oh boy...lightened ends from coconut or honey?

[DollyDagger]

I have stopped colouring my hair and my ends are faded and a little lighter but they seem to have lightened more as of late..i dont know if its from the light oiling ive been doing between washing (coconut/shea/almond/olive-couple of drops on dry or sometimes wet hair) ..or from the honey in the 2 SMT'S ive done this month...or maybe its just fading because its fading :P

im just worried if this fading is also indicative of weakened hair ends..? They dont feel dry or anything like that just looks like colours lifted and lighter.
I know that the ends are also much more porous because they dry in a jiffy compared the rest of hair.

im planning to do a no-trim year and i want the ends to be in good shape going into it...

any ideas thoughts..?

DD:blossom:

[yogagirl]

Yeaaah my ends are also lighter. Pretty sure it's because they have seen more wear and tear over the years and some of the layers wore off, leaving them thinner and thus lighter. If this is the same as what you're taking about, I don't think there is much that can be done for them. If they tend to tangle and you want to avoid cutting, make sure you use oil/leave-in on the ends.

[DollyDagger]

Yeaaah my ends are also lighter. Pretty sure it's because they have seen more wear and tear over the years and some of the layers wore off, leaving them thinner and thus lighter. If this is the same as what you're taking about, I don't think there is much that can be done for them. If they tend to tangle and you want to avoid cutting, make sure you use oil/leave-in on the ends.
dang erosion..lol..

[hennalonghair]

With the ingredients you are using its common for it to strip colour without damaging the hair. Many people use oil to gentle tone down colour. It doesn't autimatically mean your hair is damaged. Every time I do an oiling I notice much more colour coming out.
Aren't you growing out some commercial dye?
Maybe this is a good thing.

[Lindenare]

Having the ends of your hair be lighter than the roots is normal, especially if your hair is light to begin with. In my experience, the effect is also more pronounced as hair gets longer. It's generally because the ends of the hair are the oldest parts and so have had more years exposed to the sun, water, heat, friction, and everything else that can wear at or lighten hair.

That said, honey can bleach hair some. If you don't want that to happen, you can heat up honey a little before applying it to your hair. This will deactivate the enzymes responsible. I wouldn't worry about honey lightening from just two SMTs in a month, though.

[DollyDagger]

With the ingredients you are using its common for it to strip colour without damaging the hair. Many people use oil to gentle tone down colour. It doesn't autimatically mean your hair is damaged. Every time I do an oiling I notice much more colour coming out.
Aren't you growing out some commercial dye?
Maybe this is a good thing.
thnx for reply hennalonghair..yes im growing out commercial dye..i dont mind the color at all..I actually like it because it looks like naturally sun-faded but i just started getting paranoid that the colour fading might mean the integrity of the strands were being compromised.
phew..im glad its probably not damaging

Is it exclusively coconut oil that lightens..or any oils?

[DollyDagger]

Having the ends of your hair be lighter than the roots is normal, especially if your hair is light to begin with. In my experience, the effect is also more pronounced as hair gets longer. It's generally because the ends of the hair are the oldest parts and so have had more years exposed to the sun, water, heat, friction, and everything else that can wear at or lighten hair.

That said, honey can bleach hair some. If you don't want that to happen, you can heat up honey a little before applying it to your hair. This will deactivate the enzymes responsible. I wouldn't worry about honey lightening from just two SMTs in a month, though.

okay thnx Lindenare...i feel a little more at ease now.:) I will heat it up next time

[hennalonghair]

thnx for reply hennalonghair..yes im growing out commercial dye..i dont mind the color at all..I actually like it because it looks like naturally sun-faded but i just started getting paranoid that the colour fading might mean the integrity of the strands were being compromised.
phew..im glad its probably not damaging

Is it exclusively coconut oil that lightens..or any oils?
I think most oils do that to a certain degree but Lindenare is right in that it's normal. Your roots are the newest hair grown and are usually lighter because they've been around for a while, seen more sun, seen more damage but this type of change is gradual and you most likely would have noticed it before. But maybe not :p

[Miss P]

It could be the honey, I've seen a thread about Honey Lightening floating around somewhere that mentioned it having peroxide qualities or something

[lapushka]

It's normal for your ends to be lighter colored than your roots, especially when your hair is longer. The longer, the more color difference there can be. I wouldn't worry about it, it's not a sign of weaker ends, at least not on virgin hair. Bleached hair, different story.

[DollyDagger]

It's normal for your ends to be lighter colored than your roots, especially when your hair is longer. The longer, the more color difference there can be. I wouldn't worry about it, it's not a sign of weaker ends, at least not on virgin hair. Bleached hair, different story.

thnx lapushka..i think i was focusing on them too much..theyve always been lighter but with the S& D and such im just noticing and zeroiing in on them so much more. i feel relieved and better now...and am ready for no trimming! :)

[DollyDagger]

It could be the honey, I've seen a thread about Honey Lightening floating around somewhere that mentioned it having peroxide qualities or something
yes better to heat the honey first..next time ill make sure to do that

[meteor]

With the ingredients you are using its common for it to strip colour without damaging the hair. Many people use oil to gentle tone down colour. It doesn't autimatically mean your hair is damaged. Every time I do an oiling I notice much more colour coming out.
Aren't you growing out some commercial dye?
Maybe this is a good thing.

^ Oh yes! :agree:


Many things could be contributing to this effect:

1) Your ends have some old chemical dye on them. If it's the kind of dye (permanent or demi-permanent) that has a developer (hydrogen peroxide), then, as the pigment of the dye fades (with washing, sun exposure, etc), it leaves behind your own hair, which will be somewhat bleached (by the peroxide in the dye).

2) Sun bleaches hair over time, even if you protect it with updos and hats. Ends normally accumulate more photo-damage. More on this: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15157906, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19138021, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18408872, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17728939

3) Sheer length and age of hairmeans more wear & tear (mechanical, chemical, heat), more exposure to the elements, and damage often looks like finer and lighter hair on ends.

4) Honey contains peroxide (tiny amounts), which can lighten at the right dilution, pH, temperature, with some peroxide boosters, like EVOO and coconut oil (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=148&page=196&p=237414#post237414). This premise is the foundation of the honey lightening technique: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=148

5) Oils can help pull some of the deposited color faster, leaving behind the ends, with the somewhat "lifted" color (by the developer in the dye).

[DollyDagger]

:sun:
^ Oh yes! :agree:


Many things could be contributing to this effect:

1) Your ends have some old chemical dye on them. If it's the kind of dye (permanent or demi-permanent) that has a developer (hydrogen peroxide), then, as the pigment of the dye fades (with washing, sun exposure, etc), it leaves behind your own hair, which will be somewhat bleached (by the peroxide in the dye).

2) Sun bleaches hair over time, even if you protect it with updos and hats. Ends normally accumulate more photo-damage. More on this: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15157906, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19138021, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18408872, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17728939

3) Sheer length and age of hairmeans more wear & tear (mechanical, chemical, heat), more exposure to the elements, and damage often looks like finer and lighter hair on ends.

4) Honey contains peroxide (tiny amounts), which can lighten at the right dilution, pH, temperature, with some peroxide boosters, like EVOO and coconut oil (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=148&page=196&p=237414#post237414). This premise is the foundation of the honey lightening technique: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=148

5) Oils can help pull some of the deposited color faster, leaving behind the ends, with the somewhat "lifted" color (by the developer in the dye).

Thnx meteor :) all those reasons are contributive for sure but
#1 -especially..:!: wow..!!..i am enlightened about my lightened ends...makes so much sense because I am finding long strands of platinum/silvery hair and im wondering how the heck the dye jobs missed them!.and where the heck they came from lol..:brickwall.incredible!