My wife was born with jet black hair. I mean black hole black. Light was sucked into her hair and couldn’t escape black.
When she was around 20 she noticed a single grain of salt amidst the pepper. It soon called for a few friends to join the fun. That was when I met her. I thought it was gorgeous. By the time she was mid 20’s she had real salt and pepper hair. I loved it.
But she didn’t. She started bringing home toxic chemicals to cover the gray. She could never find a good black that didn’t look like Kiwi shoe polish or the glossy black that Reagan had. So she started shifting to a dark brown.
Now if it has been a while between treatments or trips to the stylist I can see that there is almost nothing left of the original black hair. Her current hair color is now more auburn than anything else.
Her mother was completely gray by the time she was 16 but died it blond until only a few years ago. My wife said that she’s going to be buried with a bottle of Lady Clairol in her coffin.
I want to know (if any of you ladies are brave enough to answer):
when did you first see the gray
Do you color your hair
If so, at what age will/did you stop
Do you think the gray hair makes you any less attractive.
And, for the men:
Do you find gray hair attractive
How do you feel about covering it up.
I loved my wife’s gray hair. It made her look mature, stylish and sexy. I think that women should not be afraid to show their natural color and shouldn’t try to hide it. Pouring dye on your head doesn’t make you any younger.
So, any ladies willing to reveal the truth? Or does only your hairdresser know for sure?
I have dark brown hair and saw the first gray when I was 23. I’m now 52 and have never colored it at all – I’ve got some really gorgeous silver streaks going, but am still more pepper than salt. Cite.
I’m 33. I first saw grey hairs a few years ago–hard to be more specific.
As of yet, I’m ignoring them with all my might, but it’s hard because I have a cluster near my temple which has decided it wants to be more visible than I’d like. (My hair is otherwise a medium brown). I’ve never liked the idea of having to dye my hair repeatedly if I start, and my mother has never dyed hers and so has earned plenty of compliments on her hair nice grey hair.
My wife is currently letting her grey grow out. She’s 46. I think she’s been dying it her basic brown for 15 years or so.
She tried growing it out a couple of years back, but didn’t like how it looked. IIRC, she said in the mirror w/ grey hair she looked too much like her dad - a person she detests.
At the time she said she’d give it another try at age 50. But she hates the expense and hassle of dye, so now she has a couple of inches of grey roots. It lookslike it is pretty much all grey. I think she says undied it has a very different texture than dyed, so the resulting change in her looks may end up being more than simply color.
It makes no difference to me in terms of appearance, and I’d generally prefer the approach that cost less money and time. When given a choice, I often gravitate to the more “natural.” But I gladly support whichever makes her happier.
And yeah, I often find grey hair attrative on a woman. Certainly moreso than totally fake-looking dyejobs. In addition to simple appearances, it suggests a woman who is comfortable with herself.
I’m brave enough. When did you first see the gray–I was 20 years old when I saw the first bit. I now call it my skunk stripe because it’s a solid chunk of shimmery silver in my bangs (similar to Stacy on What Not To Wear when she forgets to color hers).
Do you color your hair: I did color my hair for years. I felt ashamed by my gray, especially because I looked stupidly young for years and the gray was a total disconnect.
If so, at what age will/did you stop: I am now 47. I stopped almost a year ago. I was tired of the time and money it took to maintain (my hair grows really fast) plus due to pain medications and general anesthesia from multiple surgeries in a short amount of time, my hair wouldn’t hang on to the color anyway.
Do you think the gray hair makes you any less attractive: Nope, but then again I have a really nice color of shimmery silver hair. As my stepmother said, hers is a dull ugly yellow white and she won’t ever not color her hair.
The feedback I’ve gotten has been overwhelmingly positive, especially from my husband. I did worry I would end up looking older–or really that I would look less attractive and tired–but that’s not what I’m told. The only negative feedback I got was from a male friend who has always had an innocent crush on me and who despises any kind of change anyway.
Here’s a funny side story: my older son who has hair like mine (very dark but not quite black) was bitching about finding gray hair (he is 26). I told him he had two choices from me: male pattern baldness (like his younger brother) OR early gray.
He thought about it for all of five seconds and said he would take the gray.
A woman in my building is ±35, with an adorable 3yo girl she stays home and plays with a lot. In addition to having big beautiful eyes, a slender foxy face, flawless complexion and a quietly sensational bod, she has about 40% grey in her straight dark blonde hair. And Og love her, she isn’t doing a thing about it. I hope she never does.
I started getting noticeable grays in my early 20s, and that’s when I began dying it.
The biggest thing that keeps me from going natural is that 90% of the gray is on one side of my head, which I think looks odd. I don’t know if it makes me look less attractive, but it certainly makes me look asymmetrical. If it were evened out more, I’d be less inclined to keep dying.
I forget the exact stat, but ISTR reading that a phenomenally small percentage of blond women over 30 are naturally blond. Something as low as 10% or so. For the vast majority, over 30 their blond hair either darkens or greys.
I first found some grey (I call it silver because it looks more silvery to me…) when I was 18/19. I noticed it one halloween when it seemed like the white spray I’d put in my hair just wasn’t coming out…
I have a few other strands of it, and I do dye my hair but not because of the grey. I don’t have much and most people don’t even notice it. I colour my hair because I like to (tonight my hair dresser and I decided we’re going to go dark red with black highlights). As I get more grey, I’ll colour it to hide it. I don’t want to be mistaken for 60 something when I’m 40-50 something like my mom and her sisters. Not sure when I’ll stop, I’m only mid twenties now.
Male here, I’m not into grey hair and am all for covering it up if that’s what the owner of that hair wishes to do.
You only asked the women, but I started getting greys in my early 20’s and started coloring it right away. I will probably never stop coloring it (currently I do so 3-4 times a year) and absolutely feel it makes me less attractive.
My hair is naturally medium-dark brown. I started coloring it purple, auburn, etc. in college, when I wore it very short. Around age 30 the grays started showing up. I kept coloring it (for fun, not to cover the gray), but started growing it out. My mother and her sisters have gorgeous silver hair, and I’m hoping the genes are on my side for once. I’ve always thought that a long silver mane was a gorgeous thing.
I’ve stopped coloring now that the gray is coming in a bit more. So far it’s mostly in the back, but I do have a nice “bride of Frankenstein” streak coming in at my right temple.
I’m not afraid of showing my age. My younger years weren’t a lot of fun, and I like the person I’ve become. About the only doubt I have is the change in general coloring from dark to light. I never would have wanted to be a blonde.
Wow. I guess that considering the ever-growing list of things physical and emotional that make me unattractive, my hair color is so far down the list as to be nonexistent!
Well at least you admit you are not fond of grey on yourself as well as women. I remember my ex complaining that when women get grey they become old hags and when men get grey they become more distinguished. She felt that was BS and was completely unfair. I teased her and said “Who determined that men became more distinguished when turning grey, men?” LOL… But I digress, I also told her that her grey was beautiful and apparently she was listening to the wrong men.
She still dyes her hair, too bad really, because she doesn’t need to.
I will say that having my silver hair show has changed both the color of make up I wear as well as the color of clothing I wear. I used to be able to wear that sort of oatmeal color but not any more. I look absolutely dead. However I look really great in black, white, and any saturated cool color (burgundy, blue, silver etc).
That was one change I hadn’t anticipated. Oh and the silver has a wave to it. Very odd.
I just started getting some gray in the last two years; I’m 44. I don’t have any intention of coloring, ever, but my mother says I’ll change my mind when I start to look haggard, as she says having gray will do. I reserve judgment until I see it for myself.
For now, I’m sort of curious about the effects of aging; it’s interesting to see the changes and watch the process on myself.
around age 22. I had auburn hair that turned lighter in the Florida summers. My silver hair started with a Lily Munster streak on my right temple.
Yes & no.
Started at said 22 (various shades of blonde & a short stint as a redhead over the course of the next 24 years). Stopped about 10 months ago.
My experience tells me no. My hair still has a bit of old blonde coloring brassiness to grow out; I should be totally silver by January. I love it. It’s sterling silver and actually gets mistaken for platinum blonde most of the time. My hair is MUCH healthier minus all the chemicals & coloring and feels silkier than it ever has. I am so glad I did it. The reaction from both males and females has been overwhelmingly positive. I don’t have a picture of the end result yet, but will post one when I do. I’m really glad I went natural.
