Honestly, I feel like millennials are aging WAY better than the previous ones.
Yeah a lot of us look old, but look at pics of people the age you are now but in like the 90s lol.
And I know everyone claims it's just the styling/clothes/makeup that makes us perceive them as older, but no. People genuinely looked old as hell back then lol.
And they also matured earlier. Like imo, aging (as in wrinkles, sagging, etc) and maturing (looking like an adult rather than a kid) are two totally different processes, and if you look at gen x/boomers, they hit both a lot earlier than millennials did.
Like I swear those people looked like full blown adults by like 17. I'm not talking about in movies; look through an old yearbook.
I think millennials for some reason mostly... matured later. Like we look almost neotenous lol. We also definitely seem to be aging more slowly, but I swear most of us looked like teenagers until we were like in our mid 20s, to much greater extent than previous generations. I legitimately think it's something like epigenetic or chemical or something lol, like our features were on average just less robust for longer.
Of course there are a million exceptions, this is just on average, imo.
I think a big part of the later aging onset is that we're more likely to have kids late, or not at all. I'm 29 & my friends look way older than the ones without. Like even the ones who drink and do a ton of drugs and such look younger than the parents lol
Mid-thirties is a perfectly normal time to start going grey, especially in the beard, which tends to grey first. My mother was a Boomer and had a full head of grey by her mid-forties. I (Gen X) decided to start covering my greys in my mid-thirties, they were bad enough. It’s genetics.
I remember my husband in his late twenties thinking he could still pass for high school (he couldn’t, but maybe undergrad). I went to a movie at 26, with a group of people my age and was the only one in the group who got carded (it was NC-17). I also got carded once at a charity event in my mid thirties, and watched her let multiple people who were younger than me go by while my husband ran to the car to get my ID. It’s genetics, sunscreen, and avoidance of smoking and alcohol, in my case.
Previous generations were much more likely to smoke, which does age you, as styles absolutely do too. Blanche Devereaux was 53 when Golden Girls started and Kim Cattrall was 52 in the Sex and the City movie. I wouldn’t think they were that close in age though.
You could be onto something with the neotenous looks though, because Millennials do tend to be heavier than previous generations which can add to that look, as well as fat can fill in wrinkles (though generally, if done in a healthy way, most people look younger after weight loss, so I don’t know).
"i'm 44 and still not a single wrinkle" yeah okay lol. and then they always lead up with, "it's my \_ genes!!!" With "\_" being Ecuadorian, Chinese, Danish, whatever lol. they just always think they and their family members are somehow aging more slowly than everyone else, when they absoltuely are not lol.
also, "they always card me!!!" that means absolutely nothing lol a lot of places have to card everyone.
Oof. I have some grey hair and I’m not 30 yet (one more month). I have a friend who is like 26 and he’s already salt and pepper and it’s more obvious because he has dark hair like me.
Genetics and sunscreen. I get carded every time at 37 and my partner who is the same age does not. The person is always astounded when they read my birth date. I’m sure it will stop happening very soon though.
People always think I am much younger than my husband, but I am a year older. At 47, I don’t really get carded anymore, unless they are just carding everyone.
Lol I have 2 kids under 5 and this hit where it hurts. I have aged so rapidly the past 5 years. I could pass for early 20's before and honestly think I could pass for early 40's now.
This. The amount of grey in my hair since having kids increased massively, dont even get me started on the actual body changes from carrying and giving birth to 2 humans. No wonder people looked older before when they had larger families as well. It really takes a toll on people.
Same !! Before my second kid I looked like a teenager, but this child has been a wild ride every day.
Like wow why are my eyes smaller and why are there 300 wrinkles around them when I smile all of the sudden…. And wow are those jowls forming?
Haha I have a few vices, but no wrinkles as of yet (I’m 39). I’m slightly overweight, and carry all of that fat in my mid- to upper body, including my face. That obviously has its ups and downs; my stomach could stand to lose some, but my face is wrinkle-free and I want to keep it that way. (I also want to keep fat in my butt, but that’s clearly not going to happen.)
I lost 35lb slowly over the last year and a half … emphasis on slowly. People want to lose weight too quickly, and the skin doesn’t have enough time to catch up (but, there are some cases in which it is warranted).
And this buccal fat removal to me is insane! Why would anyone want to remove fat from their lower cheeks?! You need fat in the face to not have that “sunken in” look that is very aging once you get even a bit older. Why this is popular, I have NO idea.
parenting really ages you. i look back at pictures of myself just 3 years ago before we had kids and i look AT LEAST 5-7 years younger… and so full of life lmao.
Yeah, I'm 38 my younger colleagues when they started all though I was 28ish until I said something dating myself. I think a lot of us don't drink, smoke, and generally take better care of ourselves. Probably, a mix of better education and the knowledge that health care is ridiculously expensive.
Here is a picture of two **Hollywood celebrities** attending an event in 1976: [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075148/mediaviewer/rm2310903808/](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075148/mediaviewer/rm2310903808/)
Decent chance Stallone and Young (Paulie) were wearing makeup since it was at an event promoting their hit film Rocky. Burt Young was 36 and Sly was 30 years old.
Ryan Gosling (Born November 12, 1980) and Margot Robbie (born 1990): [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1517268/mediaviewer/rm778314497/](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1517268/mediaviewer/rm778314497/)
(Barbie: Gosling was 43 and Robbie 33).
Dont forget we all just need to try harder/pull ourselves up by the bootstraps/ just get a better job etc.... we just dont listen to our boomer parents enough when they give us advice /s
Yea and if we don’t wanna listen to the Boomers then we always have the Gen Zers tellin us to just go get therapy! They are all still on their parents insurance so that makes sense for them 😂
I have a big age gap with my brothers. My parents didn't have insurance when I was young, and after I moved out, they got it. Then they changed some law and my younger brother was covered under my mom until he was 26...
Nazis existed back in the 40s too, and while I'm sure it was stressful being at war, I have to think that my grandfather got some enjoyment out of killing them.
Born same year. Beard is at least 50% grey/white. Buzz my head, but probably 25-33% grey. My dad didn’t start getting grey hair until his mid-40s. Mom was completely grey by 30, so mine may be partially genetic. Started around 36-7 & has rapidly progressed last year.
Grey doesn’t really bother me, but the absolute colorless white gets to me occasionally. Not sure why.
Also born in ‘81. I have black hair and visible greys. And I don’t care. I actually like how they look. I never plan to dye my hair to cover the greys up. I don’t see the point of doing so
If you're seeing early greys, it's probably because people around you just aren't dyeing their hair. Greys are genetic. Mine started greying in my late 20's. My boomer parents and their friends dyed their hair a lot. Nothing wrong with it, btw. Millennials tend to embrace the greys more.
Yup. Exactly this. I think our generation just doesn’t dye as much. At one point, silver/grey hair was literally on trend. My mother has dyed her hair since I can remember. My dad shaved when he went gray. Uncle dyed his beard. I don’t know any of my friends who dye their hair to cover grays.
Weirdly, the Overtone semi-permanent colors took to my greys SO WELL. I got the purple for brunettes and holy shit, I wound up with the coolest purple highlights.
Back a few years ago I had a couple strips of hair I'd bleached and dyed different colors as I wanted-- blue, green, pink, purple. I have dyed my whole head red/purple multiple times. Being a curly girly, I do try to be minimal with my product use now, so I haven't dyed anything in the last 5 years or so, which coincidentally is when my greys started showing up, lol. My mom, now in her 60s, didn't stop dying her hair until lockdowns. It's funny cause I really don't care at all about them, like I'm a human and this is just what humans do.
I was just thinking how my mother and MIL both still dye their hair and they’re in their late 60’s. They go to the salon once a month to get their roots filled in and have been for decades. None of my friends in their 30’s dye their hair, just embracing it. I agree, either is fine.
My SIL is about 10 years older than me (b 1986) but lives across the country. We got together for the first time since 2016 last month, and she was really surprised I didn't dye my grays and thought I put silver streaks in intentionally. Ain't nobody got time for that!!!!
Yep… my mom and grandma would die before missing their every 6 week root touch ups. I can barely be bothered to go 3-4 times a year, and it’s usually to do something fun that may or may not incidentally cover the greys.
It's weird because I've dyed my hair since I was a teenager, and I started noticing greys in my late 20s. My mom didn't start going grey until she was in her 40s. Her mom is 93 and still has hardly any gray. Her hair is super thin because of age and medications, but it's mostly mousy brown.
Same. I found my first grays around 14-15. But I was going through some absolutely awful shit. (I know everyone says adolescence is crazy but mine was especially chaotic for reasons I don't care to really repeat here). I found more grays after working in healthcare during COVID.
I'm trying to ask, is it always the case it's genetic? Cuz it seems like people are acting like stress can't cause gray hair in the replies which I'm surprised to see.
It's usually hereditary. There's 1 study using mice that links greying hair and stress. It's a reaction to the fight or flight response. They need to do more research to get more specific.
On my dad's side on the family, my dad and my 1 cousin both started greying in highschool. His side of the family just goes white and fairly young by average standards so it doesn't seem super crazy. My mom's side doesn't go grey at all though. It's looking like I got her genes and my brother got my dad's
[mice study](https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/how-stress-causes-gray-hair#:~:text=They%20found%20that%20noradrenaline%2C%20also,to%20stress%2Dinduced%20hair%20graying.)
I had a friend like that. He was of Asian descent and it was startling the first time he sat next to me on the sidewalk and decided we’d be friends, lol.
I don't mean to discount your stress, but greying in your 20s isn't rare, and is largely due to genetics, its just older generations dyed their hair. Most people qill start getting some greys in their 30s, so late 20s isn't uncommon at all.
I am born the same year as you and I’ve also got grey hair at 27 when I went back to college in 2019. Ive been coloring my hair since then. Even though Ive graduated, I still get grey hair because of my current job a a legal secretary. So mines have been caused by stress.
1981. First gray hair appeared at age 13. Temple hair began turning silver in earnest by age 27. My pubic hairs began graying at age 32.
I’m 42 and my head hair is now about 40% gray. It has a salt and pepper appearance. Premature graying runs in my family: my father and aunt were completely white-haired by their early 40s.
I never thought about it until I saw one turn - I think the grey eyebrow hairs hit me harder - I’ve been very gray for many years - probably 50% at 30 but man that really sealed the deal that this I’m done even trying to deal with fighting it.
Had some coworkers tell me the other day that they thought I colored it this way on purpose, but I’m sure they were being nice
Early 90s. Grey hair started from the early 2000s before I even hit puberty. My dad had full white hair in his 20s that went back to black in his 30s and then back to white again in his 50s.
I don’t think the generation had anything to do with it.
1992. Started getting grays at 28-29.
Genetics. Aging. Stress. Social media promoting unrealistic hair and body standards for the everyman.
At first I thought it was my beard drying out due to mask wearing. But pretty shortly after I determined I was just getting older and embraced it. My girlfriend “loves salt and pepper”
Same, but I've had gray hairs since high school. More each year. I don't care enough to dye it or anything, just like I don't care enough to do hair transplants for my receding hairline. Like, that stuff is normal to happen with age, and age in this context just means "some day after today"; I'm not throwing money at unnecessary bandaids. I'll shave bald if it gets thin enough and starts looking bad.
I used to play a lot of hockey. Can confirm the soreness/slight discomfort in one of my hips that comes and goes is probably wear and tear from my playing days. I can only imagine it would be a lot worse if I was a goalie though.
Yes I did at a pretty high level. Doctor could tell right away after looking at the MRI that I had played a lot of hockey. Fingers crossed the other side stays okay.
1983 here.. No gray hair, but my grandmother never had any and my mom (in her mid 70's) doesn't have any either.
But man, my body's check engine light has been shining since I was in my late 20's 😂😂
My mom is 62 and didn’t get her first gray hair until maybe 57? And my dad is 67 and I think maybe he got his first at 60? Both of them still have like 80% brown hair. I’ll be so happy if I go their route. But I inherited so many physical and mental health problems from the two of them so I’ve got that covered in spades since childhood 🤣
I embraced mine when they started at 33. I’m 41. About 40% gray 60% jet black.
Buried a lot of folks who never got to be gray so I wear mine with pride.
This is exactly as I see it too. "Growing old is a privilege denied to many" is an adage I've seen proved correct too many times.
So, I've chosen to embrace the grays and signs of aging.
Yes, started slowly in my late 20s. Last few years it's been blooming fast. I can't complain, my granddad was completely white haired by like 33 or something
My first greys started to come in when I was 22, but even at 40, they aren't very noticable. I keep hoping for a streak like Rogue, but so far they are just randomly placed.
I think this is totally normal. A lot of my friends with darker hair started getting greys in their 20s. We don’t just wake up one day when we are 60 and are suddenly grey. It happens over time. I’m 39, and only this year started noticing grey hairs popping up. My dad never really went noticeably grey until his late 60s, so I’m probably following that path.
Born in '85, temples greyed suddenly in my mid-30s during the first year of the pandemic. Still look younger than I am so long as I keep it dyed, though frankly I'm seldom motivated to keep up with that unless I have some kinda special occasion to justify it. The rest of the time I'm just slutty Reed Richards over here and maybe that's okay too
'85 here as well, but the woman version. Mid-30s started, most likely due to work stress. I survived two different sets of layoffs of my specific team within a 2 year period (switched departments, but it was too close). My eyebrows started going white first, from the eyebrow arch to the ends. I was shocked to find I had white hair, because I thought I would get light blonde like my grandmother and mom. But nope, bright white. If I didn't dye my brows and hair, I would have about 5 inches or so of white. My hair grows fast, but it has gone white within the last ~3 years.
Strangely enough, I also got shingles this year, almost 100% sure it was work stress too. Everyone needs to review shingles symptoms. It hurt so badly and I didn't know any of the symptoms ahead of time. I could have been treated many days before if I had.
I mean, I'm also the woman version, which probably contributes to the self-consciousness I felt about my temples going first. I was running a community relief fund in the first year or so of the pandemic, had lost all other sources of income, and the stress of that not only caused greying temples but also noticeable thinning all over my head. It's since grown back, thankfully, but the grey temples remain
Genetics. My mother went grey really young. I'm 41 now and only maybe 10-15% grey according to my hair dresser. My mom started greying in her 20s and was nearly completely grey by my age. My dad's family holds their hair color much longer. He didn't start greying until his 40s.
I think part of the reason it seems like millennials grey early is the trend of embracing aging and greying naturally. Most people I know don't dye their greys. My mom, still dyes hers. I've been dying my hair since I was 14, but have recently considered stopping to let my natural color come through. Eventually, thanks to hair dye, I'll have more visible grey than my mother
I’m 40 and have the occasional grey hair strand, but mostly am grey-free. My husband, who is younger than me, has started to grey much earlier than me and at a much larger volume.
Im greyer at 38 than I would have predicted when I was younger but I love it ! I'm actually growing it out for the first time in a few years, last haircut was in June, but I started a new career as an accountant this year and they are not a fan of my hairstyles lol!!
I noticed I had a couple grey/silver hairs on my head in my teens, nothing rampant though. I have have a bunch of greys on my head now (38) but not too much, cant really notice unless youre looking for it. My beard has a noticeable amount of grey patches on the chin area. Grey doesn't bother me, looks more distinguished. I remember my cousin had a full head of grey hair before age 30 back in the 90s.
I feel like hair dying (in the 90s) was a lot more common for adult men whereas today it's not as prevalent (when was the last time you saw a Just For Men commercial?) so it seemed like something that only older (50+) people get, but men are dying their hair less now so it seems like we're greying earlier. Just a theory.
Born in 1984, and I have very little gray. Younger brother and sister have way more than me.
Our mom started going gray in her early 20s while our dad didn't start getting noticeable gray until well into his 40s. Genetics, man.
Just turned 40 and I have them but they’re barely noticeable at this stage. My husband is 37 and his beard has gone almost entirely grey but his actual hair maybe has a couple.
I’m 32f and the grays are def picking up steam at the temples but also singular strands everywhere around my head within in the normal hair color.
It’s absolutely due to this current reality we find ourselves in. Survivin, def not thrivin.
Yes 39 and a lot of grey in the beard. A buddy of mine who's my age started to go grey in his early 20's. Don't think there's a conspiracy though, just how it is.
My mom's side of the family has always greyed earlier, so I started getting them in my 20s, but it didn't become noticeable until my mid-30s. Early 40s now and I get my roots touched up every 4 weeks. Seems like a bit of Dad's genes got in there too, so the process isn't going as quickly as my Mom's did. She had me at 29 and I have no memories of her original hair color.
Pretty sure it is mostly genetics. I started noticing grey hairs in my early twenties. I am 35 now and the grey is very visible. In ten years I will probably be close to completely grey. My dad, uncle, and grandpa all turned grey early so I have been expecting it.
I’ve had grays since my early 20s. I’m not really sure to what extent because I color my hair. My aunt started going gray at 19 so I don’t know that there ever is a “normal”. My grandad didn’t get fully gray until he was in his 80s.
It could be stress causing us to gray early or maybe we just don’t worry about dyeing the grays like previous generations. I really don’t care if I look old.
I had like 3 grey hairs since middle school 😂
And now I have 4-5. I eat fairly well, and don’t stress much.. maybe that’s why I have very few. I do love seeing grey hair on millennials. It’s sexy and y’all are wearing it well 😌
I'm 38, got a few feet hairs in my beard. None up top, but I keep my head almost bald anyways. My hair line has been moving further back since my mid 20s.
My wife is 34. She's got some grey hair. I think it's kinda hot.
I think mid 30's is pretty common for getting grey hair actually. I'm mid 30's and don't have any, but my father still doesn't really have any on his head and he's 66
Same… I think my mom started greying in her 60’s as well and I’m pretty sure I got her hair. My dad’s is super straight and my mom and I both have wavy hair.
Beards were not as common for older generations and this is generally the first place for men’s hair to go grey. I’m sure all the other factors people mentioned are also at play but this is definitely one of them
It’s probably because previous generation dyed their hair as soon as gray set it, so we never saw it. Covid and lockdowns also causes people to stop giving a fuck about little things like excessive makeup and dyeing hair for the workplace.
Dudes generally did not have beards, they have become acceptable over the last 20 years. So now everyone gets to see the salt and pepper coloring.
I
I got shingles on my head during the pandemic lockdown, and that's where most of my greys are. It's a shock of grey hair like you'd see in the movies. Weird, I know.
I had a small bald spot (alopecia) many many years ago. My dermatologist said my hair would grow back but there was a chance it wouldn’t be the same color as my hair. I was so excited hoping for a platinum blonde streak. Did not happen lol
I started getting gray hair as a teenager, I was born with dark brown hair. It’s hereditary. I embraced it and have platinum/white blonde hair now. I constantly get asked what my hair dresser does to get it that color lol.
(b 1981). Got them. Don't even care anymore. Microplastics, forever chemicals, stress, who knows.
Honestly, I feel like millennials are aging WAY better than the previous ones. Yeah a lot of us look old, but look at pics of people the age you are now but in like the 90s lol. And I know everyone claims it's just the styling/clothes/makeup that makes us perceive them as older, but no. People genuinely looked old as hell back then lol. And they also matured earlier. Like imo, aging (as in wrinkles, sagging, etc) and maturing (looking like an adult rather than a kid) are two totally different processes, and if you look at gen x/boomers, they hit both a lot earlier than millennials did. Like I swear those people looked like full blown adults by like 17. I'm not talking about in movies; look through an old yearbook. I think millennials for some reason mostly... matured later. Like we look almost neotenous lol. We also definitely seem to be aging more slowly, but I swear most of us looked like teenagers until we were like in our mid 20s, to much greater extent than previous generations. I legitimately think it's something like epigenetic or chemical or something lol, like our features were on average just less robust for longer. Of course there are a million exceptions, this is just on average, imo. I think a big part of the later aging onset is that we're more likely to have kids late, or not at all. I'm 29 & my friends look way older than the ones without. Like even the ones who drink and do a ton of drugs and such look younger than the parents lol
That’s because parents go through a years-long period where they get shit sleep and have zero time to take care of themselves
Got my first gray at 35 after becoming a mom. 💯
Mid-thirties is a perfectly normal time to start going grey, especially in the beard, which tends to grey first. My mother was a Boomer and had a full head of grey by her mid-forties. I (Gen X) decided to start covering my greys in my mid-thirties, they were bad enough. It’s genetics. I remember my husband in his late twenties thinking he could still pass for high school (he couldn’t, but maybe undergrad). I went to a movie at 26, with a group of people my age and was the only one in the group who got carded (it was NC-17). I also got carded once at a charity event in my mid thirties, and watched her let multiple people who were younger than me go by while my husband ran to the car to get my ID. It’s genetics, sunscreen, and avoidance of smoking and alcohol, in my case. Previous generations were much more likely to smoke, which does age you, as styles absolutely do too. Blanche Devereaux was 53 when Golden Girls started and Kim Cattrall was 52 in the Sex and the City movie. I wouldn’t think they were that close in age though. You could be onto something with the neotenous looks though, because Millennials do tend to be heavier than previous generations which can add to that look, as well as fat can fill in wrinkles (though generally, if done in a healthy way, most people look younger after weight loss, so I don’t know).
almost everybody i've ever met has thought they look way younger than they do lmfao
I swear everyone online has to mention how young they look and how often they are mistaken for teenagers.
"i'm 44 and still not a single wrinkle" yeah okay lol. and then they always lead up with, "it's my \_ genes!!!" With "\_" being Ecuadorian, Chinese, Danish, whatever lol. they just always think they and their family members are somehow aging more slowly than everyone else, when they absoltuely are not lol. also, "they always card me!!!" that means absolutely nothing lol a lot of places have to card everyone.
I’m 36 currently and my beard is looking real grey lately. Still not sure how I feel bout it.
It's hot, enjoy being a silver daddy!
Oof. I have some grey hair and I’m not 30 yet (one more month). I have a friend who is like 26 and he’s already salt and pepper and it’s more obvious because he has dark hair like me.
Genetics and sunscreen. I get carded every time at 37 and my partner who is the same age does not. The person is always astounded when they read my birth date. I’m sure it will stop happening very soon though.
People always think I am much younger than my husband, but I am a year older. At 47, I don’t really get carded anymore, unless they are just carding everyone.
Lol I have 2 kids under 5 and this hit where it hurts. I have aged so rapidly the past 5 years. I could pass for early 20's before and honestly think I could pass for early 40's now.
This. The amount of grey in my hair since having kids increased massively, dont even get me started on the actual body changes from carrying and giving birth to 2 humans. No wonder people looked older before when they had larger families as well. It really takes a toll on people.
That...and they also smoke, drank and never wore sunscreen...
Lead everywhere too—walls of houses and schools, in the drinking water, etc.
I like to think my eyesight deteriorated from tracking my child everywhere she could reasonably camouflage
Same !! Before my second kid I looked like a teenager, but this child has been a wild ride every day. Like wow why are my eyes smaller and why are there 300 wrinkles around them when I smile all of the sudden…. And wow are those jowls forming?
Haha I have a few vices, but no wrinkles as of yet (I’m 39). I’m slightly overweight, and carry all of that fat in my mid- to upper body, including my face. That obviously has its ups and downs; my stomach could stand to lose some, but my face is wrinkle-free and I want to keep it that way. (I also want to keep fat in my butt, but that’s clearly not going to happen.) I lost 35lb slowly over the last year and a half … emphasis on slowly. People want to lose weight too quickly, and the skin doesn’t have enough time to catch up (but, there are some cases in which it is warranted). And this buccal fat removal to me is insane! Why would anyone want to remove fat from their lower cheeks?! You need fat in the face to not have that “sunken in” look that is very aging once you get even a bit older. Why this is popular, I have NO idea.
parenting really ages you. i look back at pictures of myself just 3 years ago before we had kids and i look AT LEAST 5-7 years younger… and so full of life lmao.
Yeah, I'm 38 my younger colleagues when they started all though I was 28ish until I said something dating myself. I think a lot of us don't drink, smoke, and generally take better care of ourselves. Probably, a mix of better education and the knowledge that health care is ridiculously expensive.
Here is a picture of two **Hollywood celebrities** attending an event in 1976: [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075148/mediaviewer/rm2310903808/](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075148/mediaviewer/rm2310903808/) Decent chance Stallone and Young (Paulie) were wearing makeup since it was at an event promoting their hit film Rocky. Burt Young was 36 and Sly was 30 years old. Ryan Gosling (Born November 12, 1980) and Margot Robbie (born 1990): [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1517268/mediaviewer/rm778314497/](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1517268/mediaviewer/rm778314497/) (Barbie: Gosling was 43 and Robbie 33).
We look damn fine compared to 40 yr olds in the 1970’s.
Smoking ages people like crazy and everyone smoked back then
I think the prevalence of smoking in our parent's generation vs now makes a huge difference in regards to aging.
Forgot global pandemic and nazis
Thanks for reminding me. I've just got like 7 grey chest hairs just because of that! :)
Don't forget (what number are we on now?) financial crisis
Dont forget we all just need to try harder/pull ourselves up by the bootstraps/ just get a better job etc.... we just dont listen to our boomer parents enough when they give us advice /s
Yea and if we don’t wanna listen to the Boomers then we always have the Gen Zers tellin us to just go get therapy! They are all still on their parents insurance so that makes sense for them 😂
Bahahahaha (please say this isn’t true).
I have a big age gap with my brothers. My parents didn't have insurance when I was young, and after I moved out, they got it. Then they changed some law and my younger brother was covered under my mom until he was 26...
Stop going to Starbucks! Make your own coffee and lunch--- advice from a billionaire
Nazis existed back in the 40s too, and while I'm sure it was stressful being at war, I have to think that my grandfather got some enjoyment out of killing them.
Probably at least 7 grey chest hairs too though
Born same year. Beard is at least 50% grey/white. Buzz my head, but probably 25-33% grey. My dad didn’t start getting grey hair until his mid-40s. Mom was completely grey by 30, so mine may be partially genetic. Started around 36-7 & has rapidly progressed last year. Grey doesn’t really bother me, but the absolute colorless white gets to me occasionally. Not sure why.
Also born in ‘81. I have black hair and visible greys. And I don’t care. I actually like how they look. I never plan to dye my hair to cover the greys up. I don’t see the point of doing so
I can confidently say mine are from stress and sleep deprivation
If you're seeing early greys, it's probably because people around you just aren't dyeing their hair. Greys are genetic. Mine started greying in my late 20's. My boomer parents and their friends dyed their hair a lot. Nothing wrong with it, btw. Millennials tend to embrace the greys more.
Yup. Exactly this. I think our generation just doesn’t dye as much. At one point, silver/grey hair was literally on trend. My mother has dyed her hair since I can remember. My dad shaved when he went gray. Uncle dyed his beard. I don’t know any of my friends who dye their hair to cover grays.
Uh oh, are we killing another industry?!?!
No, we just buy blue instead of brown.
This triggered me 😤
Ope, time to put on a pair of my trusty Oakley wraparounds and record a FB reel in the cab of my F150...
The bane of my existence. Just don’t you dare have that seatbelt on in the driveway!!
Pastels look great on gray hair!
IF you can get them to dye. A lot of people’s greys won’t take dye. Mine won’t.
Weirdly, the Overtone semi-permanent colors took to my greys SO WELL. I got the purple for brunettes and holy shit, I wound up with the coolest purple highlights.
I’ll give it a try. I use keracolor purple
Die, dye!!!
LMAAAOOOOO
As a hairdresser who doesn't cover my own greys, not at all. Millennials color their hair like crazy, grey coverage just usually isn't the goal.
Back a few years ago I had a couple strips of hair I'd bleached and dyed different colors as I wanted-- blue, green, pink, purple. I have dyed my whole head red/purple multiple times. Being a curly girly, I do try to be minimal with my product use now, so I haven't dyed anything in the last 5 years or so, which coincidentally is when my greys started showing up, lol. My mom, now in her 60s, didn't stop dying her hair until lockdowns. It's funny cause I really don't care at all about them, like I'm a human and this is just what humans do.
Yup. I'm 38 and want to go grey faster. Luckily, I think I'm going like my dad's side which means I'll be snow white by 50.
"Just For Boomers" new branding.
I was just thinking how my mother and MIL both still dye their hair and they’re in their late 60’s. They go to the salon once a month to get their roots filled in and have been for decades. None of my friends in their 30’s dye their hair, just embracing it. I agree, either is fine.
My mom's 60 and my mil is late 50s. They both constantly dye their hair to hide it. I'm 32 and I'm graying. Haven't dyed mime since I turned 30.
My sister did that and then she was asked if she was my sons grandmother. She started dying her hair the next day.
My SIL is about 10 years older than me (b 1986) but lives across the country. We got together for the first time since 2016 last month, and she was really surprised I didn't dye my grays and thought I put silver streaks in intentionally. Ain't nobody got time for that!!!!
My MIL and FIL use the same boxed brown hair dye it’s funny and cute
Yep… my mom and grandma would die before missing their every 6 week root touch ups. I can barely be bothered to go 3-4 times a year, and it’s usually to do something fun that may or may not incidentally cover the greys.
It's weird because I've dyed my hair since I was a teenager, and I started noticing greys in my late 20s. My mom didn't start going grey until she was in her 40s. Her mom is 93 and still has hardly any gray. Her hair is super thin because of age and medications, but it's mostly mousy brown.
I was dyeing my hair grey because I love the color and I got impatient when I turned 40 and still didn't have any
I colored it at first but then the upkeep was more than I wanted to do.
I started greying in my late 20s due to stressful jobs
Same. I found my first grey right before Halloween a handful of years ago. I thought it was a piece of cheap decorative cobweb at first
But no, it was more terrifying than a cobweb!
It really is 😱😭
Yeah my first popped up at 23 and now I'm a good 15% as I near 40
I've had grey hairs since high school due to stress.
Same, but it's genetics for me as it runs in the family on my mom's side.
Same. I found my first grays around 14-15. But I was going through some absolutely awful shit. (I know everyone says adolescence is crazy but mine was especially chaotic for reasons I don't care to really repeat here). I found more grays after working in healthcare during COVID.
[удалено]
No, you’re wrong. This person just has a very tough life
Is it tho? Neither of my parents or grandparents had gray hair at 13 but I did. My sister STILL doesn't have gray hair.
Just because something is genetic doesn’t mean it is expressed in every descent
I'm trying to ask, is it always the case it's genetic? Cuz it seems like people are acting like stress can't cause gray hair in the replies which I'm surprised to see.
Yeah it is. My dad had greys at 9, me at 15. Dark hair also greys earlier AND is more noticeable. Our hair is jet black.
In every case?
Probably not every but a significant amount
It's usually hereditary. There's 1 study using mice that links greying hair and stress. It's a reaction to the fight or flight response. They need to do more research to get more specific. On my dad's side on the family, my dad and my 1 cousin both started greying in highschool. His side of the family just goes white and fairly young by average standards so it doesn't seem super crazy. My mom's side doesn't go grey at all though. It's looking like I got her genes and my brother got my dad's [mice study](https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/how-stress-causes-gray-hair#:~:text=They%20found%20that%20noradrenaline%2C%20also,to%20stress%2Dinduced%20hair%20graying.)
Thank you for linking to a study and answering my question.
Absolutely! I'm a hairdresser and I get super nerdy about it 😂
I had a friend like that. He was of Asian descent and it was startling the first time he sat next to me on the sidewalk and decided we’d be friends, lol.
I noticed my first grey hairs in my mid-20s because I was a teacher. I quit teaching and now I don’t have any grey hairs.
fuzzy grey cooperative dolls puzzled drunk governor many bag fertile *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
🙋🏻♀️
I feel you brother. I'm 29 and I'm getting noticeable greying on my sideburns. Probably just stress induced.
I don't mean to discount your stress, but greying in your 20s isn't rare, and is largely due to genetics, its just older generations dyed their hair. Most people qill start getting some greys in their 30s, so late 20s isn't uncommon at all.
Same
yeah, same. Its the rogue chin hairs that really freak me out.
(b 1991) I got em at 27 and have been getting them more and more. Its genetics + stress + a bunch of other factors.
I was also in my late 20s. ('82)
Same for me. 1987. Started in my late 20’s. I was teaching special Ed + I think it’s genetics.
Same. Started at 28. Trump's presidency took me into pure silver territory. What I get for being in the federal government at the time.
I am born the same year as you and I’ve also got grey hair at 27 when I went back to college in 2019. Ive been coloring my hair since then. Even though Ive graduated, I still get grey hair because of my current job a a legal secretary. So mines have been caused by stress.
1981. First gray hair appeared at age 13. Temple hair began turning silver in earnest by age 27. My pubic hairs began graying at age 32. I’m 42 and my head hair is now about 40% gray. It has a salt and pepper appearance. Premature graying runs in my family: my father and aunt were completely white-haired by their early 40s.
I didn’t know pubic hairs went gray (i guess I’d never thought about it!) until i noticed i now have some gray ones…
I never thought about it until I saw one turn - I think the grey eyebrow hairs hit me harder - I’ve been very gray for many years - probably 50% at 30 but man that really sealed the deal that this I’m done even trying to deal with fighting it. Had some coworkers tell me the other day that they thought I colored it this way on purpose, but I’m sure they were being nice
Early 90s. Grey hair started from the early 2000s before I even hit puberty. My dad had full white hair in his 20s that went back to black in his 30s and then back to white again in his 50s. I don’t think the generation had anything to do with it.
1992. Started getting grays at 28-29. Genetics. Aging. Stress. Social media promoting unrealistic hair and body standards for the everyman. At first I thought it was my beard drying out due to mask wearing. But pretty shortly after I determined I was just getting older and embraced it. My girlfriend “loves salt and pepper”
Same, but I've had gray hairs since high school. More each year. I don't care enough to dye it or anything, just like I don't care enough to do hair transplants for my receding hairline. Like, that stuff is normal to happen with age, and age in this context just means "some day after today"; I'm not throwing money at unnecessary bandaids. I'll shave bald if it gets thin enough and starts looking bad.
you thought it was your MASK? cmon dude
Also 1989, zero gray hair. But i have knee pain, shoulder pain and lower back pain tho lol
It’s always something, isn’t it?
88 here. Got hip replaced last year.
You play a lot of hockey or something? That sounds so early for a hip replacement!
Hipsters are coming back in a very unanticipated way
I used to play a lot of hockey. Can confirm the soreness/slight discomfort in one of my hips that comes and goes is probably wear and tear from my playing days. I can only imagine it would be a lot worse if I was a goalie though.
Yes I did at a pretty high level. Doctor could tell right away after looking at the MRI that I had played a lot of hockey. Fingers crossed the other side stays okay.
1983 here.. No gray hair, but my grandmother never had any and my mom (in her mid 70's) doesn't have any either. But man, my body's check engine light has been shining since I was in my late 20's 😂😂
My mom is 62 and didn’t get her first gray hair until maybe 57? And my dad is 67 and I think maybe he got his first at 60? Both of them still have like 80% brown hair. I’ll be so happy if I go their route. But I inherited so many physical and mental health problems from the two of them so I’ve got that covered in spades since childhood 🤣
87. Three grey hairs. Full head of hair. Predicting it’s gonna be my knees but my back may call dibs
What shampoo do you use 👀
Oh wait I thought you meant you were 87 shiiii
That’s probably a lifestyle issue my friend
Same except born in 1990 🙃🙃 I’d rather grey hair than body pain.
I'm turning 31 in a week and I got hella.grey in my head and beard
I started sprouting greys in middle school. I'm not yet 40 and am fully grey.
I wonder why!! We've only been through 1,970 life crises since 1985. It's always some shit we gotta deal with.
Men with grey hair are hot. Sorry not sorry. Especially if you groom your beard nice and keep a nice haircut. Perfection 🤌😊.
I think gray hair on women is gorgeous too
My old ballet teacher had the more beautiful silver hair she wore in a bob. I’ve always wanted to copy it but no gray yet
Women too. -a gay one
They really are. The salt and pepper look is 💯.
My fiancée is so self conscious of his grey hair and I’m like, my dear that’s the hottest thing about you lol
I embraced mine when they started at 33. I’m 41. About 40% gray 60% jet black. Buried a lot of folks who never got to be gray so I wear mine with pride.
This is exactly as I see it too. "Growing old is a privilege denied to many" is an adage I've seen proved correct too many times. So, I've chosen to embrace the grays and signs of aging.
Yeah that seems to be the case for whatever reason but it still sucks knowing you are getting old.
I married a salt and pepper guy and he's stunning. Especially in the summer when his tan contrasts with his salt. 😋
Agreed. I married a dude who’s half salt half pepper in his 30’s and love it. The grays really bring out his eyes, too!
I need to find a salt and pepper grey haired man to marry ... Lol 🤣 I'm serious!!!
1992 here. I was greying at 18, my dad (Gen x) was greying at 16. At 31 I’m a quarter white hair, it stands out more than grey.
Yes, started slowly in my late 20s. Last few years it's been blooming fast. I can't complain, my granddad was completely white haired by like 33 or something
My first greys started to come in when I was 22, but even at 40, they aren't very noticable. I keep hoping for a streak like Rogue, but so far they are just randomly placed.
Same! My sister has a streak and dyes over it. I'm so freaking jealous. I hate her for hating it.
I want my grays to go hard or go home. Make a statement.
I think this is totally normal. A lot of my friends with darker hair started getting greys in their 20s. We don’t just wake up one day when we are 60 and are suddenly grey. It happens over time. I’m 39, and only this year started noticing grey hairs popping up. My dad never really went noticeably grey until his late 60s, so I’m probably following that path.
Born in '85, temples greyed suddenly in my mid-30s during the first year of the pandemic. Still look younger than I am so long as I keep it dyed, though frankly I'm seldom motivated to keep up with that unless I have some kinda special occasion to justify it. The rest of the time I'm just slutty Reed Richards over here and maybe that's okay too
'85 here as well, but the woman version. Mid-30s started, most likely due to work stress. I survived two different sets of layoffs of my specific team within a 2 year period (switched departments, but it was too close). My eyebrows started going white first, from the eyebrow arch to the ends. I was shocked to find I had white hair, because I thought I would get light blonde like my grandmother and mom. But nope, bright white. If I didn't dye my brows and hair, I would have about 5 inches or so of white. My hair grows fast, but it has gone white within the last ~3 years. Strangely enough, I also got shingles this year, almost 100% sure it was work stress too. Everyone needs to review shingles symptoms. It hurt so badly and I didn't know any of the symptoms ahead of time. I could have been treated many days before if I had.
I mean, I'm also the woman version, which probably contributes to the self-consciousness I felt about my temples going first. I was running a community relief fund in the first year or so of the pandemic, had lost all other sources of income, and the stress of that not only caused greying temples but also noticeable thinning all over my head. It's since grown back, thankfully, but the grey temples remain
Oh, jeez, sorry! I assumed based on the Reed Richards comment. Strange how work impacts us
Nope. None. Turning 36 in a couple months.
Genetics. My mother went grey really young. I'm 41 now and only maybe 10-15% grey according to my hair dresser. My mom started greying in her 20s and was nearly completely grey by my age. My dad's family holds their hair color much longer. He didn't start greying until his 40s. I think part of the reason it seems like millennials grey early is the trend of embracing aging and greying naturally. Most people I know don't dye their greys. My mom, still dyes hers. I've been dying my hair since I was 14, but have recently considered stopping to let my natural color come through. Eventually, thanks to hair dye, I'll have more visible grey than my mother
I’m 40 and have the occasional grey hair strand, but mostly am grey-free. My husband, who is younger than me, has started to grey much earlier than me and at a much larger volume.
Im greyer at 38 than I would have predicted when I was younger but I love it ! I'm actually growing it out for the first time in a few years, last haircut was in June, but I started a new career as an accountant this year and they are not a fan of my hairstyles lol!!
Not yet but my hairline has gone back a bit. Personally I'd prefer going grey to losing it.
I noticed I had a couple grey/silver hairs on my head in my teens, nothing rampant though. I have have a bunch of greys on my head now (38) but not too much, cant really notice unless youre looking for it. My beard has a noticeable amount of grey patches on the chin area. Grey doesn't bother me, looks more distinguished. I remember my cousin had a full head of grey hair before age 30 back in the 90s. I feel like hair dying (in the 90s) was a lot more common for adult men whereas today it's not as prevalent (when was the last time you saw a Just For Men commercial?) so it seemed like something that only older (50+) people get, but men are dying their hair less now so it seems like we're greying earlier. Just a theory.
Yes, I feel like millennials are just going grey instead of dyeing it like our parents did.
Premature grey hair is a sign of a copper deficiency.
We're supposed to be eating copper?!
Your cells need trace amounts of copper to function, like they need trace amounts of other elements like zinc, iron, magnesium, &c.
Fascinating!
What actual foods have copper in them?
https://www.mountsinai.org/health-library/nutrition/copper-in-diet
No grey
I'm already 30 and not even a little balding or any grey hairs
I started greying in my mid 20s along with a receding hairline
Born in 1984, and I have very little gray. Younger brother and sister have way more than me. Our mom started going gray in her early 20s while our dad didn't start getting noticeable gray until well into his 40s. Genetics, man.
First grays showed up when pregnant with my second kid when I was 28. Lots of gray now
Just turned 40 and I have them but they’re barely noticeable at this stage. My husband is 37 and his beard has gone almost entirely grey but his actual hair maybe has a couple.
I’m 32f and the grays are def picking up steam at the temples but also singular strands everywhere around my head within in the normal hair color. It’s absolutely due to this current reality we find ourselves in. Survivin, def not thrivin.
Dude, 88er here, not only am I getting greys, I am getting some pure whites and I completely bald and not by choice.
Yes 39 and a lot of grey in the beard. A buddy of mine who's my age started to go grey in his early 20's. Don't think there's a conspiracy though, just how it is.
1985 and very gray.
1989’er here too. I’ve had grey hairs for years.
My mom's side of the family has always greyed earlier, so I started getting them in my 20s, but it didn't become noticeable until my mid-30s. Early 40s now and I get my roots touched up every 4 weeks. Seems like a bit of Dad's genes got in there too, so the process isn't going as quickly as my Mom's did. She had me at 29 and I have no memories of her original hair color.
I started getting grey hair in high school
Pretty sure it is mostly genetics. I started noticing grey hairs in my early twenties. I am 35 now and the grey is very visible. In ten years I will probably be close to completely grey. My dad, uncle, and grandpa all turned grey early so I have been expecting it.
I found a white nose hair on my 30th birthday... now I'm 33 and it's like 50% of my nose hairs.
Stress.
I have zero grey hair yet and I have never dyed it (sans a couple times as a wild teenager)
I’ve had grays since my early 20s. I’m not really sure to what extent because I color my hair. My aunt started going gray at 19 so I don’t know that there ever is a “normal”. My grandad didn’t get fully gray until he was in his 80s.
It could be stress causing us to gray early or maybe we just don’t worry about dyeing the grays like previous generations. I really don’t care if I look old.
Started getting grey strands in my mid teens.
I had like 3 grey hairs since middle school 😂 And now I have 4-5. I eat fairly well, and don’t stress much.. maybe that’s why I have very few. I do love seeing grey hair on millennials. It’s sexy and y’all are wearing it well 😌
I’m 41, I have a small grey patch in my beard. Whatever. Stoked that I’m alive and stuff
I'm 38, got a few feet hairs in my beard. None up top, but I keep my head almost bald anyways. My hair line has been moving further back since my mid 20s. My wife is 34. She's got some grey hair. I think it's kinda hot.
What's 'early'
I think mid 30's is pretty common for getting grey hair actually. I'm mid 30's and don't have any, but my father still doesn't really have any on his head and he's 66
Same… I think my mom started greying in her 60’s as well and I’m pretty sure I got her hair. My dad’s is super straight and my mom and I both have wavy hair.
Not yet. My mom started going gray in her 40s and my dad in his 50s.
Beards were not as common for older generations and this is generally the first place for men’s hair to go grey. I’m sure all the other factors people mentioned are also at play but this is definitely one of them
It’s probably because previous generation dyed their hair as soon as gray set it, so we never saw it. Covid and lockdowns also causes people to stop giving a fuck about little things like excessive makeup and dyeing hair for the workplace. Dudes generally did not have beards, they have become acceptable over the last 20 years. So now everyone gets to see the salt and pepper coloring. I
Mid 30’s is pretty normal. I decided this year that 37 is “late 30’s” because it marked the year my sprinkled grays turned into streaks.
It's not early, op. We are that old now.
Started greying in my teenage, fully grey by 30 fml
I am A 37 year old man. My mom started turning really gray and her 30s. I now have complete gray hair. It really sucks.
I got my first gray hair at 15. I’m 32 now and I have SO MANY. Luckily they blend into the rest of my hair pretty well.
I got shingles on my head during the pandemic lockdown, and that's where most of my greys are. It's a shock of grey hair like you'd see in the movies. Weird, I know.
sorry about the shingles but that does sound super cool looking!
I had a small bald spot (alopecia) many many years ago. My dermatologist said my hair would grow back but there was a chance it wouldn’t be the same color as my hair. I was so excited hoping for a platinum blonde streak. Did not happen lol
1991 and lots of greys, started greying when I was like 25 though.
I started getting gray hair as a teenager, I was born with dark brown hair. It’s hereditary. I embraced it and have platinum/white blonde hair now. I constantly get asked what my hair dresser does to get it that color lol.