White Hairs at a young age

[Obsydian Rose]

Recently I have not had enough money to henna my hair as I've been doing for years. A few days ago I pulled a white hair off of my head a a friend said she saw a few more. I'm almost twenty seven but found the first partially white hair when I was seventeen. Anyone else have this problem? I so what do you do, dye it or leave it? I don't know what could be causing it since I take pretty good care of myself but I've heard that it's genetic.

[mira-chan]

I got my first white hair when I was 12, by now I have a 20+ crop of them in a streak.

White hair is either genetic or can be caused by a deficiency.

[squiggyflop]

well i got my first when i was a little kid.. ive gotten a few of them since

[AJoifulNoise]

I found my first white hairs last year. Now, I'm watching and cheering them on as they race toward the back of my head. Which one will get to the bun first? It's exciting! :lol: Yeah, so, I don't dye them.

Some other, similar threads that might interest you:

When did you start growing white hair? (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=17068&highlight=white+hair)
White hairs in your twenties? (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=17060&highlight=white+hair)
uh oh white hair question (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=10798&highlight=white+hair)
I found my first white hair! (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=10638&highlight=white+hair)
Those who have grey/white hairs (or heads of hair) (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=3811&highlight=white+hair)

[wintersun99]

I started seeing white hairs in my late 20's, I think that's probably fairly common. It's mostly determined by genetics and health.

smoking will make them come in really fast because smoking ages your body incredibly fast - so stop smoking - if you do. :D

[Obsydian Rose]

I started seeing white hairs in my late 20's, I think that's probably fairly common. It's mostly determined by genetics and health.

smoking will make them come in really fast because smoking ages your body incredibly fast - so stop smoking - if you do. :D

I take vitamins, eat healthy and I don't smoke so my guess is genetics. My friends seem more enthusiastic about my white hairs than me :undecided

[Briar]

My friend found my first white hair while sectioning it out for the teal dye this weekend. It was about six inches long, so it had been growing about fourteen months. I'm turning 26 next month. I am excited. It was a nice, pure white and it looked really cool, so I'm fine with white hairs. My father's side of the family has a trend towards very early (20-25) greying, and they all start with a white forelock on the right side. I want a white forelock like Rogue from X-men! ;)

[Anje]

I also got my first at 12 (ETA: It was about a foot long, too!), and I've got a small crop of them going now at 26. Ultimately, I plan to grow them in. However, that requires me to stop hennaing, which I'm not sure I'm ready to do just yet, as I like how much more intense henna red is over my natural auburn.

[Kirin]

I was 50/50 salt and pepper headed by twenty

[rags]

I got my first white hairs in my early twenties. I dyed my hair for years, but have grown it all out now. I've got a really large Rouge streak going now and I love it.

[Copasetic]

I found my first white hair when I was 20 or 21. I continue to find them every once in a while.

[Bene]

smoking will make them come in really fast because smoking ages your body incredibly fast - so stop smoking - if you do. :D

i've been smoking since i was 17. i'm going to be hitting 30 soon enough, i'm up to half a pack a day. not a grey hair in sight :shrug:

[Unicorn]

The plus side of getting white hairs at a young age, is you'll eventually get that beautifull full head of silver hair.

There is something really striking about someone, either male or female, with a young face and a head full of silver hair.

Those who go white later never quite make it to that point. In her late seventies my grandmother had about 20% white, and my grandfather at a similar age had even less. Just the occasional white hair was apparent.

You allways have the option to colour if you wish, (henna/indigo) or you can just enjoy!

Unicorn

[EchoAudra]

I found my first white hair in my early teens and now (at 27) probably have a couple dozen. I have a couple really noticeable white hairs right in the front and I love the way they look against my dark hair.

[Darkhorse1]

A girl I knew at the barn, was all of sixteen with TONS of gray hair. She had long, gorgeous dark, dark brown hair. Apparently, she said it was hereditary and her father went gray before he turned 20.

I found my first gray hair at 27. No, younger than that. It was when I started teaching kids to ride horses on a regular basis :D

[Lunaria Vex]

I found my first white hairs around 16, and was terribly embarrassed by them at the time. I used to pluck them out when it was only one or two so my friends wouldn't poke fun at me. By now I have quite a good few throughout my hair which the non-deposit dye I use every few months to darken my hair doesn't cover. I've learned to love them and don't notice them all that often anymore. I think I'm looking forward to having a full head of pure white hair someday like my father:)

[slz]

I'm all for loving them or whatnot but ... I just can't. My first white hairs came at about 15 or so, and since then they kept on multiplying quite fast. Bad dice roll at the genetics game : my father was just like me, his brother even worst : mostly white at age 30.
Now, I'm 37 and I dye - what I see when my roots show kinda scare me actually : top / front of the head has more white than brown. It's past the "salt and pepper cuteness", it makes me look 15 years older, I just can't bear it.

[Comfrey]

i've been smoking since i was 17. i'm going to be hitting 30 soon enough, i'm up to half a pack a day. not a grey hair in sight
I'm 50 and have been smoking since I was 14 and I have 4 grey hairs :D

My Dad is 83 and he only started to go grey 10 years ago as a reaction to the shock of my brothers death, but his hair is still only grey at the temples. So I think its all down to genetics

[drquartz1970]

I saw my first white hair at my widow's peak when i was 21, and greying at my temples at 31 - the white hairs are gradually taking over and I for one will never use hair colouring to hide them.

My father was almost completely grey by 35 and would colour his hair which he never could quite pull off satisfactorilly without looking painfully obvious. I will accept my gradually appearing white hairs gracefully and never use dye at all and be grateful at 38 to still (for a guy) be blessed with a full head of thick hair.

I still have more then 90% of my original hair colour and only 10% grey - I used to smoke but quit more then 10 years ago - and eat healthily too - so the greying is down to genetics.

I currently have a nice white streak highlight at the temples which looks distinguished when the hair is pulled back in a pony tail.

Also I think women with gray hair are incredibly attractive looking if they are young and doesn't reflect aging per se. Given the choice of dating one who dyes her hair to hid the grey and one who doesn't i would definately prefer the natural gray look anytime. I can admire a girl for accepting her hair colour, which tells me that she is comfortable with herself.

[Tap Dancer]

I've got lots of white hairs. I color mine, but keep in mind that white hair doesn't hold color for very long. After 1-2 weeks, mine are white again. I think it'll be beautiful when all of my hair is white like my grandma's. But until then...I have mostly dark brown hair with whites sprinkled throughout. :p

[LutraLutra]

I saw my first grey at about 25. But my friend has been salt and pepper since she was 12.

[Rebelkat]

I got my first set of white hairs when I was 13/14. Mine were caused by the physical stress of diabetes and scoliosis, so as those problems have gotten more in control, the white hairs have gotten fewer and further in between. I kinda miss them though; I'm looking forward to someday having a Rogue streak or something. At one point I actually bleached the front of my hair and applied hi-lift toner to get that effect...:rolleyes:

[wintersun99]

i've been smoking since i was 17. i'm going to be hitting 30 soon enough, i'm up to half a pack a day. not a grey hair in sight :shrug:


I'm 50 and have been smoking since I was 14 and I have 4 grey hairs :D

My Dad is 83 and he only started to go grey 10 years ago as a reaction to the shock of my brothers death, but his hair is still only grey at the temples. So I think its all down to genetics

Yay, for good genes!

p.s. Are we debating whether smoking ages the body? Hope not. :D

[granitbaby]

My eyebrows are about 20 percent grey I guess and I'm 25. I'm pretty sure I have some grey hairs in my hair too but I henna so I don't see them. My mums hair was almost completely grey when she turned 30, but I don't mind my genes. Grey hair (and eyebrows ;)) is beautiful

[NebraskaChick84]

I have some greys but they are hard to see. I haven't seen any whites yet though.

[Vyo]

White hair is kewl. I wannit. D:
My friend gets quite a few of them, actually. It's weird. He's 19, by the way.

[LawyerGirl]

My older brother is 27 and has maybe 20 or so white hairs... I don't have any (knock on wood). My grandfather was completely white before he was thirty, and my mom had a widow's peak by the time she was thirty-five. It's funny that I escaped the grey-haired epidemic!

[Speedbump]

A very tall ex-boyfriend was the first to notice my white hairs when I was 18. I had five of them then. Those were the days. :lol:

I'm leaving mine. I've never colored my hair, so it's easy for me to just keep going with that. Also, I hope to be an old (or apparently not-so-old) white haired lady, complete with long braid. :D

[Auryn]

I was about 26 when I found my first white hair. I'm convinced that it was stress that caused it and it's stress that's causing the new ones I keep seeing. It's also pretty hereditary in my family. My brother and my cousins all got their first whites when they were in their teens. I've got one cousin who just turned 40 who is completely grey.

Mine can't be colored. When I was still going blonde every couple of months, I could still see the greys even through the blonde. I don't know if they can be colored dark though.

[XtinaXposed]

i got one white, thick hair which grows back no matter how many times i pull it out. i'm 17, my mother got her first grey hair with 46, my father got some in the front with 47 years, my gran is 70 this year and she is i think 60-70% grey/white.
so not much early greys in my family.
i think in my case it's just a mistake of one hair follicel. some error or whatever. maybe it's not properly developed, the melanin etc does not come through to it so the hair stays white.
as long as i don't get more white hair, i can live with that one (which i pull out).
oh and i forgot my natural color is a lot lighter than in my avatar (colored). i got natural ashy/mousy blond/brownish hair and white or grey hair is not very visible.

[LadyEliza]

My neighbour was totally grey by the time she was in her early 20's. She died her hair black.

[MadPirateBippy]

I got my first white at somewhere between 12 and 15. My only issue with them is that their texture is different (my hair is fine to very fine, and wavy, the whites are coarse, split easier, and are thick and tend to curl) and they tend to be in the middle of tangles, so if I feel one that I know is in an area I have to detangle because of it, I might yank it, but other than that I leave them be.

I love salt and pepper hair and I am looking forward to having a bun that's brown on the bottom and white on the top. :)

[Johanna]

I got my firt white hairs at about 17 now I now have quite a few. I don't mind them at all, they add sparkle to my hair. If I use a semi-permanent or a 6 wash rinse then they add extra sparkles and dimention.

My partner doesn't mind them either, he thinks they're cute. :)

[wintersun99]

I found this intersting - my aunt (mother's sister) was mostly gray in high school, she's been dying her hair black since then. My mother started graying in her 30's - I didn't really notice much gray hair in my dad until early 50's! Not sure if I mentioned it for myself, but I'm pretty sure I started noticing gray hairs in my late 20's although I've been coloring my hair since early 20's so not really sure exactly. I've just recently stopped coloring and I can see them sprinkled mostly through the crown. For now, I'm leaving them alone - it is all so individual! :)

[backtolonghair]

I just found my first white hairs this past year or so, and I"m 29. I think it's just a part of the normal process of aging and such... I plan on staying healthy and active forever though!:)

[maunaloa]

:mad: I have a ton of white hairs...so annoying. I have died my hair twice and have decided that I am not going to again...at least for now.

[WritingPrincess]

I've had one single white hair since I was 4. I'd forgotten about it when the other day I was doing my hair and my mom said, "Oh, there's your white hair!" :shrug:

[HelliBelli]

I was born with gray hairs, so I never really cared. I've been getting a few more around my face, but most of them are growing where I can't see them. ;3

[MamaGigi]

I have had grey since I was 15. Now that I am 33, I find a lot more throughout. I have a ring from my temples down to my nape that is more thickly smattered with grey than my crown. I made the decision to grow my hair out two days ago (on my 33rd bday) mainly because I'm tired of trying to color and I want to be able to do some incredible things with my hair. My grandmother had shock white hair by the time she was 32. I'm closer than my mom to that already and hope it happens soon. She had beautiful crystal blue eyes. Mine are hazel and my brows are still jet black. I think that would be such a cool contrast, (white hair, black brows, and hazel eyes). :p

[cho_chang]

At my high school, I know two sophomore girls with white hairs, both Chinese. one of them has at least twenty visible strands, it's quite strange!

[Delilah]

I've been getting white and grey hairs for a few years now, since 25 or so.
I'm growing out/washing out black color that I have been using for many years to go to straight henna, so I think it will be nice to have the few greys as brighter highlights in the henna.

[Gypsy]

I got my first grey at 20. Or at least first noticed it anyway.
My dad was born with 5 greys, according to his mom.
2 of my kids have "silver". I say silver because the strands are more shimmery than my grey/white hairs and are very fine and easily blend into their hair color; they look more like a shimmery blonde. Those turned up in their toddler years and are in their early 20's now.
My other 2 kids don't have them. Just the darkest possible red based brown (looks off black but in the sunlight you can see the red tint).

[JamieLeigh]

I started seeing a couple in my early 20's, after I had a couple of kids. Genetics, on both sides of my family, dictate that I will probably be fully silver by the time I'm 50. So be it! Bring it on!!!!!!!!!!!!! :mrt:

[DolphinPrincess]

I noticed my first couple of silvers (mine are very shimmery/shiny) when I was 18, and pregnant with my first child. I'm now 22, pregnant with #3, and have probably about 20 or so silvers throughout. DH thinks its funny, he's 5 1/2 years older, and no grays/whites. :rolleyes: It's interesting though, because my grandmother had not a single white until she was at least 50, and my mother didn't have any until she went through chemotherapy. :shrug: So probably stress for me. I also started smoking when I was about 12, and the only time I haven't smoked was while pregnant... :o

[Myrrh]

My husband has white hairs. His mom went completely white when she was 30 I think. It's genetic for them, at least.

I'm happy I don't have any, yet :(

But it can be caused by a deficiency, as well.

[mamaherrera]

I have to enter in this now, because I had 2 white hairs when I was 28 and this last year, they've really come in. I don't think it's genetics, but who knows. Now at 32, I have 26, just found 2 long ones in the back. My thing is so many of mine are in the front, near the hairline already, kind of hard to hide because within a week there is new regrowth. I can't get over feeling sad, feeling like it's my fault because of stress because I stress out about them so much. But I feel embarassed because I feel like I'm the only one, even reading these posts, because so many of you started with a few and it took you ten years to get as much as I've gotten in the last year. I've gotten like 14 this last year in itself and that saddens me, as though Ive done damage to my body to make me end up like this. I guess all I can do is to try and stop stressing and hopefully I can slow down the ageing process that I've started. My sister said she had some at my age, but I doubt she had as many.

[mamaherrera]

and what freaks me out is that I find them quickly, I mean they're in the underlayers, but if I open up my hair, I find them, which then makes me think I'm thinning as well. Ay good grief!

[jacqueline101]

I haven't found any white hairs I'm 31 I'm waiting until the stress in my life makes mine turn white but I do wish for Lily Munster stripes.

[Mesmerise]

I know people in their late 20s who have a lot more than just a few strands of white hair! Honestly, I think it's quite normal... I had a few in my late 20s (although I always dyed them away so I don't know how many... they never grew long enough without dye for me to see any through the hair really).

I think there are a number of reasons for it... one is genetic, of course. That being said, my sister hasn't a single white that I've ever seen and she's almost 36. Overall, she's less healthier than me too (morbidly obese, ex-smoker) and yet I don't smoke, I'm a healthier weight (a little overweight but not much), and I never get sick. Now, I have quite a lot of gray hair!!

I have a friend who has just turned 36, and is a single mother of 5 and a smoker and she hasn't a single strand of gray on her head!! I reckon she's had a bit of stress in her time as well ;) but no gray hairs!

The point is... I don't think you can blame yourself for having a few strands of white or gray hair. It is what it is! I think you'd find a LOT more people have grays than you'd think, it's just most dye them away!

[CelinaStarr]

I noticed my first gray hair almost two years ago. I'm still in my late 20s and recently noticed a few more. Premature gray runs in my family. The gray hairs are coming in slowly though. I've noticed about 6 total, all along my hair line. I do have a lot of hair so I'm sure I have many more. I do not dye my hair and have no intentions of doing so.

Sometimes, I do find it strange that I'm only in my 20s and am already going gray, lol. I remember feeling shocked when I saw my first gray hair the summer of 2011, lol. Sometimes, I still can't believe it. But this is genetics for me. I'm healthy, exercise, try to eat well, don't smoke, and am not on any meds. Having grays don't make feel sad or anything. It's not a big deal for me.

ETA: my grays are silver, not white

[Sharysa]

I'm twenty-two and since my late teens, I tend to find a couple of stark white hairs whenever they get long enough. Against my usual soft-black hair, just a couple of hairs are pretty noticeable. I just pluck them out when I encounter them. My twin also tends to find a stray white hair now and then.

Mom's in her sixties and her hair's still black, but it does seem to be thinning quite a bit.

However, Dad's hair is entirely gray now due to smoking since his teens.

[ghost]

I'm 25, and I wouldn't mind having some white hair :) Or maybe I have some already and I just don't know about it, because I keep dying my hair.

[Prettychild]

I got my first white hairs when I was six. Not only I got a lot more in my teens and 20's but I even got 1 white eyelash. I have dyed my hair every colour of the rainbow because despite my best attempts white hair makes me look old. My husband told me quite plainly he doesn't want me to go grey. I used to dye my hair with henna but when the white hair was too much and the red of the henna really came through I had to stop using henna (it didn't go with my olive skin) and went back to commercial dye -which I hate.