When Did You Start to Go Gray, and When Did it Take Over?

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  • mygnsac
    mygnsac Posts: 13,413 Member
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    I started noticing strands of ugly mousy gray hair popping out in my eary 40s. I'm 49 now and dye my hair a couple times each year, so not sure home much it's taken over. I plan to live in denial for the foreseeable future. When I was younger and my mom dyed her hair to cover the gray, I'd jokingly ask her to stop dying just once so I can see what her actual color was at that age. She refused and said she didn't want to spoil the surprise for me!
  • blah2989
    blah2989 Posts: 338 Member
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    Im only 25, but started greying at 17, no joke lol. I don't dye my hair, but you certainly see long grey strands... I get it from my dads side hes was totally salt n pepper by 30!!!
  • Missjulesdid
    Missjulesdid Posts: 1,444 Member
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    Started getting sprigs of silver at 16, started coloring at 18....and finally stopped coloring at 42 (I'm a couple months from 48). Most glorious thing I ever did!!! :wink: I'm completely silver no....get stopped and asked DAILY "is that your real color?" I regret having spent all those years (and all that money) to cover up my naturally silver hair!!!
    This is a question for the vintage models here at MFP. At what age did your hair start to gray? And when did the gray finally take over? I'm curious as I head toward my 50th birthday in a couple of months, with plenty of visible gray hairs but not enough to pull out the dye bottle yet. I won't hesitate to color my hair when it gets too prominent.

    I actually don't remember how old I was when the first one cropped up, but it was probably late 30s/early 40s. All I remember is that my husband pointed it out while we were at Disney World on vacation! Yes, honey, thanks for adding cheer as we visit the Happiest Place on Earth (he's a great hubby in most ways but tact sometimes evades him). Thankfully, the progress has been slow for me since then. Curious about how it progresses for others.

    Your silver is AWESOME. I'd DEFINITELY let mine go natural if it could look alive an vibrant like that! Unfortunately I think I'm already taking after my grandmother who had nondescript darkish hair with some dingy grays making the whole thing just look like dirty dishwater.
  • Gwennie9476
    Gwennie9476 Posts: 45 Member
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    I am soon to be 38. First gray hair around the age of 17-18. My mother was totally gray at 18. If I didn't continue to dye it...I would be totally gray. I'm just not ready to be yet. So at the ripe age of 30...i was a totally silver bird.
  • greatsmokey623
    greatsmokey623 Posts: 11
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    I started turning grey when I was just out of college. My mom and all of her family members are completely white/silver haired so I knew what was in store for me. I colored my hair for many years until it became so costly I did not want to fool with it any more. So, when I was in my mid-40s, I let the color grow off a bit and chopped all that off into a silver pixie. The color is now fully silver and the length of my hair now is half way down my back. T:happy: here is hardly a day goes by that I do not get a complement on it. The only people who look at me funny are roller-setted women who were taught grey hair is ugly.
  • ElyseL1
    ElyseL1 Posts: 504 Member
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    Ummm..i started at 22. Runs in my family though. My mom was completely grey by 40 im expecting to be somewhere near that. YAY DYE.
  • KrzyGal
    KrzyGal Posts: 139 Member
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    I started getting gray hair at 26 but I was in a really bad accident and in a coma. Doctors said the stress that was put on my body contributed to the gray hair. Started coloring it then. It's not gray all over but I've got a lot so I cover those bad things! :)
  • muggzie399
    muggzie399 Posts: 116 Member
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    Vintage you say. 60 and coloring for probably 40 years. Early greying runs in my Mom's family. Call me vain. My older sister never colored and hers is a beautiful grey and as soft and healthy as I will NEVER see. Too late now!
  • yellowlemoned
    yellowlemoned Posts: 335 Member
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    I'm 29 and about 25%-30% grey (i'm assuming because I dye my hair and that's how the roots look coming in) . I started going gray at about 19, but my very first grey hair was at 14. Genetics plays a huge role in it. My mom was totally grey by 35 so I'm expecting to be grey by 40 at least.
  • scottkjar
    scottkjar Posts: 346 Member
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    There is no such thing as gray hair.

    But I got my first dull silver hair at age 20, caused by strife from my then-girlfriend.

    It went mostly dull silver by the mid-40s. If I squint really hard now, I might occasionally see a brown streak (but that might be a smudge on the mirror).
  • gentlebreeze2
    gentlebreeze2 Posts: 450 Member
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    Started getting grey hair in my 30s. Currently (at 63) 60% grey, but I have strangers come up to me all the time telling me how beautiful my hair is natural (grey and all). It means a lot to be told that because in 2011 I had cancer. I started taking biotin a few years ago, and I've noticed more dark strands now.
  • muggzie399
    muggzie399 Posts: 116 Member
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    I started turning grey when I was just out of college. My mom and all of her family members are completely white/silver haired so I knew what was in store for me. I colored my hair for many years until it became so costly I did not want to fool with it any more. So, when I was in my mid-40s, I let the color grow off a bit and chopped all that off into a silver pixie. The color is now fully silver and the length of my hair now is half way down my back. T:happy: here is hardly a day goes by that I do not get a complement on it. The only people who look at me funny are roller-setted women who were taught grey hair is ugly.

    Great for you. Mine is very dark, chocolate as a matter of fact. It is short. I would have to shave it off to get to silver. Maybe I could do that and just wear a doorag. LOL!
  • Dogwalkingirl
    Dogwalkingirl Posts: 320 Member
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    I had a grey streak at the front of my hairline when I was only 16-17. I gradually got more and more grey. I dye my hair now every 4 week but I would stay about 24-25 I was 50% grey and by 30 I was 100% white!!
  • MikeCrazy
    MikeCrazy Posts: 2,716 Member
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    I don't think I'll ever go grey...I won't have hair to go grey with!
  • kiniece
    kiniece Posts: 96 Member
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    That's almost exactly what I did!!! I stopped coloring and let my silver roots get a bit of length on them and then went to my hairdresser and said, "BUZZ it off...down to the silver." She was like "are you sure"...and I said "no...so you'd better hurry!"
    :D
    I started turning grey when I was just out of college. My mom and all of her family members are completely white/silver haired so I knew what was in store for me. I colored my hair for many years until it became so costly I did not want to fool with it any more. So, when I was in my mid-40s, I let the color grow off a bit and chopped all that off into a silver pixie. The color is now fully silver and the length of my hair now is half way down my back. T:happy: here is hardly a day goes by that I do not get a complement on it. The only people who look at me funny are roller-setted women who were taught grey hair is ugly.

    Great for you. Mine is very dark, chocolate as a matter of fact. It is short. I would have to shave it off to get to silver. Maybe I could do that and just wear a doorag. LOL!
  • aliciagetshealthy
    aliciagetshealthy Posts: 946 Member
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    Started getting gray hairs at 17. I'm not exactly sure when it completely took over, because at 25, only the top of my head was going gray and I looked like a skunk. L'Oreal and blonde hair became my friends.

    At 49, I'm almost all gray, so just roll with, and only dye a couple times a year.
  • deearess
    deearess Posts: 28 Member
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    1st gray hairs around 27. 43 now and have more, but not a lot showing up in the roots when the color grows out. (I don't color for gray just because I like it better)
  • ShibaEars
    ShibaEars Posts: 3,928 Member
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    I'm not the age group you asked for, but I found my first grey hair when I was 23 - and it was long, so it had been around a while! Now I'm 29 and I have quite a few grays, but it hasn't taken over yet. I am unable to dye my hair, so I'm sure I will be all gray much sooner than I would like :(
  • LadyWeaselofVT
    LadyWeaselofVT Posts: 77 Member
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    I also buzzed all of my hair off when it was the desired amount of silver. My dad was fully silver in his thirties and I always thought it was beautiful so when, at 40, I saw all silver in my hair, I cut it all off and never looked back. In my thirties, it became progressively more difficult to color my hair without getting weird shades because the silver wasn't taking in the dye evenly so I'm happy to be past the time and expense involved in trying to hide my real hair color. This is the first time in my life I can really say I love my hair.






    That's almost exactly what I did!!! I stopped coloring and let my silver roots get a bit of length on them and then went to my hairdresser and said, "BUZZ it off...down to the silver." She was like "are you sure"...and I said "no...so you'd better hurry!"
    :D
    I started turning grey when I was just out of college. My mom and all of her family members are completely white/silver haired so I knew what was in store for me. I colored my hair for many years until it became so costly I did not want to fool with it any more. So, when I was in my mid-40s, I let the color grow off a bit and chopped all that off into a silver pixie. The color is now fully silver and the length of my hair now is half way down my back. T:happy: here is hardly a day goes by that I do not get a complement on it. The only people who look at me funny are roller-setted women who were taught grey hair is ugly.

    Great for you. Mine is very dark, chocolate as a matter of fact. It is short. I would have to shave it off to get to silver. Maybe I could do that and just wear a doorag. LOL!
  • rosebette
    rosebette Posts: 1,659 Member
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    I started to have a few in my late 30s and then by 40, I was coloring. The day my hairdresser said, "If I pluck them, it's a dollar a hair, or I can dye it for $40," I gave in. Now, I may be as much as 40% gray -- the temples and sides come in white. I color it brown with gold highlights, and the gray picks up the gold. I said I'd stop coloring at 50, but here I am at 55, so maybe I'll stop at 60. My husband likes me coloring my hair -- he says he feels like he's married to a younger woman because I don't have any wrinkles yet.

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