Salt-n-Pepper ScarJo

LOVE the gray, Scarlett Johansson!

Appearing on one of W Magazine's four 40th anniversary issue covers, 

it's all about Miss Scarlett's gray!

We realize it's more of a character thing and not really the 27-year-old Johansson letting her roots come in, but we are always suckers for youthful gray haired looks. 

Perhaps she's lobbying Hollywood for a new acting role...  

Young Cruella De Vil?

Mitt Romney's Hair Force One

Mitt Romney is having a contest to name his campaign plane.  (As opposed to his private jet!)  Ann Romney suggested Hair Force One!  We're eager to know more about Mitt Romney's hair care regimen.  If anybody knows, please let us know!



ABC NEWS: Romney Offers Donor A Ride
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/09/mitt-romney-says-come-fly-with-me-to-donors/

Going Gray ON PURPOSE?!?!?!

Local news is shocked to learn some women have not bought into the anti-gray beauty myth.


http://www.nbclosangeles.com/the-scene/fashion/Going-Gray-On-Purpose--141223503.html

The War on Gray Hair

There is a War on Gray Hair.

The beauty industry pockets billions of dollars a year by making you feel bad about having gray hair!

Simply put: There's no money in being gray!  Even hair care giant Clairol, manufacturer of Shimmer Lights shampoo for gray hair, doesn't feature the product on their own consumer website.  They do however feature 129 separate products for "gray coverage".  Shimmer Lights is only available in professional beauty supply stores. (and Amazon.com)

So what can we do?  Don't let them make you feel bad!

FIGHT THE WAR ON GRAY BY WEARING YOUR HAIR GORGEOUSLY GRAY!

Use every product and technique at your disposal to show off how glorious gray can be.  Learn from the great grey manes that came before you.  The best thing you can do is become a silver fox and change people's attitudes about gray hair.  

So get out there and make us hollar at you: LOVE THE GRAY!

5 Best Gray Hair Shampoos

Whether you're a salt-and-pepper Silver Fox or a full-on Gorgeous Gray, the right shampoo is critical to keeping your gray hair looking vibrant and sexy.  

The following are Love The Gray's Official: 

Top Five Shampoos for Gray Hair!

5. Shimmer Lights

Shimmer Lights is the iconic brand of anti-yellowing shampoos.  So iconic that Clairol doesn't even promote it on their website! (That's how much Clairol hates gray hair!)  
This dark purple Clairol classic is your grandmother's gray hair shampoo and YES you should use it too!  But don't be like granny and use it every day and become a "Blue Hair". Use it only occasionally to get rid of any yellow tinge or brassiness.  And be careful, this stuff stains your shower grout blue - permanently! 

4. Phyto Phytoargent Shampoo

The French beauty company Phyto specializes in plant-based beauty products.  Their Phytoargent Shampoo contains plant extracts with anti-oxidant properties such as walnut leaf, rhatay root, and broom.  They combine with a pigment to correct discoloration and a powerful fixative that neutralizes yellow tones, thus bringing out your hair's naturally beautiful, luminous highlights.  Another dark blue shampoo, be sure to rinse it off your shower walls and down the drain before it stains the tiles!



3. One 'n Only Shiny Silver Shampoo

Since gray hair has a tendency to get dry and wiry, conditioning is extra important!  That's what we love about the ultra-conditioning "One 'n Only" Shiny Silver Pro Shampoo from the Conair Professional series.  It's formulated with lavender, lemon, orange peel, grapefruit and tangerine, it nourishes as well as restore brightness.  It's also has the most appealing fragrance of all the shampoos on our list! (Plus, it's cheap!)

2. Natur Vital Henna Shampoo 

Blueberries to whiten your hair? Sure, why not? We included this on our list because it features organic ingredients, isn't tested on animals, and contains no parabens, silicone, or mineral oils. Natur Vital Henna Shampoo is a popular purple shampoo in the UK, and they sure do have a lot of white hair over there! Again, not a shampoo to use everyday, use it a couple of times a week at most. Be sure to use it with one of our Five Best Conditioners for Gray Hair. This shampoo also works well with highlighted, tinted or bleached hair.

1. Klorane Silver Highlights Shampoo

Klorane Shampoo with Centaury is our favorite gray hair shampoo for two reasons: one, it keeps your gray hair nice and bright, and two, it doesn't stain your shower!  This is the one grey hair shampoo that is gentle enough to be used every day, and it's not purple!  We recommend conditioning every day but not shampooing every day, however if you must: Kloraine is the one! 

And even more important than what shampoo you use is the following advice:
Condition more than you shampoo.  And alternate shampoo brands to avoid build up!  


DON'T MISS: Our other product reviews and The Five Best Conditioners for Gray Hair


(page updated 11/2017)

Gray (Hair) Is The New Black

Gray Hair is once again chic and in vogue.  So sayeth the elite style tastemakers.

Designer Gareth Pugh matched the gray hair to his gray clothes in his Spring 2010 show. STYLE.COM

Chanel featured gray haired models in their Fall/Winter 2011 print campaign:

Model Freja Beha Erichsen styled by Carine Roitfeld and photographed by Karl Lagerfeld

And now spotted at Madrid Fashion week January 2012, long gray hair in the Maria Barros Show.

Grey hair goes so well with haute couture.
It better, because who else but old rich ladies can really afford the ridiculously expensive clothes?

High Fashion commands you to LOVE THE GRAY!

More Madrid Runway Photos: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2096546/Madrid-Fashion-Week-Models-step-catwalk-grey-hair-Maria-Barros-show.html

Kelly Osbourne Explains The Gray.

Kelly Osbourne, 27, filled in for her mother Sharon on CBS's daytime chat show "The Talk" this week and discussed why she is coloring her hair gray.

"It's something I've wanted to do my whole life. I've always wanted to be young and have gray hair. And i know that's crazy but I don't exactly come from the most normal family!"

Of course, we think gray looks gorgeous at any age. You just have to know what to do with it!

Can guys with Gray Hair wear it long?

We've generally lived by the assertion that men with gray hair should keep it short. When gray hair gets long and too out of control it runs the risk of becoming crazy, nutty professor hair.

George Clooney's length in the "The Descendants" is about as long as you want to take it. But also consider this, he's George Clooney. Unless you're George's general level of hotness, you probably won't be able to pull off a style any longer than this!

Richard Gere can pull off a long haired look with gray hair. But consider again, he's Richard Gere. So unless you are Richard's general level of hotness, you probably can't pull off his length of grayness.

And long white pony tails are a no-no! Willie Nelson is already working that look. Leave it to Willie. Sorry. If you insist on wearing it long, don't hide your gray glory, share that mane with the world!

UV Rays & Us Grays

One of the side effects of going gray is losing the melanin in your hair.
Melanin protects from the damaging effects of UV rays on your hair’s keratin.

Ultraviolet light also leads to the yellowing that can occur with gray hair.

Coupled with the fact that hair also gets thinner with increasing age means UV Protection for gray hair is a must!

So what does a Silver Fox need to do?

Avoid exposing your gray hair to the sun as much as possible, and use shampoos, conditioners and styling products that offer "UV Protection" on the label. Photoprotection is the key to keep loving the gray!

(Read about the science of how ultraviolet light affects gray hair here.)

The Inevitable Dye Job of Mitt Romney

The more Mitt Romney continues his unstoppable march to the GOP nomination, the more it becomes painfully clear:

Mitt Romney's hair is the wrong direction for America!

His dye job is way too dark and looks unnatural!
(Even for a RomneyBot™ as the New York Times calls him.)

His suspiciously dark and highly controlled coif (aka "The Mitt") remains a popular topic of conversation on the campaign trail:
NYMag has a pictorial salute to the Many Hairstyles of Mitt Romney.
The Boston Globe has Mitt's full Hairstory.
The New York Times interviewed Mitt's Boston stylist Leon de Magistris.
($70 haircuts, Mitt uses no styling products)

As unnatural as it looks to us, ultra-white at the temples and jet black everywhere else, Mormon Mitt claims not to "color" or "dye" it.
(Grecian Formula is clear, and it's chemical reaction would technically not count as a dye, would it?)

We remain skeptical and ask:
How can we trust someone to be our president
if we can't trust their hair color?

We want a president that has a natural looking gray!
At least with Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul you know where they stand!

We urge Mr. Romney to "Love The Gray" and fire Leon de Magistris!
We know you like being able to fire people!

Love 'The Grey'?

What are these advertisements for "The Grey"?

Are they movie posters for another thriller starring Liam Neeson?

Or are they ads for some kind of "Just for Men" beard dye?

(If it is a movie it must be foreign film, otherwise it would be "The Gray"!)

The Scoop on The Coop™

Anderson Cooper is the poster boy for Silver Foxes.
A handsome and gifted communicator, his premature grayness adds to his gravitas as a CNN reporter. Few wear gray hair better, and Anderson is our favorite example of how salt-and-pepper can look so good on a man!

As one of the most prominent gray celebrities and the son of fashion icon Gloria Vanderbilt, you might expect Anderson to get his famous mane styled at a pricey Manhattan salon. But The Coop™ actually gets his haircut for $16 from a guy named Isaac at a "street barbershop" at 7th and 23rd! He revealed it on his daytime talk show Anderson:

..

Adorable and frugal! Love the Gray, Anderson!

What Makes Hair Turn Gray?

The basic reason why hair turns gray... is that it ran out of "ink"!

Gray hair is caused by a reduction in pigment, which can be caused by age, genetics, or environmental factors. Hair is initially white, then is colored by melanin produced by the body. With age comes a reduction in the production in melanin thus hair turns gray and eventually back to white. The supply of pigmentation for each individual hair follicle becomes exhausted at different rates in different individuals. Those who go gray early are just lucky!

We will explore the science behind going gray and "get to the root" of the many factors believed to cause gray hair in future posts.

Whatever the causes, Love the Gray!

For a good overview explaining hair color "head" to Wikipedia.

The Library of Congress answers the Everyday Mystery: "Why Does Hair Turn Gray?" here:
http://www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/mysteries/grayhair.html

How do some men let their eyebrows get so out of control?

At what age does a man think it's okay to stop trimming his eyebrows?

When does a man look in the mirror and not realize that his eyebrows have become gigantic forehead ferns that might frighten small children?

Gray hair is often more course and wiry as it grows in, and therefore graying brows need EXTRA attention. Eyebrows need to be groomed, trimmed and maintained on a regular basis. Not plucked or shaved, just kept at a reasonable length.

That's why every man needs a good regular barber or stylist to keep them in check. The rotating crew at Supercuts won't often tidy them for you!
(And let's not even talk about ear hair.)
Sometimes your loved ones are too close to the situation to tell you the truth about your caterpillar brows. Let a professional handle it.

The next time you look in the mirror, take an objective look at your face.
Do your bushy brows need a trim?

Kate the Gray

Well placed sources inside Buckingham Palace tell the Daily Mail
that Kate Middleton has discovered her first gray hairs!
(Or grey hairs as they say over in England.)

"Now she is 30, even Kate needs, dare one say it, a little helping hand to keep those tumbling tresses in tip-top condition. Indeed, impeccably placed sources have told me that the Duchess has, to her horror, started finding the odd grey hair (‘stress highlights’, her friends joke) and has been having an organic vegetable-based dye and subtle low-lights applied during regular four-hour sessions at the Richard Ward Hair And Metrospa in Chelsea."

- The Daily Mail, January 7, 2012

The Duchess of Cambridge calls it "Stress Highlights"?
We prefer to call them "Wisdom Wefts" or "Smartness Streaks"!
And we say: GO GRAY GREY KATE!
We're sure you have something better to do than waste your time getting your roots dyed in four-hour salon sessions.
Spend that extra time working with you newly announced charity patronages!
Then the UK press might stop calling you the "Duchess of Dolittle"
and you'll be "The Next Diana™" in no time!

We're Back!

The Salt and Pepper Blog formerly known as Castle Gray Skull is back as "Love the Gray"!

We finally brought the site over to a blogspot address, lovethegray.blogspot.com, just to make all of our lives easier!

Of course, the name CastleGraySkull was taken (curse you, Skeletor!) so we had to go for a new name. Which turned out okay, "Love The Gray" better expresses how we feel about gray hair anyway!

Sorry we haven't blogged since before Obama was first elected. Although it looks like our July '08 nomination had some effect!

We're excited to be back to bring you our opinions on the latest gray hair news of the day, messages of Gray Pride, gray hair product reviews and more!

Glad to be back, we've got a lot to say!