Where did the gray hair go?

I have a ridiculous amount of grey at 42, and yes, I color, and no, I’m not a newscaster. My complexion looks completely washed out without some color to my hair.

My husband started going grey when he was in his early 20’s. At 32, he’s got the silver wings at his temples all filled in, which is a look I heartily approve of :slight_smile: There were at least three guys in my high school (all the same family - two brothers and their first cousin) who were either fully grey or definitely on the “salt” side of salt and pepper before they graduated - one of them was fully grey by the time he hit junior high. Their mothers were sisters and went grey before they were old enough to drink legally. Some people just go grey young.

My mother does dye her hair to cover her grey though - because her “grey” is actually a particularly unflattering shade of yellowish ivory. It’s an ugly color to start with, and clashes nastily with her skin tone to boot. Makes her look really, really sallow and unhealthy. She doesn’t mind that she’s going grey, she minds that the color of grey she’s going is ugly. She keeps hoping it’ll change to some other shade of grey when she gets older though - she grows it out just enough between dye jobs to check and see if it’s getting any more attractive. No luck yet, though.

My dad, on the other hand, didn’t start to go grey until he was well over 60. Even now, at 72, he’s still mostly brown - not even enough grey in there to honestly call it salt and pepper. His beard is totally grey though - and has been for years.

This is why I color it myself, why pay someone else those outrageous prices? For 20 bucks at Sally’s, I have the supplies to do it myself. Then 6 bucks for the color the next 5 times. For 50 bucks I’ll be able to color my hair 6 times. My SO usually pays nearly double that for one time.

I’m starting to get a little bit of frost on the temples in my later 30’s, but it’s cool. Thank goodness for Hal Jordan.

I had my first grey hairs at 19 (3 of them, right along my hairline. I pulled those out, but by age 20, I had about a dozen.)

My natural hair colour was black, I have blue eyes, and very pale skin that burns. I won’t stop dying my hair because my skin is so pale, and by now the natural colour is probably all mostly white, so I would look washed out.

My brother and mom have jet black hair. Mom has been dyeing hers for years now (she’s in her mid-50s). Probably since she was 18.

My brother has been getting little gray hairs since he was 18 or so. He’s got more every time I see him. I think it looks fantastic on him, although his complexion is so dark I can’t imagine what he’d look like with totally light hair.

My dad didn’t start getting gray until his mid-50s. I’ve got his hair. I don’t anticipate ever getting too gray, myself.

Nothing but. There are some tinges of black here and there, but my hair is white otherwise.

Of course not.

Once was a sportscaster, but that was before I was gray.

It’s silly. Gray hair can look fantastic. I remember catching some makeover show, with the woman who had some very striking gray/black hair that hung to her waist. She came out later in a mousy brown short cut and went from looking great to looking only ordinary.

I’ve dyed my hair for about a year now. My gray (luminescent, attention whore white) hair is coarse, mostly straight and thick and the remainder is dark chocolate-colored, wavy and fine. The dark outnumber the gray by about 8:1.

In concept the gray didn’t really bother me, it’s just that it looks dirty and washes out my Extreme Caucasian complexion, especially since it’s mostly around my face. I dye it close to it’s original color and then have it hightlighted so I don’t have helmet hair.

When I whined to my stylist about having upkeep for the next ?? years (because I’m not fond of scheduled personal maintenance like haircuts and color, manicures, etc.) she told me it won’t look dirty when the gray hair outnumbers the black. Since the dark hair is fine, it lies close to the head giving it a limp appearance in comparison to the gray hair, which sticks up.

That brought up the subject of just how to let it grow out gray without looking like someone who might dumpster dive for fun and profit. When the gray outnumber the black hairs, I’m told it can be dyed in sections (lowlights?) and the gray will grow out gradually without the skunk effect. We’ll see. Maybe by then I can go blue and it will complement my complexion.

I’m in my late 30’s, going gray. I don’t really care one way or the other, but I might dye it the next time I’m looking for a job. Can’t look too youthful in today’s software development market.

I had a couple of gray hairs, but once the chemo killed it all and it came back in a curly mess, there are a lot of gray hairs in there. Of course, as a teacher, I can blame it all on whatever kid is driving me nuts at the time.

65 and have lots of gray hair. i do not care. That is the color it is. My wife is 10 years younger but she quit pushing a few years ago.
She dies hers a lot. I think she would be very gray but I will never know.