For those with gray...

[motormuffin]

I see some ladies with longer hair and it looks gradual but others look more dramatic. I have silver/white here and there...my grandmother has beautiful white hair. How long did it take yours to turn?

[iris]

It's been ten years since I discovered my first gray/white hair, and I have about 100 now? It's not going very fast.

My mom has been going gray for at least 20-25 years by now (hard to tell when she started to go gray because she used to dye it), she has recently stopped dyeing it but it's still not completely gray yet, only about 50% gray. She's 67 now.

In other words, I think it can take a long time before you turn completely gray, and it's not guaranteed you'll get there before death even. As we say in Dutch, you can wait until you weigh an ounce ;).

[spidermom]

I've been at this lightening up thing for 10+ years now, and it all depends on the light. Throw a strong light on my hair, and it's more silvery than blonde. Put me under indoor lighting, and it's still golden blonde. My DH says is absolutely boggles his mind the way it changes. A boggled DH is a good thing!

[DMARTINEZ]

I started graying in my 30s. Still not completely white,so for the last 20 yrs or more
Ive been "brightening". :)

[Elenna]

Greying, brightening, lightening are nice vocabulary words.

I've been greying for the last 20 years. Now, it's more like 75-80% grey or silver. I'm noticing that the grey hairs are a lot more fragile.

[Addy]

I found my first gray/silver in my early 20's and I'll be 32 next month. I'm not completely gray but it's noticeable. :D

[mellie]

I found my first silvers at age 19. I still really don't have all that many at age 38, but there are some noticeable ones, probably I'm at 10-15% gray now. My mom was completely white by age 50.

[Tressie]

It's been going on for many years, but it seems a pretty gradual change with more at my temples (o:

[khan]

I see some ladies with longer hair and it looks gradual but others look more dramatic. I have silver/white here and there...my grandmother has beautiful white hair. How long did it take yours to turn?

I think it all up to genetics. I didn't have any white until after the 50 year mark. Like my father. My youngest brother was going white in his early 20's. Just like my mother.
Toss of the dice. :D

[JamieLeigh]

Mine has barely gotten started...I can't wait to have the full long-haired head of silver. :D

[feralnature]

My hair began turning white when I was in my 20s. My dad is completely snow white and has been for awhile. My mom is 80%.

My siggy pic is from April and my hair is much more silvery as it grows out the color. I will post an updated pic as soon as I get new camera batteries. (I have not trimmed in 2 years and I need to update anyway).

[Xandergrammy]

It's taking too darn long for me too!!! I stopped dyeing 3 years ago and was hoping for more salt than pepper, but so far, most of my whites are around my face. It can definitely take awhile. :rolleyes:

[Rhea]

It's going on for many years ... so long ... to long ... :)

[clairenewcastle]

I found my first grey hair at the age of 27, shortly after the death of my father. Due to the timing I sometimes wonder if it was because to the grief I was experiencing. More greys arrived over the following year, however as I moved through my grief the rate at which the greys appeared slowed right down until my 40's.

[Spike]

I started finding platinum blonde hairs in my late 20's, then the first silvers in my mid 30's. I'm finally getting enough grey to streak a little. < happy dance >

My paternal grandmother had silver knee length hair (it helps to be under 5' tall). She's my hair role model.

[motormuffin]

Well darn. I was hoping that it might look like it would happen faster. Maybe what I'm seeing is when people stop dying...

[SurprisingWoman]

When I first started coloring it was 1993 and my stylist hadn't noticed how gray I was until she started rolling my hair with spiral perm rods.... she talked me into coloring for the first time. :)

If you look at my photo album you will see a picture of me with my dad. I have a grow out line around my face and it's not super gray. That was in 2000.

I stopped coloring in 2004 and you can see how gray it was.

It started coming on slow but once it got started it went... WHOOSH!

HTH

[Linda K]

I think 80% genetics and 20% health.
Mom's side started turning in early teens - I was 16 (52 now).
Mom was snow white from ears up by 32 - when sis was born.
Salt and peppered in the back til around 45-50.

Dad's side late 50's and just a few silvers at the temple - that was aunts & uncles and grandmother ...

I feel caught in the middle and wish it would "poop or get off the pot" so to speak! :D

Yes, Silver / gray / grey / white hair is quite fragile - needs moisture+ so the texture is definitely a big challenge to figure out while the colored hairs are not so dry ...
Here's a link to a great site on caring for the gray: http://goinggraylookinggreat.com/care_and_treatment
The book is really good too. I borrowed from the library but want to get my copy ...

Has anybody else heard anything about a link between pernicious anemia and white hair???

[Alun]

Very slow change here. I had one of two grey hairs in my late twenties, and still have very mixed hair colouring in my fifties. I have also used henna, so I have some hairs that are neither my natural colour or white either. Thinking about doing more henna again soon, but need to figure out how to get it darker using only natural herbs.

ETA: My paternal grandfather never went gray, and lived into his late seventies, whereas my father went white after seventy and is in his eighties. I never knew my paternal grandmother. My mother's family go snow white early, on the other hand.

[Horsetuna]

My mom is mostly gray now, silvery gray. Dad is very very pale grey.. mostly brown. Hes' hardly got any hair LEFT though.

Me, I saw my first WHITE hair when I was about 20... Right now they're all grouped together atop my skull. I call it my 'colony'. It make a very dramatic, noticeable streak in my hair. not quite forwards enough to pull off rogue though. If I parted my hair more towards central it would be down both sides, but I like it down one side. Lots of people comment on it.

I dont know about my brother. I think he dyes. All grandparents I believe are gray or white, as is my uncle.

[Qamar]

I got my first silver hair at the tender age of 15. I still have it because I stuck it in my high school yearbook. *lol*

Now, at 42 I am around 50-55&#37; silver with the majority of it at my temples and along the crown of my head. I'm vacillating between letting it go naturally or continuing to henna. At the moment henna is winning, but that is just because my original auburn has faded to a mousy brownish as I've aged and I really dislike that shade. Once I have 80% silver or so the faded pigmented hair won't be as noticeable so I'll let it silver. By then I may be at goal so I'll just maintain and gradually trim off the pigmented/hennaed hair until I end up with 46" of silver cascading down my back.

[going gray]

I started covering my gray hair when I turned 40, it just didn't suit my skin coloring.