Can You Prevent Gray Hair? Sort Of — Here's What Experts Say You Can Do

Much like your skin, your hair changes as you age. Specifically, the once lush pigment of your youth may transform to an ashen hue, and it's simply a natural part of life. Your new color isn't any less beautiful or striking—just, well, new!

There are ways to camouflage and cover up, though, as are there expert methods to grow out the gray (it takes some sort of transition plan, especially if you've been devout to hair dye). But for those looking for an earlier approach, you might be wondering: Can you prevent gray hair before the very first silvery strand? 

Essentially, graying hair is just natural, whether you have a full head of silver or patches of gray throughout. "Loss of pigmentation in hair is something out of our control," agrees celebrity colorist and Redken brand ambassador Matt Rez. It's largely due to genetics and aging in general1, and, unfortunately, there aren't any existing treatments to reverse those grays to their natural vigor. 

OK, so you can't really prevent gray hair (sigh). However, premature graying is an entirely different story: While you can't prevent the inevitable for too long, you can make sure you're not going gray before it's time. 

Another topic to mind is the ever-nebulous oxidative stress. "Oxidative stress has been shown in laboratory experiments to induce migration of melanocytes away from the hair bulb," says Calder. In other words, enough free radical damage can cause those pigment-producing cells to lose their intensity, resulting in silver strands. 

There are some ways you can hold off premature grays before you're 30, but there's ultimately nothing you can do to prevent gray hair from growing in over time. Of course, you can cover up with a gray-blending gloss, highlights, or simply rock the silvery style.