Questioning how much dyeing hair actually damages it.

[AmberLouise]

Ten months ago I bleached my hair blonde from having been dying it black for 8 years, then I chopped it all off. At first when my virgin hair started growing out I couldn't believe how soft it was besides some bleached bits left on the ends. Now ten months later I have a full head of chin length virgin hair, all of the bleached ends are long gone. What I've noticed is that my ends are just as dry now with virgin hair as they were when dying it. So it leaves me to think that maybe the dye hadn't dried out my ends and that's just the way they are. This is all pretty frustrating because I had hoped that going natural would fix this problem...

Just a little bit of information on how I care for my hair: I wash it every 3rd day, no heat, I keep it down, and I sleep on a silk pillow.

[Agnes Hannah]

Hi, I have to baby my ends as I have semi permanent damage. I put on oil or serum nightly on the ends and then put it in a silk sleep cap. I also condition twice Lapushka's method and this helps. Wearing it up also helps as this protects the ends, depending on your length you could try a claw to do this or buns. Good luck

[Firefox7275]

There is plenty of research showing the damage that lightening does to the cuticle and cortex of hair, and the increased vulnerability of that hair to other sorts of damage. Damage can be visible or invisible to the nekkid eye, depending how severe it is. How much damage is impossible to quantify, too many variables.

What do you mean by 'dry'? Lacking in water or oil, rough, tangly, splitting? A rough or tangly feeling can be damage to the cuticle, it can be build up of products or hard water, failure to condition effectively after harsh cleansing ....

You don't say what products you use and you don't mention conditioning, clarifying, chelating - do you do any of these? Do you protect your hair from sun light?

[ErinLeigh]

I understand what you mean. When growing roots you see how great hair is an get excited..but then find as hair grows normal wear & tear plus other issues return - especially if there is an issue with routine that causes these issues in the first place. I personally know several people with undyed hair that is not in best condition, while I know people with color who's hair is shiny, split free and luscious. I think hair type does matter to a degree.

For me personally, hair stays in pretty decent condition while coloring and I do not forsee it would be too much different if I went natural (at current length). I recall having same issues with hair as a teen with natural hair as I have today with colored hair. I think in my case some of it IS simply hair type. Well that plus routine. I feel processing matters as well though. Bleaching once then reverting to roots only applications will be quite different than someone who continually bleaches, colors, strips, re bleaches and then colors again. I do see big differences in hair texture if I over process.

I also think the effects of color more begin to show once you reach BSL or longer. That is when you may see that the hair may struggle more. By time hair is longer than BSL the hair is more naturally weathered..add in color damage and it can result in dryness and breaking. You can still grow long, I have seen dyed long hair and it is possible..I just think it needs more babied once longer and that is when you will notice the differences of structure between natural and color more. I keep my dyed hair between SL and almost BSL so I haven't experienced difficulties yet, just speculating. There area few on this board with waist or longer dyed hair and they are not reporting issues from what I have seen so far. How you care for your hair really makes a difference, dyed or natural.

As far as you current dryness issue, you should be able to correct that. You do not have to just accept you have naturally dry hair. You can find out what your hair is lacking and start doing conditioning treatments to begin correcting the problem. There are many little changes that can me made that can help. I came here with very very dry damaged hair.
A few tweaks made big changes. Satin pillowcase, correcting my protein/moisture balance, chelating/clarifying when needed and sealing damp hair have made a world of difference.

[Macaroni]

Keep in mind that the ends of the longest virgin strands are at least one year old, based on normal growth. Conditioning treatments, or coconut oil will help.

[pixldust]

As ErinLeigh pointed out, how you dye your hair can make a huge difference. Chopping and changing colour will do more damage. The ends of my hair were frazzled due to bad dyeing practices such as slapping the dye all over my hair for the whole development time, even if it was the same colour I'd used previously, rather than doing roots only. However, since following some of the advice I've seen on here the condition of my dyed hair is improved. So if that can happen for colour treated hair, it is entirely possible for unhappy virgin hair. So don't give up hope. Poke around on here, try some things such as oiling and SMTs to see if they help and pick the brains of the members. There're some really hair-smart people on here :)

[QMacrocarpa]

My ends feel pristine only briefly after a trim. Pretty soon they're back to their usual state of being in rougher shape than the rest of my hair. I've never colored my hair, just have fairly fragile hair. I can't trim my way out of the problem and keep gaining length, so I don't worry about it much. A bit of oil on my ends the day after washing helps slow their progression toward rattiness.

[meteor]

If you kept your dyed hair, you'd be able to see and feel the difference. Obviously, one's ends will not be in the same condition as one's roots. Roots are coated with natural oil and have almost pristine cuticle, so they are in better shape.
If your hair feels dry, you may need to use some emollients, humectants to attract water (in the right humidity) and anti-humectants (e.g. oils) to "seal" hair and provide elasticity.
Here is a nice article on conditioning agents that penetrate and adsorb to hair. It's a good guide for significantly improving the condition of your hair with products:
http://www.thenaturalhavenbloom.com/2012/10/deep-conditioning-what-ingredients-in.html

[0xalis]

Do you use silicones? Maybe you just need to clarify. Or, if you have hard water, that could be the cause. The cure for that is Apple Cider Vinegar rinses :)

[Loviatar]

^not always. I have hard water and vinegar rinses make my hair crunchy. Not to mention the smell stays in my hair (yes I know it's not supposed to but it does even if the vinegar is rinsed off with plain water.) I prefer citric acid.

[Sevenof91]

I noticed that once I stopped dying the baby hairs at the front of my head have started growing like crazy and even getting thicker. I've gone from only having 1/2cm length at any one time to 4/5cm now and still growing. Dye does a lot of bad things to the scalp not just the hair.