The great grow out begins?

[tbonita]

So as some of you know, I have a pixie and I'm doing hendigo. I do have a few greys which decided to show up in my part line (of course). I used to cover them with that root powder stuff. However, I just ran out of henna. And I haven't seen my natural hair color in 15 years. It's dark brown, but is it ashy? Does it look golden in the sun? I'm morbidly curious! Hmmm... A crossroads. I've gotten close to my natural color with hendigo, of course with a reddish tinge. I'm thinking of just toning the red with green/blue manic panic and see what happens with my roots. Any thoughts? Any ideas as to make this a non-painful process? I feel if I'm going to check out my natural color now is the time, since my hair is basically 3 inches long :o I know no one can decide this but yours truly, but any thoughts? Words of wisdom?

[ErinLeigh]

I would wait before toning to see what color starts to come thru. I may change to something other than what you think it will be. within 2 months once you get a good inch of roots it will be easier to tell how you tone it. Are you in a position to so that? I know how hard it is if you have to go to work or something with roots :/

[ExpectoPatronum]

Are you wanting to grow out your natural color for the long term? Or just wanted to see what it is? If you just want to see, I second ErinLeigh's suggestion only I'd maybe go a little longer so you can see the color as the new growth gets exposed to the elements more.

[Lyv]

I'm doing the same thing! I haven't seen my natural color since I was 12 so now that I have a pixie I'm going to see what it looks like. Roots won't be nearly as irritating with it short and if you like the color there won't be as much to trim off if you decide to keep it! From the advice I've gotten you should let the roots grow to about ear length to see what color it really is since the roots may be darker or look different up against the dye. Personally I'd tone it before growing it out so it doesn't change your root color if you decide you still want to tone it.

[Loviatar]

I'd say let it grow a bit before you decide to tone it or not. It's a good length to try and see your natural colour. Roots are so much less of a pain when you have short hair!

I cut into a 2 inch pixie in March last year for similar reasons (plus I'd fried the length with bleach and I was sick of it looking messy) and I now have a neat ish bob. Like Lyv, I was 12 when I last had my natural colour (for more than 2 inch roots I mean. I've toyed with growing it out so many times, got to 2 inches of roots and given up.) But I can see the natural colour so much better than I could when I was just looking at my roots. You may find once you've got a bit mor natural length that you don't need to tone it in, even with manic panic.

[browneyedsusan]

I kind of did that when I tried henna. I wanted to try it, and figured I could regrow the pixie quickly if I didn't like it. I waited until I had some exposed roots and hennaed over them and my old salon brunette dye, and it came out fine.

I'd lay off the color/toner and maintain at pixie for a couple of months, or even get a haircut to see what you've got to work with. It will change as it gets longer. Sun exposure and being out in the world makes it different. When you get enough hair to look at, you can decide then. FWIW: Cool your heels a little and wait. Nothing bad is happening. Just sit in it a minute and let it ferment. Leave it alone for a couple of months.

[Avital88]

i would also wait a bit.. my roots were very much annoying me when they were anything around one inch ,even looked blonde next to my jet-black dyed hair, but now that it is around 5 inches it looks a medium dark brown.. so its worth the wait,you cant judge the color on a little roots i think..

[tbonita]

Wow thanks so much for all the good advice! I think you're all right... Good to chill out and just see what happens. I'm not sure if I want to grow it out long term... But I definitely would like to get a few good inches in there to see! Since I love to henna so much I'm going to continue with the cassia for the condition and thickness it gives me. If it gives a little golden hue, I'm fine with that and it's temporary anyway. After I wrote this I looked through some old albums at my natural color which seemed so golden, but that's when I was a real sun worshipper haha so I wonder if it'll grow I'm darker and ashier? Hmm we shall see. Thanks for the encouragement :) I'll keep posting on my progress!

[ErinLeigh]

My natural color is super dark greysih blackish color in its root stages. If I actually let it grow to earlobes I would have chestnut, reddish and lighter hues. Sunlight makes a big difference for sure. I agree with everyone it would take more than an inch to tell true color, but at least on a pixie one inch will get to 1/3 of of the hair a natural color at least so it will at least give you a little perspective on if you want to continue to try the natural. You will at least get a sense of how many grays you are working with, if it will lean ash or golden yada yada but for sure the true hue wont be there yet.

The cassia sounds like a fun way to let things progress for now :)
You are lucky to be growing a pixie with so much hair awareness.

When I grew mine out I know nothing about hair care. If only I could go back and start with natural hair (this was before I had grays) I would have loved to see what I was really working with and see how well taken care of hair could be from the beginning.