Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be going grey at 24?!

58 replies

InTheBirdBox · 18/01/2019 08:25

Anyone else?!

I am 24 and I am going grey. Not just one or two but properly! I found my first 2 years ago now.

It's getting to the point where I'm going to have to consider starting to dye my hair (which I hate).

Did anyone else go grey young? None of my friends have even found one! They all thing it's bizarre when I tell them.

DP is 8 years older than me and doesn't have one the bastard.

OP posts:
Jocasta2018 · 18/01/2019 09:30

Can you just start to slowly lighten your hair colour? My mother had very dark hair and dyed her roots for ages (well I helped!) but eventually she thought 'sod it' and started to dye her hair a lighter shade all over.
It's meant the grey hasn't been too obvious coming through and it seems a good stage to go through before embracing your greyness. I know some of her friends have done the same thing.

Original poster
InTheBirdBox · 18/01/2019 10:11

I could lighten my hair, I don't really like the idea of having bleach put on it though. I have very sensitive skin and I imagine bleach would be the kind of thing I'd have a reaction to.

OP posts:
KatherinaMinola · 18/01/2019 10:16

Before you get into all that, check that lighter hair would really suit you. It wouldn't suit me (typical 'winter' colouring). I see a lot of women with ill-advised blonde highlights to cover the grey - doesn't suit their colouring, so they look younger but a bit worse.

OohToBeAah · 18/01/2019 10:25

I think I was 20 or 21 when I started going grey. I'm 28 now, and have to get my roots done every 5wks or so, but I've noticed it's starting to spread beyond my roots now 😔

Definitely genetic. My mum started going grey in her 20s, as did both my aunts. Plus I have dark hair, so it shows.

I always thought I was the anomaly, but judging by these posts I guess not!

CatnissEverdene · 18/01/2019 10:30

DO NOT start dyeing it - you will get onto a merry-go-round you can't ever get off. I'm 48, been grey around the temples and crown since early 20s and I'm now stuck with straw like fluffy unruly hair from years of colouring.

I've made the decision this year to stop the colour and grow it out - next Saturday it's all coming off and going into a short bob for a year or two.

If you want to blend the grey, go for some lowlights under and through your hair so you don't get any regrowth issues but never do all over. At my worst, mine has needed root touch ups every 4 weeks.

Bumblebee39 · 18/01/2019 10:31

Started going grey at 25/26 my parents didn't start going grey until mid 30s/ late 30s. A lot of my family still don't have greys longer than that and my Dad is mostly a bit of "salt and pepper" not grey.

So it's not always genetic. I think mine was to do with stress, poor lifestyle and health problems. None of my siblings or cousins are going grey still.

Pretamum · 18/01/2019 10:41

Found my first grey hair at 16, now though I'm in my early 30's and pretty much all of my hair is grey. I have it dyed every 6 weeks or so, and my hairdresser keeps it brunette with a few subtle highlights to disguise the greys. I really hated it for a long time, but find I'm more relaxed about it now. Don't want to be grey all the time but I can live with grey roots for a couple of weeks until I can get the roots done again.

snop · 18/01/2019 10:42

Noticed my greys when I was 21 in my thirties now and have to dye my hair every two to three weeks or I look like a skunk 😂

hellsbellsmelons · 18/01/2019 10:56

I started to go grey around the same time.
Dyed my hair a lot.
Got to around 40 and had to have it all cut off and start from scratch because I'd ruined my hair.
I'm now 50 nearly 100% grey but I get it coloured properly at the hairdressers every 4-5 weeks.
And yes, I had to go lighter.
I was dark / auburn and now I'm blonde.
It was the only way to hide the grey better.
Be very careful what you use on your hair.
And if you are going to colour it, then make sure you do the patch test before you do your whole head!

Butchyrestingface · 18/01/2019 11:00

Also very dark from a very dark haired family.

My paternal grandmother started going grey at 14 and was totally white by 21 (extreme case).

My father started greying in his mid twenties.

I started going bald (female) in my late teens and what hair was left started greying at 28.

I remember a coupld of people in 6th form having grey hairs at 17. One was very dark, the other not at all.

nutellalove · 18/01/2019 11:55

@newnameforthis7 I thought it was young too till most of my family started going grey around 20! A few friends around 24. I'm 26 and have just noticed some Sad

PollardOrPolluck · 18/01/2019 12:22

OP I found a grey hair on my boyfriend last week. He's 19 and very distressed by it (and a bit in denial). It happens to everyone so don't panic.

Original poster
InTheBirdBox · 18/01/2019 12:24

Re blonde suiting me or not, I don't know although I did ask a colleague this morning who seems to think it would as I have fair skin.

My mother has darker hair than me naturally but is now dying her hair blonde because it's easier. It looks like it could be her natural colour!

I think I will leave it for now, see how bad it becomes and perhaps see the hairdresser later in the year if I'm struggling to disguise it.

Can't believe how common it appears to be!

OP posts:
badlydrawnperson · 18/01/2019 12:25

If you don't want to, then don't. Don't be sucked into the trap of thinking that somehow you are not a proper woman if you have natural grey hair. That's just the media and societal pressure.

^agree

Bluelady · 18/01/2019 12:26

I was 16 when I found my first grey hair. My brother was 50% grey at 21. My gran was completely white at 30.

PixiKitKat · 18/01/2019 12:27

I've been going grey since I was 25. I'm going to have my done blond soon so the grey won't be noticeable as much and I don't mind dark roots so hopefully I'll be able to go 2 months without colouring it

user1494409994 · 18/01/2019 12:35

Started going grey at 21 and had the kids at 37 so can't blame them for that!

guildTheLilly · 18/01/2019 12:37

"I'm going to have to consider starting to dye my hair (which I hate)"

Ignore other women. There's an alternative. Don't dye your hair.

Shadow1986 · 18/01/2019 12:38

Started finding grey before I was 20. Now early 30’s and I have to dye my hair every 3 weeks and have done for ages. It’s a complete pain in the arse!!

sunshineandshowers21 · 18/01/2019 12:40

i got my first grey hair at 17! but it only grows in one streak at the front! i’m growing my hair colour out at the moment so have one long streak of grey. i can hide it when my hair is down but when it’s up i have to colour it in with hair mascara 😂

Wide0penSpace · 18/01/2019 12:47

It’s not unusual. I found my first greys as a teen, had quite a few by the time I was 30, I’m almost 40 now and probably completely grey. I get it coloured blonde every few weeks but the roots are very grey, shiny and noticeable! I’d love to grow it out and have long silver hair but at my age I think it would really age me. If the grey hair trend was in when I was your age I might have dyed it all grey and embraced it!

nellieellie · 18/01/2019 13:06

Take vit B tablets. Seems to stop grey hair (well, not indefinitely).

CanIGoToBedNow · 18/01/2019 13:07

There is an editor at Vogue who went naturally grey in her 20s and she completely owns it. She looks fab!

CanIGoToBedNow · 18/01/2019 13:10

Her name is Sarah Harris and it’s all natural

To be going grey at 24?!
Bluelady · 18/01/2019 13:31

She looks amazing.