Cherri Gervais first got gray hairs as a teenager.
“It’s genetic,” she said.
Her hair color, a striking shade of silver, caught the attention of people on TikTok when she asked them to guess her age in a recent video.
The guesses varied widely. Many were accurate, or close, Ms. Gervais said. (She turned 34 this month.) Others thought she was in her 60s or 70s.
Ms. Gervais, who lives in Kansas and works part-time for a beauty company, decided to post the video after seeing similar TikToks.
“I saw a Gen Z person do it because they claimed Gen Z is aging faster,” she said, referring to a theory that young people are showing signs of aging more quickly than older generations.
Her video is part of a trend where users, mostly women, ask strangers to comment on their looks. Ms. Gervais mentioned that many comments she received were harsh.
“People told me to dye my hair, get lashes, fix my eyebrows,” she said. Some even said she looked like a “middle-aged mom.” “There’s nothing wrong with that,” she added. “But I’m not a mom.”
Jalisa Silva-Toney, a 21-year-old social work student from Point Pleasant, W.Va., also participated in the trend. “I was just curious,” she said, mentioning that people often mistake her age.
She explained that part of the reason she shared her video was because she hadn’t seen many Black women involved. She believes TikTok’s culture of comparison is fueling the trend and the ongoing discussion about her generation’s aging.
Pri Maha, a business analyst in Atlanta, shared a TikTok video asking people to guess her age mostly out of curiosity.
“I see influencers who are only 23 getting Botox,” said Ms. Maha, 27. “It sometimes makes me wonder, ‘Should I be doing that, since I’m older?’”
She added, “I feel like there’s a push for younger girls to look as young as possible, even when they’re very young.”
However, not everyone participated out of curiosity.
“I have thick skin, and not much bothers me,” said Morgan Driscoll, who works in communications at a tech company in Weymouth, Mass. “I knew it would get views, so it was worth posting.”
Ms. Driscoll, 30, sees the trend as a business opportunity to gain more TikTok followers.
“I didn’t do it for validation,” she said. “I did it for engagement.”
Her video has been viewed over 100,000 times.
Most comments focused on her eyebrows. “I have very millennial eyebrows,” Ms. Driscoll said, indicating they are thin. She plans to get them “fixed” based on TikTok feedback.
“The worst comment was about my neck starting to sag,” she said. “I just turned 30!”
Nevertheless, for many TikTokers, any interaction is positive.
“A comment is a comment,” Ms. Driscoll said. “I don’t mind trolls. I don’t care if they say I look like a toad. I just want the comments.”
