Poll: S/O When did you go gray?

[Soror]

The thread about gray hair made me curious about gray hair. I'm 38 and have noticed a few gray hairs but that's it so far. I'm trying to remember when my Mom turned gray but she was dying so long it is hard to say. I know my grandma had a lot by the time she passed in her 50s but yet again she dyed her hair so I don't know when she started turning.

 

Fwiw: Google says that Whites tend to start turning gray in their mid 30s, Asians late 30s, and Blacks mid 40s. 

 

 

Edited July 17, 2017 by soror

[Soror]

You don't have an option for "not yet". I will be 40 this year but I haven't seen any yet, which surprises me. It shouldn't though now that I think about it. My mom is in her 60s and doesn't have many greys at all....and I know that she doesn't color it. My grandma didn't start getting much grey until her 70s or so.

Fixed it I think :) 

[JudoMom]

I'm 41 and have some greys.  I'm a very dark blonde, and they look more like highlights at the moment.  I don't know when my Mom went grey because she's colored her hair forever.  I've never colored my hair and don't want to start, so I'm not sure what the future holds for me because I'm not sure what I'll do as I get more.  

Edited July 17, 2017 by JudoMom

[Jaybee]

I'm 57. I have some silver in the sideburn spots, and some glimmers here and there, a couple of streaks. But I am still primarily light brown hair. I was a blonde growing up. 

[Tap]

Mid-40s and none yet!  My hair is dark blond.

[Guest]

19.

[Lady Florida.]

Significant is a subjective word. When you don't like the amount of gray you are seeing, it's significant. :D

 

I always had a gray hair or two from my late 30s on, but it didn't become really noticeable until I was in my mid to late 50s. I'm 61. Even now, my gray is mostly concentrated around my hairline, with the rest sprinkled in here and there. If I stopped getting it colored I'd be said to have salt and pepper hair (my natural color is a rather dull medium brown). 

Edited July 17, 2017 by Lady Florida.

[Ali in OR]

I have a few gray hairs at 51 but not enough to call significant or to color. But sometimes I'll pull out a gray hair in my bangs--they're a different texture. Kind of wavy, thick, and wiry.

[Word Nerd]

I'm 45 and am starting to get grays at my temples.

[MaeFlowers]

I'm 42 and have more gray than I would like. Most of my hair is fine but I seem to be developing a large streak at the cowlick in back. I've decided to start dyeing my hair but finding a color to match is hard. I think I'm going to play with some semipermanent colors until I find the right one for my skin tone.

 

Dh is 41 and he has some gray showing up in his beard. I kind of like it. His grandmother told me once that gray hair makes women look old but men look distinguished. I kind of have to agree!

[Lady Florida.]

 

Dh is 41 and he has some gray showing up in his beard. I kind of like it. His grandmother told me once that gray hair makes women look old but men look distinguished. I kind of have to agree!

 

Dh is all gray and has been since his late 40s. It's a very nice color - mostly silver with some dark gray mixed in. It looks good on him, but then he got lucky. He got the nice looking gray. His dad is totally white, very much a Q-tip. :)

[desertstrawberry5]

I'm 41. I have none. I think redheads Gray later. My grandfather had no Gray until his 70s.

[Matryoshka]

I'm 52.  I am getting bits of gray, mostly at the temples, but not that much.  I pluck a few from time to time, which may be stupid because I have very little hair overall - it's fine and not much of it.

 

I am super lazy about my hair - Other than washing it and cutting it every year or so, I do nothing.  It air-drys.  I don't own styling stuff.  I've never colored or done any salon-type thing to it other than just cutting it.

 

So I am really, really hoping I take after my dad, whose hair is still mostly black at 80.  He's got significant gray/white in his sideburns and eyebrows (his sister told him he should dye his eyebrows :lol:), and some at his temples, but from the back he's still got mostly black hair.  My maternal grandfather also never went fully gray, so I have it on both sides, and I'm really hoping I inherited those genes because I'm too lazy to color it and I don't know how gray would look on me (although my 'gray' hairs are really more white... but they're also that stupid wiry stick-up kind of hair...  :glare:  My natural hair has always been very soft, like little-kid hair).

[mytwomonkeys]

I'm 46. I have dark brown hair and a few grays - but you have to look for them. I will dye it or highlight it when that time comes.

[Selkie]

I'm 48 and don't have gray hair yet (that's the only part of me that still looks young  :laugh: ).

 

My mom didn't have much gray until she was in her 60s, and my dad is in his late 70s and still has mostly dark hair.

 

Dh is 50 and is starting to get quite a bit of gray. His family tends to go gray early - his siblings were mostly gray by their 30s. 

[sbgrace]

I'm mid-40's. I'm not sure what would be considered significant, so I didn't vote. I think I'm probably 10% gray? I began noticing gray around 40-42. 

[gardenmom5]

I was noticing gray in my thirties  and just did blonde highlights for years.   even now  - and I'm not coloring anymore - my hair looks more platinum with gray than gray with blonde highlights.

 

My dad . . . he had a lot of gray at his wedding.  when he was 25.

 

stress/adrenal function can affect when you turn gray.  dh's aunt's hair went from black to pure white in nine months.   she was fighting to prove fil was alive.  (he was a pow.)

[Pawz4me]

With that caveat that significant is in the eye of the beholder -- I'm 54 and have some gray but I wouldn't call it a significant amount. I'm pretty sure if someone met me for the first time and then was asked to describe my hair color they'd say brown.

[Crimson Wife]

My dad had dark hair and started to go noticeably gray in his 50's and was totally silver by his early 60's. My mom has mousy light brown hair like me and doesn't really have noticeable gray at 63 (not colored at least as of a year ago). Her oldest brother just turned 70 and he's got mixed gray & light brown.

[historically accurate]

I had a cancer diagnosis at age 35 that apparently stressed my hair out. I had no gray hair before age 35; I've been significantly gray since. I don't color it due to the cost of upkeep, and it really bothered me for several years. My father didn't turn gray until his early 50s, and my mom was late 40s. My brother doesn't have gray hair and he's almost 50 (although I will say, he is mostly bald). 

[Ivey]

I started coloring my hair at 23 or 24 because I was starting to get some grays, but I would say I had a significant amount of gray hair by my late 20s. My sisters all started to go gray in their 20s as well, and my brothers were all fully white-haired by 40. 

[Library Momma]

The poll will not let me vote but I started going gray in my late teens.  I had a significant amount of gray by my mid 20s.  My sister started going gray at 15 but my husband on the other hand is 45 and doesn't have a gray hair on his head!

[Ravin]

I've started showing a few grey hairs since around age 37 (I'm 39 now, almost 40). I do not as yet have anything like a "significant amount." Just a few up near the front of the hairline.

[MommyLiberty5013]

I'm in mid 30s I have 6 or so all located in the same spot.

[Guest]

I plucked my first grey hair at 14. (FWIW, I have one son who also inherited this trait.)

By college I was regularly plucking many grey hairs.

In my 20's I had to start highlighting.

In my 30's I was doing total grey cover coloring.

I'm in my 40's. I'm significantly grey. I'm done with all that plucking, highlighting, and coloring malarkey. Just, done.

Eta: Here's some pictures of me taken December 2015. I'm posing with the mayor of Lajitas, Texas. 😠You can see how grey I am. I'm 44yo now, btw.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/yqcuvb9sgfzk95a/20151228_164141.jpg?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/w5i1plfdvkaw3g3/20151228_164157.jpg?dl=0

Edited July 17, 2017 by Kinsa

[TravelingChris]

Great pictures, Kinsa

[Kassia]

I will be 50 soon and have one grey hair.  I am very low-maintenance (haven't even had a haircut in six years), but I will color when I go grey unless I'm much older.  

[SKL]

Not sure what "significant amount" means ... I just walked over to the mirror and there are only a couple places where the whities really stand out.  (I'm 50.)  I've had a white streak for many years, but it didn't really show because of where it was located.  I also have whities all mixed in with my brown hair, but the brown hair still dominates so that people are surprised when I point out how much white I have.  I got my first white hair in law school, age 23/24.

[Soror]

I'm 41. I have none. I think redheads Gray later. My grandfather had no Gray until his 70s.

I just looked this up and from what I read redheads actually (usually) gray earlier as do other people with lighter hair. I wonder how much is about how noticeable it is. I have uber dark hair those 2-3 gray hairs are very visible, with some shades of lighter hair I'm not sure I'd notice so few. My dh is 3 yrs older and is mostly gray at this point I'd say. It is hard to distinguish sometimes because his hair is light and so short.

[Carrie12345]

I just turned 40, and I find a few here and there. Not many.

 

Dh is about to turn 40, and he's been noticeably going grey for at least 6 or 7 years, if not longer. It still hasn't become the majority, but there's quite a bit.

[Caclcoca]

I started finding gray hairs around 22.  I was coloring my hair full time at 27.  I am now 42.  I still color my hair.  I would be 100% gray if I didn't.  My natural hair color is a very dark brown.  I have debated letting it just go gray because the upkeep is time consuming and expensive.  I am having a hard time letting go though.

[Farrar]

I'm not sure what's "significant." My hair is still dark from far away, but up close, it's clearly salt and peppery. I'm guessing in the next decade, it'll switch and from far away (or if you squint or whatever), I'll look more gray and from up close, I'll be more salt and peppery.

[Night Elf]

I love my grey hair! It's a silvery color, not battleship grey as my mom calls dark grey. I was just telling DH last night that I wish my whole head would match though because I still have my regular color hair in back. But my silvery grey is so light that it blends in with my dark blonde/light brown hair so it doesn't look bad.

 

I've had it for several years at least so I must have been between 40-45 when it started turning.

[Cinder]

I started finding gray hairs around 49-50yo. I have a few here and there but not enough to be noticeable. Last year my aunt was convinced I must be coloring my hair. My mom is 71yo and her hair is maybe 50% gray; probably less than 50% actually.

[Heather in OK]

I started going gray in my late 20s but much more in my early 30s.  I'm 41 now and am pretty much completely gray.  It's really pretty...but not at my age.  I'll let it go natural in about 30 years or so.  ;)

[Annie G]

I started finding  a few random gray hairs around 40 but now at 56 I don't have that many more.  I made a decision to not color my hair, as my sisters both went gray naturally and I want to do that also.   

 

Dh was almost totally gray by age 30, having started at 19. 

[AmandaVT]

I haven't found any yet, 40. I have found a few weird jet black coarse hairs from time to time though. My hair is dark blond, so they really stand out.

[catz]

My mom is 71 and only has a few greys.  Everyone thinks she dyes her hair.  I'm 47.  People think I dye my hair too.  LOL. 

[purpleowl]

I found my first gray hair at 25. They've increased...I guess slowly but steadily? I don't even know.

 

Within the past year (I'm 36) I've had people tell me, "You've got some gray hair!"* So I guess it's more noticeable lately? But to me it seems like I've had that amount--including the streak in the front--for a few years, and I'm not sure why people are just now deciding to comment on it.

 

 

* I seriously have no clue how I'm supposed to respond when people say this. 

[Loowit]

i am 44 and have a few silvery, grey hairs.  I started to  notice them about 6 years ago.  My mom is almost 70 and has very few grey hairs. A lot of people think she colors it, but it is all natural.

[happypamama]

I'm Caucasian and have dark brown hair. No grey that I can see. I'm 40. My mother is 62, with hair about the color of mine, and only has a little grey.

[MBM]

In my 50s and have very little, only a few strands here and there. Don't dye my hair.

 

Dh is late 50s and is mostly silver but it looks good on him.

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

34, with all of my bangs (long, but the hair that would be bangs if cut) a nice silver-white. I don't mind it, some people actually think I put in highlights. My hair is otherwise mousy brown, so the silver is actually an improvement! Lol

[barnwife]

I started going gray in HS. It just keeps going and going. i dyed for a while in my 20s. Then I started pondering why I was spending all the time and money on it. Then I met the future DH. And he prefers it in it's natural color, gray and all. I haven't dyed it since.

 

[LarlaB]

Significant is a subjective word. When you don't like the amount of gray you are seeing, it's significant. :D

 

I always had a gray hair or two from my late 30s on, but it didn't become really noticeable until I was in my mid to late 50s. I'm 61. Even now, my gray is mostly concentrated around my hairline, with the rest sprinkled in here and there. If I stopped getting it colored I'd be said to have salt and pepper hair (my natural color is a rather dull medium brown). 

 

 

Agreed!  I'm 41, and have dark chocolate hair and started seeing white hair around my face when I was in my late 20's and have been coloring since.   The contrast is quite severe, so a small amount looks more noticeable and significant.   I've tried to grow it out, but there are parts that are 1/2- 1" solid white around my face but then the rest is still very dark- so it's very patchy looking.   

 

My mom has very dark hair and is 68 and still has 75% dark hair, but my dad (and both of his parents) had pure white hair.  My hair seems to be an odd mixture of both.  Neither of my older sisters have had much grey at all.  

[dirty ethel rackham]

I'm 41. I have none. I think redheads Gray later. My grandfather had no Gray until his 70s.

I don't think this is true. My mom was a redhead and she had dyed her hair ever since I could remember (and she was in her mid-thirties when she had me.) Her roots were mostly gray.

 

Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk

[Guest]

I started getting a grey here and there after 35. I started getting an amount that mattered to me enough to seek professional coloring in my early 40s. If I left mine totally alone, it still, at 46, would not be a horrifying amount, but I don't like it.

 

My MIL is 90 and still has a lot of her natural color in her hair. She gets lowlighting instead of a one-color bottle job because her hair is just not that grey. My 46yo SIL (her daughter) has blonde hair and no greys at all yet. However, the other daughter started greying in her twenties and has long colored her hair because it is "totally grey" she says. Same with the boys in the family. Three of the guys (including my DH) didn't start getting greys until 50+yo; one is almost 60 and still only has streaks here and there. Another brother, the youngest, is just about totally grey and not out of his 40s.

 

So you never know.

[Guest]

The grass isn't greener on the other side of the fence, it's just different grass.

 

I'm in my early fifties with hardly any noticeable grey and it sucks. It doesn't match my face or my body or the words that come out of my mouth. This is my real hair colour and I would not dye it even if I could fix the problem with a different shade of brown, blonde, red, etc. because that's just not something that interests me and I'd rather have a computer part or a toy for my kid.

 

Most people think I lie about not dying my hair and that I am either not very intelligent or have very poor taste in hair colouring products.

 

It's not something I stress over that much, but it does make me laugh sometimes because most of the women in my family went grey very early and I expected to as well. They might have thought they wanted my hair, but if they had it, they would probably feel the same way I do.

 

I like scarves. I'll probably get some more of them and learn more ways to tie them if this keeps up much longer.

Edited July 17, 2017 by Guest

[The Girls' Mom]

I started getting gray hair in my early 30s, but it has really ramped up now.  I'm 41 and probably 1/3 gray.  I like it though.  It has grown in such a way that it isn't patchy, and kind of looks like I did it on purpose.  The bulk of it is around my face, so when I wear my hair down, it looks like I have strips of solid gray under my bangs.  When I pull my hair back, as one of my lovely friends exclaimed, it looks like my hair is a completely different color!  I'm in the process of growing it back out long, and hoping my curls return to their former glory (they disappeared completely for some reason in the front once the gray started coming in, but it are starting to return?) I don't color it 1. because I feel like I've earned every white hair on my head and 2. because I am far too lazy to keep up with the color and do NOT want the skunk look.  

 

 

[MistyMountain]

I had a stray grey hair or two since childhood but I am not going grey yet.