Pictures of my hair really make me cringe

[GlennaGirl]

Well, folks, I did the honey lightening quite a few times (I guess all told, 20+ times) and it did work to lighten my henndigoed hair; it was nearly black, and it eventually became medium brown, a tone or two darker than my natural color.

But it was driving me crazy to have inches and inches of this dull dark-ish colored...stuff below my quite respectably red just-hennaed roots so I had a cut a couple of months ago.

Now the plan is to get 1/2" trims about every 3 months until the henndigo is gone and I'm left with just henna (you can see that I have a good several inches of just henna now). This way, I'll still get a bit of growth since I grow about 1/2-3/4" a month.

BUT in the meantime MY ENDS ARE DRIVING ME CRAZY. I look at my siggie and I cringe. I've gotten all I'm going to get out of honey lightening; my last attempts at honeying showed me that I've reached my "natural lightening" limit. I've been wearing my hair up a lot...

Just wanted to whine about it.

[Rini]

Glenna, I know JUST how you feel. I truly share your pain. The last few inches of my hair are still slightly orangey from the old henna, and I have many inches (to just below my ears) of the nice silvery ash blonde colour that I want. My only solution is to wear it up and forget it. You'll grow it out eventually and the regular trims will keep the ends feeling nice too.

Good luck!!! :inlove:

[jessie58]

Glenna Girl, sorry about the unwanted color. I guess you just have to sit tight and wait. Smart idea about mini trims in the meantime though.

Do you have your honey lightening experience written down on the boards somewhere so I can read it?

[tiny_teesha]

hair grows! i love your hair! It's so thick! look at mine and I'm sure you will love what you got. Mine is 3 toned ;) And thin as! I'm chopping it soon.

[FrannyG]

I really do understand your frustration, GlennaGirl. I think your hair looks lovely, but I know how it is when you don't like it yourself. It doesn't matter what anyone says.

All I can say for certain, is that hair does grow, and with your plan of trims, you will gain length and you will get rid of your unwanted colour.

In the meantime, we're all here whenever you want to vent. :blossom:

[LisaJaney]

GlennaGirl, I've hated my hair when viewed through the eyes of this site forEVER. I don't mean that anyone here (well, besides a few charmers who were gauche enough to SAY something about it) said anything bad or viewed it as bad (or, if they did, they were tactful and effective LIARS) but when I viewed my own hair as a person who has the opportunity to see, daily, some really buttkickin' heads of hair and view MY hair in comparison to The Gorgeous Ones' hair, I fall dreadfully short. I finally just had to quit looking at the pics of others and quit trying to stack MY hair (which is a direct result of MY genes, and those cannot be helped, blame my mother, ya know?) against those heads of hair here who have genes that look pumped-up-on-steriods compared to my wimpy hairgenes. I can never compete with that, and when I TRIED, I was miserable. I had to march to the tune of my OWN drummer, and now that I am, I'm VERY happy. The worst hair-day of my LIFE was when I saw a pic here of MY hair put next to Hairstorm's hair. I instantly broke down in tears and curses. It was HORRID.

Do what YOU need to do for YOUR hair, if it's a trim, then just DO it and leave the guilt at the curb where it belongs. I personally think your pic is great and don't see the problem, but I'm not there seeing your hair and feeling it, and you know best. YOU do what works for YOU and forget the rest. :smooch: You're doing great, Hon!

[yogachic]

This is why I "refuse" and "will never" color my hair. At least until I'm turning grey. I don't want this issue with my hair. The thing that frightened me away from coloring is when I was in middle school and use hydrogen peroxide and water and blow drying to lighten my hair. I had the 2 tone look for a few years.

[Morag]

Glennagirl, I have had multicolored hair before, and will again when I decide to stop the henna and let myself go silver. It's all about patience. Hang in there, and know that all will be well.

By the way I love the thickness of your hair in your photos. You are so lucky! :grin:

[pixiegirl]

Oh Glennagirl, I think your hair is beautiful. If only I had your problem instead of trying to grow out a spiky cut that's about an inch all over! As others have said, I'm sure a lot is personal perception.

[Katze]

Glenna, your hair really doesn't look as bad as you think. Honestly. :)

I've been suffering from two- and three-toned hair for years. It's the price of dyeing then getting off the dye bandwagon. If I wear it down, at least it's not as visible; when it's up the orange, dull ends are more obvious in contrast with my ashy natural color.

The great advantage you have over me is that your hair is thick and your hemline even. Your hair really does look healthy, shiny, and thick, which is more than I can say for mine after years of good care. I think you are doing the right thing, but as you know, it takes time!

hope you are feeling better

Katze

[Shermie Girl]

I feel your pain. I am growing out my disaster and it feels as if my hair will always be like this. There are days I curse myself to the moon for destroying my hair. And others when I know that when this is all over, I will finally have the hair I truly, deeply in my heart want. And that all this temporary misery will be worth it.

Hang in there. Follow your plan. Go for what you want your hair to be. And you will get there. :grouphug:

[spidermom]

I think you hair looks beautiful. I love the colors. It sounds like you have a good plan, so we'll check back in 9 months/1 year and see how it went.

[GlennaGirl]

Thanks a bunch, ladies.

Rini, I'm inspired because I think your hair is beautiful. I don't see any orange ends--are you hiding them?!? Now that you bring it up I remember your long road with henna and it helps so much to hear your story...thank you.

LisaJaney, I have always thought your soft, incredibly long, wavy hair was beautiful. But you bring up such a good point that I hadn't even thought of...I'm comparing my hair to people's hair here! My hair isn't thick at all. I just chose the best picture of the bunch. :o I'm sure other people do the same thing. Hair on this site is superior to any hair I've ever seen IRL. The caretaking of LHCers is probably significantly better than the general population. You brought up the greatest points--thank you so very much.

yogachic, smart girl!!! And your color is very very rich, deep, multifaceted and pretty; you really don't need to color!

Morag, thank you so very much. I don't have any gray yet either...it's more because I don't like the non-color color of my natural hair. :p Thanks for the compliments on the thickness...as I said to LisaJaney above, it's really just the way the picture came out. But I appreciate the very kind and sweet compliment.

pixiegirl, thank you so much! And you're well on your way. We all start somewhere. Oh man, in high school I too got a pixie at one point and although it looked FANTASTIC on many other girls, on me, well...yikes. I thought it would NEVER grow out but it did...it happens very suddenly; you wake up and you have hair you can pull on, put up in a baby pony tail, etc., etc. It's awesome...it's coming for you very soon based on the length you have in your profile.

Katze, thank you so much. I actually have very wispy hair but submitted my "best" picture. I had also had it bunned before that, so it's very very lightly wavy and is "poofed" a little...I forgot to mention that. Your hair has gotten SO long...and it looks thick and healthy...how nice to see, how encouraging.

Thank you, Shermie Girl. Thanks for being in my corner, and you're right...our hair will grow!

Hugs to you ladies!

[RedRose]

Ouch, I too know how you are feeling, it really distressed me for the longest time, and then I had nearly all of it cut out and have short hair which is possibly more distressing! I think those of us with dye issues have perhaps the longest journey to beautiful hair here, but I've found the support here absolutely amazing.

Your hair actually looks quite cool to me, red fading to black! But I don't know how strong the demarcation line is in real life - is that what upsets you the most? I think your idea of progressive trims sounds like the most sensible way of dealing with your problem. And maybe if you super-pamper the ends they'll start looking as healthy as the newer growth and that could help you feel happier about it too.

:grouphug:

[GlennaGirl]

RedRose, it's funny you should say that because many people think I did this on purpose. :lol: I'm so NOT cool that thinking about having purposely faded-to-black hair is funny to me, but apparently only to me. I am definitely pampering the ends. They look a little "fuzzy" in the picture because I had had them bunned up and then brushed them out...that's why I have the slightest wave in the picture. You're right--if I just embark on a "babying" campaign that could distract me during this growing out period and could make me feel better about my hair in general. Thanks so much!

[jojo]

first I think you are being a little hard on yourself, your hair really does not look that bad. I know they say a camera never lies but a flash or lighting conditions can make our hair look completed different.

So deep breath and concentrate on what you like about your hair, there a lot worse things than 2 tone hair. Trust me your hair looks fine, just continue babying it and eat chocolate never fails to get me out of negativity concerning my hair, then I get negative about my hips but thats another thread!

Chin up your looking great. x

[tinah]

I think it looks really neat! I have the opposite coloring, and it drives me crazy too.

[wintersun99]

.................

[truepeacenik]

Glenna, what's the math with a 1/2 inch each three months as you trim off indigo and the henna casia grows in?
Also, I'm clueless on HAIR dye (but ask me about analine any day), but will indigo fade to a light enough point to almost blend in, with a henna treatment over it?

[sahiba]

I agree with all those who said that your hair is lovely. I am very fond of two toned hair myself ( probably because I never had any). Ever thought how nice it would look if you would just twist it up , then use a claw clip to hold the twist and let the rest of your hair fall down.:).It would give such a cool 3d ( or 2d :smirk: ) effect.

[C_Bookworm]

I know how you feel. I had henna'd my hairl i have now been growing out virgin hair for this year, but seeing red at the bottom of my golden brown hair makes me crazy sometimes. i just can't bear to lose more length to get rid of it

[Hypnotica]

Well, I'm two-toned myself. A good bit of my lenghts are dye + Special Effects and the rest is henna + Special Effects.

I've learned to love it. It makes a very interesting colour that change in every light.

[NurseMama]

I am so sorry that you feel that way!

I found this site because of a major henna mishap. My hair had turned dark burgandy when I was going for a light copper (probably from bad henna). I had a lot of success lightening to the copper in my siggy with 30v peroxide mixed 50/50 with condish. I didn't use the bleach packet, just the peroxide. I was willing to take the damage as I knew that I would cut these ends off if I couldn't get it to lighten. Just an idea?!

[justgreen]

Uh I really like the color of your hair, with the dark at the bottom, but then I'm a bit weird. It's hair, it'll grow and we will cut it. It's so lovely and thick!

[truepeacenik]

Hey Glenna, how many colors are in a peacock's tail?
That's pretty, yeah?

[GlennaGirl]

Oh, thanks so much, everybody!

Truepeacenik, I know you asked how fast my hair should grow with trims included...probably an inch every three months. The plan right now is to get 1/2" off every three months, and my hair grows about 1/2" a month (sometimes 3/4"), so conservatively, that would be 1.5" growth every three months less 1/2" trim. And yes. I LOVE peacock twists. I do wear them quite often right now, while my hair is still short enough to do it.

[danacc]

...
Also, I'm clueless on HAIR dye (but ask me about analine any day), but will indigo fade to a light enough point to almost blend in, with a henna treatment over it?

From reading others' experiences, indigo is not predictable. For some, it fades, and for others it is stubborn.

[MeMyselfandI]

Glennagirl,



I know it is tough not to be happy with your hair.



Instead of cutting, what about pony tails and buns. At least with lenght you can do things to it.



I would suggest to take the picture off your signature. Why the reminder of what you do not like? I would be more upset, looking at it constantly.



I know you said you did honey lightening. Did you do lightening just to the hennaindigo part,?

[GlennaGirl]

MeMyselfandI, I might do that...or I might put up my outdoor "fire engine red" one...that one is amazing. :p I put this one up b/c it's truer to life, but you're right. Why torture myself?

I did the lightening well after my henndigos.

Oh! Truepeacenik. Well, I did the henndigoes starting about a year ago and ending about 9 months ago and it never did fade on its own.

[GlennaGirl]

Okay! There we have it. The fire engine red picture. :p I LOVE this color--I can't wait until all my hair is this color.

[MeMyselfandI]

Okay! There we have it. The fire engine red picture. :p I LOVE this color--I can't wait until all my hair is this color.

GlennaGirl,

I really like the new hair picture. Your hair is a wonderful colour. Once you hair grows and gets to that length, it will look amazing.


I did the lightening well after my henndigos.


Did you honey lighten just the henndigo parts, after you started doing the henna?

Have you also tryed lemon/conditioner to see if that would make a dent.

Have you read up on Colorfix or Color Opps. Does it work on henndigo hair? I used it a few weeks ago. It did not damage my hair that I noticed. It did not remove my henna from my grey hairs. (I used it to remove old chemical dye, which I felt was leaving my ends more red then the newer hair. I saw a difference.)

[Isilme]

your hair looks fine! I plan on dyeing my ends black when I hit classic:) Some of us do it on purpose! It looks very cool.