Newbie with some questions

[scrfynerfherder]

Hello! I'm new to posting here, though I've been lurking and reading avidly for the past two weeks. Though I am by no means a newbie to long hair, I AM a newbie to long healthy hair. When I was younger, I had hair to my waist. When a cousin unknowingly passed on lice, my mother cut it chin-length to make it easier to get the eggs out. Since then (I was 9, I'm now 21), I haven't had hair longer than my shoulders. I usually get too impatient to let it grow.

Because I'm impatient and always looking for a change, I've done horrendous things to my hair since then. I haven't seen my natural color since I was 12. And if I told you all how many times I've gone from black to platinum blond, you'd probably cry. About 3 years ago, I chopped it all off (pixie length) to grow healthy hair. I fell victim to the bottle(s) yet again just recently in October of 2010, I chopped it all off again.

I've grown out the pixie to about nape length without cutting. Yes, I have the dreaded "pixie mullet" but I keep it in a teeny-tiny ponytail with little pins to hide the shorter layers. I don't want to lose any length at this point by trimming just to even out the mullet. For the past two weeks, after reading a lot on these forums, I've gone CO (washing once a week with a SLS-free 'poo), deleted -cones from my life, and given away my flat irons. The difference in my usually frizzy poof is amazing. I haven't had any oil issues, as my hair has always been dry, frizzy, and wavy.

My hair does usually grow a bit faster than average, about .66-.75 a month. I'm going to begin experimenting with Monistat this week to see if I can speed that up, at least until I reach SL or APL. My goal is WL and I feel like I finally have the motivation and dedication to let it grow! Now here are my questions:

As far as color goes, I'm really dreading a line of color difference in growing my hair out, and I really would love to go back to a deep brunette shade. Will using an ammonia free 28-rinse color hurt or damage new growth terribly? If it will, is henna mixing an option for a brunette color?

My other question is: for a leave in conditioner after showering, I've been using my Suave Naturals coconut lightly. Is this too heavy? Should I be looking for a specifically-leave-in-conditioner that is -cone free?

[pepperminttea]

I'm afraid I don't know a great deal about colour options (though henndigo is worth looking up), but using normal conditioner for a leave-in is a-okay if your hair can handle the extra weight. You can dilute it if it's too heavy, and keep it in a spritz bottle to make application easier. :) Be warned though, when diluted it can 'go off' so keep an eye on it, and only mix small amounts at once.

[Shermie Girl]

Well... Since your hair isn't terribly long yet, you could just go ahead and use dye to go dark brown. If that is a match to your natural colour, you shouldn't need to dye again, unless the colour fades and you need to refresh it. If so, you can just refresh the dyed hair, leaving your roots alone. Then, as you grow and do trims, you will, over time trim away the dyed hair, leaving unaltered hair behind.

Henna and indigo to make brown are a definite possibility. If you think that you would like to go that route, I strongly encourage you to find and read the henna and indigo threads on the henna and herbal products boards. Nightshade has written some good articles on natural colouring. You can find them in the article section. The link is at the top of the page.

Henna is permanent. I am talking once that stuff is in you are not getting rid of it unless you cut your hair off permanent. There is no "natural" or chemical way to completely remove henna. It bonds to the keratin structure of your hair and nothing will take it all out. As I learned the very hard way, a couple of years ago. :o Henna and indigo are wonderful. But you have to commit to them. You don't flirt with henna and indigo. You marry them. :D

Welcome to LHC. And enjoy the ride. Growing your hair can be a fun and very rewarding experience.