can you still color your hair with the box chemical stuff from walmart or wherever and still grow long healthy hair ? my roots are really showing and I don't know whether to color or not

I have highlights and have my roots done every 4-7 weeks. I have long healthy hair with virtually no split ends. I get one hair dusting done a year.

I used to do it, back when I had long hair. I did it a lot when my hair was short. It didn't cause too much damage for me, but I know it did for some people. I think it really depends on your hair. My hair could probably hold up to anything, I mean I bleached it at home from black to blonde...The bleach is the only thing that ever did real damage to my hair. But again, it is up to your hair. I know I made the choice to color when I had long hair before and I will color again as I grow out now, but it may vary from person to person.

You can def. have dyed healthy hair, as long as you take care of it! Lots of deep condition treatments and you should be fine!

Depends on your hair. I used to color like crazy and had healthy hair, but at about 24 years old that started to change, now my hair gets damaged if I color.

Bleach is worse on my hair than dying darker, Highlights at the salon are the worst for me.

I have been dying my hair with chemical dyes for 5 years now,I'm growing my hair long for 4 years and it's healthy!

Theres a social group here called Chemical Heads that all of its members still use chemical dyes.I had extrememly damanged hair from dyeing but I wasn't taking proper care of it either.Now I know the tricks to keep it healthy,I have healthy dyed hair :) Beware though-oils and other treatments are known to lighten hair and take out dye.It does take your hair sometime to recooperate after dying,so what may seem like it killed your locks,give it sometime to repair itself ;)

Like previous posters have mentioned, it depends on the condition of your hair.

Look at it this way- if you take really good care of your hair in other ways (no heat, using a wide-toothed comb, oiling/deep conditioner, etc) then the coloring shouldn't affect your hair as bad.

posted wrong place

Chemically coloured hair is going to be somewhat damaged and that's just a fact of life. Babying it can really help though.

I colour my hair myself with box dye, and have done so for years. I deep condition it frequently, make sure it's lightly oiled for protection, and never use heat appliances. My hair, while not as healthy as virgin hair, is in very good shape. COing has also been a big help for me.

looking for my friends hair i think that if you have oily hair if you dye your hair with a similar colour to yours (darker or with the same level of lightness) there will be no visible damage (visible!) but..if your hair is normal or dry...you may see it, you may feel it...and i think that straight hair looks more damaged then curly for example (although it is just an ilusion) that is just my opinion

thanks for everybody's input!!

jojo: if you cannot say something nice do NOT say anything at all :)

I was wondering if COing was okay with dyed hair...thanks Frannyg

btw-I dyed yesterday and my siggy pic shows the new color.Its Deep Burgundy from Feria

ilovemycop that is a pretty intense colour! :)

ilovemycop: very pretty vibrant color

thanks for everybody's input!!

jojo: if you cannot say something nice do NOT say anything at all :)

Nice to know you feel that way. Sometimes when people post a question, they want to hear the good, the bad, and the ugly. I'll try to remember that you only want to hear the good.

Thanks with the compliments.

I don't care what everyone elses opinion is about chemically dyed hair.It makes me happy and I know that I'm taking proper precautions to keep it from getting completely fried :)

I use boxed dye close to my own color (maybe one shade lighter) and I have relatively healthy hair by looking at it anyway! I am sure it would be healthier if I didn't color. I only do the roots as best I can and treat it very well in other ways. I'm a curly too and my hair is somewhat resiliant. I think that matters too. Some hair types can take it better than others.

I believe chemically dyed hair can be kept healthy; as long as you take a lot of care of it :)

I dyed my hair and it's still healthy, but most of it washed out by now (over 5 months later!!), so it involves a lot of care, I believe

Ilovemycop, thats a cool colour!!

- ilovemycop: I *love* that color. I get mine dyed a similar color at a salon (unfortunately not as vivid as yours, but it does have a violet-red base tone to it). It's a deposit-only color (no lightening) so the peroxide is not all that strong. I get the roots done every 6-8 weeks and the length freshened up about once a year, if that. Sometimes I use the corresponding semi-permanant color to freshen the length and make it nice and shiny. Coloring long hair with chemical dyes is a trade off. Of course you will have some damage, but oftentimes the only way to achieve such vivid rich colors with any kind of staying power is to go the chemical route. And damage can be minimized and managed with care.

I usually wash my hair every other day, as I live in a hot and humid area with a lot of pollution. I have found that using shampoo on my scalp but conditioner only on the length works well for me. I probably only shampoo the entire length 2-4 times a month, depending on how often I use an oil on it and how dirty it's gotten. Just the conditioner alone is enough to remove any surface dirt and styling product/leave in conditioner residue.

Tracy

Depends on your hair. I used semi-permanent box dyes for years (red), and my hair is still recovering. The split ends I have are the legacy of this hair dye. I now use henna, and since not using box dyes, my hair is finally beginning to gain some length.

This has been my experience. I know there are people that colour their hair with synthetic dyes, and they have lovely, long hair. They're lucky! It really depends on your hair.

-- Natalie

I happily used chemical dyes till I hit around tailbone. Past waistlength I found it hard to keep the ends in good condition.

I guess by the time hair reaches tailbone that's alot of coatings of dye (you have to sometimes dye the entire length as it fades don't you.)

For me personally if I was waistlength again I wouldn't worry about dye affecting condition.

Fwiw I decided to grow out dye and I have bra length virgin hair and dyed ends...The virgin part knocks socks off the coloured part in terms of shine and strength etc.

It's your call. Your hair might be able to dye without getting damaged as much.

Well after enjoying my henna for a couple of years and the gorgeous condition it gives your hair.....I went and bleached it all out to go back to my natural colour (ashy blonde). Let me tell you, it is not in the condition it used to be, but it is getting there with all the nice treatment I give it :) And now I only do the roots every 5 weeks or so and the few inches of new (unstripped, dyed only) growth are actually not too different from what my henna hair was.

Bottom line: if dyeing your hair will give you the colour your happy with, then do it. I couldn't grow my hair long (healthy or not) with a colour I wasn't entirely happy with. So it's up to you, but just be gentle and take care of it either way ;)

HTH

Nice to know you feel that way. Sometimes when people post a question, they want to hear the good, the bad, and the ugly. I'll try to remember that you only want to hear the good.
to mom2 or whatever your called
As I have the thread starter hidden, i was actually writing something in response to the second poster. The thread starter has taken a dislike to me because she does not like to to hear bad things and when she does writes nasty Ims to people, well me anyway.

The thread started really needs to seek help for that paranoia of hers, if people want advice then sometimes its not what you want to hear. i believe in honesty and my post to the 2nd poster was complimentary not nasty but i deleted it as i thought the thread was started by 2nd poster.

Spidermom
Thanks for seeing my point SM and very well said. x

Ok, let's all play nice nice. When someone takes my comments wrong, or worse, doesn't even act like I posted, I just go on and ignore them. Once ignored, they go away.

Ok, let's all play nice nice. When someone takes my comments wrong, or worse, doesn't even act like I posted, I just go on and ignore them. Once ignored, they go away.

Amen,justy :applause

Ok, let's all play nice nice. When someone takes my comments wrong, or worse, doesn't even act like I posted, I just go on and ignore them. Once ignored, they go away.
i was going to say your hair is lovely dyed or not!

Ok, let's all play nice nice.


**MOD HAT ON**

Hear, hear! Let's also remember to leave the moderating to the moderators. That's what the "report post" button is for, after all.

I color my hair and have my roots done every 31/2 weeks. My hair is bsl and very healthy but I baby the heck out of it.