Can dyed blonde hair ever be healthy?

[indigonight]

I used to have blonde hair and have been dyeing it for years with henna. My hair loves henna and as a result it is thicker, shinier and healthier than before.
It is also very long, nearly tailbone and I do get many compliments.
However hubby and I do miss the blonde which suited my complexion better.

I know it will be a real headache and chore to remove the henna with bleach and expect I could sustain some damage. But will it continue to be damaged?

Can bleached blonde hair be healthy?

I do not know if I want to take the plunge if my hair is going to be permanently unhappy.

Especially looking for opinions from those who de-hennaed and became blondes. But everybody else feel free to comment too.

[chebella]

Absolutely, it can! The henna especially helps. If you did remove the henna with bleach, you could do a lot of things to bring it back to health. I was in the same situation as you and after I bleached it, it definitely turned into that gummy, chemically damaged hair. One thing you can do to lessen the damage of bleach is to mix coconut oil in with the developer and bleach. When I bleached my hair, I mixed the developer and bleach as usual and then I added a 1/4 cup of melted coconut oil. This adds extra liquid, so mix less developer and bleach than you normally would. Play with the formula and before applying it to your hair, take a hairball from your brush and test it on a smaller scale as coconut oil can accelerate the lightening process and you want to make sure you get the result you want.

How I brought it back to health (this worked over a process of 3 months):
-Coconut oil treatments: After brushing my hair with The Wet Brush, the only brush that doesn't damage my hair, from tips to roots, I heated up the oil for 20 seconds in the microwave and, starting with my ends, massaged it into my strands. You want to heat it up because the heat will help it soak into your hair. After applying, wrap your hair onto your head and cover with a shower cap and a hat to really lock the heat in, leave it on as long as you can (I typically left it for 6-8 hours). These treatments will be your best friend. If you can only do one of these things, do the coconut oil treatments as coconut oil is the only oil with molecules small enough to penetrate the hair shaft.
-Cholesterol cream: I applied this from my mid-length to my ends, left it on for 15 minutes, then rinsed it.
-Aussie's 3 minute miracle: Apply it throughout your hair, cover with a shower cap and a hat, leave it as long as you can.

Once your hair is blonde, you can do neutral henna treatments. This will give your hair that healthy shine and help to bring it back to health without giving you the color. You want to avoid washing your hair as much as you can so I'd suggest to wash it once a week (if you can) and every time before you wash your hair, try to do a coconut oil treatment like I described above. The other treatments I mentioned work fine but their results are temporary, coconut oil is the only thing that can really heal your hair. Sometimes after bleaching, you can experience slower hair growth so I'd recommend massaging your scalp on a daily basis- this will help to make sure the hair growing out of your head will be as healthy as it can be. The last thing I'd suggest is to incorporate fruits and veggies and healthy omega 3s into your diet- you can find these in avocados, nuts, seeds, oils, and supplements like fish oil pills. I'm sure you already knew some of this stuff haha but I thought it would be nice to include it for anyone who doesn't. Good luck! It's a slow process of healing bleached hair, but all of this really helped me when I bleached my hair back from henna.

EDIT: when taking care of bleached hair, at first you might not want to do the treatments I listed with your head wrapped in a shower cap and a hat- when I first started and I did this, my hair felt limp and even weaker than before. I'd advise you to just apply the treatment and leave your hair down and leave it in your hair for as long as you can. After a few months of this, your hair will be stronger and you can start using the shower cap/hat to strengthen it even more.

[Chocowalnut]

I have bleached my hair many times and also hennad it many times. I have yet to bleach out my henna but am thinking about it when I get to longer lengths.. You can have dyed blonde hair that is healthy, for sure. It all depends on the variables of the situation. If you dye your virgin hair blonde once and only touch up the roots, depending on the genetics of your hair- how thin and fine it is, and also how often or if you ever use heat on it, it has the potential of being very healthy. I'm thinking bleaching henna out would probably cause a lot of damage, it's probably like bleaching black hair blonde (which I've done before and it ruined my hair). I wouldn't bleach any more length than you're willing to have to cut off. And if you do it prepare for hair that is in a lot more vulnerable condition and will require treatments and/or neutral henna glossings like chebella said. Let us know how it goes if you decide to do it :)

[lapushka]

My mom bleached out my henna for me. We needed to use the strongest bleach... twice before we could dye over it with a light brown (because not all of the red was out). So if you want to go blonde, be prepared for 3 bleaches. That is going to ruin your hair. Mine could be stretched so far it wasn't pleasant. We could dye it one more time after that, and then my hair melted off (chemical cut) and I got a chemical burn. I haven't dyed since. This was the end of it. And of my hair as well as that had to be cut back to chin length.

[chebella]

When I bleached my hair, I had been a henna head for 3 months so I was able to completely remove the color with one bleach with 30 volume developer and that coconut oil mixed in. I know that henna bonds to the hair and in every thread I've read about removing it, it was mentioned that the longer you've been coloring your hair with henna the harder it will be to remove it, even impossible in some cases. How long have you been dyeing your hair with henna, indigonight?

[3 Cat Night]

Dyed blonde hair can never be as healthy as virgin hair. The bleaching process damages the hair in ways that can't really be repaired, though treatments can help it's appearance and feel.

[lapushka]

When I bleached my hair, I had been a henna head for 3 months so I was able to completely remove the color with one bleach with 30 volume developer and that coconut oil mixed in. I know that henna bonds to the hair and in every thread I've read about removing it, it was mentioned that the longer you've been coloring your hair with henna the harder it will be to remove it, even impossible in some cases. How long have you been dyeing your hair with henna, indigonight?

I don't know about the OP, but mine was about 6 months with regular henna sessions (about once a month).

[memeow]

I think I'm not completely sure what you're asking. Dyed blonde hair can certainly be "healthy", in that it there are people with dyed blonde hair without significant splitting or white dots. However, the process of lightening your hair will cause some amount of irreversible damage. The molecules that make your hair dark are proteins, so there's really no way to get blonde hair without losing some amount of the protein your hair has--even natural sun lightening damages your hair. Then most dye treatments involve lifting the cuticle, which is another damaging factor. The fact that you're starting from henna means you'll have to do pretty serious bleaching, which will definitely cause some damage.

But at the end of the day, if you really want to be blonde, the question might be more "how do I achieve blonde hair with minimal damage?" It will never be as healthy as your virgin hair, but it might be a compromise you're willing to make.

[lapushka]

If I were you, OP, I'd just grow it out. It's not going to be easy, but at least you won't risk losing hair / length over it.

[kidari]

Maybe if you have really thick hair that has very tight cuticles, your natural color is a dark blonde/light brown, and you take VERY good care of your hair... if you only had to do a single process to get it to the blonde you wanted and you only ever touched up the roots... maybe you can have long, thick, healthy bottle blonde hair?

I've been blonde a few times and I always experienced a need to take care of it 5x more carefully on top of constantly trimming it every single month to keep it "healthy" looking. I gave it a year to see if I could grow longer with it blonde, and it just wasn't ever going to happen for me. YMMV for everyone though.

[MINAKO]

my hair doesnt react well to bleach. i remember doing only a bleach bath and added some sun in spray when i was 14. i wanted to have blue/green/purple hair and just lightened it enough, but that was already a disater. it didnt melt off or anything, but the dryness and the frizzyness was epic for weeks. i only wore this for like 8weeks and had the. urge to return to black as soon as i had my hair conditioned enough to dare putting color on it again. its not for me and im grateful i will never want to try again because i love black hair so much, the damage was not worth it in my case.

[indigonight]

Thanks for all the feedback. I have been dyeing it with henna for 6 years now. I am just fed up of the colour, I want to return to my own colour which is too very different from my hennaed colour to grow out. My own colour is light sandy brown with blonde highlights, in fact it is cool in tone, the henna is warm hence does not suit my skin. I really want to take the jump and am prepared to lose some length but not all my hair!! Still hair grows.

Any tips on how to bleach out henna safely was the reason I posted this, I want to know my options. I do have shiny beautiful long red hair but my hair wears me and not the other way around. It just does not fit my skin somehow. On the other hand I do not want to end up with no hair!!!

Your advice is much appreciated.

[lapushka]

Yeah, have you read my post above? There is no "safe" way. Henna is henna and bleach is bleach and the two do not mix well. Henna is tough to get out, and most certainly when you have been on henna for 6 years! That's a lot. You'll need the strongest bleach (not safe), and you'll need to do this multiple times to get back to a shade that your "own" color can go over. Yes, you'll have to bleach light enough, then dye over it with a dye closest to your natural color. For that the hair (the red) needs to be light enough, bleached enough. It's going to take a *lot*. Maybe consider going to a professional.

[wilderwein]

Even tho it wasn't henna, what I did to my sisters hair wich she was dying it red it's bleaching it just once with a 30 volume, then put an ash based blonde hair color on her hair, then ofcourse it faded a bit and we used again a semi permanent dye on her hair, YES there was damage since her hair its dryer now, but she didnt lost any length. She has waist length tho...

[MINAKO]

Thanks for all the feedback. I have been dyeing it with henna for 6 years now. I am just fed up of the colour, I want to return to my own colour which is too very different from my hennaed colour to grow out. My own colour is light sandy brown with blonde highlights, in fact it is cool in tone, the henna is warm hence does not suit my skin. I really want to take the jump and am prepared to lose some length but not all my hair!! Still hair grows.

Any tips on how to bleach out henna safely was the reason I posted this, I want to know my options. I do have shiny beautiful long red hair but my hair wears me and not the other way around. It just does not fit my skin somehow. On the other hand I do not want to end up with no hair!!!

Your advice is much appreciated.

how about counteracting the red of the henna with a semi dye in the green/bleu range. this will probably turn you two shades darker, but wont affect the health of your hair... but its possible to get into the cool range that way i guess. growing all of that oit will take forever, but i would rather do that than destroy my hair with multiple bleaching and then have to cut more than half of it anyways.
pravana has a range of very bright and potent neon shades, maybe you would like to strand test with something like that and see how you feel about it?

[Rhoward]

Thanks for all the feedback. I have been dyeing it with henna for 6 years now. I am just fed up of the colour, I want to return to my own colour which is too very different from my hennaed colour to grow out. My own colour is light sandy brown with blonde highlights, in fact it is cool in tone, the henna is warm hence does not suit my skin. I really want to take the jump and am prepared to lose some length but not all my hair!! Still hair grows.

Any tips on how to bleach out henna safely was the reason I posted this, I want to know my options. I do have shiny beautiful long red hair but my hair wears me and not the other way around. It just does not fit my skin somehow. On the other hand I do not want to end up with no hair!!!

Your advice is much appreciated.

Henna is very hard to get out without damage but not impossible, you have to be prepared to do this SLOWLY! First step would be to use a colour remover (like Color Opps or JoBaz Max) they smell like rotten eggs but don't harm the condition of your hair (that said it won't make it any better either!). Do that a few times (like 3 at least) with at least a week between each application and see what you are left with. Then wait a few more weeks pack the coconut oil in to try and redeem yourself then find a hairdresser who uses Olaplex (its a product they can mix with bleach) you will probably have to shop around for a hairdresser with that product that is prepared to do your hair as most hairdressers are terrified of henna, hopefully it will be removed enough for them not to stress too much about it. Olaplex is expensive but totally worth the money so be prepared for a bill! Once its all one colour you won't need Olaplex on your roots so maintenance won't cost that much
http://www.olaplex.com
Below link is for a video where they bleach already bleached hair (which would normally guarantee you baldness) with Olaplex added, the results are amazing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjxyDdMf9n4
I wish you the best of luck

[Chocowalnut]

Thanks for all the feedback. I have been dyeing it with henna for 6 years now. I am just fed up of the colour, I want to return to my own colour which is too very different from my hennaed colour to grow out. My own colour is light sandy brown with blonde highlights, in fact it is cool in tone, the henna is warm hence does not suit my skin. I really want to take the jump and am prepared to lose some length but not all my hair!! Still hair grows.

Any tips on how to bleach out henna safely was the reason I posted this, I want to know my options. I do have shiny beautiful long red hair but my hair wears me and not the other way around. It just does not fit my skin somehow. On the other hand I do not want to end up with no hair!!!

Your advice is much appreciated.

I am currently growing out my natural color that sounds close to what you said yours is. It does clash like you said, warm with cool. But i would consider that option a little more. It is very gratifying seeing your natural color come in and you could remain damage free for awhile and not lose so much length when you do bleach out the henna.

[meteor]

^ I was going to suggest the same as Rhoward.

By the way, if anybody knows the ingredients lists of Olaplex products, please do share! :flower: I've been looking for them for ages!

Also, definitely use hydrolyzed proteins (Aphogee 2-Step: http://aphogee.com/two-step-protein-treatment-for-professional-use/) and coconut oil right before and after bleach to reduce the damage a bit.

If your issue with henna is just the tone, you could use cool-toned, blue-ish deposit-only, temporary, non-damaging dye like Manic Panic, Adore, Pravana, Directions... to counteract the orange redness of henna.

Alternatively, I highly recommend just growing henna out (yes, it's *that* permanent!) and joining the giving up the bleach/dye challenge (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=51155). ;)

[Nightshade]

I totally agree to grow it out and use Color B4/ColorFix to pull out as much of the henna as you can, and then a deoposit-only dye to tone it.

Even the best bleaching out henna job I've ever seen, on Rini, still resulted in massive lost of length because of damage (tailbone to ears, if I recall correctly), and it was still a loss until all the henna/damage from bleach was cut out.

[Anje]

In all honestly, you probably can't get away with this one.

You can probably have quite healthy hair bleached to blond at your length. I've seen it down on here, and for many people who are otherwise careful with their hair, it's entirely possible.

However, you've got henna on your hair, and bleaching to blond with henna is an ENTIRELY different prospect than bleaching to blond from natural. Henna doesn't like coming off of most people. Ever. To bleach the henna past orange to blond is probably going to be extraordinarily damaging. You can do a lot of things to try to mitigate this: start by chelating your hair, then let it soak in coconut oil for several hours, then bleach the coconut-oiled hair. Repeat as necessary, but don't try to lift too much too fast. Be prepared to use toners to help get the right shade, instead of trying to do it all with bleach. Protein treatments will likely be your friend. Find a good one -- I've heard lots of stuff about ApHogee 2-step saving people's hair when they're doing things like this.

That said, different hair is different. If you've got tough hair that holds up well to bleaching and if you do everything right, you might, MIGHT, be able to get away with this with acceptable levels of damage. Or your hair might crumble to your shoulders and look like straw from there on up. Who knows? But if you're not prepared to grow out the henna, you might have to prepare yourself to grow out or cut off the bleach.

[indigonight]

Thanks for all the advice, it is much appreciated.:grouphug: I am so happy to have a group of knowledgeable LHCers to consult with! Lapushkra yes I read your post, cheers.
I have tried colour B4 and it only lightened the hair closest to my roots, below my ears there was barely a shift and this was after 2-3 treatments.


So feel free to cast your votes, it seems like I have 3 options

a- stay a hennahead
pros: long shiney healthy hair cons: mismatched hair color to skin color

b- try to veer hair colour twds ash tones and then grow out virgin hair

please advise on 'how to' do that with elumen (did not quite understand), manic panic or pravana

pros: hair health remains good cons: it may take 4-5 years to get the hair I want by which point I may start to gray and then will have to consider dyeing the gray!!

c- go wild and bleach all my hair and then dye it with an ash blonde-brown tone at a salon, then have it cut to around ear length to cut out damage

pros: I end up quickly with smtg close to the colour I want cons: expensive, I lose 8 years of hair growth in one day

Cast your votes!!

[meteor]

I'd go with b) growing out natural color! :D

(a) would not solve the tone mismatch problem, it will only entrench the situation; and c) would really damage the hair.)

Since I have no experience with henna, I can't really be of much help as to how to tone down henna best with deposit-only dyes, but I'll be happy to answer any questions about the general growing out process, if you have any. ;) Yes, it's challenging, but oh so worth it! :)

[indigonight]

Thanks meteor, I am hoping those who have experience with making henna lean twds more ashen brown can chime in and tell me how best to achieve that, ie what colour should I buy in manic panic, pravana, elumen (BB?) etc.

I appreciate the input.

[MINAKO]

i would go with b. using as many color remover applications as you can bear and then tone it like i described before. there will probably be still a color variation, but eventually itwill sort of blend together. and nobod says you cant use temporary dyes on your newgrowth to make it blend even better.

the only thing i can recommend for the clashing skintone is a yellow based primer and/or a completely different makeup shade thats yellow based. theres always more than one way to make colors match, but personally i wouldnt want to take that option and just get rid of the henna. you have to set some priorities for yourself, asking us is not going to be safe either, you might regret going for what the majority would do.

ETA: for the toning part i would go with pravana. it has the most even color pay off and is much more lasting than most other brands. i suggested the neon shades because these have enogh pigment to counteract the red without makin hair significantly darker at the same time.

[indigonight]

Thanks so much Minako. I appreciate the advice. It does seem b is the more sensible option.

Do you think a pravana dye in blue would push the orange-red henna towards an ash colour?
I would just like to get my hair to a colour where the new growth does not clash so much with the old!!

To add to the complications:
There is lots of clash as I hennaed over hair that was originally
a-dyed peroxide blonde - I used to bleach my hair before I became a hennahead-, so in those parts the henna is very light and orange as you can see in my profile pic

b- then I hennaed over darker roots so that hair is more burgundy

c- due to that I actually bleached a few streaks into my henna at the top part of my hair about 2 months ago so that my top growth would have some more orange streaks in it to match those at the bottom..
Yes indeed, I play a lot with my hair!!!

I love henna but sometimes I think, if only I knew...

[MINAKO]

Thanks so much Minako. I appreciate the advice. It does seem b is the more sensible option.

Do you think a pravana dye in blue would push the orange-red henna towards an ash colour?
I would just like to get my hair to a colour where the new growth does not clash so much!!

yes, that what i understood, avoiding he duo color effect and also avoiding the bleaching will probably be more work, but worth it in the end. i cant tell how your hair will come out after using the color remover. but i can imagine that the neon blue would be a good base and depending on the hue you would have to mix in a small part of either green or violet.
i will try to find a picture of the chart. using a lighter, very intense blue will help not to drop to much in color level.

[indigonight]

OK thanks, Minako. By the way I looked at your profile and you have absolutely gorgeous hair!! I will definitely look into it, blue-green neon pravana makes sense. I will have to strand test.

Thank goodness I know where to look for hair to strand test with. I have noticed loads of hair clogs in my hoover shafts (yuk yes but true) so when I clean out the bottom of my vacuum that amassed hair is useful for experiments!!

[MINAKO]

http://www.salonauraofwausau.com/0_0_0_0_520_192_csupload_65648288.jpg?u=681731402

heres the chart. you can find these colors on ebay or amazon in the states i guess. right now if the hue doesnt change my betwould be three parts neon blue and one part neon green, most likely dilluted with conditioner. if it comes out more on the yellow/orangey side after the color i would replce the green part with the lucious lavender of the pastell range. it possible thatblue alone will be ok too, but the ration will be kinda easy to find out before using it on the entire hair.
thank you for the compliment :) im using the dark blue and dark green and a little goes a long way for me keeping my color cool toned but natural looking.

[endlessly]

I personally haven't removed henna, but I've removed plenty of hair dye mistakes! I believe that with the right care - lots of treatments and babying your hair whenever you can - bleached hair can DEFINITELY be healthy. We damage our hair everyday by doing the simplest of activities and while adding color or even removing color is significantly more damage done at once, you can certainly help limit the effect. Like I've said, I've colored my hair a lot - black, brown, almost-blonde (too much red), red, back to brown, dark brown, and finally red again...you get the point! With a little TLC, my hair looks the healthiest it's ever been now and I've consistently kept up with coloring my roots, so I think your hair will survive it if you choose to take the plunge!

About two years ago, I did a bleach wash to remove my previous bad dye jobs and it worked wonders. I just took a small packet of powdered bleach that I purchased at Sally's Beauty Supply mixed with Suave Clarifying Shampoo, scrubbed it through my hair and left it for a few minutes (a bit longer where a lot of dye had been saturated), then rinsed and did a massive deep conditioning treatment. My ends suffered a little, so I did have to remove an inch or two, but otherwise, it lightened my hair pretty closely to what my natural color had been. I'd recommend doing more research before attempting this method just in case the bleach wash reacts differently with henna.

Best of luck!

[JellyBene]

Bleached blonde can be healthy, it takes a bit more maintenance to keep it healthy but it is possible. However, bleaching out henna to blonde is another story. 2 years ago I attempted just that and let me assure you it was the worst condition my hair has ever been in. First of all you can never completely get the henna out, it will always be brassy and almost metallic looking. Mine would literally snap off during brushing and stretch like a spaghetti noodle while wet. The excessive damage was simply from the amount of bleach and volume that I had to use to even lift it at all. Ill attach a picture of it, Maybe I should create a thread just so everyone can see what happens...
http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/ag75/Brea4012/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsd2ee4f6b.jpg (http://s1299.photobucket.com/user/Brea4012/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsd2ee4f6b.jpg.html)

[indigonight]

Bleached blonde can be healthy, it takes a bit more maintenance to keep it healthy but it is possible. However, bleaching out henna to blonde is another story. 2 years ago I attempted just that and let me assure you it was the worst condition my hair has ever been in. First of all you can never completely get the henna out, it will always be brassy and almost metallic looking. Mine would literally snap off during brushing and stretch like a spaghetti noodle while wet. The excessive damage was simply from the amount of bleach and volume that I had to use to even lift it at all. Ill attach a picture of it, Maybe I should create a thread just so everyone can see what happens...
http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/ag75/Brea4012/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsd2ee4f6b.jpg (http://s1299.photobucket.com/user/Brea4012/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsd2ee4f6b.jpg.html)

Thanks so much for the feedback
The consenus seems to be virgin hair dyed blonde can be healthy but hennaed-hair dyed blonde dies..

[Anje]

Thanks so much for the feedback
The consenus seems to be virgin hair dyed blonde can be healthy but hennaed-hair dyed blonde dies..

More to the point, removing henna is REALLY hard for most people. We've got a saying around here: "You don't date henna, you marry it."

[LarissaLuna]

I personally think that letting your bleached hair grow doesn't work. (I've tried it.). It could work to bleach your already long hair once and then only bleach the hairline (I don't know the porper English word. The part where it grows out where you have to dye after one or two months.).

[Nightshade]

Thanks so much for the feedback
The consenus seems to be virgin hair dyed blonde can be healthy but hennaed-hair dyed blonde dies..


More to the point, removing henna is REALLY hard for most people. We've got a saying around here: "You don't date henna, you marry it."

Pretty much both of these. You have to remember that the lawsone molecule (the dye part of henna) binds to the protein of the hair itself. To lift the henna, you have to bleach hard enough to disrupt the hair's structure, which is going to intrinsically cause massive amounts of damage. When you bleach virgin hair, or even previously dyed hair, the level of disruption is much less to get the same result as trying to remove henna.

[Unofficial_Rose]

I have been able to lift out some of a too-strong henna gloss with tea tree oil. Get a dropper bottle of 100% tea tree oil, put as many drops on hair as your sense of smell will allow, sleep on it then shampoo out. I saw orange in the water when I did this. I haven't got out all the henna, and by the nature of tea tree oil have been unable to saturate the hair, but it might get it to a colour you're more comfortable with. It's also non-damaging.

Try both this and the colour-remover before you hit it with the bleach!

[lapushka]

Pretty much both of these. You have to remember that the lawsone molecule (the dye part of henna) binds to the protein of the hair itself. To lift the henna, you have to bleach hard enough to disrupt the hair's structure, which is going to intrinsically cause massive amounts of damage. When you bleach virgin hair, or even previously dyed hair, the level of disruption is much less to get the same result as trying to remove henna.

Consider me part of the people who found out the hard way that bleaching out henna is just not done! You end up totally wrecking the hair. Mine was chemically cut and melted off (and I got a chemical burn to boot).

Somehow I don't think you quite grasp the dangers involved, OP. Sorry I'm saying this, but that's the impression I get. :flower:

[indigonight]

Consider me part of the people who found out the hard way that bleaching out henna is just not done! You end up totally wrecking the hair. Mine was chemically cut and melted off (and I got a chemical burn to boot).

Somehow I don't think you quite grasp the dangers involved, OP. Sorry I'm saying this, but that's the impression I get. :flower:


I am starting to grasp that after being married to henna for 6 years, the only way out would be one of those divorces that is so messy, damaging and hurtful that I would lose most of my hair and hair dignity in the process. The warnings will be heeded and headed! :heart:

[JellyBene]

I am starting to grasp that after being married to henna for 6 years, the only way out would be one of those divorces that is so messy, damaging and hurtful that I would lose most of my hair and hair dignity in the process. The warnings will be heeded and headed! :heart:

BUT if you are just looking for a change and maybe just a tinge lighter, you could use a very low volume bleach (10vol) and do just a few highlights here and there, you'll get an interesting marigold color on the highlights. you could do a test strand and see if it's something you like. it seems that the lower volume bleach isn't enough to lift to blonde, but also isn't so strong that your hair will be breaking off.

[lapushka]

I am starting to grasp that after being married to henna for 6 years, the only way out would be one of those divorces that is so messy, damaging and hurtful that I would lose most of my hair and hair dignity in the process. The warnings will be heeded and headed! :heart:

Oh that's great and amazing!!! I hope you find a way to get "rid" of the henna, but at this point, I think growing it out might be the safest route for your hair. Mine had to be cut all the way back to chin length and that was a major bummer. I had to learn the hard way (I was *such* a fool) and I'll be glad if I can save at least one person from wrecking their hair the same way.

You could always test strand bleach on fallen-out hair. Collect your sheds for that. That way you can see what it does to the color, and also feel what it does to individual strands of hair.

[indigonight]

Oh that's great and amazing!!! I hope you find a way to get "rid" of the henna, but at this point, I think growing it out might be the safest route for your hair. Mine had to be cut all the way back to chin length and that was a major bummer. I had to learn the hard way (I was *such* a fool) and I'll be glad if I can save at least one person from wrecking their hair the same way.

You could always test strand bleach on fallen-out hair. Collect your sheds for that. That way you can see what it does to the color, and also feel what it does to individual strands of hair.

Thank you for living and learning and then warning me.

All this makes me realize, I have a beautiful head of really thick hair. I get so many compliments on my hair and I am sure that by doing some henndigo I can get a colour that suits my skin more in fact I used to henndigo and stopped so I could go very very red but I realize I am a little to red...

All of this also came about due to the hubby talking about how he liked me as a blonde. I was blonde when we first met but my hair was like straw back then and I never was able to grow it past my shoulders. He was putting a bad idea into a head of lovely hair. I guess its the old thing men have for blondes. But I am going to ignore his request.

I would rather have a mane of thick hennaed tresses than be a scarecrow blonde frazzle head.

Thank you ladies for reminding me to not take my long hair for granted. Bless you! :inlove:

[Rowdy]

Thank you for living and learning and then warning me.

All this makes me realize, I have a beautiful head of really thick hair. I get so many compliments on my hair and I am sure that by doing some henndigo I can get a colour that suits my skin more in fact I used to henndigo and stopped so I could go very very red but I realize I am a little to red...

All of this also came about due to the hubby talking about how he liked me as a blonde. I was blonde when we first met but my hair was like straw back then and I never was able to grow it past my shoulders. He was putting a bad idea into a head of lovely hair. I guess its the old thing men have for blondes. But I am going to ignore his request.

I would rather have a mane of thick hennaed tresses than be a scarecrow blonde frazzle head.

Thank you ladies for reminding me to not take my long hair for granted. Bless you! :inlove:

You could surprise him with a blonde wig :p :lol: