Grey at 32

[PumpkinKlNG]

I feel really upset, Im 32 and have started going grey already ☹️ I have loads of grey hair and I mean loads. Surely this is really early to be going grey? And no I’m not ready to “embrace it” aibu to feel upset.

My mum was grey by the time she was 25, and my sister got her first grey hairs in her mid teens. I was lucky, and didn’t start going grey until my mid forties, and even now (aged 56) I don’t have many - but I don’t like the ones I do have, so I cover them up by dyeing my hair.

I occasionally get it done at the hairdressers, where I get highlights out in, which blends away the greys and looks good, but most of the time I use a box dye at home - and they do a really good job of covering the grey and still looking natural.

@PumpkinKlNG

I read a few reviews for the henna hair dye and quite a few are saying they didn’t cover the greys 😢

My aunt got advice from an Asian lady who told her how to do it...sadly I can't remember the method but it did work...the greys would turn red like highlights

My DP is 29 and has a fair few greys now. My best friend is 32 and she’d be 50/50 now but does dye her hair

It’s quite common to be going grey in your early 30s especially if you have dark hair, or so it seems anyway.

I’m 36 and only have about 2 grey hairs which I pull out when I see them! But a friend of mine is 32, with very dark hair and hers is really quite grey now. It doesn’t bother her hugely though abs she only dyes it from time to time.

I feel you OP, I've been going grey since my early/mid 20's. I used box dyes for a few years, then a mixture of henna/indigo powder for a few years (gave me good coverage and shiny hair but a total faff and really messy, plus unpredictable results).

I switched back to semi-permanent - Wella Colour Plus Touch, which is more gentle than box dyes.
I'm now 36 and in the process of going blonde by getting highlights at the hairdressers every few weeks. I will top up my roots with a semi permanent to blend it in between salon visits.

It's a complete pain in the ass, and if it suited me at all I would just leave it, but at this stage it's more white than grey (and about 80 % of my hair ) so it would wash me out and make me look ridiculous.

It's very easy to say 'embrace it' when you are a confident 45 year old, but I was in my 20's, no way I was embracing it then!
I think people who get their first few greys in their 40's/50's don't understand the embarrassment of being in your 20's when seemingly none of your peers have this problem, I felt like a total weirdo. I was just finished getting teenage spots ffs.

Strangely nowadays there seems to be a trend for teenagers to dye their hair grey!

32 here, have had increasingly grey hair since I was about 25 - like you I am naturally dark haired so it is very noticable. I got fed up of dying it and opted for highlights a couple of years ago and haven't looked back. It's not cheap, but it has definitely disguised them and might work for you as it involves bleach as opposed to colour? I'm almost fully ash blonde now and my greys blend in - I can go 8-10 weeks before it really looks like it needs a touch up.

Yes I read about them turning red but that’s one colour I wouldn’t even consider dying my hair so would hate it to look reddish

If you don't like a reddish tinge to your hair I would give henna a miss. It is basically red, but with the indigo it looks more chestnut brown.

Sometimes though it would come out really dark black, or very red, even though I had used the same amounts and left it on for the same amount of time . So, like I said it's unpredictable. And messy! And it would take about 4 hours for the whole process...never again!

Maybe pay a visit to your hairdresser and ask about highlights or something to camouflage it a bit. As VioletViola says it's bleach so you might not be allergic. They can swab you for the toner as well to make sure you don't have a reaction.

You can get different colour hennas from Lush I think. Brown, black and red. My grandmother used to dye hers an alarming orange (she was Algerian so a cultural thing). It definitely did coverthe grey so perhaps a brown one is worth a punt?!

I think dark haired people can start to go grey a little earlier than average. Hopefully you can find a product you are not allergic too, hairdressers will always do a skin test for a new client.

I started dying my hair when I was about your age, not because of grey just because I wanted to. I am 51 and now covering grey is part of the reason I colour. I haven’t even thought about the fact that I have been dying my hair for twenty years but I have more or less, it’s not a problem. I am not going to embrace grey, not until at least sixty and maybe not even then.

I've had grey hairs since I was 21

I've started dying it because there was just too much grey.

It runs in my dm's side unfortunately

I am so sorry - I missed that you are allergic to dye when I posted - sorry, @PumpkinKlNG

I went grey in my early 20s. Not enough to start colouring but I did have grey hair on my wedding day, two weeks after I turned 26. Now at 31, I have quite a noticeable badger streak now. I have really dark brown hair and I’ve actually bypassed grey and gone straight to silver/white so it really stands out.

My hair grows really fast. So I’ve used a semi-permanent hair dye close to my natural colour on the top, then I’ve done balayage on the bottom in a permanent colour. A semi-permanent has different ingredients to the permanent, so they’ll need to test both on your skin and check you don’t have a reaction. The semi-permanent doesn’t cover all my greys but it does cover enough. Combined with some other colour, either highlights or a balayage means that there’s a mix of colour in there so the grey is slightly blended out. The other advantage of the semi-permanent is that it doesn’t grow out with a solid line, with is also why I went for balayage instead of highlights. Try a proper salon and get a patch test with the colours you’re thinking off. If you react to one or both, check with the salon about the ingredients and look elsewhere. If you’re near a big city, there will likely be a natural dye salon, that will use other ingredients to henna. The downside is that it might be expensive.

I think it's unfair and quite sad when people say grey hair is more acceptable on men.

I went grey at 14! Currently sitting in the hairdresser getting my roots touched up at this very moment.

We have to change this mind set.
It's a privilege to grow older, grey hair is beautiful on women AND men.

@thisplaceisweird

We have to change this mind set. It's a privilege to grow older, grey hair is beautiful on women AND men.

I agree that it's a privilege to grow older. But some of us had grey hair at a very young age. There's nothing wrong with wanting to cover it.

Nobody bats an eyelid when women want to camouflage their wrinkles, but if they want to dye their hair then suddenly they are letting down the sisterhood.

I know people who started going grey at 16.
One of my friends was totally grey by the time she was 35.

@Mulletsaremisunderstood
Having the choice to dye it is fantastic! I support looking however you want to look. The point I'm making is that why should a woman be 'upset' because or scared that they have grey hair! Even in their twenties

My brother is 35 and his hair is completely white, he started going grey at 20

[quote thisplaceisweird]@Mulletsaremisunderstood
Having the choice to dye it is fantastic! I support looking however you want to look. The point I'm making is that why should a woman be 'upset' because or scared that they have grey hair! Even in their twenties[/quote]
Because it's something we associate with being older, just like wrinkles are. Surely that's pretty obvious!

I went grey young, actually overnight when my mother passed away. Refused to hide it as it’s part of me, the real nowadays me, part of her too in a way. Took some getting used to though!! I know a friend swore by henna in her forties, she’d always dyed her hair blonde before but when the grey came in a lot switched to henna and continued like that for a while.

started getting greys since my 1st born when I was 21

I’m 35 and have been going grey for about 5 years. I’ve been pulling them out for ages but I’m getting to the point where I am going to have to dye it as there are too many now.

DH is 25 and had his first grey hair the other day - I removed it because it was bright white in the middle of his brown hair but, honestly, the thought of him greying is pretty sexy to me... don't stress it OP. You can mourn your greys if that's how you feel but, honestly, if you embraced it then, at your age, people would probably think you dyed in that colour on purpose - very high fashion!