Is grey hair straighter than non-grey hair?

[pullanmuru]

I saw something on Insta the other day and I was curious if people have experienced the same here. It said that grey hair often grows straighter than non-grey hair. So you might loose your curl pattern when you go grey. And there were a lot of comments from people who claimed the same. Have you noticed any change in your wave/curl pattern after going grey?

I know grey hair can get dry and that might affect curls/waves but can it in fact grow straight from the roots?


I'd really hate to see my waves go.

[embee]

Not in my experience. My hair is straight naturally but when it began to turn, the short pieces near my face became curly - especially in humid conditions. That was a surprise and a great pleasure. :)

[paulownia]

I don't think so😁
I am not grey right now, more transitioning into salt and pepper ;) but from what I've been reading about going grey ( and I did some reading on this topic:D) gray hair tends to be more porous. And curls and waves are more porous than straight hair too. So logically it shouldn't grow more straight.
Just look at Lorraine Massey. She is all grey now and her curls look as great as when she was blonde:D

[lapis_lazuli]

I'd be interested in the responses to this as well. The few I have certainly feel different to the touch, but they're not long enough to determine wave pattern or lack thereof. Interesting that yours became more curly, embee!

[AmaryllisRed]

My whites seem to be more coarse and quite curly.

[lapushka]

Nope. Same, as far as I can tell.

[Todd]

The grays I find are usually more wavy and more coarse than my normal browns.

[pullanmuru]

All your responses give me hope! :) My hair is very thin and fine and my wave is the only thing that gives me some volume, or at least an appearence of volume. I also used to henna/indigo my hair for years and years and henna really straightened my curl pattern, so much so that it almost came as a surprise when I grew all my henna out, that my hair had this much wave. A pleasent surprise! I am now getting tons of silver hairs and I love it but then seeing that conversation on instagram got me a bit worried.

My current whites seem to be a bit wild, going all over to weird directions but they also are all quite short at the moment. Which is also a concern of mine, why are they so short? They all seem like new baby hairs, is that how greys grow? Are they always new hair? So there's no like a normal colored hair that at some point just start growing without pigment so one strand would have two colors at the same time? Yes, these are the things I think about lol! I even tried to google it but couldn't find an answer.

[AmaryllisRed]

Individual strands can turn white or gray, and even turn back! I've got some striped strands on my head, due to periods of extreme stress. Here (https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/gray-hair-can-return-to-its-original-color-mdash-and-stress-is-involved-of-course/)'s an article that talks about strands switching to gray and back again.

[Fiorentina]

No, not in my case.
They are exactly the same.

[Deborah]

My whites are straight, just like the rest of my hair.

[Bat]

Yeah my greys are definitely more wirey it also could be the changes in hormones as we age that could be a factor

[SandyBottom]

My greys are all over the place (literally!). Some are more wavy than my dark browns, most seem more coarse, and I have dark hairs that transition to grey. I had one oddball that I was very tempted to yank out, but that wouldn't be right. He was just kind of doing his own thing for awhile...growing straight up in the air for at least an inch at the top of my head near the part. That little guy was just so proud!

[AmaryllisRed]

I had a question mark!
https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=44490&d=1613263496

[lapushka]

Maybe I need to clarify further. Texture wise, I can hardly see a difference, from the little number of hairs that are white on my head, but I did notice they are even more fine than my regular F hair. Isn't that odd?

[rosenester]

I have random white hairs all over, when they first appeared they grew as baby hairs, and stuck straight up for a little longer than my other baby hairs. :confused: seemed like they wanted to make sure I noticed them :lol: They are very similar in curl pattern and fineness to the surrounding hairs. Even my single white eyebrow hair matches the surrounding brow hairs in all ways but color. Sometimes they seem less fine, but that may just be because they visually pop more due to being so bright and sparkly :wink: Everyone else I know their curl pattern remained the same with greying hair.

[pullanmuru]

My greys are all over the place (literally!). Some are more wavy than my dark browns, most seem more coarse, and I have dark hairs that transition to grey. I had one oddball that I was very tempted to yank out, but that wouldn't be right. He was just kind of doing his own thing for awhile...growing straight up in the air for at least an inch at the top of my head near the part. That little guy was just so proud!

Mine are the same! They stick up like "look at me! look at me! here I come!" :D

[pullanmuru]

I had a question mark!
https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=44490&d=1613263496

LOL that's too funny! The strand seems confused by its own existence :D :D :D

[pullanmuru]

Individual strands can turn white or gray, and even turn back! I've got some striped strands on my head, due to periods of extreme stress. Here (https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/gray-hair-can-return-to-its-original-color-mdash-and-stress-is-involved-of-course/)'s an article that talks about strands switching to gray and back again.

Wow, that's so strange. Human body is indeed weird. I always hear about people talking about stress causing grey hairs. I suffered a huge loss 3 years ago and still trying to cope with it and I can't help but wonder if it's partly the reason why I've started to go grey so swiftly in the last couple of years. Who knows, could also just be age, I am 42.

[pullanmuru]

Maybe I need to clarify further. Texture wise, I can hardly see a difference, from the little number of hairs that are white on my head, but I did notice they are even more fine than my regular F hair. Isn't that odd?

This was also mentioned in that Instagram post. The person had a quite a lot of grey that had remained curly but those strands that were completely white were finer (she used the word silky) and straight whereas rest of her hair is naturally curly. I read somewhere that grey hair still has some pigment left and white hair has no pigment at all, it's basically translucent. So maybe that has some effect on the texture change people experience? Just guessing here. My white are very WHITE probably because my hair is relatively light to begin with. So I guess I just have to wait and see.

[GordonMurphella]

No, not in my case.
They are exactly the same.

Me too. And I'm fully silver.