Inside your hair follicles there are a certain number of pigment cells that produce a chemical called melanin. The very same chemical that gives skin it's color also gives hair its color. As we age, those pigment cells in our hair follicles begin to die. A strand of hair with fewer pigment cells will not contain as much melanin and become lighter or more transparent in color which accounts for the gray, silver, or white! Despite parents blaming it on having to teach their teenager how to drive, how early we get gray hair is actually determined by our genes.