Shadow, not stubble, is less apparent if you have blonde or lighter colored hair. Gray is rarely totally gray so there is a lessening of the shadow as you get gray, like me, but it's not Mr. Clean usually. On the other hand, stubble is very apparent at least to me even though gray--it glistens and is very apparent, plus it's a pain in the neck literally when it catches on a t-shirt for example. Stubble is bad for that reason alone, IMO, smooth, slick and shiny--my goal.