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View Full Version : First Gray Hair..at 23?!



RobieFlakes
March 26th, 2012, 04:05 PM
Lately Ive been catching glimpses of what I thought was random guck in my hair..until today. To my amazement it is an iridescent gray/white/silver color-blocked single hair. How did it go unnoticed so long I wonder..its at least two years old according to where the brown at the bottom begins.

Just when I was growing out my natural color from henndigo.

Why cruel genetics why? If it goes anything like my mom I will be totally gray by 30.

Anybody else find this horrifying?

caiti42
March 26th, 2012, 04:07 PM
Don't panic yet! It may be a lone gray. And the only one for years.

Either way, gray hair can be lovely, and there is always hair dye!

RobieFlakes
March 26th, 2012, 04:10 PM
I plucked it, immediately! It's in my wallet right now.

Amethyste
March 26th, 2012, 04:14 PM
Lately Ive been catching glimpses of what I thought was random guck in my hair..until today. To my amazement it is an iridescent gray/white/silver color-blocked single hair. How did it go unnoticed so long I wonder..its at least two years old according to where the brown at the bottom begins.

Just when I was growing out my natural color from henndigo.

Why cruel genetics why? If it goes anything like my mom I will be totally gray by 30.

Anybody else find this horrifying?

Oh... I feel for you :( I had already many many gray/white hairs at 16. at 30, I was already 65% grey/white and now at 41, I am at 75%-80%. It sucks, but hey, there are worst things that could happen :)

BrightEyes
March 26th, 2012, 04:24 PM
I have one grey hair on the top of my head and I've had it at for at least a couple years. So far that's the only one I have. Of course I can only see it when I have an inch or so of roots. I wouldn't worry about it too much, you may not get more grey hairs for awhile yet:)

Vanille_
March 26th, 2012, 04:29 PM
I started getting a few silver hairs at that age too. I'm 25 now and have a few on my part. I love them! When I dye my hair red, they end up being hair tinsel of a bright red because they are so translucent.

Anje
March 26th, 2012, 04:30 PM
Don't panic.

I found my first gray when I was 12. It was about a foot long.

I'm 29 now. Yes, I have grays. Dozens of them, and they're coming in fast, for which I blame grad school and some marital insanity that has me and my husband living in different states against our wills during the week. At this point, no one who isn't actually examining my hair would notice them. I expect that by 35 I'll have a streak or two of gray showing against my hair, which seems quite tolerable.

Now, no one can say for sure what your hair's going to do, but if you follow the time table my hair's followed, with your first gray at 23 you might have detectable amounts of gray at 40.

BlazingHeart
March 26th, 2012, 04:33 PM
I got my first silver/white/colorless hair when I was 18 or 19 - don't worry too much about it! At 27, I don't noticeably have them - I probably have a few dozen, scattered as single hairs. They pretty much blend into my hair because my hair has pretty varied color - happens sometimes to those of us with chestnut hair.

~Blaze

Mesmerise
March 26th, 2012, 04:41 PM
Don't panic! I had a few gray hairs that I found at 21... but by 30 I was nowhere near to grey ;) (at 38 it is a different matter lol... although I'm still not 100% gray... not even 50%... actually, it's hard to tell because I henna my hair but I'd say 10-20% gray).

However, I guess people DO gray at different rates, so it's hard to predict what will happen to your hair 5 or 10 years from now. Still, a lone gray at 23 is no reason at all to panic!

leslissocool
March 26th, 2012, 04:50 PM
BFF is going gray, she's like 1/8 there, she's started to go gray at 12!

I'm also 23, and I have a white eyebrow hair, not gray but snowflake white. I'm honestly jealous of BFF, her hair looks like she has awesome highlights!

xoerincolleen
March 26th, 2012, 04:53 PM
I'm 20 and have a full-on white streak. I'm definitely taking after both of my parents who went gray prematurely!

Ligeia_13
March 26th, 2012, 05:00 PM
I found a grey/white hair a couple of weeks ago. I loved it :D I can't find it again though, my hair was parted quite oddly that day.

lovinglocks
March 26th, 2012, 05:02 PM
I was friends with a guy in highschool, when he was 15 he had a bunch of gray hairs! I also went to highschool with a guy who started balding in his early teens :( and my boyfriend is 27 and has a bunch of gray hairs, he says he's had them for awhile. He pointed them out to me shortly after we met, I hadn't noticed them, but I gave him a "yeah okay and?" response he didn't seem to be expecting. I later told him I thought it was a little sexy... Who knew? :eyebrows:

Sunshineliz
March 26th, 2012, 05:06 PM
I wouldn't panic. I found the first at 20 and as it was rather long, it must've been there a while. I've got several streaks now and am going salt n peppery on top a bit. I didn't like it at first, but I do now.

Besides, if you do follow your mother, 30 and totally silver would be really cool!

lolot
March 26th, 2012, 05:15 PM
yeah dont panic is normal to have one of those for years, i found my first one at 20 and 5 years later i only have 3 and they dont show

noelgirl
March 26th, 2012, 05:16 PM
I found my first a few days before my 27th birthday, but haven't found another since. I think it's pretty normal to start with just one or a few and yet not "go gray" for many years. How it'll play out for me is up in the air - my mom went noticeably gray in her early 30's, but my dad's hair is still mostly dark now, in his late 50's. Does anyone know whether heredity favors one parent over another in terms of going gray?

RoseOfClare
March 26th, 2012, 06:27 PM
My mum found my first gray hair at 13. Im blonde so I simply say I dont notice them if I have them. Lol Grays never bothered me when I was growing up my mum always dyed her gray hairs she started going gray at young age as did my nana. Shes not 44 (I think) and almost all S&P and I love it.

My BF is 30 and has grays all over his black short hair I love em.

Im still waiting to get more grays dont seem to see any tho

Yame
March 26th, 2012, 06:29 PM
I started getting a few silver hairs at that age too. I'm 25 now and have a few on my part. I love them! When I dye my hair red, they end up being hair tinsel of a bright red because they are so translucent.

Same here! I got my first gray when I was exactly 23. Now at 25 I still have just a couple. I'd love to be totally silver by 30, but that just ain't gonna happen. So maybe I will dye my hair red!

jeanniet
March 26th, 2012, 06:41 PM
I got my first gray at 26, and now, almost 30 years later, I kind of wish things would hurry up already. I like silver hair, and even salt-and-pepper, but not this half-assed stuff I have. Don't panic; you may have inherited your mom's hair, but maybe not. Just one gray at your age doesn't really mean anything yet.

Yozhik
March 26th, 2012, 07:11 PM
I have one white hair I've had since I was 16. :p

I plucked it out then, but now I let it grow. It's the only one I've ever found, and I rather like it (although I have to part my hair a certain way to get it to show at all. :)

Sillage
March 26th, 2012, 07:39 PM
Don't feel bad, I started going WHITE in middle school. :D

ladyfey
March 26th, 2012, 07:41 PM
I had my first around that age. I am 40 now and only have a few. No telling what will happen!

lw8666
March 26th, 2012, 08:35 PM
I am 25. I have a little bundle of gray hairs, about 20 in one spot on the side of my head. I call it my skunk streak. Same as my mother had when she was my age. My dad was fully gray by 40, my mom the same. I am embracing my dark brown as much as possible now since I will one day lose it.

Rini
March 26th, 2012, 08:49 PM
Lately Ive been catching glimpses of what I thought was random guck in my hair..until today. To my amazement it is an iridescent gray/white/silver color-blocked single hair. How did it go unnoticed so long I wonder..its at least two years old according to where the brown at the bottom begins.

Just when I was growing out my natural color from henndigo.

Why cruel genetics why? If it goes anything like my mom I will be totally gray by 30.

Anybody else find this horrifying?

No. I don't find this horrifying at all. :shrug:

I started going grey at 16 and now at age 39 I'm a PROUD silver-haired lady. I am thankful for my genetic blessings. I love my silver hair :inlove:

I'm sorry that silver strand caused you such angst :(

caadam
March 26th, 2012, 09:24 PM
I got white hairs scattered all over the place, and I'll be 25 next month. It's all right; most people won't even notice until you point it out, and even then they'll be like, "Really? Where? ...Oh, I can barely see them." lol

I wouldn't be sad if I went all gray prematurely. I'd let it happen. :D

Amarante
March 26th, 2012, 10:15 PM
I'm 25 and I have some scattered around as well. I don't think it's a bad thing. I work in a salon, and most people in their 20's I have seen have grey hairs. It's quite normal. :)

Chetanlaiho
March 27th, 2012, 04:19 AM
I got my first one just before my eighteenth birthday ;) It's still there but it's just the one.

MonaMayfair
March 27th, 2012, 04:31 AM
I've got several friends in their early 20s with a lot of gray hair (I'm taking their word for it, they all dye it)
When I was 17 I had a friend of the same age who was about 50% gray.

Heatherzilla
March 27th, 2012, 06:26 AM
I'm 20 and I have quite a few grey hairs. I was really bloody excited when I found them because they're a really pretty silvery grey colour that I kinda love.

Don't let your grey hairs get you down. If there are only a few no one but you is ever going to notice them. My family/partner had to look really hard to se my couple of grey hairs and that was when I was actively pointing them out.

pes3108
March 27th, 2012, 08:09 AM
I am 22 and I have found about 4-5 white hairs...and I immediately pulled them out lol. My boyfriend is 23 and I've found about the same on him, but he preferred to keep his :p My brother is 19 and my sister found a few on the back of his head. So, relax... it's normal!!

Goodwyfe
March 27th, 2012, 08:24 AM
I sort of freaked out when I found 3 gray hairs on the top of my head on my 31st birthday. A year later, I've only noticed a couple more. Not the rapid decent into totally gray hair I was expecting. My problem is the texture--those white hairs are coarse and wiry. I imagine if I had a whole head of them I'd look like I'd but a fork in an outlet. I plan to keep plucking until there are too many.

carolyncasl
March 27th, 2012, 09:57 AM
I got my first gray hair at 15. I started dying it red at 17, and then I bleached it blonde. My father was prematurely gray (salt & pepper by 17, completely white by 30), and also my mom's father had premature gray hair. So I got the double-dose of genes. However, my sister and brother did not get gray hair early. Hmpf.

Since I'm allergic to hair dye, I wasn't touching up the roots regularly, and over the years, my hair got whiter and whiter, and eventually, the box dyes wouldn't cover my hair uniformly, and I ended up with different stripes of red down my hair. So I started bleaching it blonde at a salon. But when they were raising the price every time I went (4x a year, and I went for almost 5 years), I realized it was just ridiculous. I didn't do anything with my hair for about a year while I hemmed and hawed about what to do with it. I didn't know if I wanted to go back to red, let it go gray, or find a cheaper way to keep bleaching it. Meanwhile, the roots were growing and growing, and they looked pretty silvery. I noticed that underneath my hair by the nape of my neck was my natural dark brown hair. But at the top was mostly silver.

Then I discovered the Mehandi and HennaForHair sites, so I've been using henna for almost a year. The roots look white when they grow in, but since I am not allergic to the henna, I can do the root touchups.

trolleypup
March 27th, 2012, 10:45 AM
Lately Ive been catching glimpses of what I thought was random guck in my hair..until today. To my amazement it is an iridescent gray/white/silver color-blocked single hair. How did it go unnoticed so long I wonder..its at least two years old according to where the brown at the bottom begins.

Why cruel genetics why? If it goes anything like my mom I will be totally gray by 30.

Anybody else find this horrifying?
First silver at 17, still only enough in my hair to be sparklies, more in my beard.

And I'll add myself to the people who think it would be completely awesome to be totally silver/white at 30.

I don't remember it bothering me or my bff when she found it. Nor have the slowly increasing silvers bothered me over the years. I'll note that I find natural color variation of undyed hair (with or without silvers) more attractive than the uniform color (with or without roots) that results from dyeing hair, YMMV, of course.

jesis
March 27th, 2012, 10:47 AM
Just started getting some gray's and I'm 23. They're near my part,but I cover them easily with henna. I actually don't mind them too much.

Impulsive
March 27th, 2012, 01:15 PM
One of my friends found a gray hair on my head when I was 14. Still not sure how long it had been there. I've gotten several more since then. At first I didn't know how to react, but as the years have passed, I've decided I like my gray hairs. I think they make a nice contrast with my dark hair, and it wouldn't bother me if I got more. Of course, if you just can't think of this in a positive light, there's always henna/dye. No reason to panic.

lapushka
March 27th, 2012, 02:35 PM
It's a single strand! Not the end of the world. I think I got mine in my twenties. I'm almost 40 now and got a few more strewn around my head. It's not as if by discovering one strand of gray, you're going to go gray overnight. Relax. ;)

feb26
March 27th, 2012, 03:23 PM
I was about your age when I got my first gray...like yours it was silver. Only difference? I got a bunch of em in one spot rather than single strands..i guess they feel comfy together or something:p?? They're under the hairline so they don't pop up much unless I wear an updo or ponytail. so i don't do as much of those styles.

oh and i'm raven black haired. My younger brother also has gone quite noticeably gray, I think it's something to do with the darker tresses. I still get grays, but quite often I'll get a strand that is still partially colored, then goes silver, color, silver. I suspect this is the same for you and not so much the color dye growing out...mine will be dark at top, then silver, dark. Or vice versa..they do their own thing.

Angela_Rose
March 27th, 2012, 03:50 PM
I've had grey hairs since I was 12. Don't stress too much! You can always color it, or it may just be a Lone Wolf from a scar or something.

Add me to the list of those wanting a full head of silvers by the time we're 30! I've got two years left- go, hair, go!!!

Angela_Rose
March 27th, 2012, 03:52 PM
I was about your age when I got my first gray...like yours it was silver. Only difference? I got a bunch of em in one spot rather than single strands..i guess they feel comfy together or something:p?? They're under the hairline so they don't pop up much unless I wear an updo or ponytail. so i don't do as much of those styles.

oh and i'm raven black haired. My younger brother also has gone quite noticeably gray, I think it's something to do with the darker tresses. I still get grays, but quite often I'll get a strand that is still partially colored, then goes silver, color, silver. I suspect this is the same for you and not so much the color dye growing out...mine will be dark at top, then silver, dark. Or vice versa..they do their own thing.

Ah! I have a ton of these stripey hairs! I call them my "pirate sock hairs."

MissHair
March 27th, 2012, 04:14 PM
I got my first grays when I was 23. I probably got like 5 white hairs now. I dont really think about it. :)

GeoJ
March 27th, 2012, 04:25 PM
I got my first white hair at 27 (the hair turned blonde first, then white as it grew). Now (age 36) I have 3. My mother still only has 10-15% gray, and my father went completely gray by 50. I don't know which I'll take after- they both started graying late, but my mom has been getting them slowly and my dad turned gray quickly.

I do know one woman who was nearly totally gray in her 20's, and she never dyed it. Her hair always looked lovely (she typically kept it around waist length). I saw a young (probably 30's) woman in the grocery store once with gray hair also. It just made her look more interesting, I think.

Amber_Maiden
March 28th, 2012, 06:42 AM
I have a patch of white in my hair which I henna over. I also have one big wiry white hair that grows out of my scalp. I am sad about it, but not much one can do, eh?

GRU
March 28th, 2012, 07:30 AM
Mine started at 14yo.... life goes on, I promise!

barely.there
March 28th, 2012, 07:33 AM
my dad has been getting a few grey hairs for some time now. he always plucks them. probably the cause of his receding hairline. hehehe. have fun with it! my dream is to be old with long flowy silver hair!

pink.sara
March 28th, 2012, 08:25 AM
Dont panic :)

I had a circle of bright silvers about a fingertip wide pop up in my early-mid 20's after a long illness, and at 31 I don't have any more. Just that wee circle.

Most of my friends at 30ish have a few here and there but I don't know anyone who has completely greyed by now, although I'd quite enjoy it as it would mean crazy colours without bleach :D

melusine963
March 28th, 2012, 02:32 PM
Eh, I found a few white hairs when I was around 20 or so. They're still there, but they haven't increased in number in the last decade so I'm not too worried.

MandyBeth
March 28th, 2012, 06:30 PM
I had my first noticed gray root at 15. 16 years - almost - later, I have a good 15% white I think. However, hurmph, they are naughty and scattered, not nicely clumping together for a white streak.

That being said, no one notices them other than me, my hubby and CK who both find it amusing to put their chins on my head, and Casey my hair stylist.

MandyBeth
March 28th, 2012, 06:38 PM
Oh, and all y'all who are totally gray are meanie pants to tease me. I will never go all gray. My mom is 39.99999 and holding, but her surprise, thought it was menopause baby turns 28 this year for a hint is maybe 40% gray. My dad has fewer grays than me.

amanda_the_tall
March 28th, 2012, 06:47 PM
i got my first gray at 15, and i have around ten that i know of, right now.

torrilin
March 28th, 2012, 08:15 PM
If you were going to be totally grey by 30, chances are the greys would have shown up earlier.

My dad went grey quite young too. In the pictures of him and me as a baby, he was juuuuust 30, and his hair was solidly salt and pepper grey. More pepper than salt at that age, but not by a huge amount. His best friend would always tease him about being grey even before he had us kids to turn him grey :). From what Dad and his best friend have said, daddy was going grey starting around 18 or 19. Not he noticed his first grey, but that he had noticeable large streaks.

My partner is going grey relatively early. We're in our early 30s now, and he's got a sort of halo of silver threads in his hair. He hates it. I think it's adorable. But it'll take decades for him to catch up to my dad, since at the same age my dad's hair was more grey.

My mom didn't start showing any grey until she was in her 50s. This is really unusual. I'm pretty sure a lot of people must think she dyes her hair... and in reality, once the grey started to hit, she'd sometimes get highlights to make her hair look lighter faster. She's greying in a very pretty way, and on her the "silvers" actually look gold. Cheapest highlight job I've ever seen :D.

Sadly, I really love my dad's hair... and since I am in my 30s, it's quite clear that I inherited mom's. I've got at least 20 years before I have visible greys. It's just my luck that I get the one set of oddball genes that I totally did not want.

Copasetic
March 28th, 2012, 08:30 PM
I found my first grey at like 21, and yes, it was horrifying. I now how have a bunch of grey hairs that I pluck semi-regularly. I hope it stays manageable because I don't want to start colouring my hair.

Mírien
March 28th, 2012, 11:15 PM
Don't panic. I noticed my first grey at 20. I still have the little guy on top of my head. ;) But no other hair has joined him ever since. And I would be happy to have this one grey hair till my 40s... Well, mom and dad are not grey yet (only streaks), and they are almost 50. So, there is hope. :p

Dars
March 29th, 2012, 01:56 AM
I discovered my first grey at around 16 and it's not uncommon for younger children to sport a grey hair. At that age, I wasn't pleased and plucked them out as well. It's been a while since I've accepted that it's just nature and have aimed to age gracefully!

Bagginslover
March 29th, 2012, 02:28 PM
I found my first grey, totally by accident at about 22. I was finger combing and found a really thick, crinkly hair at the back of my head. I wanted to see it as it was so different to the rest of my hair, so I pulled it out. It was sparkly white and I was horrified!

I still pull out any greys I see, and any crinklies I feel but can't see, as I'm worried they are grey too-few have been, but I'm struggling to stop myself. I've discovered here that this is a recognised condition, so I'm trying really hard to stop. Turns out my collegue does exactly the same thing, so we are trying to support each other in stopping.

freecelt
March 31st, 2012, 03:34 PM
I'm 23 and found my 1st about a year ago. I estimate that I have a dozen or so now.

zombi
March 31st, 2012, 03:41 PM
I dye my hair too long to notice greys -- but I think silver hair is beautiful! If I could be assured I'd have sparkly silvers I'd totally keep 'em. But I think it's common to find greys at young ages actually.

SwanFeathers
January 21st, 2016, 03:22 PM
Nope. I'm 23 and just found my first Gray. Its exciting

Sarahlabyrinth
January 21st, 2016, 03:47 PM
I found my first grey hair when I was 21. My Father began greying when he was 16. It's normal to find grey hairs at a young age :) And they look so pretty too - I'm totally loving my gleaming silver hair now! I should never have begun dying it in the first place, now I have to grow out the dye. Embrace your hair tinsel!

Ingrid
January 21st, 2016, 04:09 PM
I've had 3 white hairs growing in the same spots since I first noticed them when I was 6 or 7. They keep growing back in the same places. I haven't been getting any more whites. My mum started greying at 15 and by her early 20s she was already doing whole-head henna applications. I don't think there's anything innately frightening about grey or white hair, and it's nothing to worry about unless it's indicative of some underlying health problem.

lapis_lazuli
January 21st, 2016, 04:26 PM
I don't think it's all that uncommon... my sister is 15 and she has a few silvers in her hair :) Nothing to worry about. Although my mom has been completely grey since she was 40 or so, so I fear that gene is going to be passed down to my sisters and I. I will protect my colour while I still have it! :luke:

DeadlyUnicorn
January 21st, 2016, 08:45 PM
I found my first grey at 18.. I'll be 20 soon and it's my only one :p Luckily my mother's side has great genes for hair color.. My grandpa had nearly all his colored hair until he started cancer treatments in his late 70s. My dad's side however isn't so good that way.. But I seem to take after my mother's side more so we will see :)

yahirwaO.o
January 21st, 2016, 10:46 PM
I have very few grey hairs and Im in mid 20's. :o

maborosi
January 21st, 2016, 11:32 PM
My boyfriend started graying when we first started dating- when we were both 19.
Luckily, I always thought it was very attractive. So I'm all for his silvers, lol.

He has some silvers, but in the years, he's not gotten a lot of new grays.

It's probably not going to happen overnight, so no worry.

Cassyopeia
January 22nd, 2016, 02:57 AM
Discovered my first grey at my early twenties, and looking closer it was like 5 or 6. All around the same spot. 7-8 years later I have gotten maybe a few more, but it's no crisis yet. The only thing I do not like is the texture of the greys. They are thicker, stiff, coarse and curly(my hair is mostly straight). So if that is how my hair will become when I'm fully gray I'm not sure I will like it.

Mirabele
January 22nd, 2016, 03:50 AM
i do understand the concern. but it may take few years until the next one appears :)
i found my first ones at 39. two months after i decided to grow out natural after the decades of bleach and highlighting. well, i'll take decision about coloring when the time comes.

PristineAllure
January 22nd, 2016, 05:54 AM
I wouldn't freak out about it. I'm in my 20's and I have like maybe 15 gray hairs. Who knows, maybe more in the back that I just haven't seen. I'm used to this though. I've had random gray hairs since I was a child. It never really bothered me. They're not obvious, and nobody ever really notices them unless they get up close and personal in my face.