Your hair and the change

 

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You probably know menopause is that time when your ovaries stop producing oestrogen. Menopause can occur at any time during your adult years, but most commonly happens during your late 40s to mid-50s. Yet regardless of when it happens, menopause signals the end of your reproductive years, meaning no more pregnancies and no more periods. In my opinion, there are some fabulous benefits to this, including not having to worry about birth control and never suffering from menstrual cramps again. Menopause is not, however, so fabulous for your hair. That’s because oestrogen protects you against hair loss; without oestrogen, your locks may grow noticeably thinner. For those of you who aren’t near menopause, ask your mothers, aunts, grandmothers, or post-menopausal friends about how their mane altered after “the change”; most will admit their hair has not only grown a little (or a lot) thinner, but also finer in texture.
More had news. For those of you genetically predisposed toward female-pattern hair loss, menopause is when you’ll learn whether or not you’re going to be affected- this also has to do with the sudden lack of hair-helping oestrogen. Some women find hormone replacement therapy protects them near-totally or partially from all kinds of post-menopausal hair loss. However, hormone replacement therapy has been linked with breast, endometrial, and liver cancers; discuss the risks with your doctor.

Hair do don’ts
I generally dislike categorizing hairstyles as “do’s” or don’ts”. However, here are two looks that I cannot keep quiet about:
1. You still come across the flick every so often, even though the style hasn’t been in fashion since the 70s and 80s. To achive the result, the fringe is teased at the roots and combed back. It is then sprayed with plenty of hair spray or alternatively, it is heavily gelled. The fringe, or flick, then falls like a wave away from the forehead. The heavy use of styling products has the effect of creating a single “piece” of stiffened hair.
2. The mullet is another look from the 80s. During punk days, the style was adopted by both females and males. Today, however, it is more commonly seen on men. From the front, the coif appears to be a typical men’s short cut. It’s not until you get past the ears that it becomes obvious a man is wearing a mullet; there, hair suddenly drops into a longer’ do. Interestingly, some men sport mullets that are very short up front and very long at the back. Other names for the mullet include the ape drape, the hockey cut, the dual-cut, and the country & western. In addition to rural and suburban men in English-speaking countries, the mullet is popular among North American ice-hockey players, country singers, and in Central and South America.

 
 

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