Your hair damage stories??

[hopefulred]

So as you will know if you have read any of my posts that hairdresser ruined my hair by over processing it with bleach and hair colours, it's totally ruined (snapping, bad splits) two hairdressers have advised me to cut the damage off gradually so I can still tie it back, and just wait for my healthy new natural hair to grow through which will obviously take a while. It's really effected me and made me feel ugly not being able to do nice styles and just the sheer damage of it! I'm never having bleach on my hair ever again and am going to embrace my natural ginger colour.

whats your awful hair experiences and how long it took for your natural hair to grow out to.a decent length, how did it change the way you care for your hair?

[AstridSerena]

I went from this: http://imgur.com/uylqL0s, to this: http://imgur.com/nsKRFmP (and several other colours), because of a hair dying addiction. I eventually cut my hair http://imgur.com/FAmDEde, and am currently at this phase in hair re-growth, about 9 months later: http://imgur.com/G8sdgFr.

These things unfortunately do happen. You are not alone. =)

[Mrstran]

Went from blonde to black (on accident) , stripped out the color and bleached, regular dye blonde then toned. Dyed brown months later. A few months later after that I bleached my hair 3 times and toned it to near white. Used lightening shampoo and conditioner for a few weeks and purple shampoos. A few months later dyed dark brown.. lol...
Waited 6 months or so and my hair was actually feeling ok without a ton of product in it. I decided that doing my hair myself was causing too much damage, so I went to a salon and paid $600 to have my hair turn to a gummy stretchy mess.

Hair chopped off Oct 1st and now no heat, no dye, ever again. I'm done.

[hopefulred]

Went from blonde to black (on accident) , stripped out the color and bleached, regular dye blonde then toned. Dyed brown months later. A few months later after that I bleached my hair 3 times and toned it to near white. Used lightening shampoo and conditioner for a few weeks and purple shampoos. A few months later dyed dark brown.. lol...
Waited 6 months or so and my hair was actually feeling ok without a ton of product in it. I decided that doing my hair myself was causing too much damage, so I went to a salon and paid $600 to have my hair turn to a gummy stretchy mess.

Hair chopped off Oct 1st and now no heat, no dye, ever again. I'm done.

What did the hairdressers do to it? It's so frustrating when the supposed professionals ruin your hair!! How long was it and how short did you cut it to? I'm with you there I'm not colouring mine ever again either! The only thing il be going to the hairdressers for is for it cutting. Wish it would hurry up and grow now so I can have healthy hair X

[hopefulred]

I went from this: http://imgur.com/uylqL0s, to this: http://imgur.com/nsKRFmP (and several other colours), because of a hair dying addiction. I eventually cut my hair http://imgur.com/FAmDEde, and am currently at this phase in hair re-growth, about 9 months later: http://imgur.com/G8sdgFr.

These things unfortunately do happen. You are not alone. =)

Did the hairdresser do the damage or did you do it? What made you do for such a short cut? Your hair has grown loads on 9months!! Do you do anything to aid it?

[AstridSerena]

Did the hairdresser do the damage or did you do it? What made you do for such a short cut? Your hair has grown loads on 9months!! Do you do anything to aid it?

I did this to myself=( lol

I cut my hair so short because it was damaged and breaking off from the roots, and I wanted to start over with my natural colour.

Thanks! That is encouraging to hear. I feel like it's growing back so slowly but I suppose that's just because I see it every single day.

I've been doing the same routine I followed to get my hair long the first time: shampoo with a sulfate free shampoo once a week, condition/ leave in condition/ light oil every day, deep condition with coconut oil once a week right before my weekly shampoo, and self-trims at my own discretion. Learning to trim your own hair is a very valuable skill in terms of having complete control over the amount of length you lose. It is easiest to learn on relatively long hair, but once you get the hang of it, it's doable on short hair as well. I did my own mullet trims as I was growing from a pixie. Also I try to eat as much protein as possible, and I take a multivitamin.

[lapushka]

It took me 10 years to get to classic. At first, when I got here, I experimented with henna, bleached it out, dyed over it, used henna again etc... resulting in a cut back to chin. Same thing all over, resulting in a chemical cut & burn, and back to chin I went again. Then I had it permed, grew out to hip, and due to the damage it had to be cut back to BSL. Yeah. No wonder it took me that long. After all that, esp. after the cut & burn I said no more and grew it out virgin. I reached classic last year September. It's been classic to classic+ ever since.

[spidermom]

The worst thing I ever did was get a second perm one year after the first perm. A hair stylist did it, but it was my fault: I asked her to re-perm it because I thought the squiggly ends looked awful with the straight/wavy new growth. OMG; it was so terrible. The ends turned to fluff, and the rest was ultra-super-crazy curly. I got it cut very short - like 1/2 inch long - within about a week. I suit short hair just fine. It doesn't look a lot different than longer hair pulled back, which exposes face, ears, and neck just like short hair does. It took me a long time to grow it out because it looked better short than mid-length. Behold:
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c79/spidermom/SHORT.jpg (http://s25.photobucket.com/user/spidermom/media/SHORT.jpg.html)
to this (natural air-dried hair with over-the-top goth makeup courtesy of 13-year-old niece)
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c79/spidermom/BOONEW.jpg (http://s25.photobucket.com/user/spidermom/media/BOONEW.jpg.html)
and finally grew out to this (and beyond)
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c79/spidermom/LONGERSTILL.jpg (http://s25.photobucket.com/user/spidermom/media/LONGERSTILL.jpg.html)

Honest to god, hon, I've been following your posts, and you are so hard on yourself. Get out of the habit of telling yourself and the world how unattractive you are and reassure yourself. You may not have the hair you dream of, but you look pretty darn good because of your ... I don't know - beautiful smile, sparkling expressive eyes, etc etc etc You have something going for you, I am sure of it.

[hopefulred]

I know spidermom I think I have a mild form of BDD as iv always been harsh on myself

[lithostoic]

Lots of at-home box dye and bleach from ages 15-17.

[hopefulred]

Lots of at-home box dye and bleach from ages 15-17.

How badly damaged was your hair? Did you have to have loads cut off?

[vampyyri]

Oh goodness, I was dying my hair from age 13-21... some box dyes, some salon visits, some kits that i put together from the beauty supply store. Bleachings inbetween colors, and my last experience was me double bleaching my hair in a salon and then applying toners/using demi/semi dyes as I grew my natural color out.

[Groovy Granny]

Just as I was turning 50, my 'friend' who was also a licensed stylist and working from home ruined my hair after doing a routine color on me (light blonde).

I'm talking green....fried....on half my hair :(

She offered me 'drops' to correct it, but it was breaking off and the damage was visible.

I walked into a salon who mercifully worked with me for almost 2 hours trying to decide what action to take.
They ended up cutting 12 inches (from waist+ to shoulder) and they brought me back to my natural color (light brown/dark blonde)

That was a breakthrough moment for me; seeing my natural color for the first time in 20 years and seeing my silver make it's appearance over the coming months.

The cut also showed me that my hair was not in good condition under her care, so it was great to see healthy locks again too!

I never looked back (and we parted ways :p ) ....and that was the happiest birthday ever!

My family was in shock to see me darker with a SL Bob (no one believed my natural color was darker lol) but I was thrilled at being and seeing the true 'me' ...and celebrating 50) :joy:

[hopefulred]

I hate how so called professionals can ruin our hair!! How awful but from the sounds of it it was a blessing in disguise Groovy Granny as you are now at peace with your natural! I'm hoping this will be the case for me too!

[CrazyWaves]

I once literally melted my hair off. Back when I was about 19 or 20 I had bleached my hair, later dyed it darker. A few months later I decided to use one of those at home chemical straightening kits. Bleach and straightening chemicals DO NOT MIX! Even with several months in between apparently. My hair was a sticky, stretchy, broken mess. Nothing would fix it but a massive chop. I've never touched the straightening kits since that happened.

[Groovy Granny]

I hate how so called professionals can ruin our hair!! How awful but from the sounds of it it was a blessing in disguise Groovy Granny as you are now at peace with your natural! I'm hoping this will be the case for me too!

Thanks...yes, it is really terrible what some people experience :(

I was horrified at the time, but thankfully the salon fixed it...and it was a liberating way to celebrate my 50th :)

Hopefully it goes well for you too :pray:

[Kamille]

I used to blowdry + straighten my hair every day, which made it dry and with lots of split ends. After cutting it short, it got healthier, but I hated my short hair, so I eventually damaged it again due to more straightening.. Then I colored it red and afterwards bleached it.. It didn't look too healthy after a while.

[furnival]

:p Here's something to make you feel better about your hair!
This is what happens to my hair if I wear it down and don't constantly detangle. When this was taken it was fried from red box dye and I hadn't combed it for a few days. I gave up and ripped it into separate chunks so it could turn to dreads to its heart's content, then decided months later to comb them out again, shredding loads of hair in the process! Now my hair is healthy and at BCL I find it very dispiriting that I can't wear it down/ half-up/ in a ponytail even for an hour as mats will form almost instantly. My whole hair journey has been a constant battle against encroaching dreadlocks, and indeed I had dreads for more than fifteen years and may well let my hair return to its natural state soon, as I cannot be @rsed fighting it for much longer.

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=24990&d=1477299915

[_janne91_]

Oh my Im going to make an Imgur account and share some photos, you need to see the 'balayage' I was given from a 'professional' hairdresser.
Could have done it better myself!!!

BRB with pictures!!

[Groovy Granny]

:p Here's something to make you feel better about your hair!
This is what happens to my hair if I wear it down and don't constantly detangle. When this was taken it was fried from red box dye and I hadn't combed it for a few days. I gave up and ripped it into separate chunks so it could turn to dreads to its heart's content, then decided months later to comb them out again, shredding loads of hair in the process! Now my hair is healthy and at BCL I find it very dispiriting that I can't wear it down/ half-up/ in a ponytail even for an hour as mats will form almost instantly. My whole hair journey has been a constant battle against encroaching dreadlocks, and indeed I had dreads for more than fifteen years and may well let my hair return to its natural state soon, as I cannot be @rsed fighting it for much longer.


WOW...that is crazy :agape:


((((Hugs)))))

[lapis_lazuli]

I don't have any horrific hair damage stories but from ages 13-16 I had bleach blonde highlights put in my hair a few times. They are not noticeable anymore but they are still throughout 2/3 of my length. I have to be extra gentle with it to keep it growing, it's a pain, but I'm too stubborn to cut it. I definitely regret messing with my hair.
I agree with spidermom - everyone has something going for them. Try to be kind to yourself. Remember, healthy hair is growing every day, and with each one you are that much closer to being free of damage. All will be good, OK?

[hopefulred]

I once literally melted my hair off. Back when I was about 19 or 20 I had bleached my hair, later dyed it darker. A few months later I decided to use one of those at home chemical straightening kits. Bleach and straightening chemicals DO NOT MIX! Even with several months in between apparently. My hair was a sticky, stretchy, broken mess. Nothing would fix it but a massive chop. I've never touched the straightening kits since that happened.

How short did you have it cut?

[hopefulred]

I don't have any horrific hair damage stories but from ages 13-16 I had bleach blonde highlights put in my hair a few times. They are not noticeable anymore but they are still throughout 2/3 of my length. I have to be extra gentle with it to keep it growing, it's a pain, but I'm too stubborn to cut it. I definitely regret messing with my hair.
I agree with spidermom - everyone has something going for them. Try to be kind to yourself. Remember, healthy hair is growing every day, and with each one you are that much closer to being free of damage. All will be good, OK?

Thankyou that's what's keeping me going is the healthy hair growing through

[WillOTree]

I had APL hair when I started dying it. For a few years it didn't seem to affect the quality of my hair. At the time I didn't know that there are special poo and conditioners out there to help maintain color and quality of your hair. And I had no idea what oiling was either! Well fast forward to 2014 and my hair was SOOOO damaged. Splits all the way up, white dots galore. I kept trimming hoping to get rid of all the damage and I never seemed to get any progress with cutting out the fryed parts. My hair felt awful. So I shaved it off! Happily growing it out hopefully to hip length, currently sitting at CBL. I have a long way to go. ;)

[hopefulred]

I had APL hair when I started dying it. For a few years it didn't seem to affect the quality of my hair. At the time I didn't know that there are special poo and conditioners out there to help maintain color and quality of your hair. And I had no idea what oiling was either! Well fast forward to 2014 and my hair was SOOOO damaged. Splits all the way up, white dots galore. I kept trimming hoping to get rid of all the damage and I never seemed to get any progress with cutting out the fryed parts. My hair felt awful. So I shaved it off! Happily growing it out hopefully to hip length, currently sitting at CBL. I have a long way to go. ;)

Omg how did you cope with shaved hair? Weren't you tempted to just grow your natural hair and get the damage cut off gradually so you didn't have to do something as extreme as shave your head? How long is it now? Two years after you shaved it

[WillOTree]

It's currently at collar bone, with trims about every three months to help even it out while it's growing.

Honestly I had always wanted to shave it but never had the courage! I thought about just letting it grow out but didn't want to keep hair that was just so damaged. :wail:

[raemarthe]

In 2014 I decided I wanted to lighten my hair, and knowing nothing about hair care really, I decided to do it At home because for some reason I thought it was less damaging, and I was trying to grow my hair out (still am !). So I did a lot of research and discovered you could bleach your hair with baking soda and hydrogen peroxide. And I tried it, and it worked. But good lord. It absolutely KILLED my hair. It started breaking like crazy, when I would look down at my shirt there would be small pieces everywhere. My curls began to disappear, and all my ends became straight and limp. I realized I had to cut it, because looking at it depressed me. I wanted my curls back. So I started trimming it every month, but In November 2014 I bit the bullet and cut off 4-5 inches, leaving me a little past collar bone length. So in 6 months I went from BSL to collar bone.
I still have a lot of damage from that incident. My hair is mostly recovered, but it still has some straighter fried peices, and damage in the ends. I'm working at it though! :)

[Kajzh]

I started my long hair journey with hair that had been relaxed, bleached, colored twice, and heat damaged — YES, all at once, not over the span of several years!

At its worst, I would burn my scalp with salon chemicals and experience bald patches that oozed blood and pus, which would mat into my surrounding hair. The length of my hair would stall out in length between brastrap and collarbone, and it was always lacking moisture. I had no idea how to care for it. I started locks with all of this damaged hair, and then began my long-term journey to figure out what works for me.

Since then, my hair has grown to waist length, I've received formal education in chemistry, studied independently in cosmetic chemistry, administrated a haircare website, and now am a natural hairstylist of my own. I've assisted thousands of people with optimizing their haircare regimens, and demand for my consulting and services increases daily.

[Sarahlabyrinth]

This is someone I heard of, she was in a spa pool with her long hair loose. It was sucked into the filter mechanism, and before she could be freed she drowned.

[Kajzh]

This is someone I heard of, she was in a spa pool with her long hair loose. It was sucked into the filter mechanism, and before she could be freed she drowned.
Wow, that is so awful to hear! :( I didn't know that was possible in pools!

[CrazyWaves]

How short did you have it cut?
I had to have it cut to about chin length. With a massive amount of layers in the back to get rid of most of that damage. My hair was one big poof ball for months! Thank goodness no photos of that mess exist!

[Ligeia Noire]

I had two strands of hair at my nape that were always dry and brittle and had splits everywhere not mattering how much I trimmed or moisturized it, it was probably from wearing ponytails but it is not like I could wear my hair down anyway, so one day I got so mad at it that I cut those parts completely, they are now like a bit past shoulder length and when I bun there are two curls hanging there ah ah ah but it was worth it.... One other time I was still in college and I was having some serious problems and on top of that my hair was getting very dry and split and a small trim would not help, so of course, in one of those impulsive mad days I just locked myself in the bathroom and went from tbl to waist. Ok so those were my only drastic moments :p

[Gothic]

I dyed my hair dark brown then black in the same month then a month later I got bored and bleached it 3 times in a week. I went to the hairdresser for toning but instead she used a chemical dye to dye it an ashy dark blonde.
After that I kept bleaching and having fun haircolours but in August 2015 I wanted to go white platinum. I had a blue semi in my hair and it took me 5 bleachings to get out the last bit of blue-green hue. I was so dumb lol.

[sommer]

So as you will know if you have read any of my posts that hairdresser ruined my hair by over processing it with bleach and hair colours, it's totally ruined (snapping, bad splits) two hairdressers have advised me to cut the damage off gradually so I can still tie it back, and just wait for my healthy new natural hair to grow through which will obviously take a while. It's really effected me and made me feel ugly not being able to do nice styles and just the sheer damage of it! I'm never having bleach on my hair ever again and am going to embrace my natural ginger colour.

whats your awful hair experiences and how long it took for your natural hair to grow out to.a decent length, how did it change the way you care for your hair?

I perfectly understand your feelings because I'm in the same situation in fact...:( But not because of the haidresser, because of my own choice for different crazy experiments :eek:
I adored to dye my hair starting from teenage years, always had a great interest in the bright colours like here (http://stylemann.com/best-hair-color-ideas/), of course it caused some damage to my hair but I can't say that it was really huge :eek:
The problem became awful when I bleached my hair several times for getteing such bright shade of green and later some other synthetic colours...

photo (hotlinking not permitted) (http://stylemann.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/17-Neon-Greens-650x650.jpg)

I've gotten a massive hair loss and also my hair was very damaged, I didn't like its condition at all :( Now I'm happy that I decied to stop all that experiments at least for a time, at leats my hair loss stopped :eek:

[hayheadsbird]

OT - but hopefulred, your pm box is full ;)

[Eastbound&Down]

Over the summer my hair caught on fire at a party and I lost about 12" and went from almost WL back to SL. I ended up having to cut to CL to get everything evened up. It was horrible.

[Larki]

Over the summer my hair caught on fire at a party and I lost about 12" and went from almost WL back to SL. I ended up having to cut to CL to get everything evened up. It was horrible.

Oh my goodness, was the rest of you okay? You didn't get burned?

[HairPlease]

Over the summer my hair caught on fire at a party and I lost about 12" and went from almost WL back to SL. I ended up having to cut to CL to get everything evened up. It was horrible.

Oh my gosh, that's terrible! I hope the rest of you didn't get burned. That was a very scary post to read!

My damage story is simple--I bleached for years and didn't realize that I was slowly turning into a walking broom. I chopped it all off to high shoulder and it's still broom straw. The only part of my hair that looks and feels like hair is the two-and-a-half inches of virgin growth at the roots. I feel like a moron for not recognizing how bad it was getting, but it's all done and over. I'll have healthy hair again soon.

[hopefulred]

Oh my gosh, that's terrible! I hope the rest of you didn't get burned. That was a very scary post to read!

My damage story is simple--I bleached for years and didn't realize that I was slowly turning into a walking broom. I chopped it all off to high shoulder and it's still broom straw. The only part of my hair that looks and feels like hair is the two-and-a-half inches of virgin growth at the roots. I feel like a moron for not recognizing how bad it was getting, but it's all done and over. I'll have healthy hair again soon.

That is awful I hope your ok?

Hair please is your damaged hair all split up the cuticle?

[Eastbound&Down]

Oh my goodness, was the rest of you okay? You didn't get burned?


Oh my gosh, that's terrible! I hope the rest of you didn't get burned. That was a very scary post to read!

I did get a second degree burn on my back, but my hair and shirt took the most damage.

[JaneHathaway]

Over the summer my hair caught on fire at a party and I lost about 12" and went from almost WL back to SL. I ended up having to cut to CL to get everything evened up. It was horrible.


I did get a second degree burn on my back, but my hair and shirt took the most damage.

I'm so sorry you had to go through such a horrific experience but glad it wasn't even worse. Wishing you the very best.

[Spinder]

I used Sun-In (spray in hair bleach) on myself numerous times when I was little... Mom just left it in the bathroom and I thought it was spray in conditioner. Not a pretty scene when my Mom found out, even though I didn't know what I was doing... shudder:

[hopefulred]

I did this to myself=( lol

I cut my hair so short because it was damaged and breaking off from the roots, and I wanted to start over with my natural colour.

Thanks! That is encouraging to hear. I feel like it's growing back so slowly but I suppose that's just because I see it every single day.

I've been doing the same routine I followed to get my hair long the first time: shampoo with a sulfate free shampoo once a week, condition/ leave in condition/ light oil every day, deep condition with coconut oil once a week right before my weekly shampoo, and self-trims at my own discretion. Learning to trim your own hair is a very valuable skill in terms of having complete control over the amount of length you lose. It is easiest to learn on relatively long hair, but once you get the hang of it, it's doable on short hair as well. I did my own mullet trims as I was growing from a pixie. Also I try to eat as much protein as possible, and I take a multivitamin.

How did you feel cutting it so short?

[Hay_jules]

Eastbound&Down, what a scary experience.

I have quite a few damage experiences over the years. It started with a perm when I was 13 and I swear it permanently changed the texture of my hair. It's possible I suppose that it was puberty but before I had smooth hair and ever since it's been wavy and frizzy. I've done a lot of box dyes. After my son was born I tried to go high lift blond and it turned my very dark brown to pumpkin inside. I didn't know any better so I left it for months before dying over it.
This time when I bleached my hair I had my bf help me and he didn't understand "sectioning". And we didn't make enough. And he worked slowly. And I had cheap quality bleach powder because I didn't realize there was such a difference. So I ended up with the bottom half of my hair decently lightened, and the top half had such scant coverage that it hardly lifted at all and was extremely patchy. I knew at that time I should wait and rebleach in a month but bf really wanted to carry on with the plan of dying my hair purple. We mixed a bunch of colours and he applied, he wanted to be artistic so he wouldn't let me see my motto has always been when in doubt go back to black so I let him. The bottom looked pink because the yellow in my hair canceled out the blue in the purple. The top was so dark the colour didn't take except for a couple spots from the patchy bleach. I faded that and rebleached in two sessions myself. I got it mostly even and got my purple but had to chop off a few inches.