At 55, I’ve got grey streaks in my medium brown hair. They’re not obvious, but they catch the light. My hair is thick, but quite straight, so I wear it in what used to be called a “shag” cut, with bangs kind of crossing my forehead. Someone at work recently asked me if I had the streaks “toned”…that is, were the grey streaks deliberate? I laughed & told her yeah…proof that I had adult kids.
My husband, four years older than I am, has wonderfully thick blond hair, with grey touches only in his mustache & beard.
I have a complaint about the ad for the “Just for Grey”-type ads, the ones that start “For the generation that said it would never grow old.” and end with “Never trust anyone over 90.” Has anyone noticed that the only woman in the ad looks to be 20-something?
Dark brown hair, saw my first gray hairs at 23, started getting a fair number within the next five years, now (age 53) have a lot of significant gray streakage. Never dyed it, never will.
I have red hair. Redheads don’t typically go gray, IME, we just fade. So I am highlighting it in the summer, coloring it in the winter to bring out more of my original color.
Men who are graying and balding, please don’t touch it. You are beautiful.
Twenty-five here. Started getting my first grey hairs around 16/17 (I remember, because it was a haircut I had while studying for a calculus test when the hairdresser pointed it out). They’re multiplying. I dye off and on. Not really so much for grey coverage as much as just liking to change up my hair color. Though damn if you can’t see 'em from across the room.
I have one or two gray hairs. I used to dye in the winter, just to keep my slightly-redder and more lively summer color, but now I don’t. I’m 40yo, female. It’s easier, it’s cheaper, my hair is in better health and it pisses many of my younger acquaintances no end I don’t straighten or curl it and shampoo (no conditioners) as little as decency and hygiene will allow.
Middlebro (34) has reddish-brown hair, no grey in sight. 20 years ago, people asked him why did he dye his hair and refused to believe him when he said he didn’t. For the last 15 years he’s had people asking what brand he uses…
SiL (34) would have crow’s wing hair, only she doesn’t any more; she’s been enlisting professional aid for almost 10 years. But she also straightens her wavy hair and uses 3 different products on it every morning, so whatever.
Littlebro (31) doesn’t have any grey hairs that we’ve ever seen. He’s got enough problems keeping his hair clean without putting strange stuff in it, so minimal maintenance for him.
Mom (67) went “Cruella de Ville” about 15 years ago, sick of how all the women her age suddenly became blondes. Most of her hair is grey, but she’s got an area that’s all white and she leaves a handful of hair there au naturel.
The Grandparents from Hell (95 and 94): he’s got graying hair which used to be black, she’s got some grey in her ash-blonde. It’s one of the things that make them look younger than they are, most people their age that I see have a lot more white. They don’t dye; like me, they don’t see the need to go through all that work to hide something that can be turned into a point of pride.
This has (so far) been my experience. In fact when my younger son saw me for the first time after I’d grown my silver hair out, he told me my face was too young to have silver hair. Since he’s known for being equally frank when his opinion isn’t so kind, I take him at his word.
I found my first silver hair when I was 20-21 and as I’ve posted elsewhere I was (bizarrely) ashamed. So I colored for years. But as Usram also posted, the maintenance gets to be a drag. In my case my silver hair is very stubborn and will lose the color within a week or so. I just couldn’t see the point of spending the time and money when the results weren’t going to last or look natural. I also really did not want to be that woman who very clearly colors her hair. All in all, I’m glad I stopped coloring–although I also realize my choice isn’t for everyone.
Sure, that works.
I’ll try to keep that in mind, instead of leaping back, startled, when I turn on the bathroom light in the morning: “GAAH!! Heh, it’s just my reflection…”
I’ve been going grey since my early 20’s and have been dyeing it ever since. Just did about a week ago actually, it’s the lightest I’ve ever gone. (sort of a golden red)
I’ve been grey so long that the grey has gone white. I get complements on my hair color all the time. I’ve had white hair since my mid 40’s and I hit 50 about 9 months ago.
My younger brothers used to tease me about the grey, but then they went grey… and bald. I’ve still got a full head of hair.
My beard is skipping gray and going white. One big patch of it by what passes for my left jawline, and scattered throughout the rest. Unfortunately, I have a few white hairs in my moustache as well which when the light hits them just right makes it look like I need a tissue. I try to keep those trimmed.
My brother and sister started going gray by about 18. I was luckier, but now I’m VERY salt & pepper.
I’ve had a few friends over the years talk me into bleaching or dying but it always ends in disappointment and I’m perfectly proud of my gray. I earned it.
My hair is impervious to bleach & dye, unless it’s spray paint. No thanks my friends, but despite what an expert you think you are at it, my hair will defy you.
At 27 now I’m probably 10-20% grey mixed in with my natural brown. I suppose I probably got it from my mother, who has dyed her hair ever since I can remember.
[QUOTE=Rascal’s Mom]
I have red hair. Redheads don’t typically go gray, IME, we just fade. So I am highlighting it in the summer, coloring it in the winter to bring out more of my original color.QUOTE]
Yeah…my light reddish brown hair began to “fade” in my early twenties…and there is a white streak that seems to defy the typical redhead graying method. To avoid having my hair look the same color as Aunt Fannie’s apricot poodle, I’ve been dyeing every since.
As I get older, I have been going lighter to cope with increasing amounts of the white. By the time I’m fifty, I’ll probably be a silver blonde and then go totally white.
I have a gray streak right at my hairline and have for almost 20 years (I turn 40 this month). Over the last 3 years or so there is more gray in a general allover distribution, but my hair grows quickly so I’d have to touch up the streak almost weekly, and I’m siimply too lazy for that.
In talking with a hairdresser whose shop is in the block below mine I heard that when the economy is shaky a lot of his clients give up color. I have noticed a few women in my church who have stopped dyeing their hair.
I do think more people color than did when I was a kid, and are also more open about it. Remember “Only her hairdresser knows for sure”?
I don’t straighten or curl it and shampoo (no conditioners) as little as decency and hygiene will allow.
