How I Deal With My Gray

I have a few gray hairs and, yes, they're a real drag. The typical age for a woman to start graying is 35, but it's completely normal to start noticing gray strands as early as your teens. The age you begin to gray is genetic, so typically you'll start in with the salt and pepper around the same time your parents did. (Pssst: Despite the rumors -- and the fact that President Obama has gone very gray since taking office -- stress has nothing to do with adding silver to your hair.)

So what gives? Plain and simple, hair loses melanin as you age. Oh, and there's also evidence that smoking (a huge no, for countless reasons) can also cause the pigment in your hair to wane.

If, like me, you have a lot of unwanted gray popping up, coloring with a permanent or semi-permanent hair color will cover them up. Because tempting as it may be, you really can't pluck every single one out of your head or you'll end up gray and bald!

You can try a DIY hair color like Nice 'n Easy Perfect 10, $11.99, which is a quick, inexpensive, and professional-looking solution.

Additionally, these quick tricks can help to disguise the silver.

Hide them: Camouflage your grays with a temporary hair marker like TouchBack by Colormark, $21.95, a sort of magic marker that paints on hair color. And, though it may sound strange, in a pinch you can brush on eyeshadow the same shade as your hair. Another option is to spray a colored dry shampoo like Bumble & Bumble Hair Powder, $35, onto offending hairs.

Switch your part: Between colorings, create a zig-zag pattern in your part. It breaks the re-growth into less obvious blocks, which tricks the eye into seeing less gray.

Use accessories: Headbands and scarves are great, fashionable ways to conceal a vast array of bad hair moments -- including grays and re-growth -- especially because they cover the areas where you usually start to gray first (along the temples and at the part).

And, there you have 'em -- my sneaky quick fixes for dealing with gray hair. Now, if you want to cover your gray with box color but you're not sure which shade to choose, this video will help. I talked to several hair pros and got a whole bunch of great tips. Check it out. It'll help you decide on a color that will work for you -- not against you.