Raise your hand if you’ve used shelter-in-place as permission to relax the usual “hair rules”: shampooing less often, more hats less hairdryers, or (gasp) letting our grays grow in. With COVID shifting women’s beauty standards, we’re guessing we’re not the only ones?
First, let’s be clear: it’s not frivolous or vain to care about your hair. In fact, if yours appears to be changing of late, it could be a useful signal of hormonal shifts. Whatever state it’s in, Elektra is here for all of it.
Thinning: Normal or Not?
One of the surprising things about (peri)menopause is changes in your hair—it may suddenly have a different texture, you might see noticeable thinning or loss, or (in a horrible irony) hair growing where it’s not welcome. All of which is often normal – though not necessarily welcome – result of your fluctuating hormones.
And then there’s genetics: 30 women in the United States suffer from hereditary hair loss (compared to 50 million men), according to the American Academy of Dermatology. According to Cleveland Clinic, 50% of women experience hair loss in their life. Cheers to brave celebrities like Jada Pinkett Smith for destigmatizing this all-too-common condition.
Beyond genetics and hormones there are a number of other potential causes. One big one to call out is stress. Given the state of the world today, it appears many women have seen an uptick in stress-related hair-loss: from March-May, year-over-year searches for “hair loss” on Sephora’s website rose by 409%!
The Dyeing Dilemma
Another hot hair topic in this lockdown/social-distancing moment is the growing trend toward going au natural, aka gray. We absolutely loved this podcast discussion between Kim France and Tally Abecassis and Anne Kreamer, author of the book Going Gray on why it may be time to embrace the gray. (Looking for incentive? Kreamer shares how a mini social experiment on Match.com resulted in 3x as many interested suitors for her gray-hair profile over bottle brunette.)
Silver Sisters International, a community of women committed to embracing the power of natural hair.
For those of you Team Ride or Dye, we’re happy to see visionary female CEO making waves over at cult hair color brand Madison Reed.
With an end to lockdown nowhere in sight, we’d love to hear where you stand on the “dye or don’t” question. Head over to our Instagram and share in the comments whether you’re #TeamSilverSisters or #TeamRideorDye4Life!
WHAT WE’RE READING
- Meet 50 badass women. Get inspired by women in healthcare across the country who have risked their lives during the pandemic.
- Women at work. Ugh: 1 in 4 men believe women’s equality has come at their expense. What would a future with true gender equality look like?
- Taking a break from your bra? What women have to say about being liberated from lingerie. (Spoiler: No one misses underwire.)
HEALTHY OBSESSIONS*
This DIY coloring has become a social media darling—for good reason: rich colors, no ammonia, parabens or other harsh ingredients.
Protect against hair thinning & loss with a supplement made by women, for women in menopause.
* We’re not paid to feature these products. We just like them and think you may like them too.
