If you went grey in your twenties/early 30s...

[SecondhandTable]

What did you do with your hair? I'm late 20s and have been very slowly going grey since I fell pregnant with DC1 in my mid-twenties. I have very dark brown hair so it is noticeable now, the grey streaks. Although it doesn't seem to be ageing me particularly as I got asked if I wanted a child ticket on the bus as recently as a few months ago...! I can't decide whether I want to do anything about it and if so, what...dye it all my natural colour? Get highlights or something just to make it less noticeable? Leave it? Take the opportunity and start dying it creative colours?! If this happened/is happening to you, what are you doing with your hair?

I started going grey at 21. For the first few years it wasn't very noticeable at all so I just had highlights every six months or so so it blended in (I had very dark hair in my youth). Then, when I was mid 30s I went to highlights plus root dye. Now I have my roots done every five weeks and highlights once a year or so. I don't quite know how I am going to stop! I have gone lighter though - my root dye is mid brown.

It started to happen to me I’m early 30s and no I won’t be embracing it!

I started going grey in my twenties and I've never dyed it.
I'm in my forties now and it's still just streaks. I quite like it.
I would never be arsed with the upkeep of dying it as I'm too lazy to keep making appointments and it's expensive.
I don't judge anyone else, do what you want to do.
No one has ever commented on mine though I'm so used to how it looks I don't really care anyway.

I’m mid forties and started going grey 20 years ago. Also dark brown. I box dye it and have done from the first whiff of grey. I’m still not ready to embrace it and any see that happening any time soon. I’ve gradually, very slightly gone lighter though and am more of a medium golden brown these days (I was natural almost black), which I think looks a bit softer now I’m no longer a spring chicken.

Stopped trying to cover it up around 29/30. I'm now 36 and it's totally silver and going more white as time goes on. I use purple toners to make it shiney and ita not at all wiry.

I dyed it for about ten years and then had to bite the bullet and grow it out. It’s completely white now. I wish I had never bothered dyeing it, waste of time and money.

I started going grey in my 20s, covered with highlights. Made a disastrous mistake going for an all-over tint which was practically ginger, then grew most of it out during lockdown and it was salt and pepper. Ever since then I've been putting highlights in my hair that are ash grey-blonde, so basically trying to match the highlights to my greys as the darker parts of my hair slowly go grey and catch up. Purple shampoo twice a week to keep my hair silvery blonde rather than brassy yellow.

Have a look at the grombre page on Instagram. I’d leave it if I were you, it’s much less upkeep and can look really lovely. I’ve just started to get the odd few silvery hairs and I’ve no intention of doing anything other than leave them alone

Early 20s, I hennaed it for about 20 years and then it got to the point that it was looking really orange. Embraced the grey for a while in my early 40s, looked like I'd been dug up, plus I wasn't a nice photogenic grey, it was patchy grey white all round the front and a muddy brown at the back and underneath, so I started dying it dark blonde. I use a semi permanent (Casting) but my hair takes it as permanent. I only dye the roots and it looks naturally streaked. Occasionally I use a lighter dye to knock back any brassiness.

I started going grey in my teens, so decided to go with bright red hair. Since then it's been all colours - black, blonde, purple, blue, galaxy coloured, it's currently bright pink. And quite long. I'm in my early 40s now. It is greying unattractively - if it was all over I wouldn't mind and would probably leave it be, but it's round my temples and in patches, so it looks really awful if it's left to its own devices. Naturally, my hair is dark brown too.

Very varied responses! One PP mentioned henna, I was considering this too. I like the idea of bright colours as one PP mentioned - it's always been difficult to do that with my hair as it's so dark, so being grey would be an opportunity to do that. Although as it stands it's just some streaks like. I don't think it looks 'bad' at the moment or even ageing to be honest, if anything I don't feel self conscious about it but I almost feel as if I SHOULD feel self conscious about it given how young I am, if this makes sense?? The only person who has mentioned it before is my DM who offered to pay for me to get it dyed...! She has dyed black hair (her natural colour) and cringes at the idea of leaving hair to go grey. The thing is, I'm starting a professional training programme in a couple of years and I will be likely significantly older than everyone elde on the course as it is, and I'm concerned that being very grey then will just amplify that and also may not like a good corporate image. But then I know thats not fair as men don't all dye their hair in the corporate world!

See your GP for tests & look into B12 deficiencies

Prematurely grey hair is a symptom of deficiency. I had a bit of it, until I started B12 injections & it went. I've now very few grey streaks at 60

Hereditary grey here with some grey at 16! Dyed it for fun in my twenties, dyed it for maintenance in my 30’s and bit the bullet in my 40’s on growing it out.

As the ratio of colour to white increased the colour became increasingly darker due to overdyeing (using box dyes) so I started getting it done at the hairdressers but loads of time and money spent - and it was endless. In only a couple of weeks it would need root touch up. It was a right faff basically.

I am now completely colour free and take time and effort to style, brighten etc but love it. It feels more authentic too.

One PP mentioned henna, I was considering this too

Twas me. I used mainly Lush henna (marron or brun) and toned it down by mixing it with strong coffee. It kept my hair in beautiful condition and looked lovely for years, but as my hair got whiter it was hard to stop the henna looking orangey and my hair is grey in blocks not sprinkles so shade differences looked odd. Henna is messy too, but less damaging, I preferred it to the chemicals in box dyes.

@SecondhandTable I must confess, I do bleach my hair to get the bright colours to take properly.