color change. It's a textural change as well. When your follicles cease producing melanin, the pigment that gives hair and skin their color, your hair turns gray or white, says the American Academy of Dermatology. Most people will begin to notice gray hair in their 30s or 40s.
Around that same stretch of life, your scalp also produces less sebum, the natural oil that keeps hair supple and shiny. The study, ‘A Multifaceted View on Ageing of the Hair and Scalp,’ published in the journal Cosmetics, states that sebum production increases during the teenage years, is relatively stable in early adulthood, and then begins to decline at age 45 to 50. When the hair is less oily at the root, there is less natural conditioning along the length of the hair, which is why grays tend to feel rougher, drier, and more prone to split ends.
