Polling with a Broad Brush, of course, so there’s no need to explain to me that not everyone goes grey at the same age.
These days, people keep younger for longer- particularly people who eat well and stay fit. As such, youthfully colored hair never really looks out of place on a fit person who has a young looking face no matter how old they are. So, this is something I’ve never had a good sense of.
Sure, some people start greying by age 20 and others keep their color long after their same aged friends start greying or dyeing. But starting at what age would you be inclined to assume someone is dying their hair if there is no visible grey?
Bonus Question: Does healthy living have any effect on the onset of grey hair?
Meaning, the 60 year old never been a smoker healthy eating yoga instructor with the killer body and youthful face: Is it possible that her healthy lifestyle has kept the grey away?
I’ll be 70 later this year, and my hair on top is still dark brown (my goatee is gray, though). Many people have expressed that they assume I color my hair.
I would not say I’ve lived a particularly healthy lifestyle, though I do my best.
I’m still getting used to the idea that people can actually change their hair color. Most of the time it doesn’t even occur to me that it might be dyed.
Same here. I couldn’t vote in the poll because this idea never occurs to me. I am aware that many many women dye their hair, and I’m sure there men who do so also, but I never look at someone and assume their hair is dyed so long as it’s a natural color.
I’m 58, and just a touch of grey at the temples. My sister, ten years older, has even less grey than I. Another sister, on the other hand, went fully grey at 40.
(I do keep myself clean-shaven, however, as my beard would be as grey as Dumbledore’s.)
It amuses me that I remember when dyeing your hair was just not done by respectable women (I say “women” because in those days, men just didn’t dye at all.)
I said 70, but this is only if the person is a blond, brunette, or raven-haired. Redheads, real ones, (and not strawberry blonde or auburn!), don’t go gray. Instead their hair gets progressively lighter/blonder until it goes white. Mom will be 60 next year, doesn’t dye, and her hair is simply a lighter red than it used to be, which is what happened to her grandmother, and I expect to eventually happen to lil bro and me in the fullness of time too.
Somewhere in my 30s, I developed these two beautiful “tufts” of white-grey in the front of my hair, one flowing each way from the midline. People would ask me who did the effect, assuming it was a salon service.
Now that I’m 55, there is more gray than I would like. The sides and back are salt and pepper, but face-on, I am mostly gray.
SO, I started dying my hair a dark brown like my natural color but I coat the front tufts or strands with Vaseline before I do so. I end up with the look I had in my 30s and everyone still asks me if it’s natural or if I had a salon put in the gray!
Great way to look not-so-gray, but perfectly natural for my age.
I assumed you meant some gray and not totally gray.
As for the bonus: some of the most healthy, health-conscious and fit people I’ve known are also the ones who started graying or losing their hair first. It’s the chain-smokers and hardened drinkers who have kept a full head of mostly not-gray hair the longest.
I don’t dye my hair or beard, because it’s turned platinum, dammit, not gray! I am pretty sure my younger brother dyes his beard a shade of red I call “Aztec Sunset.”
Dad had a 70 year smoking habit, eats pretty much what he wants, and doesn’t exercise. Didn’t start going grey until late 60’s, is in his mid 80’s and still mostly black haired.
His dad was still salt-and-pepper at 98 when he died. Didn’t start greying until late 60’s/early 70’s.
I don’t smoke, eat healthy, and do get a lot of exercise. I’m now in my 50’s, still no sign of grey, although I’m getting accusations of dying once people know my real age.
As long as the hair is a natural color I usually assume it’s natural, not dyed, although since the hair dye aisle at work is part of my department I wind up talking to a lot of folks who tell me they dye and can I help them find their color in among all these boxes? A lot of retired people do dye their hair, because they like the look better than being grey. For those who don’t, “clarifying” shampoo, which is supposed to enhance the look of grey hair, has become popular (I think it’s supposed to reduce yellow color, making the hair look more white or silver-grey). Even if they aren’t working, a lot of retired folks still want to look good.
I didn’t vote because the only time I assume someone is coloring their hair is if it looks like a bad dye job, or it’s a color on the ROYGBIV spectrum. My dad just started to get some gray at 70, my mom started at 40. I’m 61 and I have no gray, but one of my sisters started her gray in her early 50s.
So unless it looks like you applied shoe polish to your tresses, I probably won’t even think about your hair. OK, if it looks like a wig, it’ll probably get my attention…
I’m in my early 50’s, no gray hair on top but my beard has been graying for many years. My dad didn’t really have any gray hair until his 70’s. My brother, a few years older than me, has no gray hair either.
My hair is now thinning, so I’ve got that going for me.
