It’s an inevitable part of every person’s life: Your hair will (most likely!) start to go gray. And while I know my fair share of seniors who have managed to maintain their natural hair color, the reality is that going gray is a natural part of the cycle of life. But when it happens when you’re not nearly ready enough to accept the aging process, it can be pretty much impossible to resist the temptation to pluck.
But did your mother ever warn you not to pluck? Because if you did, three more gray strands would grow in that one’s place?
Maybe the number of gray hairs is an arbitrary figure that my own family just made up, but this old wives’ tale does, indeed, exist. It’s actually a silly myth when you think about it: We only have a certain number of hair follicles. The gray isn’t contagious, and we’re not creating more follicles by pulling at one. Sometimes, two follicles can merge, but that occurrence and the existence of grays are mutually exclusive.
The consensus, then, is that no, you won’t encourage more grays to grow in just because you start to pluck. But -- and you know there’s always a "but" -- you still shouldn’t do it.
The fact is, that strand of hair is going to grow back...just as gray as it was when it left. What’s worse, plucking damages your hair at the follicle, which means that piece of hair may not grow back at all. If you’re doing this all over your head, you can risk thinning out that nice head of hair you’re working so hard to keep intact.
If you do have to get rid of those grays (I know I do), do so without plucking: Trim the hair low, close to your scalp.
Either embrace the gray or invest in some color service, my friends.