Going brown the natural way or bleaching again?

[norarita]

Okay, so, the thing is a few days ago i (stupidly) decided to bleach my hair. At home. Yes... And it obviously turned out bad. My hair is now orange, so i have been trying to decide whether i want to go to a salon to get my hair the color that i want it (which is like the photo below, not brassy, just blondish with darker roots and under lights) or to go back to a darker color, similar to my natural one (also posted below).


http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/fe/13/29/fe132978b6e1c06c70bc82833057a9a2.jpg
http://meaningofbeauty.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/image.jpg?w=300&h=225 <my natural hair ages ago http://meaningofbeauty.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/pelooo.jpeg?w=225&h=300 http://meaningofbeauty.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/pelo-playa.jpeg?w=300&h=300<my previous dyed hair, similar to my natural color but brassier because of other dye fails


The thing is my hair now looks like this (beeelooooow), and even though it's not extremely damaged, it feels drier and it has lost movement. It feels tight and not very shiny. So going to the salon would mean having to bleach it and dye it over a few times, and i'm not sure if i can handle all that much harm- or worse, if my hair would handle that!

http://meaningofbeauty.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/pelo.jpeg?w=225&h=300http://meaningofbeauty.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/peloo.jpeg?w=225&h=300

So, the other option is going back to brown hair, for what i would use a natural dye or indigo. That would be the healthiest option, i know, but it would also turn dull and boring. Dark hair is not very flattering on my due to my paleness and my like for dark clothes... So i am also afraid of not liking it and then having to lighten it again!

The dilemma is: bleaching to blonde and taking the risk of damaging my hair to the point it wouldn't look good or going back to brown the natural way so i can treat it well again and not liking the color?

[morrigan*]

I don't think it's a bad colour now. I would do some deep treatments to return shine first and see if it's really so horrible. Then if you decide for brown you could still use demi dye instead of indigo. Or go to salon, but i would applied coconut oil before, to at least minimise damage.

[lapushka]

Just like morrigan said, I don't think it's a bad color right now. It looks amazing, in fact! I'd leave it be and baby it to your best abilities. :flower:

[morrigan*]

Also don't do anything on impulse, it's possible you will regret it later.

[rohirrrims]

I don't see any orange there!
Now I have orange hair hehe, intentionally! But I actually ended up with full on orange 8 years ago after bleaching out black dye, and I hated it, but gradually I learned to love the ginger and started dyeing my roots to match! Now I use henna which is really amazing.

If you wanted to go darker brown again then there is no need to bleach at all, you'd just have to stick an ash brown dye over that. But like the others have said, it is a nice colour and all it needs is some TLC!
Get some coconut oil and do overnight heavy applications with that before washing, try avoiding sulphate shampoos for now and also try a conditioner with some protein.

Once it starts to look better and if you still don't like the colour then try a brown colour depositing conditioner, you can build up a deeper colour with that for now. I'd avoid using indigo mixes because if you ever want to lighten again then you can't, it just goes green. You can only grow indigo out, so no beachy highlights!

Personally I think your hair looks beautiful and in no way brassy:)

[norarita]

It may not look orange indoors, but under the sunlight... To me it looks on fire haha

I take care of my hair already. I don't use conventional products but natural/organic/"chemicals"-free and i have been using oils since a long time ago as well. And as i have always had dry hair i have always focused on moisturizing, plus i never use heat or styling products, i detangle carefully, i sleep with my hair on a bun... All that stuff. So i know my hair is better treated than others'.

The last times that i dyed my hair i used "natural" (the most natural as possible) dyes, made out of plants extracts, and they didn't harm my hair at all, so that's what i would go for.

But the idea of staying this color... No, that won't happen haha

[morrigan*]

Also if it looks brassy, maybe you could give purple shampoo or conditioner a go ?

[meteor]

I agree with everyone else.
Try focusing on patch-repairing the damage as much as possible. Things like pre-poo and leave-in oils, hydrolyzed protein treatments, ceramides, 18-MEA, silicones help porous/damaged hair.



I take care of my hair already. I don't use conventional products but natural/organic/"chemicals"-free and i have been using oils since a long time ago as well. And as i have always had dry hair i have always focused on moisturizing, plus i never use heat or styling products, i detangle carefully, i sleep with my hair on a bun... All that stuff. So i know my hair is better treated than others'.

The last times that i dyed my hair i used "natural" (the most natural as possible) dyes, made out of plants extracts, and they didn't harm my hair at all, so that's what i would go for.
Lightening hair without damage is impossible. Even lemon juice and sun are damaging, and bleach/peroxide are found in all products that make hair lighter.
There are some damage-free ways of going darker though: natural dyes, like henna, indigo, henndigo and lots of plants out there. Here's a great article by Nightshade with a full list of natural herbal/plant-based dyes: http://archive.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=51646

I agree with your general philosophy of using natural stuff as much as possible, but all commercial hair products have chemicals in them (and even water is a "chemical"), so just look for the ingredients that work for you. It's best to look for products that are formulated for damaged/processed/color-treated hair. Some artificial ingredients, like hydrolyzed (i.e. broken up) proteins, silicones, artificial peptides can really benefit damaged hair despite the fact that you can't find them in nature. If you don't want a commercial hydrolyzed protein product, go for a more "natural" DIY gelatin treatment: http://science-yhairblog.blogspot.ca/2014/04/gelatin-protein-treatment-recipe-update.html

[mary*rose]

I agree with the others in that it does not look bad at all in the pictures, but you disagree. Haha oh, well. Listen to meteor. She knows what's up.

[Johannah]

Guess you've already got some great advice :blossom: