gray hair

[alpacinou]

I want to say a person has gray hair. Can I use "smudge"?

Are these correct and natural?

1. Gray hair was beginning to smudge her hair at the temple.

2. Her temple was smudged gray with strands of gray hair.

3. Her hair had been smudged with gray wisps at the temple.

 

[tedmc]

Smudge is used with things that can be smeared, not hair.

Grey hair began to appear/had become conspicuous at the temple
Her temple was covered with grey hair.
Her hair had greyed at the temple.

 

[emsr2d2]

"Smudged" is a good choice there and is used in BrE in exactly that context.

Her deep black hair was smudged with grey.

 

[alpacinou]

"Smudged" is a good choice there and is used in BrE in exactly that context.

Her deep black hair was smudged with grey.

Are all the sentences okay?

 

[emsr2d2]

Are all the sentences okay?

I don't like sentence 2 because of the repetition of "gray".
I don't like sentence 3 because of the use of the past perfect, for which I can see no reason.