Growing Out Hair Dye/Henna Support and Measure-In

[fawn]

Hi! I am also growing out dye/bleach. I have not had virgin hair since I was 14!

It is very hard and trying!
But I think what helped was at about month 3 I had some of my natural color foiled into the blonde lengths. So it blends better actually alot better than I thought it would - its live-able. Its not such a major difference because my hair is light brown/dark blonde. But I do see quite a bit of grey, too!

I promised to myself no cutting or coloring until December, which will mean, 7 months.
I had BAD Japanese Hair Straightening two months ago, and I had to have a total of 8 inches cut off! So I ended up at 21.5" - have not measured since.

Been doing CO, scalp washes, and olive/coconut/castor oils. I also started taking Biotin. I am still having a hard time waiting for it to grow out, but the nice, soft thick growth is encouraging!

Best wishes to you two-toners as well!

[Amara]

Hair History My hair has been so many colors... but only the last few inches (maybe) can remember that. I started hennaing a few years back, and I henndigoed the underneath. So I had henna on the canopy and a dark brown under. 2.5 years ago I decided to grow out my natural color. I hadn't seen it since high school, and I honestly didn't know what it looked like - I remembered it was darkish brown. Curiousity got me, and then I liked the idea of having natural hair, with no roots and no dye (even natural dye) to worry about.

Goal: I would like all natural hair, and I would also like classic length hair. I'm growing and also trimming, not sure which goal I'll reach first. I'm guessing I'll get to classic before all my henna is gone.

Length: I just trimmed a bit, so I'm at 38" now. I trim when the urge strikes me. Making a plan always means I end up not sticking to the plan. I seem to be growing at about half rate - I trim off half my growth, on average. I just don't do it on any sort of schedule.

Virgin Length: I've been growing since May of 2007, and I grow about 6" a year, so 15" (not measured the LHC way). That's about BSL underneath and around shoulder/collarbone on the canopy. It's definitely long enough that I could cut it all off and have all virgin hair, but I really like my length. The henna color drives me nuts though - not because it's ugly or anything - I really loved it when I was doing it. But now that I want something else, it just seems *in my way.* My virgin color is a sort of ashy, sort of golden medium/dark brown. I like it a lot. It's also thicker and healthier than the rest of my hair.

[Mutinous]

Hey guys, I'm glad to see there are others out there!

I just updated my siggie pic, as the last one was about 2 months old. The colour contrast isn't too bad, but you can see, the natural colour near the roots is quite a cool colour, whilst the dye is noticeably warmer. It is driving me bonkers.

I'm just going to leave my hair alone until December, when I will get a good trim so it looks nice for Christmas, which will get rid of this tiny bits of bleach I have left on the ends when I had red highlights last. I think I still have some bleach in it somewhere, but I don't even care anymore, it just needs to go!

Keep strong everyone!!

[bunnii]

Hair history - Well I started dying my hair 10 years ago from blonde to black, then I decided I hated it so I had it cut out, which left me with a pixie (not a good look on me) then after a couple of years I wanted to start dying again so I tried red for a couple of years, then I just went black again because I missed it, i've been getting allergic reactions for years and decided I can't do it anymore if it's going to put my health at risk so am growing it out also I only dye it 2 or 3 times a year so I always have roots, i'm used to it.

Goal - My goal is to have no dye in my hair at all, i'll still darken with molases and coffee, but no more chemicals.

Current length - I think i'm at 31 inches now.


Length of virgin hair - i'm at about 3 inches so not that far, still it's quite exciting to see my real colour for a change.

[KarenLynn]

How weird to have this thread pop up right now. I just finished cutting my hair from around 37" to... 31? I haven't measured yet, but it looks about waist length mostly dry. It may be 32". The underneath has very little henna left on it now, while the canopy probably has another year's worth. I'm three years into growing out the henna, and it'll probably be another two before it's around 36" and virgin.

[klcqtee]

So it's only been about a week, but I'm glad I didn't break down and henna. I've resolved to not henna until I have all virgin hair (at whatever length that might be). Checking out some of my roots recently, where they're really starting to show, I've come to like them.

[Yarn Muse]

I have dark ash blonde/light brown hair and I previously dyed it with L'Oreal Light Auburn, the last time in December 2008. So, I have almost six inches of non-chemically dyed hair. The bottom is a very faded, light red/orangey that in certain lights kinda blends with my natural color but more often looks horrid. I also, though, have used a cassia/little bit of henna mix on my virgin part, and the little bit of grays I have are golden. I like it, but technically I guess it isn't "virgin". It's mostly my natural color though.

Some days I'm tempted to whack off a bunch of the chemically dyed ends, but I'd have pretty short hair if I did! Right now it's only about shoulder length. Patience, patience!

[melikai]

Update time:

Still growing; still trimming, but I've extended my trims by a couple of months to try and gain more length.
My goal length also changed, and is now the bottom of my back (hip-ish).

Length of natural colour on canopy: approx 18"
Length of natural colour on rest of length: approx 25"

I'll be trimming about 1" off near the end of December. I wish the canopy grew faster.

Edit: I also realised that I've been growing for about a year and 5 months, not the two years I previously thought.