Grey Hair

Im not sure if this is the right forum or not but I have a problem. Im 20 years old and I have a lot of grey hair! I don''t know what''s causing it? I don''t get a lot of exposure to the sun since I live in wisconsin and the only months im really out doing something are three summer months out of the year. I bleached my hair back in middle school and dyed it a few different colors. But this was 5 years ago.. and I just started getting grey hair 1-2 years ago.

Is there anything I can do to stop it from greying any further? If not, is there something I can dye it with that isn''t harsh and that won''t make my hair condition worse. It seems like I have really dry hair also.

Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you're basically screwed. I started getting noticeable gray before I was even 20. By the time I was 24, it was bad enough to require weekly coloring. By 30, keeping it under control was a bi-weekly crusade.

If it makes you feel any better, it's not your fault. It doesn't matter what you've done to your hair up to this point, nor will anything short of gene therapy make the slightest bit of permanent difference as to when the hair will turn gray or fall out. So don't worry... nothing you do will make it turn gray any faster.

The best advice I can give is learn how to color it properly using professional products. Barring any unexpected breakthroughs in gene therapy (10+ years away), you're going to be coloring it on a regular basis for a long, LONG time... so you might as well learn how to do it right and do it well.

First, don't even bother worrying about how long the color will last. It doesn't matter: if you've got gray on the sides, it'll be visible within a few days REGARDLESS of how long it might theoretically last along the rest of the hair shaft, and you'll have to touch it up anyway unless you can tolerate visible gray roots.

Second, if your hair is dark brown or black, plan on going 2-3 levels lighter over the next few years. The darker your hair is, the more obvious the new (gray) roots will be.

Now for the good news... you can abuse your hair a LOT more than any woman would ever dare to. If your hair is short, it'll be cut off and gone before damage becomes a problem anyway. And if you screw up REALLY badly, you can get away with cutting it all off and letting the new hair grow in...

For emergency touch-ups (when you have visible gray roots, but can't color for some reason), nothing can bail you out as effectively as hair mascara. There's a catch, though... it passes the "sight" test with flying colors, but fails the "touch" test miserably... if anyone runs their fingers through your hair after you've used it, they'll know something's horribly wrong in like 3 seconds. And don't even THINK about going to bed until you've washed it out, unless you hate your sheets and want an excuse to replace them anyway....

Now for the good news... by the time you're 30 (and squarely in the throes of midlife crisis #1), there's a really good chance that gene therapy will be a reality. So smile... there is hope on the horizon...

Just another angle on things:

When I was 23, I met a young man.
One of the first thing I noticed about him was his grey hair.
It made him stand out and look particularly smart esp. when he wore his grey pin-stripe suit :-)
Without the grey hair, he would be just another good-looking guy, but the hair was unusual and an added attraction.
We were together for 9 years...but that's another story.
My point is, you are blessed with a unusual marker.
Yes, blessed.
It doesn't "fit" what the media would have you believe as "normal" and "desireable" but in Real Life, it is both and more.

Consider flipping your perspective and seeing your grey hair as an asset.

Take care

Uzi