To be sad at going grey already

You can get hair “make up” - sort of dark eye shadow stuff. I only have a few greys but use that if they’re showing before I go out if I have something big planned (pretty infrequently!).
I’ve also decided to occasionally dye my hair dark with semi permanent dye only. Like you, my hair is dark and basically my options are:

1. Half embrace it, use semi permanent every now and then (and my cover up make up thing)
2. Get it dyed regularly and eventually have the white line down my parting - an option that I REFUSE, as I think grey hair always ALWAYS looks better than the grey/white stripe
3. Go lighter / blonder. I’ve done it before and it doesn’t really suit me, so that’s also out with no regrets.

Name change because obvs outing. But I started going grey at 18. 39 now and have had it grown out for the last 2 years. I don’t imagine it makes me any younger but I’m not convinced at the argument I look decades older 🤷🏼‍♀️

It’s just hair OP, it doesn’t matter what colour it is. Age is what ages you not the colour of your hair.

I was grey by 21 😂 which I know is a little early (but I was expecting it due to genetics). But still, I would have thought 33 to be completely standard age?!

It wouldn't be at all unusual to see a mum of a baby and toddler with fully grey hair, for example.

I’m yet to see any woman under about 50 with grey hair?

I see a good few - it was a definite trend around here (East London) about 5 years ago, and lockdown encouraged more women to give it a try.

Some have stuck with it, others didn't feel it was them and got a new cut and colour when the hairdressers reopened.

If it makes you feel better OP, I'm late 20s and have already started finding white hairs 😢 Not grey but pure, snow white. My mum helpfully mentioned she didn't start going grey til her 40s

Most of my white friends started going grey at around your age - one at 21. You are right about Asian people - I had a couple of grey hairs last year but no more now at 50. I’m sure it will happen soon though.

I don’t think I’ll dye it - I am too lazy for make up or a skincare regime, so won’t do so. But I may well have dyed it at your age OP.

My mum used henna until recently, but I don’t like it.

Ahungrycaterpillar

True. Or maybe it's because we don't actually realise they are that young because their grey hair adds a decade or two, .

Just henna it and get on with your life. I had my first greys at 26/7?!

I started going grey in my teens. My younger sisters and I all have pronounced white streaks in our hair. I dyed up to lockdown then gave up, they’ve both been very grey throughout their 30s (I probably was too but you couldn’t tell). If you’ve only just started to see grey hair in your 30s, that’s actually quite late - it’s just that so many people dye their hair that people don’t realise how early the first grey hairs appear.

Found my first white hairs at 19yo. Never dyed it away. I couldn't face the maintenance, plastic waste, expense, schedule, hassle, routine, "deception" of dying my grey out. It's not that I embraced it, I just ignored it.

I accept that the grey/white may make us look "old" but I can't agree that white/grey/old makes anyone look "bad".

went to a Tony Hadley gig a few weeks ago (40th anniversary tour, scary). The sea of weird bottle blonde colours in the bar at the interval was grim - and weirdly stepford wives.
(his hair suspiciously uniformly dark)

One thing I did notice when I stopped dyeing - all my women friends, mostly older than me, all said 'wonderful, marvellous, so much better etc.' However, now four years one, they all still maintain their own dyed or bleached hair . . .hmm.

I've beengoing grey since 13, brunette with bright whites mixed in. I started dying it after that. Stopped when pregnant with 2nd at 26 but wasn't brave enough to keep it and went back to dying. Decided I was fed up of the roots needing doing 19 months ago (was 36) and let it grow out again, actually quite like the rather white barnette now and keeping it this way.

DONT USE HENNA! ITS NATURAL BUT HAS THE SAME COMPOUNDS AND WILL STILL CAUSE A REACTION!

I'm 33. Started greying at 26. I'm not dark, I am allergic to most dyes and have had to just embrace it. I look like a badger. Just wanted to let you know you're not alone and that henna is not safe.

Haven’t read the whole thread but I’m like you OP, really allergic to hair dyes and going grey.

You can get PPD free hair dyes now and whilst not permanent, they’ll cover greys 👍🏻

I was in my 30s when a hairdresser suggested I had too much grey for highlights, and would be better with all over color :(
i coloured it myself for a while, then in my 40s worked for a woman (similar age to me) with the most amazing snowy white hair; it was stunning. After a few attempts, I eventually grew the colour out, with the assertion that if I was going to wear it white, I didn't want an "old lady" style. It did take a long while, and a few lapses where I got fed up and coloured it.
It's now mostly white, still has a badger stripe of darker grey at the back, but I can't see that.
Not old lady style - asymetric, shaved one side, long curls on the other.
I frequently get stopped by complete strangers complimenting me on how nice it is. Never got that before it was white!

I always thought I'd never colour it again, but I picked up a temporary wash in violet colour the other day, not quite got round to it yet...