Not really, it’s your scalp that tends to get drier.  As hormones drop, the hair droops, gets finer, doesn’t grow as fast, and loses melanin (color), as we know all too well.  Medications can also cause hair to thin and fall out, resulting in the familiar Granny Pouf. Eating well, drinking water, taking your multi, and increasing general circulation through exercise help the scalp stay young.  Color actually thickens the hair shaft, making the hair look fuller, and it doesn’t harm the scalp unless you overprocess.   75% of American women color their hair, but there are some Anti-Aging Rules.  The most-requested hair color at salons is currently

 red,  perhaps to avoid blonde jokes but more likely because red suggests a bold woman or a reinvention of self.  There are two problems with red, though, the first being the fact that it’s very hard to maintain and sensitive to sunlight and minerals in the water.  The second problem is that red hair tends to emphasize many of the problems of the aging face, like flushing, rosacea, and blotchiness.  It also tends to exaggerate brown spots and yellow skin tones.  Women of color can often carry off red, especially if their hair is natural and short, but many of the rest of us are better off with that old standby, the honey blonde with highlights.   

At a recent conference, I noticed that 1)many of my compadres of a certain age had succumbed to Blonde Ambition and 2) they looked great!  A choppy haircut with bangs and some lighter streaks near the face do wonders for the 40-plus crowd.  The apricot color that often comes out of a box from the drugstore is to be avoided.  I veer from ashy to brassy myself, and I find that for the blondaholics among us, you tend to get blonder and blonder until your wise stylist takes you down the base color and low-light path.   

Meryl Streep’s Devil Wears Prada character epitomizes the “I’m gray and I’m proud” attitude.  A glossy gray with a great cut and some white-blonde highlights can be fabulous if worn with fashionable clothes and an energetic posture.  Gray is not for the faint of temperament!  A shapeless, frizzy gray do is a no-no unless you want to look like an absent-minded grandma.     

Why do the dark brown and black colors of our youth look so fake now?  Women who attempt to cover gray and go back to the brunette of their youth often find themselves scrambling for more makeup to cover the dark circles under their eyes or facial creases they didn’t notice before.  A nice chestnut color with some highlights or a slightly lighter semipermanent color with some gray showing are usually much more flattering as your skin tone fades with age.  There’s too much contrast with darker colors that frame your face with a Darth Vader helmet look, especially if you’ve gone to the middle-aged short boufy haircut.  Don’t do it!