Question for Renegrays

[x0h_bother]

Hello,
I have a question about gray hairs first begining to grow in. I am 24 and I have a few strands that are by my part or hairline. I had began plucking the ones that are visible for a few years.
But I am wondering, at what point do you know that you are growing in a lot of grays and let them grow?
If I kept plucking, would I have no hair left?
Also, if I let them grow in, will I look salt and pepper at my age?
At what age to people typically begin dying their hair when they go gray (which I don't plan on doing)?
TIA :)

[cmnt831]

I figured that I was going gray when I found my first silvers at age 19. I knew I didn't want to dye them, either. I did have some highlights put in, but I didn't really like them and just let them grow out. I would say that the silvers weren't really noticeable in my hair until I hit my 30s. So, people wouldn't immediately peg you as a "salt and pepper" person if you just have a few gray hairs that are still pluckable without making you look like you have bald patches. :)

If you did have a lot of silver hairs and you tried to pluck them, then, yeah, that might look weird....

People probably decide to dye their hair after they've received their first rude comment from another person about having gray hair. Or maybe some just like dying their hair because they didn't like their original color to begin with. :shrug:

Does that help any?

[restourceful]

The age varies from person-to-person. I'm like cmnt; I found grays starting in my mid-teens. I didn't begin to dye them until my mid-thirties. Pull them out? :shudder: Never! I decided in my mid-forties to stop dying and let my natural color shine. And I've never regretted it.

It's really a personal decision about if/when to let them grow. If I had it to do over again, knowing what I know now, I would never have dyed.

[Arianwen]

If you keep plucking them, they will stop growing in altogether (that's what I heard) now why doesn't that work for non-head hairs I pluck, dangit?!?!

[little_cherry]

If you keep plucking them, they will stop growing in altogether (that's what I heard) now why doesn't that work for non-head hairs I pluck, dangit?!?!
I used to pluck my silvers out when I was 15-19 and they always came back (lucky). I guess if you pluck any hair for a long amount of time, the hair follicle will get damaged and no hair will grow there for a very long time, if not at all. I wouldn't want a bald patch, so I leave the silvers alone and embrace their sparkling beauty.

[ifyouforget]

I've had silvers since I was 16-17, and still only have a handful, and they're definitely not noticeable. I think it's really individual, but most people seem to have a fairly long wait between the first hairs and when they really start coming in.

[Siava]

There's nothing I can add to your questions that these lovelies haven't already stated, but wanted to pop in to thank you for seeking aid from The Renegrays. Your thread title made me giggle.

[Nevada Rose]

There's nothing I can add to your questions that these lovelies haven't already stated, but wanted to pop in to thank you for seeking aid from The Renegrays. Your thread title made me giggle.


I noticed my first silvers as a teen. I wore a part down the top center of my head, and there was always one very annoying silver that I would pluck. My silver strand was wiry, and when it grew out it would stand straight up. Later I gave up the fight, and dyed my hair blue black for many years after. I now have my natural hair color and my natural silvers running through it. :poot::joy:

[mellie]

I agree, Siava! I'm ticked pink that you did a 'shout-out' for us Renegrays, xOh_bother! :D

My silvers also started appearing about age 19, just a few here and there. They kept growing back regardless of how many years I kept pulling them. Actually I think it made them MORE WIRY to keep pulling them out. If you just let them grow, they tame down nicely.

It totally depends on genetics on how long it would take you to be fully "salt-n-pepper". For example, my mom was totally white by age 50. But I am almost 39 and still there's only a few noticeable silvers (they're mostly all underneath where you can't really see them!).

So I would say, just let them grow! :cheer:

[x0h_bother]

I agree, Siava! I'm ticked pink that you did a 'shout-out' for us Renegrays, xOh_bother! :D

My silvers also started appearing about age 19, just a few here and there. They kept growing back regardless of how many years I kept pulling them. Actually I think it made them MORE WIRY to keep pulling them out. If you just let them grow, they tame down nicely.

It totally depends on genetics on how long it would take you to be fully "salt-n-pepper". For example, my mom was totally white by age 50. But I am almost 39 and still there's only a few noticeable silvers (they're mostly all underneath where you can't really see them!).

So I would say, just let them grow! :cheer:

I guess there's really only one way to find out, right? Grow them out :) Yes also they got very wiry when I pulled them out, and stuck straight up. I suppose they will get past that stage and just get longer. My issue is, I have really dark hair and they come in white. I like them white though! Not really an issue, they are just more noticeable because they have no color. They're very sparkly too.
PS-I'm very intrigued/encouraged by this revolution :)

[lpsqt60]

I noticed my first grays when I was 27, I have like 4 strands near my right temple, but my brother who is one year younger than me and my husband, who is the same age as my brother, have almost 50% of their hair color gray. None of us pluck them out, I say let it shine through, the silvers look pretty mixed in with the dark hairs.

[Juneii]

I have found a couple of silver strands beneath the canopy of my hair. But I heard that if you pluck your sliver hairs it might damage and scar the follicles so then it won't grow back. I'm just afraid that if I start picking too much my hair will thin and have bald patches shudder: .
sorry I can't be much more of help, I would encourage you to leave it be or dye it.

[kitschy]

I think the majority of people have a few hairs that lack melatonin. My DH had about three or four when I met him 28 years ago. He still isn't gray. I'm blonde so my first grays stayed hidden - I never noticed I was gray until the process was almost complete....my hair just kind of faded. Sorry I can't help you.

[rags]

I'm not sure when my first silvers came in, but by the time I was 25 I had an inch long streak framing my face (think Rouge in X-men). I didn't have any anywhere else. I didn't get anymore until about my mid-thirties. Now in my mid-forties I'm about.......30 or 40 percent gray? I think.

I wouldn't pluck them! That just makes them stand straight up when they come back in. If you let them be, they will tame down and behave better.

[Teazel]

My first greys appeared in my teens and I knew I was going to go grey prematurely, as my aunt and grandmother had. There seems to be one woman in each generation of my family who silvers early, and I was the lucky one in my generation. :P

I started using temporary dyes somewhere around the age of 30, and continued for the best part of a decade until the greys became too numerous to cover completely. Then came a dilemma: should I cut short and move to permanent dye, or keep my hair long, healthy and natural? Fortunately I'd discovered LHC by then. :D

It took me a long time to learn to love my silvers. Looking back, life would have been easier if I'd stopped fighting and let them do their thing. Barring the advent of a medication that will arrest or reverse the greying process, it's going to happen sooner or later anyway; so you might as well learn to embrace it.

Oh, and plucking those first silvers is probably a bad idea, just in case it kills the follicles. You'll be wanting every single one of them later on, I promise!

[silverjen]

I started getting my first greys in my early 20s. I didn't start developing noticeable streaks until this year, almost 15 years later. And that's when I discovered I wasn't personally ready to go grey. I have tons of admiration for women who do. I admire a head of lovely silvers. I just couldn't see myself like that. Maybe it has to do with the way you see yourself inside?

Anyway, I started henna-ing this summer. Ask me again in a decade, maybe I'll feel ready for grey then.

[Addy]

I love my silvers! I have a good bit now that I'm almost 33 but I still have more natural color than silvers. When I pull my hair back, my short wispy silvers poke through and I think it's the coolest thing! Now, they aren't all short but some of them are and I never pull or yank them! I'll swat at my boyfriend like he's an over-grown fly when he tries to take one! :D

He thinks I'm gonna start dying my hair before I'm 50 because the silvers will make me feel old ...we have a lil bet going... I got news for him, IT'S HERE TO STAY! :D

[yassi]

I'm weird. I've had about 4 silver hairs since I was about 3. I love my silvers. It's really annoying when people pull them out to look at them.

They have a more wirey texture than most of my hair.