Has my natural hair colour changed? :(

[markay23]

I started dying my hair when I was 15 and I stopped dying it at 18 because I really wanted to see my natural hair colour again. Now I'm 20, my top layer roots are at chin length and my bottom layers are all natural now. I struggled a lot to grow it from the beginning again but i managed it. My natural hair colour is a light brown that became even lighter during summer, but now it looks rather dark. I can still trace some highlights and blondish baby hairs but it's overly brown, not like it used to be. Does hair become darker with age? Or does my hair has to spend some more time on the sun and environment to get back to what it was? I'm also adding a photo of me before I started dying it. Thanks!

[divinedobbie]

I only see one picture, is this before you started dying it or after you grew it out?

Hair does change colour as you age, for most people I know it's gone darker so it could just be a natural process. Or you might just have forgotten what colour it was and held a memory of it being lighter than it really was. Or as you say, you really might just need more sun exposure, as the ends would be the lightest and only the underlayer is fully grown out. I wouldn't worry, just give it more time to grow out.

[markay23]

thanks for the reply, this is before i started dying it! i've heard of people going darker but only during their transition from child to teen, thats why it seems weird to me.

[missblueeyes]

Do you still have some dye in your hair? That might make your natural haircolour seem darker or less vibrant. You'll know for sure once your natural haircolour has grown out fully.

[meteor]

thanks for the reply, this is before i started dying it! i've heard of people going darker but only during their transition from child to teen, thats why it seems weird to me.

Oh yes, that's pretty normal. Of course, during transition from child to teen, but later, in the 20s, it's pretty normal, as well.

There really isn't much that can be done: sun exposure and honey lightening might help a bit, but yeah, it's normal for hair to darken with age, and that's probably why so many people start getting highlights/dyes, trying to keep their natural shade - I really understand that pressure and went through the same... took me a while to accept a deeper richer shade and stop highlighting.

Your hair is absolutely gorgeous and if it gets much darker with time, it will be stunning and will still suit you beautifully and naturally! I bet you will look amazing with either lighter or darker shades!

[Nique1202]

When I was a child my hair was strawberry blonde. As a teen, it was a very dull sort of light-to-medium brown. In my early-to-mid 20s it changed again to a dark, rich brown with so much gold tone and shine that in bright light it looks light brown where the light hits it, but still nearly natural black in the shade.

It's very possible for hair colour to change well after puberty (you generally have a hormonal shift and settling in your 20s anyway, which I affectionately called Puberty 2.0). But if you used to spend a lot of time in the sun as a kid and teen, and now you're mostly indoors, it's possible that the sun just doesn't have the chance to lighten your hair the way it did back then, and this is just what your natural colour has been all along. There's no real way to tell.

And, does it really matter so much? This is what it is now. All you can do is decide whether to keep your current colour or lighten it (and gather damage over time, whether it's sun or lemon or honey or peroxide you decide to use).

[markay23]

Thanks for taking the time to reply everyone, I do have some dye left at the ends of my hair but the rest of it is grown. I guess I spent more time under the sun as a kid so my hair had the chance to lighten (now im a homebird and avoid sun). It doesnt really matter if it went darker but i have to admit im a little dissapointed because i've been growing it all these years just to see this light brown on me again but oh well. And there's no way I'm dying it again, that would be madness after all these years of extreme care to make it healthy again!

[markay23]

Oh yes, that's pretty normal. Of course, during transition from child to teen, but later, in the 20s, it's pretty normal, as well.

There really isn't much that can be done: sun exposure and honey lightening might help a bit, but yeah, it's normal for hair to darken with age, and that's probably why so many people start getting highlights/dyes, trying to keep their natural shade - I really understand that pressure and went through the same... took me a while to accept a deeper richer shade and stop highlighting.

Your hair is absolutely gorgeous and if it gets much darker with time, it will be stunning and will still suit you beautifully and naturally! I bet you will look amazing with either lighter or darker shades!

thank you so much for the nice kind words <3

[mcgg417]

The great thing about darker hair is that instead of getting blondish you'll probably get reddish strands. Dark hair highlights too but has a lot more red pigments. Either way you'll love it when all your natural is grown out.