Possible way to protect hair from conventional peroxide damage

[Nat242]

Just a heads up:

I'm woefully unhappy with my current hair colour, so I'm trying to lighten it with peroxide so that my henna looks "red", and so that my very stubborn new (not conventionally dyed) hair will actually take henna+cassia dye.

I'm taking this slowly, and I'm documenting the progress in my blog. As it is private, I'll cross post my method and results here as I go.

Process:

1. Wash hair with diluted shampoo
2. Thoroughly coat hair in coconut oil, leave to sink in 30-60 minutes
3. Spray hair with 10vol hydrogen peroxide
4. Pin up, leave for 40-45 minutes.
5. Rinse hair thoroughly, wash with diluted shampoo.
6. Coat length with cone free conditioner
7. Wash scalp with soap bar
8. Rinse
9. Pour on final vinegar rinse (1TB to 2 cups of water).

Right now, it appears my hair is ever so slightly lighter, and the condition is actually really nice. It feels like it's had a deep condition. My scalp feels a little odd, but I think that's from all the hot water (and I was impatient so I blow dried my hair on the warm setting).

I'm going to see how my hair behaves over the next few days, and I may do another peroxide treatment followed by henna/cassia over the next week or so.

Thanks so much for all your work Ktani. I'll do my best to report accurately on my experiments and results!

[ktani]

Just a heads up:

I'm woefully unhappy with my current hair colour, so I'm trying to lighten it with peroxide so that my henna looks "red", and so that my very stubborn new (not conventionally dyed) hair will actually take henna+cassia dye.

I'm taking this slowly, and I'm documenting the progress in my blog. As it is private, I'll cross post my method and results here as I go.



Thanks so much for all your work Ktani. I'll do my best to report accurately on my experiments and results!

You are most welcome! Thank you for reporting so far and good luck!

Since you may be continuing with this, you may want to consider 2 things. Leaving the coconut oil on your hair longer than 1 hour, and possibly adding argan oil to it, or on top of it for extra protection.

I suggest, that before your next try, leaving the coconut oiling on overnight. It may not be necessary but it cannot hurt. Also be sure to use enough. While there are no amounts given, a heavy oiling has not been reported to interefere with lightening and IMO, is better than using less. You can CO out the peroxide too, rather than wash or just rinse it out.

I will wait for your results from this one, to count it as a report. Please update when you are more sure of your hair's condition, over the next few days. It sounds like you have very good results so far.

[Nat242]

You are most welcome! Thank you for reporting so far and good luck!

Since you may be continuing with this, you may want to consider 2 things. Leaving the coconut oil on your hair longer than 1 hour, and possibly adding argan oil to it, or on top of it for extra protection.

I suggest, that before your next try, leaving the coconut oiling on overnight. It may not be necessary but it cannot hurt. Also be sure to use enough. While there are no amounts given, a heavy oiling has not been reported to interefere with lightening and may be better than using less.

You can CO out the peroxide too, rather than wash it out.

Thanks for the advice! I certainly am continuing. I've been looking around for argan oil, but I haven't been able to find it locally. I can't afford to ship anything in at the time being, but I may do so in the future.

I will increase the amount of time I leave the coconut oil - you're right, longer can't hurt. I believe I coated my hair with the oil quite thoroughly; I divided my hair into sections so I could apply the oil evenly and quite heavily - just as though I were doing a deep treatment.

CO has never worked for me - it may get the peroxide out, but it can't remove oil from my hair! The diluted shampoo followed by a single soap lathering at my scalp removed everything without leaving my hair too dry.

Thanks Ktani! I'll keep you posted.

[ktani]

Thanks for the advice! I certainly am continuing. I've been looking around for argan oil, but I haven't been able to find it locally. I can't afford to ship anything in at the time being, but I may do so in the future.

I will increase the amount of time I leave the coconut oil - you're right, longer can't hurt. I believe I coated my hair with the oil quite thoroughly; I divided my hair into sections so I could apply the oil evenly and quite heavily - just as though I were doing a deep treatment.

CO has never worked for me - it may get the peroxide out, but it can't remove oil from my hair! The diluted shampoo followed by a single soap lathering at my scalp removed everything without leaving my hair too dry.

Thanks Ktani! I'll keep you posted.

You are most welcome!

If you do search for argan oil where you are look for pure, organic argan oil.

[ktani]

Argan oil use in general

Argan oil 2008

"Argan oil: A treasure-trove" Page 1
http://www.psychologies.co.uk/Wellbe...treasure-trove



Page 2 This is about cosmetic use in general but it has useful tips, IMO. Please note the sun sensitivity reference (I put it in bold).

"Thanks to Mrs Katim Alaoui, Professor of Pharmacology at the faculty of medicine and Rabat pharmacy, in Morocco and Director of the Mohammed VI Foundation.

.... best way to reap the benefits of argan oil .... use it in pure and organic form. Make sure that the inscription ‘Arganis spinosa kernel oil’ appears on the bottle.

For both the face and body, always apply argan oil at night, as makes the skin sun sensitive.

.... using the oil on your hair, be sure to apply from root to tip. Leave it to work under a hot towel for an hour, or all night long if your hair is dry or frizzy, then wash. During summer you can also add a few drops of oil to your holiday shampoo to make it more nourishing. Do not use it if you have fine and flat hair.

For nails, massage the entire surface of the nail with a drop of oil, without forgetting the contours ....."
http://www.psychologies.co.uk/Wellbe...ove/(offset)/1



This is about culinary use of the oil.

"Nutritional information*
(for argan oil 250 ml)
Calories per portion: 70
Per 14 g serving (Tbsp)
% For diet of 2000 cal./day
Total fats: 14 g / Fat 12%
saturates 2,5 g/ 7%
polyunsaturates: 5,3 g
monoinsaturates : 6,2 g
Cholesterol 0 mg 0%
Sodium 0mg 0%
Carbohydrate 0 g 0%
Proteines 0 g 0%
Vitamin E 4mg
Vitamin A 0%
Vitamin C 0%
Calcium 0%
Iron 0%
Store in a cool dry place away from direct light to last more than 24 months.

It enhances the taste and scents of:
Vegetarian and oriental dishes
Vegetables(sweet pepper, tomato, green salad, zucchini, sweet potato)
Cooked dishes : fish, seafood (salmon, trout, shrimps, lobster) Couscous
Spaghetti, and other pasta
Rice with vegetables
Dry vegetables dish: lentils, French bean or white chickpea
Scrambled eggs and other egg dishes
Bread and crepes"

The 24 months is for unopened oil. Argan oils should have a very good shelf life, when open, if properly stored. Refidgeration is best for most opened oils, IMO.

[ktani]

I now have a Pending File, for reports results if the results need more time. So far there are 2 reports in the file, from dorothea-brooke, and now Nat242.

I would rather have someone more sure of their results, regarding a report, than have them feel that they were innacurate. The Pending file is an option for anyone. All it means is that I have recorded the initial post, so it does not get lost in the thread, and I can follow up on it, if necessary.

[dorothea-brooke]

ktani, I'm reporting back in with an update. I'm happy to say that my hair is completely back to its normal self -- no damage at all.

The dryness has disappeared after a few days of my regular routine (haven't washed since right after the peroxide, but have been doing my usual nighttime light oiling with coconut + jojoba). I've come to the conclusion that the dryness and tangling I was experiencing after the bleaching were entirely due to over-clarifying, not to damage.

So, next time I'm going to do several things differently: 1. I'll pre-oil overnight, but then oil again an hour before coloring with either more coconut or argan oil; 2. I'll CO afterwards rather than pooing twice.

Also, rymorg suggested using a 10-level peroxide developer from a beauty supply store rather than straight household peroxide -- they're both 3%, but she said the developer will have conditioners and other ingredients that will make it less drying. This might not be necessary if I do more oiling, but it's something to keep in mind!

Thanks again for all your help.

[ktani]

ktani, I'm reporting back in with an update. I'm happy to say that my hair is completely back to its normal self -- no damage at all.

The dryness has disappeared after a few days of my regular routine (haven't washed since right after the peroxide, but have been doing my usual nighttime light oiling with coconut + jojoba). I've come to the conclusion that the dryness and tangling I was experiencing after the bleaching were entirely due to over-clarifying, not to damage.

So, next time I'm going to do several things differently: 1. I'll pre-oil overnight, but then oil again an hour before coloring with either more coconut or argan oil; 2. I'll CO afterwards rather than pooing twice.

Also, rymorg suggested using a 10-level peroxide developer from a beauty supply store rather than straight household peroxide -- they're both 3%, but she said the developer will have conditioners and other ingredients that will make it less drying. This might not be necessary if I do more oiling, but it's something to keep in mind!

Thanks again for all your help.

Fantastic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And you are most welcome!

I will now move you from the Pending File to complete, and record both your initial post and this one as your report.

rymorg2 knows her stuff and then some IMO. It cannot hurt to follow her suggestion for this. Anything that can make the process even less drying, the better. The coconut oil's conditioning benefits in the pre-treatment are really secondary. The only purpose for using either coconut oil or coconut and argan oils as a pre-treatment is to help minimize damage by chelating ("fighting" free radicals). By using the alternative 10 volume product, you would simply be aiding the conditioning benefits of the oil or oils and that sounds great to me.

[ktani]

Ok, I need everyone's help please. I need people to please say in their reports, what their hair was before the conventional colour or lightening products were used. It is not always easy for me to know or see and it helps others. I do know some of you better than others and I can sometimes tell this from profile, or post information from another thread. I just sent a pm to dorothea-brooke, to confirm that her hair was virgin, prior to her using the conventional peroxide. This is an error on my part (an ommission by others), in my not asking at the time, which I will correct (I always ask this in the Honey thread) but in this case the report was pending. Still, I should have asked, long before now, for me to be sure, for the Reports Post. I will correct the report in this case, if necessary.

Examples of what I mean are: hennaed, previously hennaed (telling everyone how long ago), previously coloured, virgin, previously hi-lighted, etc. If the conventional colour is only going on the roots, that is virgin but the hair would be called previously coloured.

[ktani]

dorothea got back to me and I ammended the report to read "a mix of virgin, previously hi-lighted and previously coloured hair".

It gets into issues of how long the roots are and the ends in certain places. What this means though is that if there is no damage reported, that people know what the chemicals were used on and it gives one a better idea of the damage minimizing properties of the oils, even on hair that in some cases, may be considered previously damaged.