light patch = going grey?

[trampledbygeese]

Something odd is going on with my hair. Is it the start of going grey?

I'm (shh. don't tell anyone) just a bit over 30 now and in the last year or so I've noticed some of my individual strands of hair have patches with little or no pigment. I don't know if this is 'going grey' or pigment loss due to medication and/or stress and/or something other.

My hair is very dark brown (with the upper layer slightly lighter due to the sun). I've only dyed it a couple of times, and that was professionally done in my early 20s.

These light patches are only on a few (but increasing number) of strands of hair. They last about 1 to 4 inches, then my hair returns to the normal colour. No two strands seem to have it in the same place, so it's not like a band of light colour around my head. This happens on hair that is exposed to the sun, and hair that is underneath. The light patch of hair starts at or around the scalp, and lasts as the hair grows.

Is this the start of going grey? I assume I'm now officially old enough to start getting grey hairs. Or is it something else?

[Madora]

Sounds like your hair is beginning to grey. Mine started at the temples and then worked its way down each side, near the hairline.

[trampledbygeese]

Sounds like your hair is beginning to grey. Mine started at the temples and then worked its way down each side, near the hairline.

Even if the strands turn brown again after a few inches?

It's okay if I go grey, in fact, I've often toyed with the idea of grey highlights (if that's even possible). It would be nice to be able to buy wine without having to show proof that I'm over 18. It can actually be a bad thing to look TOO young.

But I'm also a bit nervous about going grey. Everyone I know who 'went grey' just stopped dying their hair so it was a sudden hit-you-in-the-face grey. Is there a classy way to go grey? Or should I start reading the henna threads?

[XcaliburGirl]

I am starting to notice that too. More lighter hairs, and some with patches of white or gold(as opposed to brown), not always at the root. I only have 2 stark-white hairs, though.

Maybe look at the Salt and Pepper thread for examples.

[princessp]

I have two natural blonde streaks and I'm quite sure they are white now at (shhh) almost 40. :D But I henna my hair and so they are bright orange now. I actually wouldn't mind the white streaks, but I am not that talented with my henna to be able to avoid just those spots.

[whitedove]

Go look at the salt and pepper thread - loads of us sparklies over there :D

[trampledbygeese]

But is it going grey?
If I was livestock, it would be an indication of a health issue (nutritional or stress) - but how much are humans like animals?

[Madora]

Even if the strands turn brown again after a few inches?

It's okay if I go grey, in fact, I've often toyed with the idea of grey highlights (if that's even possible). It would be nice to be able to buy wine without having to show proof that I'm over 18. It can actually be a bad thing to look TOO young.

But I'm also a bit nervous about going grey. Everyone I know who 'went grey' just stopped dying their hair so it was a sudden hit-you-in-the-face grey. Is there a classy way to go grey? Or should I start reading the henna threads?

Greying is not always pure grey hair sprouting out of the scalp. Sometimes the pigmented hair can be two toned. I guess it is something like a clock...your natural hair color was growing perfectly fine and then bingo..it is still growing..but the pigment isn't there any longer. I've seen this on others but it never happened to me.

Curiously, I had one strand of hair where the gray was at the very tip. Not damaged either..but pure white. I should have kept it when it fell out..it was very unusual.

[trampledbygeese]

Greying is not always pure grey hair sprouting out of the scalp. Sometimes the pigmented hair can be two toned. I guess it is something like a clock...your natural hair color was growing perfectly fine and then bingo..it is still growing..but the pigment isn't there any longer. I've seen this on others but it never happened to me.

Curiously, I had one strand of hair where the gray was at the very tip. Not damaged either..but pure white. I should have kept it when it fell out..it was very unusual.

So it is a natural way to go grey and not a sign of something else. That's sort-of good news.

Now, how long does it take from the first signs to total grey? I have very limited family history to go by - my mum damaged her hair with home dye kits twice a week and went grey much younger than I am now. My dad's family goes salt and pepper in their late fifties, and grey by mid 80s. What other factors besides genetics influence grey hair?

[SpinDance]

Yes, it is going grey. For many of us 'grey' is actually the combination of white/unpigmented hairs mixed with your usual color hairs. Some of my hairs come in white then switch back to dark, but lately more and more are just staying white for their whole life cycle.

[Seeshami]

I have always been almost pigment less at my temples. It gives me a funny hair line but it also gives me lighter streaks. Or streaks more susceptible to henna I think I have a bun picture with a bright read streak where my lightness is.

It's really not a bad thing. Grey/white whatever hair is normally shiny and eye catching to me. I like my mom's hair, it's naturally highlighted with white and just beautiful.

[trampledbygeese]

I'm glad to learn something new. I guess it's time to start thinking about how I want to go grey.

What is a socially acceptable age to start going grey?

[SpinDance]

I guess that depends on where you live, what you want and whether you care about what other people think about your hair color. I started going grey in my 30's. When I was in my mid-40's I took a wild idea to try dye, since I hadn't ever done that. It was sort of fun, for a few months, but after that the upkeep became both expensive and a pain. My hair was mostly in the range from waist to BCL, I had it dyed at a solon every 5-6 weeks. Roots showed sooner, of course. I was considering exit strategies already when after 3.5 years I had a reaction to the dye. I've still got a thinner patch on the back of my head from it. That was that, I stopped and am letting it go back grey.

Personally I like the grey better. Even though the dye color when fresh did match my dark hair color, it faded more red than is natural for me, and the dark is actually too harsh a color for my aging skin. Such is life. Silver is better for me now. It's kind of fun to see how the white around my face looks as it goes over and through the rest of my still mostly darker hair. It makes nice patterns when braided by my face.