First Gray Hair: When did you get it?

[LyLMyssChaos]

I am having an abundance of Gray hairs and I'm wondering what is the "average" age for gray hair? So if you have gotten a gray hair, when did it happen?

[fuzzy]

In third grade. Yeah, that was fun.

[Smillow]

No grey yet at 40...
My mother is 60 and has only a very few - and you have to really search for them. Her (half) brothers & sisters (different father) all went grey around 30.

[Sol]

I saw my first one last year, at 23 or 24, but it's the only one I've seen. My mother has had a completely gray head for many years now, though. Probably since she was 40 or so.

[diam124]

I would say probably early-mid 20's. I pluck them though. I'm 30 now and there are more, but they aren't noticeable.

[Hello Kitty]

21 - I remember finding one in the bathroom at my first real job - loved the stressful environment AND unflattering lighting. ;)

I still find them occassionally - I'm a plucker though. They're at the center front of my hair.

[greenbunny]

17. I started getting a good amount at 23. They are evenly scattered throughout my crown. I'm growing out fried highlights now, but I think I will start to dye once all the damaged stuff is gone.

[MLA]

I got my first one when I was 17. But that was an isolated incident. I first started to notice a couple springing out of my head (they're wiry!) in my late 20's. I'm 32 now, and I feel like they're starting to really come in. Just this year I finally bit the bullet and started coloring my hair -- not so much because of the quantity of grays but because of the quality of them. They're wiry and don't blend in w/the rest of my hair. When I color it, they settle down.

[jennylou]

I'll be 28 tomorrow and I still don't have a any. My mom is turning 50 this year and claims she has some, but I can't see them (and she doesn't pluck or dye!). We have the same dirty blonde hair color, so I'm hoping I'll take after her. ;)

[lil_geek]

I don't have any... on my head. But this year (28) I have pulled 3 out of my eyebrows!!!

MIL was totally grey before she was 25 :(

[PookiePrincess]

I'm 28 and don't have any yet.

[SweetRed]

When I was 16, I was getting a bunch of grey hairs. I'll never forget being on the school bus on a band trip and one of the boys I had a crush on pointing out my grey hairs from above.

Once I went to college at 17, they stopped. I just recently started seeing them again in small numbers at the age of 34. I am praying I can make it to 40 without ever having to color my hair!

[TX Sweetheart]

I found my first at 16 and have had a few each year since then.
My mom was completely grey before she finished college. My second-to-oldest sister has had completely white hair since she was 23-ish. I'm not blood related to either of them (and they're not blood related to each other) so hopefully I'll just get the few every once in awhile... when they do appear, they really show up 'cuz my natural hair color is dark brown.

[1_mommy]

i think around 15! i was dying my hair on a regular basis by 16, and now i am 30, and would pretty much have a full head of grey if i didn't dye it! i would say i have been fully grey for the last 3 years. SUCKS!

[coquelicot]

I found my first one at age 21. Have been getting progressively more and more of them, and I'm 28 now. I feel better seeing that the highest percentage so far has been under age 25!

I met DH when I was 20, so I joke that I wasn't stressed out enough to go gray until he came along. ;)

[JayJay]

I found my first one this week. I was devestated, but got no sympathy from DH, who has had them since he was 16...

[JRG]

One of my students found my first one at 28. There's nothing like a second grader asking why one of your hairs is white! :o

[LyLMyssChaos]

So glad to see I'm not alone. I'm seeing them at the rate of 5-10 new ones every week. I know I must have had them for a long time because when I had long hair, I had REALLY long ones that I would find.

[am_81]

I noticed a few gray hairs for the first time last year, at age 24. I regularly color/highlight my hair, so I have no idea if any more have grown. In fact, seeing those gray hairs were what prompting me to start coloring my hair again.

[ash313]

I was 24 when I noticed my first ones - they were underneath thank goodness. I notice quite a few each week now and it is very depressing.
I have small clusters of them underneath like you could find a lot of them if I wear my hair half pulled back and most recently started getting them right on the top of my head. Mine are wirey too! :(

[Katy]

I noticed my first gray hair (or back then, hair without any color pigment) at about 12 or so. I actually started turning gray in my mid to late 20's. I remember one of my students commenting on my grays my first year or so of teaching - that would have made me 27 I think.

[heather1029]

I'm surprised the number is so high for before 25.

I've never had a grey hair, but I'm only 24! I'm also a blonde. Does that have anything to do with it? I've always noticed that it's the darker browns that seem to go grey first.

ETA: my mother, age 45, is a blonde and still doesn't have any greys.

[Kelly51703]

I had my first one at 23. I remember thinking what is in my hair? Thinking it was a fuzz or piece of thread. Once I pulled it I realized it was a gray hair. I still have some at the side of my head and are noticeable if I don't color my hair on a regular basis.

[Katy]

I'm surprised the number is so high for before 25.

I've never had a grey hair, but I'm only 24! I'm also a blonde. Does that have anything to do with it? I've always noticed that it's the darker browns that seem to go grey first.

ETA: my mother, age 45, is a blonde and still doesn't have any greys.I think hair color has a lot to do with it. Like I had mentioned, I noticed my abnormal, uncolored strands of hair at a very early age. But I also have thick, wavy/curly, dark hair so they kind of stood out. My naturally blond friends (who often get their hair highlighted or enhanced to keep it blond) wouldn't have their grays be quite so obvious since it would blend in more.

You know you're getting older when the grays start to spring up elsewhere and not just in the eyebrows *sigh*

[tenofcups]

I've never had a grey hair, but I'm only 24! I'm also a blonde. Does that have anything to do with it? I've always noticed that it's the darker browns that seem to go grey first.

I have no facts or statistics to back me up, but it does seem that people with darker hair tend to get gray hair earlier as a generalization... at least based on the people I know.

I can't quite remember when I got my first gray hair, but I was well into my 30s, just not sure if it was before or after 35. My dark-haired sister had gray hairs years earlier as did most of my cousins, who also have darker hair. I also speculate (and I'm only half kidding!) that my friends who were married with kids tended to go gray earlier than those of us who were single and/or childless/childfree (can I be more PC?;)) Again, nothign scientific there, just my own observations....

[sparkle&shine]

I am 29 and have never found a gray hair. My Mom doesn't have any gray hair yet either. Her mom started getting gray 'highlights' when she was about 65ish I would say. My G'ma doesn't color her hair and still wears it long and it just looks like she has a handful of gray in her light brown hair - she's 76 I think.

[mindy75]

I noticed my first gray hair (on my head) late in my 29th year. Ahem, shortly after DD was born. I've had one gray eyebrow hair that came in sometime in my late teens. Since finding that first one on my head, I've found a handful more up there. They are generally concentrated at the crown of my head with a couple coming in at my center part and my temple. I pluck the suckers!!! My hair is a medium-dark brown. My DH has a couple on his head and in his eyebrows too, but his hair is a lighter brown/dark ash blonde, so they blend pretty well. My sister has really dark hair and she started gettin wiry little grays in her mid-20's. Our mom, OTOH, had only a handful of grays in her super dark hair when she died at 57. I'm debating going back to coloring my hair. I really like having it be so healthy and the sun is lightening it naturally. I'll have to if the grays get so out of hand that I can't keep them at bay with the tweezers.

[emmjay]

I think the first time I noticed any gray was at age 30. Now I'm 35 and I have a small streak by my right temple (like bride of Frankenstein) in addition to random ones all over my head. I still don't color my hair - I have strawberry blonde hair so the grays are hard to see. Actually I would think that rather than brunettes getting gray earlier, it's probably just easier to see against the dark hair.

I did get a bunch of grey while I was traveling outside of the US for a long time. I believe it was due to a vitamin deficiency since I had other issues with that.

[scubasam]

My first one was at 30 and now at 33, I get a few here and there, which go away quickly w/ some highlighting! :p I consider myself really lucky though b/c my mom started getting a lot of gray at 19 and has been coloring ever since. I'm not sure I even know what her true color is!

[twinnyme]

I have very few still but the first one I ever noticed (a white hair not gray) was when I was pregnant for the first time (at 33) and in the bathroom at Babies R Us. That was an interesting place and time to find my first white hair!

[LRL]

I found my first grey hair about 25 (actually DH pointed it out). I still only have that one white hair which I cut down all the time. I have curly hair, and this one is THICK stands out a ton against my brown hair. It is the only one I have so far. Surprising since my toddler just about gives me a heart attack every day with his dangerous stunts around the house!

[coquelicot]

Actually I would think that rather than brunettes getting gray earlier, it's probably just easier to see against the dark hair.
This is what I think as well. I know a natural blonde who said she was almost completely gray by the time she hit 30. It was just harder for people to tell that the gray was setting in.

[Myra]

I'm 30 and don't have any yet, but I've heard that it's different for redheads.

[LittleFredPunkinHead]

I'm 34 and don't have any yet. But I'm blonde, and might not be able to tell without really looking hard for them anyway.

My mom is a redhead, and she didn't start going grey until she was in her late 50s though, and it still looks a lot like highlights as opposed to greys.

[PinkMartini]

I'm 25 and haven't seen one yet.

My mom is 45 and is just getting her first few and my dad has had grey hair since he was 17...

[rubyslippers]

Ah, my "blonde" hairs.......I've had a few since my late 20's. At 34 I am now seeing them at the crown, and a few of them are super wiry as well. My sister who is 21 months younger has more than I do. We both have very dark hair.

[emmjay]

My mom is a redhead, and she didn't start going grey until she was in her late 50s though, and it still looks a lot like highlights as opposed to greys.
That's how mine look - they are white instead of gray, and even my Bride of Frankenstein temple looks like a highlight. My natural hair color ranges from deep red to white blonde depending on the area of my head, so the white ones just look like more blonde.

[Ilovemygeek]

I am 24 and have not found any yet, but my 26 year old brother just found his first so I doubt I have much longer. We both have dark brown hair.

[cherry]

i found my first gray hair at 14 years old. by 22, i was about 30% gray. my natural haircolor is black (practically blue-black), as is my mother's, who also went gray very young.

i have always colored my hair to cover the gray (i am 32 now), although it's getting tougher to keep up with the regrowth. my gray is at its worst at my temples.

[Jenyfer9]

Well I was a sophomore in college, so... 19?

[PurpleRose]

I'm blonde, and might not be able to tell without really looking hard for them anyway.

Ditto this. I'm 25, and haven't ever seen any grays...but I doubt I would be able to see them anyway.

[psusna]

High school. My dad's side of my family goes gray very early. I had less than a dozen during HS and college (that I could keep up with pulling them out), but since I hit 30 I have noticed a LOT more coming in at a pretty rapid pace. I've decided to embrace my grayness and not color them.

[ysolde]

I am in my late 30s, and have no gray hairs. My natural hair color is dark reddish brown, and, according to my colorist, no grays. A real shame, since it would make the whole going blonde thing a LOT easier. Oh, well.

[HeatherFL]

31-none yet...then again I dye my hair so even if I had any, I wouldn't know LOL!

[kari]

Found the 1st at 27 - I'm golden blonde with highlights. The gray ones *sparkle* :rolleyes:

[gardenmommy]

Found the 1st at 27 - I'm golden blonde with highlights. The gray ones *sparkle* :rolleyes:

Ditto! Everytime I contemplate going darker with my hair I wonder how hard it will be to hide my sparklies!

[Lauren]

I noticed my first grays when I was in college. I pluck them out when I can, but they're not really noticeable. I think they're "stress grays" more than anything else. :rolleyes:

[WisWis]

I found my first gray hair when I was 11 and they've been multiplying ever since. I'm 25 years old and my hair is about 1/3 gray. My hair is black/brown and fine so the thicker gray hairs really stand out. I expect to be almost fully gray by the time I'm 30. I definitely get my hair from my dad. He had super dark hair also and went gray really early. Thanks Dad...

[MES in Chicago]

I think I found my first grey as a freshman in college and it just gets worse and worse each year. I just turned 32 and I am about 30-40% gray at this point, which frickin' sucks as they are hard to color! I am having to color every 4 weeks :(

[QueenDillyDally]

No gray here (with the exception of ONE darn EYELASH that keeps popping up) and I am 34.

I hope I have my mom's genes because she had very few gray hairs before the age of 50.

[JATTNJ]

At 21 - have been dyeing religiously since then (10 yrs) :D

[Standrea]

My sister has a half a head of grey's now at 33. I'm 26 and have yet to find one. She has a really stressful job though (she's a principal of a highschool), so maybe that DOES attribute to part of it?

[AmandaLeigh]

I started getting a few grey hairs whe I was in high school, probably when I was 16-17. I progressively gotten more, not a ton, but enough that you can tell. There are two positives - they are more white than grey and they are mostly on the bottom layers of hair so they aren't visible unless I pull my hair back.

[Cr8nme]

I was about 19 and now at 25 I basically an even mix of salt and pepper in the front

[wendalah]

I just started noticing a few at my temples. I have highlighted my (dirty blond/light brownish) hair for most of my life, so I was unable to notice any gray until I stopped highlighting.

I'm 36 and I would LOVE to go completely gray--first of all, gray hair dyes blond beautifully, and no dark roots! Second of all, it's thicker and more wiry. I have the world's wimpiest, finest hair--it's seriously the consistency of cobwebs--and would adore a bit more body and texture.

I am surprised I'm not more gray. I take after my dad in most physical respects, and he was mostly gray by his late 30s. (He was naturally very blond.) He has gorgeous pure-white hair now, which I would die for.

[rileyandfredsmom]

I found my first gray hair ON MY 30TH BIRTHDAY! I'm not kidding, I was walking around my house pouting because I was turning 30 and ran my hands through my hair and felt this weird, coarse hair....I went to the mirror and found a gray hair. I panicked, picked up the phone and made an emergency call to my hair salon who agreed to see me right away (love gay hairdressers, they understand the drama). Walked into my husband's office and said "if you need me for the rest of the day, I will be at the salon getting my hair colored".

[Niobe]

I'm 26 and so far no gray hairs, but I have started getting darker, coarser brown hairs. :confused:

[bluberry]

I noticed my first this past weekend (26 yrs old) but it wasn't gray but rather the same sparkly white described by previous posters. I quickly plucked it out.

I blame this entirely on my dad since he had a head full of gray hair by the time he was 34-35. Strangers always thought he was my grandpa even though he was only 32 when I was born.

[akacharlotte]

31 or 32. I can't remember. In the past year I've found more. Actually DH plucked about 10 out of my hair one night. Mine are along my part but not up front. I found a very long one in the back when I was curling my hair Monday. I did not bother to pluck it. I'm just going to go in for highlights.

My mom was pretty much salt and pepper at 35. She had black hair. I have very dark brown. My sister was in her 40's before she had to start dying her hair consistently.

My mom however....has to dye her hair every 4-6 weeks. She goes blond now but her hair won't take the dye well anymore.

I'm waiting for the dreaded gray pubic hair!

[ginadc]

Got my first one at 27. I will never forget...I was at the movies with my then-boyfriend, and because it was one of those places where you could actually buy beer & cocktails, you had to bring an ID. He had driven and I'd forgotten mine, and I got carded. (Those were the days.) The kid behind the window was hassling me and Tim said, "C'mon, look, she even has a gray hair!" I thought he was kidding. Nope.

(Yeah, he wasn't the most tactful of boyfriends. OTOH, he was a massage therapy student and had to practice a lot, which was a perk.)

[Anna Low]

Early 20's and they have been multiplying ever since. However, most people are unaware, as I keep my hair carefully colored to mask them!

[artist]

I voted "no gray", but keep in mind I JUST turned 27! I am sure the day will arrive eventually.

[AHammer]

I am surprised at the amount of people who find grey hair so early. I'm 25 and have none, and I have a medium brown hair color (even though my stylist insists it's strawberry blonde). My dad's 60 and just started getting grey hair a few years ago, and I really take after him, so I probably won't have any for many years.

[diam124]

I do have them (at 30) but they are hard to see. They are mostly very fine and kind of close to my scalp. I have auburn hair with some natural highlights and they seem to blend in. DH on the other hand has black hair and every single one sticks out because of that.