Ever wondered why your hair turns gray as you age? A team of researchers says it has identified the root cause as trapped stem cells — and that means new tips for naturally fending off grays from your mane could be coming soon.

It all starts with a type of stem cell called melanocytes, also known as McSCs, says the study, which was published in the journal Nature this week.

The research team from NYU Grossman School of Medicine was already familiar with melanocytes. They're the main mechanism that produces the pigment melanin, bringing color to your skin and eyes.

That melanin is key to hair color. McSCs hang around in your hair follicles, where they receive a protein signal that tells them when to become mature cells. Mature cells release pigment and, voilà, you get your hair color.

But over the course of this study, the researchers learned that McSCs actually move between microscopic compartments in your hair follicle. Each compartment might give the MsSC a slightly different protein signal, which allows the cell to oscillate between different levels of maturity. That's largely unlike how other stem cells operate — that is, maturing until they die.

The unique maturity level of MsSCs gets more complicated the older you get. As your hair grows and sheds in cycles, the more McSCs get stuck in one particular compartment called the hair follicle bulge.

The follicle bulge isn't giving those McSCs the signal to mature, and it's not sending the McSCs back to a compartment that would. The jammed cells allow the hair to keep growing, but the hair isn't given its dose of pigmentation. As a result, you go gray.

To prove this concept, the research team produced salt-and-pepper-colored mice by physically plucking strands of their hair again and again over the course of two years.

They found the number of McSCs lodged in the follicle bulge increased from 15 percent to nearly 50 percent. But in the younger hairs, which weren't plucked, the McSCs continued to move around the different compartments, picking up protein signals and producing a consistently rich brown pigment.

To be clear, the McSCs aren't the sole factor in determining when your gray grows in. Dr. Jenna Lester, a dermatologist and professor at the University of California, San Francisco, told NPR's Short Wave podcast that there's a multitude of factors beyond aging that play a role.

"Some people think sun exposure can damage their melanocytes more or less," she said. "And hormones also play into it as well." Then there's stress, genetics and certain medical conditions, which can all strip hair of its richer hues.

Overall, 74% of people between the ages of 45 and 65 years of age have at least a few silver strands, according to research from the National Institutes of Health.

If you're in that camp and resenting it, this new study could be a reason to rejoice: The researchers say that moving the McSCs to their proper location could prevent graying.

​And anyone scoffing at the vanity of stressing over silver strands can also rejoice: The researchers also say studies like this are putting us one step closer to curing cancer. (Seriously.)

"We are interested in how stem cells residing in our body are regulated to properly maintain our body and how they can reform the tissues when they are lost by injuries," said Mayumi Ito, a professor at NYU Langone Health and a senior investigator on the study.

"When the stem cell regulation goes awry, we will have multiple health problems including cancers," she told NPR. "The melanocyte stem cell system is advantageous to understand this broad issue in medical science, as the malfunction of the system is so visible."

WHAT IS BALAYAGE?
Balayage is the most exquisite highlighting color technique to storm the coloring industry in decades, however, the first notable celebrity to have the sun-kissed treatment was Audrey Hepburn in 1961’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s. The technique tasks the colorist with taking a small section of hair and sweeping the color towards the top. Then, they use a paddle to apply more color toward the bottom for a balanced, lightened look. Colorists and clients alike fall in love with the natural, sun-kissed results from this handcrafted technique. Trained Balayage color placement produces a natural and organic style, similar to the effortlessly random color you’d receive after a summer at the beach.

Balayage was truly revolutionary, created at a time when the industry standard was a frosting cap. The ‘80s brought a wave of foil highlights, so it wasn’t until the ‘90s that balayage made its first inroads in the U.S., mainly among celebrity-early adopters.

Today, balayage is offered in many salons, unfortunately not all results are consistent (it’s not as easy as it looks!). A Balayage colorist must be well-trained and have a keen sense of the hair’s texture and movement. After all, it’s just the craftsmanship of the colorist and the balayage brush. The most natural-looking results are usually those that look the most random, which calls for a very specific placement strategy which is addressed in depth theory portion of our balayage classes.

WHY BALAYAGE?
The balayage technique can be used to achieve so many different effects from soft, sun-kissed, natural highlights to a strong and punky look. Not only does it look effortless but its low-maintenance upkeep attracts many to the salon begging for the gilded results. Balayage color is painted in soft brush strokes across the surface of the hair, leaving you with natural-looking swipes of color that flow from thick to thin and play off the hair’s natural movement. Even better, balayage won’t leave you with any signs of demarcation, creating a softer and more manageable grow-out. However, if a balayage isn’t done correctly you can end up with excessive overlapping that can cause damage.

The balayage technique is quickly replacing its metallic predecessor- foils. Foils can often result in a contrived, neat row of uniform highlights rather than the naturally placed balayage treatment. When a section of hair is colored using a foil, the entire section is saturated with color resulting in dense, unnatural stripes of color. During our advanced class we show you how to combine the best of both of these techniques to brighten expression areas by adding stronger, sweeping pieces of light framing the face, in order to give your client’s face a painless lift.

It’s important to note that balayage is absolutely not just for blondes. Brunettes, redheads, even those with black hair can benefit from a dose of hair painting. The results are generally more subtle, but they add the multifaceted dimension that so many crave.

This article first appeared on The Business of Balayage