If your hair is getting darker due to lifestyle or medical reasons, addressing the underlying cause should help your color return to normal. The method you should use to stop your hair from getting darker depends on what’s causing it to change in the first place. We tend to spend less time outdoors during the cooler seasons, which causes our hair to revert to its naturally darker shade. Just like your strands get lighter during the summer months, you may notice that they become progressively darker during the fall and winter. The bright summer sun is well known for its lightening effects. For most people, the color changes resolve after seeking treatment. When in doubt, speak with a medical professional to determine the source of your change in hair color. Some medical conditions, like pregnancy or thyroid disease, create hormonal changes that can cause your strands to become darker or lighter. Medical conditions or illnesses can cause significant changes in the color and appearance of your strands. Bring up this concern to your doctor to see if it could be the culprit. If you’ve recently started a new medication, it might be behind your darkening strands. They can affect your hair’s thickness, growth, density, color, and texture. MedicationsĪlthough it’s not common, studies show that some medications and drug treatments can cause dramatic changes in your natural hair color. The genes that influence melanin production turn on or off at various times in your life, resulting in changes to your natural hair color. Eumelanin is responsible for black and brown hair, while pheomelanin creates red and blonde shades. Two types of melanin determine the shade of your hair.

As you age, the amounts and types of melanin produced by your body undergo changes. Similarly, you may notice your light hair becoming darker as you grow older. As you may know, babies born with light hair (e.g., light blonde hair) or eyes often have their features darken with age. AgingĮven though aging is usually associated with going gray, it can also cause your strands to grow darker over time.

Use the information in this section to narrow down the reason for your color changes, and later in the article, we’ll tell you how to address them. Here are four reasons why your natural hair color is becoming darker. Darkening strands may be natural or a sign that you need to seek medical or professional attention. Your hair is mostly getting darker due to aging, medications, medical conditions, or environmental factors.

It goes dark and darker still