Age-related color changes other than grey

[FennFire911]

I guess my first question is what would be the proper term for "salt-and-pepper" hair if the original colour is blonde? The salt is there but the peppers yellow LOL I'm 37 and my hair is so light I can't tell yet, but blondes go grey Younger than everybody else, so I've been told, so surely I must be going grey by now. But in addition to that, it seems that some of my blonde is getting a bit darker, and even slightly reddish. Would blonde hair become a little bit reddish with age, or should I look for other causes? No relevant environmental changes come immediately to mind.
Thanks in advance, everyone!

[Simsy]

Call it salt and cinnamon?
Genetics play a bigger part than age. I can probably look forward to being a dark blonde/red well into my 50s or 60s, if my grandmothers are any indication. My DH on the other hand, has already started going white before 30; apparently his father was an early grey

Blonde does fade into reds, oranges, and browns as you get older; normally. By mid 30s to early 40s, it's unusual to still have natural blondes as a very general guideline. It's something to do with hormone changes in the reproductive system affecting the blonde colour; but I'm not sure how and don't know if any other colour is affected in a similar manner.

[lapushka]

Do you use ACV, as that can color the hair. Blondes need to use plain vinegar if you don't want color changes. Maybe it's that. ;)

[Nique1202]

Blondes don't go "grey" at all, and actually tend to hold on to their colour longer than browns.

There are two chemicals that give hair its colour: there's one that gives brown at lower concentrations and black at higher ones, and one that gives gold at lower concentrations and red at higher ones. These pigments fade differently.

Only brown and black haired folks can go grey, because grey itself is an illusion. When those strands lose their brown-black pigment they become translucent and seeing the brown hair behind the translucent one makes the strand look grey. The individual strand is generally completely white, unless there's a hint of pigment still going into it, in which case it can be its own grey optical illusion.

When you have both (auburns and dark blondes and also natural golden brown hair) the brown tends to give out sooner and leave you with just the gold or red tint for some years. My hair is a natural medium-to-dark golden brown, and my "white" hairs are actually turning blonde because all that's left going into them is the gold-red pigment.

When you only have the gold-red pigment, you'll never have the grey illusion either because there's no brown pigment to do it. Your colour will generally just lighten, so true redheads tend to go strawberry and may never go entirely white, and blondes will fade out to white over a long period of time, and tend to look like they've highlighted their hair more as it goes.

[FennFire911]

Wow. So much can really be happening here.
One of my grandmothers was a redhead. All the others and both my parents have/had dark brown hair. My siblings have dark brown hair. I was born with shocking orangy-red hair. But that was just my infant hair. Within a month it fell out and was replaced with very blonde. As a child my hair was so blonde it was nearly white, a colour some people here refer to as being a tow-head. I don't understand the origin of that term though.
Nobody really knows who threw the blonde gene in the mix. I'm the only one of my generation that's blonde. I don't even have any blonde cousins. But all 8 of my mother's grandkids are blonde. I have 4 children, their father has dark brown hair and he has no blonde siblings, but all 4 of my kids are blonde. Same with my sister. She and her husband have dark brown hair, he has no blonde siblings, all 4 of my sister's kids are blonde.
My GRANDparents have/had redhead siblings. But where ever this blonde came from, it came in strong.
I've been expecting age-related whiteness for a while now. I had a boyfriend that was blonde into younger adulthood but by 32 had gone half white half blonde, and by 40 he was completely white headed. I just thought blonde aged younger.
I'll make an album later today if I can. The blonde I am now is only a few shades darker than my childhood shade of blonde. I'll put kid pics in for reference.
I do not use ACV. I don't currently rinse with any vinegar.
What I *think* I'm seeing is when I look really really close to find whites, some individual hairs seem to shine a little red when the light hits it a certain way. Just looking at my hair casually, no one has told me it's red. A stylist once told me there were red undertones, that I'm not ash blond.
So, blonde is finally fading away and I'm seeing red undertones coming through?
Genetics is absolutely fascinating! My mom and a few other family members have even done those ancestry DNA kits. My report showed there had only been a 2% genetic chance for light blonde. Scientists might think they know all the rules and variables and probabilities, but in the end Mother Nature always has HER way. Haha

[Arctic]

At 37 you might or might not be silvering. I am 39 and while I have some whites, I wouldn't yet say I'm silvering, those are more like few individual hairs here and there. I call them sparklies. :) Some find their first whites at much older age than me (I found my first one around 30 years old, I think I have way less than 100 white hairs now but of course it's impossible to say for sure), and some might be completely white by 39. Very individual and I don't think the original colour has much to do with it. Although my observations are that red hair seems to fade into a sandy colour relatively early on many people (at least people of Finnish heritage), so I have gotten the impression that red might correlate with relatively early colour change, but like always, it's very individual.

[Arctic]

Oh, and iron can make hair reddish colour.

[Anje]

Echoing others, if you're doing ACV rinses, try switching to white vinegar, because that can stain hair reddish. Water with iron in it (e.g. stains your toilet bowl rusty-colored) will absolutely stain hair too, so chelating might be worth a try if you see that.

Me, I was a redhead growing up, and made it to my mid-to-late 20s before I saw any color change. I think I've lost a little red pigment, but I've mostly gotten a lot darker and more brown. I'd guess that I've gone from a level 6 or 7 red to maybe a level 4 auburny-brown. It's enough that what grays I have show bright white against the rest of the hair. So yeah, it's not uncommon for lighter colors to darken a bit as we age.

[Llama]

I've never heard that blondes go grey earlier than other colors. My grandma on my dad's side still has regular blonde hair and she is around 80 years old...so yeah. Lol



Blondes don't go "grey" at all, and actually tend to hold on to their colour longer than browns.

There are two chemicals that give hair its colour: there's one that gives brown at lower concentrations and black at higher ones, and one that gives gold at lower concentrations and red at higher ones. These pigments fade differently.

Only brown and black haired folks can go grey, because grey itself is an illusion. When those strands lose their brown-black pigment they become translucent and seeing the brown hair behind the translucent one makes the strand look grey. The individual strand is generally completely white, unless there's a hint of pigment still going into it, in which case it can be its own grey optical illusion.

When you have both (auburns and dark blondes and also natural golden brown hair) the brown tends to give out sooner and leave you with just the gold or red tint for some years. My hair is a natural medium-to-dark golden brown, and my "white" hairs are actually turning blonde because all that's left going into them is the gold-red pigment.

When you only have the gold-red pigment, you'll never have the grey illusion either because there's no brown pigment to do it. Your colour will generally just lighten, so true redheads tend to go strawberry and may never go entirely white, and blondes will fade out to white over a long period of time, and tend to look like they've highlighted their hair more as it goes.

Very interesting!

[rmani]

Blondes don't go "grey" at all, and actually tend to hold on to their colour longer than browns.

There are two chemicals that give hair its colour: there's one that gives brown at lower concentrations and black at higher ones, and one that gives gold at lower concentrations and red at higher ones. These pigments fade differently.

Only brown and black haired folks can go grey, because grey itself is an illusion. When those strands lose their brown-black pigment they become translucent and seeing the brown hair behind the translucent one makes the strand look grey. The individual strand is generally completely white, unless there's a hint of pigment still going into it, in which case it can be its own grey optical illusion.

When you have both (auburns and dark blondes and also natural golden brown hair) the brown tends to give out sooner and leave you with just the gold or red tint for some years. My hair is a natural medium-to-dark golden brown, and my "white" hairs are actually turning blonde because all that's left going into them is the gold-red pigment.

When you only have the gold-red pigment, you'll never have the grey illusion either because there's no brown pigment to do it. Your colour will generally just lighten, so true redheads tend to go strawberry and may never go entirely white, and blondes will fade out to white over a long period of time, and tend to look like they've highlighted their hair more as it goes.


This is me. I was naturally very dark brown/black. At 33, I have a full head of pure whites and brown-red hair.

[Obsidian]

Blondes don't go "grey" at all, and actually tend to hold on to their colour longer than browns.

There are two chemicals that give hair its colour: there's one that gives brown at lower concentrations and black at higher ones, and one that gives gold at lower concentrations and red at higher ones. These pigments fade differently.

Only brown and black haired folks can go grey, because grey itself is an illusion. When those strands lose their brown-black pigment they become translucent and seeing the brown hair behind the translucent one makes the strand look grey. The individual strand is generally completely white, unless there's a hint of pigment still going into it, in which case it can be its own grey optical illusion.

When you have both (auburns and dark blondes and also natural golden brown hair) the brown tends to give out sooner and leave you with just the gold or red tint for some years. My hair is a natural medium-to-dark golden brown, and my "white" hairs are actually turning blonde because all that's left going into them is the gold-red pigment.

When you only have the gold-red pigment, you'll never have the grey illusion either because there's no brown pigment to do it. Your colour will generally just lighten, so true redheads tend to go strawberry and may never go entirely white, and blondes will fade out to white over a long period of time, and tend to look like they've highlighted their hair more as it goes.

I don't agree with this. I'm a natural light ashy blond and there was no fade out to white over time. I flat out went white, bright shiny shimmery white. It never looked like highlights or sun bleaching.

My natural color has darkened of time, unfortunately in never took any warm tones. Instead its a darker ash blond, especially on top where its just a dull darker greyish blond.
I have solid white streaks above each ear. If I could figure out how to keep the henna of these bits, I would let stay natural.

[Nique1202]

I don't agree with this. I'm a natural light ashy blond and there was no fade out to white over time. I flat out went white, bright shiny shimmery white. It never looked like highlights or sun bleaching.

My natural color has darkened of time, unfortunately in never took any warm tones. Instead its a darker ash blond, especially on top where its just a dull darker greyish blond.
I have solid white streaks above each ear. If I could figure out how to keep the henna of these bits, I would let stay natural.

I was speaking in general terms. Some folks will have somewhat different results, because of genetics, stress, or environmental factors. And, you still went to white and not grey when your hair started to give up its pigment, which does line up with what I said about blondes.

[lapushka]

I was speaking in general terms. Some folks will have somewhat different results, because of genetics, stress, or environmental factors. And, you still went to white and not grey when your hair started to give up its pigment, which does line up with what I said about blondes.

I have light ashy brown hair, and I'm going straight to white. My dad has black hair and he's gone straight to white. My mom had black hair and she went typically gray, then white. So... I don't think you can really generalize at all. Different strokes for different folks, you know? ;)

[Nique1202]

I have light ashy brown hair, and I'm going straight to white. My dad has black hair and he's gone straight to white. My mom had black hair and she went typically gray, then white. So... I don't think you can really generalize at all. Different strokes for different folks, you know? ;)

Everyone technically goes "straight to white" on a strand by strand basis. If you have a brown colour with no gold or red in it, then you're more likely to get the "grey" illusion, is literally all I was saying. Grey is not an actual hair colour, it's just a trick of the light, and it bugs me when people use "grey" to describe the natural whitening of hair with age.

I really don't understand why people are trying to pick apart what I posted. Sorry if I implied that everyone in the universe would follow the exact same pattern but it was only meant to be a general statement, and even the exceptions you're pointing out still hold to the core of what I said: that hair turns white over time, not grey.

[FennFire911]

That's a very positive message to me. When people talk about it, they don't like the idea of going "mousy grey" as I've heard it referred to, and silvery white is what's desired.
If genetics has more of a role in this than starting colour, both my parents were into their 40's before the silvering process began for them. My mom is in her 60's and roughly 50% salt and pepper. I thought it was because their hair was dark and it would last longer. Anecdotally, I've been told by various family members over time to expect to lose my colour younger. Looking back on it, I guess nobody in the family knew how a blonde would actually age hahaha
But I also think people pick things apart as a way of contributing to the conversation, and on message boards inflection and tone get lost. I didn't pick up on argumentativeness. Just people saying what they believe. I like lots of perspectives.
Thank you everyone, and feel free to keep right on! All your answers are giving me food for thought. ;)

[LadyCelestina]

Everyone technically goes "straight to white" on a strand by strand basis. If you have a brown colour with no gold or red in it, then you're more likely to get the "grey" illusion, is literally all I was saying. Grey is not an actual hair colour, it's just a trick of the light, and it bugs me when people use "grey" to describe the natural whitening of hair with age.

I really don't understand why people are trying to pick apart what I posted. Sorry if I implied that everyone in the universe would follow the exact same pattern but it was only meant to be a general statement, and even the exceptions you're pointing out still hold to the core of what I said: that hair turns white over time, not grey.

Exactly this! In my opinion, what everybody posted just sort of proved the point :D Everybody grays with white hair, and based on your starting colour, this can make the hair look a different colour : ash blonde, ash browns and dark hair = gray or salt and peper look, blondes = ashier or paler blonde redheads = sandy and many other variations. The individual hairs are white - the hair as a whole is a different colour IF you have enough whites and they are distributed around your head (some people gray in streaks)

Think of it like as if you powdered your hair with white :) I get a warm gray and I have medium warm brown hair.

[Groovy Granny]

Everyone technically goes "straight to white" on a strand by strand basis. If you have a brown colour with no gold or red in it, then you're more likely to get the "grey" illusion, is literally all I was saying. Grey is not an actual hair colour, it's just a trick of the light, and it bugs me when people use "grey" to describe the natural whitening of hair with age.

I really don't understand why people are trying to pick apart what I posted. Sorry if I implied that everyone in the universe would follow the exact same pattern but it was only meant to be a general statement, and even the exceptions you're pointing out still hold to the core of what I said: that hair turns white over time, not grey.
Thank you Nique for taking the time to add to recent/different threads, as I have found your posts to be be very interesting and informative :flowers:
The posts here have answered many questions I have had the past year as I watched my hair color change:thumbsup:

I was a light blonde as a child then darkened to a light brown/dark blonde in my 30's.

While I have a lot of white working in from front to back/top to bottom, it is also dispersed in the darker back layers;more evident in bright light/sun.

Last year I had an incident with argan oil staining my silver, and after a few clarifying shampoos it was removed, but I still noticed blonde streaks coming in and was confused by them; also, some of my darker hair has a reddish tint to it in bright light.

So what you say lines up perfectly for me; I am loving the natural and varying highlights....and I am getting compliments on it now as well :)

[Hay_jules]

I have very dark brown hair and got the pleasure of finding my first white hair at 16. I'm 40 now and they're scattered in my hair line and I have one streak that's been there since mid 20's and I hide with a side part. My mom was definitely more grey at 40 than I am but she used to be a smoker. I imagine lifestyle things that affect skin likely affects hair similarly.