When did you go grey?

[ZednotZee]

Not being nosy for the sake of it, I promise!

I'm late thirties and during lockdown have grown my natural colour out by about three inches from my root.
I am surprised that I like my natural colour (dark blonde/light brown) I have been lightening it for twenty years so never had a chance to appreciate it before.

Last time I was at the salon I had half a head of foils, blonde highlights and my own natural colour run through to break up the root regrowth. I want to do this again when I return next month.
However all anybody has said is that its risky as I am certain to start greying soon and then I will need to go back to all over colour in any case.

Is this true in your experience or could I still have a good five years or so to embrace my natural hair colour?

I had a couple of greys from my early 20s. Now I'm 30 and I have quite a lot - enough for me to want to colour them to cover. Luckily I'm blonde so other people don't notice them as much as I do.

We have a definite 'grey gene' in our family though. My female cousin was completely grey at 15, and my brother had grey hairs from about 14 and is visibly grey now at 25.

I’m 34 and significantly grey already. I’ve grown it out.
I decided that ultimately I was happier with hair that is very much salt and pepper now than I was with the constant battle with grey roots, which is a nightmare when you’re dark haired.
If you haven’t started going grey yet then you never know how much grey you’re likely to get in the next couple of years. I’ve been going grey since my early twenties, so it’s not really a surprise that I’m quite grey in my mid thirties.

I'm 42 and have very few grey hairs. My husband is a year younger and is nearly totally grey.

I was late 40s when I started to notice them, but my hair’s dark blonde/ lightish brown naturally and I’ve had it highlighted for years.
IMO all over colour makes grey hair way more obvious than 2-3 shades done with foils

I was 19 when I found my first grey hair and now I’m 46 I’m about 50% grey.

It varies so much from person to person. The best indicators are your parents/grandparents. I’ve followed my mum and Gran exactly.

Well, at 38 I stopped colouring my hair as I wanted it to be natural for my 40th. I don't know when I started going grey, but it certainly came through with the absence of colour from 38!

I'm 46 and have started to get quite a few white hairs espeically around my hairline in the last few years. My hair is a similar colour to yours OP. I have half a head highlights/lowlights every 3 months or so, and and the white hairs aren't really noticeable.

I've been greying since 25 but I definitely won't be embracing it. If I could go grey all over it would be different maybe but I have salt and pepper streaks.

58 (today) still not even close to grey.

13. It runs in my paternal family.

Had some funky colours put in during my youth .

I have been "salt and pepper" for about 4 years now, because I was ruining my bathroom doing box-dye, and salon colouring is too expensive for me.

I'm 54 with still largely dark hair, just the odd grey here and there (definitely noticed an increase recently but they're still all isolated, no patches).

It's not a given. My mother is almost 80 and has grey temples and that's it. I'm early 40s and no greys so far.

Take no notice of them @ZednotZee!

I am mid 60s and have a T section foils/ colour once or twice a year. I have some grey but only down the central section and a little at the temples.

I’m 56 and have hardly any grey and have never had any dye in my hair until 2 years ago. I get a semi permanent painted on in my natural colour but only on the greys. I don’t have obvious roots when it fades as it’s strands rather than patches or all over.

My parents didn’t go grey until in their 70s so I think it’s genetic.

I"m dark blond / light brown like you OP. No significant greys yet - just a few isolated strands near my hair line. I'm nearly 55!

... and I last highlighted my hair at the end of 2019. Love my natural colour and not going back to colouring it again now!

I'm 40 and have quite a lot of grey. I've actually grown it all in now.
I was going to say ask your mum when she started, but if she's anything like mine she won't really know if she's always dyed it!

Just a handful of greys here - 42. I'm just rolling with it though- can't be doing with the faff of trying to colour my hair to pretend they're not there and dealing with roots etc.

Handful of greys at nearly 53. I stopped dyeing my hair at the beginning of lockdown and cba anymore. They are not really noticeable.

When did your parents go grey ? That is an indicator.
I also have light brown hair, I am 57 and have very few greys, my hair is not coloured at all. My parents both went grey late, especially my mother, who was about fifty per cent grey when she died at 85.
I have fewer greys than any of my friends my age or even a decade younger, so I also wonder if it could be due to something I eat. I eat a lot of dark chocolate, maybe it is that ? As it is a bit strange. People assume I dye my hair when they find out my age, but there seems a big variation. Amongst my friends there are some who went almost totally white by their late thirties or early forties, some who were half grey in their twenties. In general dark hair seems to grey earlier, but I have a friend in her mid seventies with dark hair that is still more dark than it is grey.

I'm 65, I have a mix of low and highlights in my light brown hair every 3 months, I only have a small amount of grey under my fringe. I think I'll carry on with this as it looks good, even if, over time, the grey increases.

Apparently 50% of people are 50% grey at 50.

If you are putting in highlights then greys will blend with that naturally, much better than having all over dye and then roots.

48 and no grey hairs so far.

My mum and grandma (her mum) were both over 70 when they first started to go grey.
My other granny was completely white-haired by 40! It's just the genetic lottery.

Thanks all, you have definitely made my mind up to just go with my natural colour and the highlights and see where I get to.

Silly that I didn't think to consider my parents, my dad is of Israeli descent, so very dark hair almost black in his youth but was salt and pepper by forty.
My mum is sixty five, naturally blonde ish and has about 25% grey.
I hope I take after her because I don't recall her greying til her late fifties.

Not sure why you would "need" to go back to all over colour!

I had a few greys when I was 19! But only ones a boyfriend found when looking more closely at my hair from closer than anyone else would - I wouldn't have noticed myself I don't think! I didn't have noticeably more until my mid to late 30s - I remember my daughter wanting "sparkly hair like mummy" and realising she meant the grey/ white strands!

I highlighted it from my late 30s so the colours all blended, but at 45 the hairdresser said I'd "need" an all over colour next time as there's more grey now and I decided to grow it out and see what it looks like. Now its through the whole length, probably 10% or 15% grey and the rest of my hair a sort of honey blond. I really like it and don't think I'll be changing the colour any time in the next few years!