How old is too young...

sbbhbm
sbbhbm Posts: 1,312 Member
in Chit-Chat
I have a conundrum. I have had white hair since I was 17 years old. Not gray- white. Not just a few strands, almost my entire head. My father had a full head of white hair at 18. Mine started changing when I was 16, so I started coloring it. My color prior to that was a deep red auburn. I'm extremely grateful that hair color has come a long way in looking more natural (though I do go through phases where I'll go crazy with purple or something), but I'm wondering when would be a good age to just let it go? I'm 34- is that too young to be walking around with white hair? It's not that it makes me look old- it's really silky and soft. I stopped dying it when I was pregnant, and was pretty shocked at how pretty it was just straight white. But it also looked kind of weird.

What are your thoughts? Ladies, do you color your hair? And if so, when do you think you'll let it go natural? And men, would you find a younger woman with white hair attractive or a bit off-putting?
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Replies

  • literatelier
    literatelier Posts: 209 Member
    I've had huge white streaks since I was 14, luckily under my part so when I wear my hair down you can't see them. But I stopped coloring when I was 18, and since then my whole head has gone a lot more salt and pepper. I've always had people tell me how "cool" my hair is. Sometimes I think about dyeing it again, mostly because I wonder what I'd look like with normal hair, but I honestly think it's not worth the hassle to maintain.

    I also have a guy friend who has had a full head of white hair since college. He's never dyed it, and again, he gets a lot of people coming up to him to tell him how awesome his hair is.
  • MM_1982
    MM_1982 Posts: 374
    Didn't Anderson Cooper have that issue too? He's been fully grey since he was in college.
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 18,341 Member
    I think pure white silky hair would look pretty awesome.
  • devilwhiterose
    devilwhiterose Posts: 1,157 Member
    Do you have a pic of how you look with white hair? If I let my hair go...about 50% of new growth is white.

    I'm 26, and having 3 kids and husband did that to me. :laugh: I color mine because new growth isn't 100% white, so it looks sloppy. Also, in my profession, I go to alot of meetings so growing out white/brown hair would look bad. I probably won't stop coloring until I'm into my 50's (we'll see). I know someone 62 that colors her hair. It looks ok except with the way she's aged, it looks really unnatural.
  • laurenc42
    laurenc42 Posts: 20 Member
    I'm 33 I'd so go natural. I think it would look really cool!
  • dovetail22uk
    dovetail22uk Posts: 339 Member
    I think it sounds beautiful!

    I've had some grey hair (and definitely grey) since I was 25 (almost 15 years ago) and I get more and more every year. But they don't look nice and are coarse and wiry. So I dye my hair and it looks pretty rubbish! But I'd be very happy to be like you if my hair was soft and white rather than wiry and grey. I think when it's all grey then I'll just leave it and not dye it anymore.

    I've seen a couple of ladies your age with the same thing and I've always thought how striking they look and it doesn't make them look older, it just makes them stand out from the crowd, but in a good way!
  • kristen6022
    kristen6022 Posts: 1,923 Member
    I'm 34 and if I didn't color my hair I'd be at least 70% gray. I've always wondered what the age will be when I stop bothering - maybe 45...I feel I'm too young right now to stop coloring.
  • morningmud
    morningmud Posts: 477 Member
    I'm 39 and color; I don't plan to ever stop. My aunt is 75 and she still gets her hair colored as well. Go with what you feel comfortable with.
  • EvaMRein
    EvaMRein Posts: 14 Member
    If all my hair grew out white I'd so let it grow out. Then maybe I'd look like Storm (played by Halle Berry in the X-men movie!) I'm 36 and unfortunately for me, white hair is "peppered" through out my scalp like my hair can't make up it's mind if it wants to be black or white. So I dye it brown.
    I'm envious of anyone who's hair can be just white. I'd stop spending time and money on dying my hair and just let it grow out that way. :heart:
  • kobiemom
    kobiemom Posts: 218 Member
    My husband has the same thing. He was self-conscious, so he kept it short and colored it for years. It took him to age 50 to let it go. It didn't bother him any more, even though his hair was whiter than his mother's. Go with what works for you.
  • _Wonder_Woman_
    _Wonder_Woman_ Posts: 218
    I have cousins that started to go white/grey in their teens.
  • mrincredible93
    mrincredible93 Posts: 146
    Age is a state of mind. Not a number, or a hair color.
  • AngieM76
    AngieM76 Posts: 622 Member
    I am 37 and will probably always color it. Naturally I have a dirty blonde color, I color to a lighter blonde.
  • EvaMRein
    EvaMRein Posts: 14 Member
    I'm 33 I'd so go natural. I think it would look really cool!

    I TOTALLY AGREE!
  • sbbhbm
    sbbhbm Posts: 1,312 Member
    The growing out phase also bothers me, should I decide to just let it go. I'd look really unkempt I think, and being a corporate designer, I have to maintain my appearance for meeting with clients. I have thought about using temp dyes while it grows out though...

    And I forgot about Storm- yeah that was pretty hot!
  • devilwhiterose
    devilwhiterose Posts: 1,157 Member
    The growing out phase also bothers me, should I decide to just let it go. I'd look really unkempt I think, and being a corporate designer, I have to maintain my appearance for meeting with clients. I have thought about using temp dyes while it grows out though...

    Yep. I'm a fire sprinkler system designer. I meet with alot of folks and...for a while, I didn't dye it...but it looked really bad.
  • GreenWurst
    GreenWurst Posts: 2
    Mines going fast but I remind people they pay for their gold highlights and I get my silver as a gift...
  • yiffanarff
    yiffanarff Posts: 123 Member
    The growing out phase also bothers me, should I decide to just let it go. I'd look really unkempt I think, and being a corporate designer, I have to maintain my appearance for meeting with clients. I have thought about using temp dyes while it grows out though...

    And I forgot about Storm- yeah that was pretty hot!

    Maybe to ease the growing out process, you could start going blonde (with highlights)? A lot of women I know with grey or white hair do blonde streaks because it is somewhat similar to the natural colour, so you don't get that awkward 'skunk streak' at the top of your head when things start growing out, and you can go longer between colourings. I imagine it would make it a little less awkward for growing it out completely as well.
  • drchimpanzee
    drchimpanzee Posts: 892 Member
    I started going bald when I was 18 so I guess I have a similar experience of "looking old" at a young age. In my 20s I shaved my head every day to at least try to look like I was bald on purpose but eventually I just got to where I could let it grow out without worrying. Do whatever works for you I'd say. Worst case scenario is you don't like the way it looks and you can just dye it again.
  • vim_n_vigor
    vim_n_vigor Posts: 4,089 Member
    I am almost 37 and have been dyeing my hair since I was about 10 years old. I am not sure what color my hair is anymore! I really enjoy coloring my hair, and I'll probably do it forever. I do think your hair color sounds really pretty. I would try letting it out at least once to see if you like it. Like another poster said, try going blonde and keep getting lighter highlights to grow it out.
  • sammniamii
    sammniamii Posts: 669 Member
    I started getting white, silver & grey at age 19. Now at age 36, 1/3-1/2 of my hair shows one if not all 3 colors. I die it, but last time I wasn't paying attention and it grew out - I had 2" of GREY ROOTS. Solid GREY roots.... I died it again, but I am really considering letting it go all grey/white or even dying it that color. I feel you hun.... I'm tired of fighting with it. Screw what people say, I don't look my age, so maybe the grey/white hair will freak them out.
  • eylia
    eylia Posts: 200 Member
    If you went to a hairdresser, you'd be able to make the 'growing out' process much less blocky and painful, you could also discuss some simple toners than could make your white look intended without needing to worry about colour upkeep much at all, just an occasional rinse or something if you wanted. If you can own it, it's never too young to be who you are. Red heads are often prone to going white young.
  • christabel6
    christabel6 Posts: 173 Member
    I like my red hair too much to let it go to white and mousey, which it is underneath the dye. It doesn't feel like 'me' that colour.

    If you're naturally white though that could look spectacular and cool, you could colour it with crazy color really easily. You are young enough to have 'young' haircuts that would help if you felt that the white hair aged you.

    A friend of mine in her mid 50s has a pixie cut - her hair is grey and white and she has strands of pink, blue and purple put in every so often. It looks amazing.
  • _chiaroscuro
    _chiaroscuro Posts: 1,340 Member
    Pure silver-white hair is stunning! It's also pretty rare so if you let it go natural, you'll likely turn a lot of heads (booo pun). If you're comfortable with that I say go for it!!! Silver-white runs in my family but I didn't get the gene, hmph.
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
    I think if you like it, go for it.
  • DrMAvDPhD
    DrMAvDPhD Posts: 2,097 Member
    If it was me, I'd let it go white but then put crazy colored streaks in it. Mine is brown with pink and blue streaks right now though :wink:

    As for "too young", the men in my family all went white around 15-18, but then my grandma married a Dutch man and his hair genes took control (Grandpa is now 78 will barely any gray and no receding hairline, looks like my dad, uncle, and male cousins will be the same). I will be dying my grey hairs until the day I die, but solid white is way cooler than that. If you think you can rock the style, go for it!
  • kr1stadee
    kr1stadee Posts: 1,774 Member
    I agree with the blonde streaks for the transition.. but I also think that the poster above is onto something - go white with some crazy highlights sometimes! haha

    There's a woman I know, and her hair was jet-black. She was diagnosed with breast cancer, had chemo, lost all of her hair (she's healthy now, thankfully!!), and when it grew back, it was silver. She looks AMAZING. I prefer her silver over her natural color.

    I bet you'd look stunning with white hair!!
  • ScatteredThoughts
    ScatteredThoughts Posts: 3,562 Member
    It wouldn't bother me, but then again, my hair started greying when I was in my late teens.
  • tinak33
    tinak33 Posts: 9,883 Member
    The growing out phase also bothers me, should I decide to just let it go. I'd look really unkempt I think, and being a corporate designer, I have to maintain my appearance for meeting with clients. I have thought about using temp dyes while it grows out though...

    And I forgot about Storm- yeah that was pretty hot!

    You could just go to a salon and have the color stripped from your hair and it will be back to it's natural color. Then you don't have to worry about growing it out. :smile:

    ETA: I had to do that when I went to a salon to get funky red and orange streaks put in. I had residue from previous box dyes I had used and the stylist needed to clean all that out before she could put the colors in. So she had to strip all the residue from past dyes out and put my hair back to it's original color.
  • __RANDY__
    __RANDY__ Posts: 1,036 Member
    I'm red head so I know sooner or later i'll be white. I have an uncle that's pushing 60 and he is still red, we aren't genetically related but gives me hope anyway.

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