What Should I do? Desperate... Need help regarding growing out dye.

[Amber_Maiden]

Hey everyone! I need some opinions/advice on this, but I’ll start from the beginning before asking my question, so you have all the info ;)


Here are the facts:


-I am a 2C, maybe even curlier, and have recently started the curly girl method.
- am growing out a permanent hair dye accident in black (by a stylist) and my natural hair colour is ash blonde… maybe a dark ash blonde, but it lightens a ton in the summer (all I have seen are my roots, that’s it, since I was 13).
-I have three inches, at least, of roots that I have been Demi dying close to black because of how severe the new virgin growth looks in comparison to the permanent dye. I thought this was a good option.


-My hair is currently hip length, formally was TBL, but I cut it in March. I want to get rid of as much permanent dye and damage caused by it as possible, without shaving my head (not an option).
-I am chopping my hair to above my shoulders in 12 days, and will continue getting trims until the permanent dye is gone (which should be by the end of next year, if my calculations are correct, though it could happen sooner).


-The colour I'm Demi dying it is so dark and I am worried it will permanently darken my hair's natural colour. I have porous hair. The Demi dye might not have been the best choice… as it only fades and is in fact a permanent colour. I’m worried I have made a huge mistake and will never get my natural hair colour back.


My questions:


I'm wondering what to do after I have grown out the permanent dye and have the Demi left in my hair?
Is there any way that is NOT DAMAGING (no vitamin C, no Colour Opps etc… It’s too harsh on curly hair) to get it out or fade it more?
Is it possible to fade it enough so that it blends with my natural hair colour?
Is it likely it will fade completely, or is my being paranoid that it won’t, valid?
What would you do?


My goal is to have my hair healthy and curly, without damage, and have it be my natural colour. I'd also like to grow it long again one day, though not as long as tailbone length. :p


My other option is I could grow out my natural colour, and semi-permanently dye it when I have to (going to big events, etc). Is this a better option?


It’s not really an option for me to just grow out my natural colour … I think it will look beyond bad in contrast with the black (to be honest, when my roots start to show, I look bald, because my natural hair is so light). I also go to several important events, and I need to look at least photogenic for. It is also not an option to shave my head. Just above shoulders is as short as I can go (ha very traumatic experiences as a kid where my parents would only give me buzz cuts. I only was able to start growing it out at 15).


Please help. I’m being very OCD and paranoid about the outcome of this and what I should do. I’m also 29 weeks pregnant, so everything impacts me hard it seems…


Thank you in advance! I appreciate any help anyone can give me on what I should do.

[endlessly]

Well, I can begin by telling you what NOT to do because I've been in your shoes before. Vitamin C will honestly do nothing to lighten your hair - tried it and it only made it more brittle and dry - so it's a good thing you wanted to avoid it because it's just a waste of time and money. I also tried honey and lemon, which again, did very, very minimal and considering I was following it up with a clarifying shampoo, I'm assuming the shampoo was responsible for removing some of the color versus the natural ingredients. As a last resort, I used a bleach wash where you mix 1 part powdered bleach with 1 part shampoo on the advice from someone at Sally's Beauty Supply and while it did lighten my hair and remove the nearly black dye, my ends were left pretty damaged as a result. However, since you are pregnant, this definitely wouldn't be a safe option for you at all.

Because there is such a huge contrast between your natural color and the dyed portion, it sounds like it might be almost impossible for you to blend the two while your hair is growing out without resorting to using some harsh chemicals. You can definitely continue the way you have, but demi-permanent dyes don't always wash 100% out (I've learned from experience), so the best advice I have is to just wait it out while you're growing out your roots.

Typically, I would also recommend washing with a sulfate shampoo like 'Head n' Shoulders' because it can also help lift dark dye, but that would also pretty severely dry out your curly hair, so that won't even work either unless you're able to do some heavy conditioning as well.

As a last resort, you could always ask at a salon and see what they would recommend. If you're really desperate to remove the black and since you are going to have your hair cut anyway, bleaching could be an option since you'd be removing the damaged ends. It's not the ideal situation since you would prefer something more natural, but like I said, if you really want the black gone, it might be the only alternative.

Best of luck and hopefully someone on this sight has had some luck lifting black from blonde hair!

[Nique1202]

If the length doesn't feel damaged, just patch up your roots as needed with a deposit-only dye (most of them offer a plain black option, even Manic Panic and other brands known for their bright colours) and maintain at hip if keeping your hair long is more comfortable for you. Don't risk reliving traumatic childhood memories about haircuts unless the length of your hair is in truly terrible condition. If you truly need to, trim an inch at a time at this point instead of a big chop, and wait a week or two in between to see if it still looks/feels terrible. If it was just one dye application, I'm sure your length is actually not as damaged as you think it is. Plenty of folks grow to hip or tailbone while dyeing their hair regularly, so I'd recommend you sit down and really evaluate how your hair feels and look through the forums to see if there are ways to patch up the problem for you (products with 'cones, extra protein, etc.) without chopping further.

Even if the dye you use to patch up your roots doesn't fade out completely, if it fades at all it will soften the transition between your dyed hair and your roots over time. The few inches that are grown out now will accumulate more of the dye by the time you've trimmed up so that they're your ends, and your roots will have accumulated almost none, so it should be a pretty even transition if you apply the dye regularly. You may even find that at a certain point that the accumulated ombre effect actually looks acceptable and you might choose to stop dying your roots. Ombre is still very popular and especially light-to-dark can look really cool and intentional and stylish.

[Panth]

As far as I'm aware, demi-permanent dye contains developers and thus will affect your natural colour and your hair's health. It's better than permanent but not much. You want semi-permanent or veggie dyes if you're trying to transition to something that will fade/wash out. If you're trying to transition to an ombre vs. a blunt demarcation line, then there's less concern.

[lapushka]

Is there a chance you can switch to a semi-permanent dye instead of a demi? That should be possible, right? A semi washes out faster. Sally's Beauty Supply should carry a good range in the States, I reckon. But I think as long as you don't redye before the demi washes out completely each time, you should be okay. Demi's aren't permanent. They just last longer than semi's.

[Robot Ninja]

Using a semi is probably the best option. It's not damaging and it should fade out eventually, and they're safe to use during pregnancy.

Don't use Manic Panic though, the black fades to green. You're probably best off using a brown-black or dark brown from a brand that makes hair-colored dyes.

[Amber_Maiden]

Using a semi is probably the best option. It's not damaging and it should fade out eventually, and they're safe to use during pregnancy.

Don't use Manic Panic though, the black fades to green. You're probably best off using a brown-black or dark brown from a brand that makes hair-colored dyes.

Do you know if the smell dye would fade completely or would it stain ash blonde hair darker forever? I'm such a newbie to this... :/

[lapushka]

I used a semi when I was growing out my hair from a lighter, mid-tone, ash blonde color (I'm a dark ash blonde/brown color), to tide me over the Christmas period. I used it to dye the lengths to match the roots. It was by Indola. Awesome brand and awesome dye, and it didn't stain my hair at all.