Brown hair turning red with age, normal?

[Anonymous]

My hair is/was dark brown. I only use apple shampoo and conditioner, as any other products make my hair greasy. No dyes whatsoever in my hair, very, very few greys. So, now it is noticeably reddish, it used to look red in very bright sun, but not otherwise, but now in mid 40s it is redder and redder. I don't really care, but is it a sign of bad hair? Now that the school started other moms at games are commenting about my "new" hair color. They don't believe me that I did nothing to it. My eyes are brown, but when I was a kid people would say I have deer eyes?? But they too are changing to lighter hue, and there is ton of green and yellow/orange tint there now. I know I have type 1 skin, the kind that burns and never tans, and freckles and moles, and really, really pale skin, I dislike it as it causes nothing but trouble, but does that have anything to do with this? Is my skin tone connected to my hair and eye color? Does this happen fairly often? Is it because I am vitamin D deficient? It is not a big deal at all, but I am just curious if this happens to other people.

[Anonymous]

This is happening to me too. Curious what kinds of responses you get.

[Anonymous]

My red hair gets browner ever year. Go figure. I prefer red.

My DC's eyes change colors over time too. But again in the opposite direction of yours.

In any case, your genetic markers are probably in the red head family, which is a wild and strange mix where anything can happen.

[Anonymous]

Wow, you guys are lucky!

I have dark brown Asian hair, and all I get is white strands, and don't they show up nice and bright

[Anonymous]

I think my eyes are getting lighter with age, too - still hazel but they were more brown than green when I was younger and now the reverse.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for replies! OP here. I guess it happens to other people, that is good to know. Possibly more people would notice it, but so many women color their hair anyway and don't see the changes?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think my eyes are getting lighter with age, too - still hazel but they were more brown than green when I was younger and now the reverse.

My mom's eyes have definitely lightened. We used to have identical colored green eyes (my sister used to call them slime green -- thanks sis) but I've noticed in recent years that mom's eyes are now much lighter green than mine. Mine have not changed as far as I can tell. She takes a lot of meds so who knows if it's that or age.

[Anonymous]

I'm 43 and I have brown hair that you would almost call auburn. I've noticed my hair getting lighter and more golden. I thought it was grays at first but nope, its turning golden brownish now.

Never colored my hair in my life and don't spend time in the sun without a hat - so I don't know whats up with that.

[Anonymous]

Op, my hair has been brown with a hint of auburn. Now the sides are turning grey, but the hair in the front center area is turning red! I'm 50. And, my eyes are changing color slightly too, and becoming lighter. Glad I am not the only one.

[Anonymous]

I read an article somewhere the other day about why men often have red beards even if they don't otherwise have red haired. It said that there are two types of pigment, one for brown and one for red. I'm guessing that your brown pigment is fading away with age, but your red isn't, so you're not going grey, you're getting more red. Like how leaves turn color in fall.

[Anonymous]

I had some hairs that turned from brown to copper before going gray.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I read an article somewhere the other day about why men often have red beards even if they don't otherwise have red haired. It said that there are two types of pigment, one for brown and one for red. I'm guessing that your brown pigment is fading away with age, but your red isn't, so you're not going grey, you're getting more red. Like how leaves turn color in fall.

Op here. Thanks for such a nice metaphor! I like it! It might be connected to melanin, or my lack of melanin....

[Anonymous]

My mom is a natural redhead, my brother and I had mousy brown hair in our respective youth and since turning 30 our hair is turning red. I don't mind it but my poor bro has lost of the hair on his head already so it's his beard that's turning, and he's not happy about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I read an article somewhere the other day about why men often have red beards even if they don't otherwise have red haired. It said that there are two types of pigment, one for brown and one for red. I'm guessing that your brown pigment is fading away with age, but your red isn't, so you're not going grey, you're getting more red. Like how leaves turn color in fall.

Op here. Thanks for such a nice metaphor! I like it! It might be connected to melanin, or my lack of melanin....

Here's the article. Not a scientific journal or anything, but there's random red hair in my family (including my younger brother's lumberjack style beard) so I thought it was interesting.

http://motherboard.vice.com/read/why-do-so-many-men-have-red-beards-but-not-red-hair

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I read an article somewhere the other day about why men often have red beards even if they don't otherwise have red haired. It said that there are two types of pigment, one for brown and one for red. I'm guessing that your brown pigment is fading away with age, but your red isn't, so you're not going grey, you're getting more red. Like how leaves turn color in fall.

Op here. Thanks for such a nice metaphor! I like it! It might be connected to melanin, or my lack of melanin....

Here's the article. Not a scientific journal or anything, but there's random red hair in my family (including my younger brother's lumberjack style beard) so I thought it was interesting.

http://motherboard.vice.com/read/why-do-so-many-men-have-red-beards-but-not-red-hair

Thank you so much for this article! That explains so much. Some of that might be why my mom kept going on and on that I am just like my great grandma, who was a redhead, and I thought my mom was imagining things. This pheomelanin that seems to be more present in type I skin also might explain why I have skin cancer(removed and all clear right now, luckily) and burn, never tan skin, like I mentioned. I just did some more research and there are theories that pheomelanin might actually contribute to UV skin damage. Thanks again, I didn't even know until now about this pheomelanin. And my DS will not allow me at all to say it out loud, he is a teen, but his brown hair is kind of auburn in the summer, to be honest probably because he spends a lot of time in the sun.