I vow never to bleach my hair again

[hopefulred]

So after having my hair ruined with bleach (and numerous toners put on) by the hairdressers i can hand on heart say that after 17years of bleaching my strawberry blonde hair I will never let bleach touch my hair again and never colour it again except maybe wash in wash out colours to alter the tone alittle depending how it looks when it's fully grown out (might want to add more red for example if it's quite orangey).

The only thing I will be letting hairdressers do with my hair is cutting the damage off when it's time and then trims.

Have you decided the same? What made you make that decision? And how long have you stick to it?

[lapushka]

Bleach was a while ago for me (bleaching henna out). After the second box dye after bleaching the henna out, I got a chemical cut & burn, so... learned my lesson the hard way, right?

So no... never again.

My hair has been virgin color for quite a few years now, at least 4 or 5, I think.

[hanne jensen]

What a wonderful idea for a thread. hopefulred! I'm sure that this thread will help a lot of members here who want to get out of the bleach cycle.

I've never bleached my hair in my life, so I can take a vow that I'll never start bleaching my hair.

[Hopeful65]

I used to bleach my hair for at least 18+ years. I did it myself with the cap method. It used to turn out real nice. But after so many years my hair was just getting fried.
I was going gray, and so I would add in low lights with permanent dye, just basically hand painting them in.
Even though I was using an ash brown color my hair would turn orange and brassy where the dye was. It became a damaged mess.
One day I tried to bleach out that brassiness and it was a big mistake. I really ruined my hair. From that day on I quit everything cold turkey and grew my hair out. It was not easy, but when I could see how healthy and shiny my virgin hair was I became highly motivated. The difference was huge to me.
I started in September of 2011 with hair that was between armpit and bsl. I did monthly trims of 1/4" to 1/2".
I finally reached my (then) goal of waist length virgin hair at 3 years and 2 months.
When I first started growing out, is when I discovered LHC. So every day I would read the "Giving up the bleach and dye" thread. It really helped me a lot.
It has now been just over 5 years and I am now at bcl. Best decision I have ever made was to stop bleaching and dying. My hair finally grows, and I get compliments from total strangers. That never happened before.
And it feels so good being able to run my fingers through my hair all the way from root to tips! The difference between virgin and bleached is not only visual, you can feel it too.

[pili]

I'll gladly take this vow! What a great idea.

The las time I bleached was in 2013 after I had vowed to grow my hair to TBL. Don't ask me why I thought it would be a good idea, from past experience I knew it would damage my hair, but I did it anyway. Then I did it again at the beginning of 2014. I finally couldn't take the feel of my hair anymore. Since it was ombré, I was able to cut it out myself without having to go back to my pixie starting point. However, it set me back by over a year in my hair journey.

Lesson learned. Never again.

[Strands]

I have never bleached my hair before, but I will gladly vow to never do it. It is so damaging and unnatural. I am in.

[hopefulred]

Bleach was a while ago for me (bleaching henna out). After the second box dye after bleaching the henna out, I got a chemical cut & burn, so... learned my lesson the hard way, right?

So no... never again.

My hair has been virgin color for quite a few years now, at least 4 or 5, I think.

Yes defo learnt the hard way! Just like I am now!!! Did it feel like you were growing it out for ages at the time but now you look back and it doesn't seem that long?

[hopefulred]

Hanne Jenson- thankyou hon! I wish I was like you and had never reached for the bleach I wish i had just embraced my strawberry blonde hair when I was 15 instead of waiting until 31! My aim is healthy natural hair now! High five for not conforming (most ppl I know have or have had their hair bleached) and turning to the bleach!

Hopeful65- wow that's amazing your hair must grow super fast to be at waist in just over 3yrs all virgin!! How tall are you if you don't mind me asking? I'm 6ft tall so it would take me aaaages to grow virgin to that length (baring in mind I'm only nearly 5cms grown out!!) although saying that I only want to grow to bsl and I reckon it will take me 3yrs to get there with it all the same length!! Oh I can't wait til it's all grown out and for the first time in my adult life I will have truelly healthy hair it will feel
Amazing! Do you have any tips? Or anything that you did and saw a speed up in growth?

Pili- I think we sometimes have to learn the hard way to appreciate what we have!

Strands- couldn't agree more and that's why it will never go anywhere near my hair ever again!!

[lapushka]

Yes defo learnt the hard way! Just like I am now!!! Did it feel like you were growing it out for ages at the time but now you look back and it doesn't seem that long?

Yep. Exactly that. While you're growing it out, it seems to take forever! But trust me, it's worth it in the end, and it's amazing to have your virgin/natural hair back, because the health of it is vastly different from bleach!

[Hopeful65]

Hopeful65- wow that's amazing your hair must grow super fast to be at waist in just over 3yrs all virgin!! How tall are you if you don't mind me asking? I'm 6ft tall so it would take me aaaages to grow virgin to that length (baring in mind I'm only nearly 5cms grown out!!) although saying that I only want to grow to bsl and I reckon it will take me 3yrs to get there with it all the same length!! Oh I can't wait til it's all grown out and for the first time in my adult life I will have truelly healthy hair it will feel
Amazing! Do you have any tips? Or anything that you did and saw a speed up in growth?

I am just under 5' 2". I actually felt like it took forever.

I don't think there's any advice that can actually speed up growth per se. I just ate healthy, and I take a daily multi-vitamin, at least most of the time.

I made sure to take very good care of the new hair, and did monthly trims. Each month got me about a 1/2" of new growth, while I would trim about 1/4" off the bleached ends (sometimes a 1/2"). I was basically trimming while still able to gain length at about half speed. I would also sometimes search through my hair and trim off any hairs that were excessively ragged.

After having gone through this, I know for a fact I will never again let bleach touch my hair. I cherish and take good care of it now because I know just how long it takes to grow out damage. I took pictures of my progress too so I could reflect back on them.

And here is the LHC thread that I would read for daily motivation
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=51155

Good luck to you. :)

[Llama]

I used to bleach my hair platinum blonde...then I would dye it dark just for a change and then bleach it back to blonde because natural blonde regrowth looks like you are balding when your roots start to come in. Lol.
So yeah I did this for several years and the last time I bleached it- maybe 5 years ago- I overprocessed and my hair was falling out in a very gummy way. Like, not falling out from the scalp but if I tugged on my hair in even the slightest way it would just peel right off itself- in big pieces. When that happened I immediately did a protein treatment (Joico reconstruct) and it stopped that nonsense in it's tracks. Of course it's only temporary though so I ended up cutting my hair to a little above collarbone (my hair had been about apl maybe...it wasn't too drastic of a cut but it was out of my comfort zone).
When she cut my hair I also had her attempt to dye it to my natural color (I didn't really understand how damaging everything was, obviously. lol). She tried using a deposit only strawberry blonde but my hair just wouldn't take it. She tried twice and the color just washed out instantly both times so we gave up. My hair was just too ruined to hold onto any color at all.
So ever since then I have just been growing out my natural hair color and have vowed to never bleach my hair again. I'm naturally blonde anyways, but it also means I can't dye my hair dark unless I want to do root touch ups as soon as growth appears, so like every 2 weeks, for the rest of my life. That's not happening either :p.
All the old bleach is pretty much gone now...there might be an inch or so left but I can't really tell anymore.

[hopefulred]

I used to bleach my hair platinum blonde...then I would dye it dark just for a change and then bleach it back to blonde because natural blonde regrowth looks like you are balding when your roots start to come in. Lol.
So yeah I did this for several years and the last time I bleached it- maybe 5 years ago- I overprocessed and my hair was falling out in a very gummy way. Like, not falling out from the scalp but if I tugged on my hair in even the slightest way it would just peel right off itself- in big pieces. When that happened I immediately did a protein treatment (Joico reconstruct) and it stopped that nonsense in it's tracks. Of course it's only temporary though so I ended up cutting my hair to a little above collarbone (my hair had been about apl maybe...it wasn't too drastic of a cut but it was out of my comfort zone).
When she cut my hair I also had her attempt to dye it to my natural color (I didn't really understand how damaging everything was, obviously. lol). She tried using a deposit only strawberry blonde but my hair just wouldn't take it. She tried twice and the color just washed out instantly both times so we gave up. My hair was just too ruined to hold onto any color at all.
So ever since then I have just been growing out my natural hair color and have vowed to never bleach my hair again. I'm naturally blonde anyways, but it also means I can't dye my hair dark unless I want to do root touch ups as soon as growth appears, so like every 2 weeks, for the rest of my life. That's not happening either :p.
All the old bleach is pretty much gone now...there might be an inch or so left but I can't really tell anymore.

I can totally relate to this as mine is in the same state,
There's no bringing it back so I'm just patiently (or rather impatiently!!) waiting for my healthy virgin hair to all grow out. Its bizarre isn't it because I had my roots bleached and a natural blonde permanent colour put on every 6-8 weeks to get your natural hair colour!! It's crazy we are rarely ever happy with our natural hair colour until the colouring process ruins it beyond repair (or in my case the hairdresser seriously overlapping the bleach 😢)
Btw your hair looks gorgeous in your siggy pic 😀

[Bambi]

Well what can I say....bleach belongs with the dark side for me...I've ruined my soft and shiny virgin hair with bleach more times than I can think of...on a positive note, I have never liked to heat style my hair, even as a teen, so it could've been worse I guess.
Today I'm groing out a balayage, so some of my lenght is still virgin, once again it could be much worse:/.

The consensus of my ramble is that I will try my best to not get catched by the deathly claws of peroxide but when it comes to dye I'm torned...for now I'm good but what will I do when the greys arrive? That where you amazing guys come in;).

[Rosetta]

I have also sworn this, and for me it includes peroxide dyes with PPD... Though "never" is a very strong word, who knows how situations may change, but for now, the only situation I could see needing any peroxide based dye is lightening henna gone too dark (thread about this: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=19317), although I don't even henna nowadays ;) But if I'd go back to dyes, herbal dyes it would be. (eta: or temporary, deposit-only dyes, I use them now at times, but those don't count to me ;))

[Llama]

I can totally relate to this as mine is in the same state,
There's no bringing it back so I'm just patiently (or rather impatiently!!) waiting for my healthy virgin hair to all grow out. Its bizarre isn't it because I had my roots bleached and a natural blonde permanent colour put on every 6-8 weeks to get your natural hair colour!! It's crazy we are rarely ever happy with our natural hair colour until the colouring process ruins it beyond repair (or in my case the hairdresser seriously overlapping the bleach ��)
Btw your hair looks gorgeous in your siggy pic ��


Your patience will pay off for sure!
Yeah, accepting what you have is very important in a healthy hair journey. I don't know why I felt the need to change it all the time! What color is your hair naturally?
Thank you for the compliment :flowers:

[hopefulred]

Your patience will pay off for sure!
Yeah, accepting what you have is very important in a healthy hair journey. I don't know why I felt the need to change it all the time! What color is your hair naturally?
Thank you for the compliment :flowers:

Your welcome 😊 My natural hair colour is strawberry blonde, for some reason it won't let me post a pic but I'm on the growing out bleach/dye thread so if you have time to look I've posted two photo updates of my 4 month growth on that thread

[peronella]

I'm currently rocking a pixie after experimenting with (lots of) bleach and dye. I maintained a bob all through this year and thought "Well, what's the worst that can happen? This is what short hair is for, right?" Weeeellllll.....I ended up dying it back (close to) my natural color but I could never put it back to it's natural condition. Even at bob length it was weird, awkward, it had no movement and tons of breakage. it never did what I wanted and even at bob length it took FOREVER to dry (also It feels so weird when it's wet!!!). Meaning I would always leave the house with slightly wet hair and it would be a ghastly flyaway stiff mess by the time I got to work. I just couldn't take it anymore. and on kind of a whim off it all went. Now I'm fresh and my hair is soft and I'm looking forward to growing it out long again.

Currently debating if I will Henna it. I used to Henna before (hence why I had to bleach it so much!!!) My Hair is dark so the Henna is not very drastic but I do like the color and the conditioning. I'll give it some time before I decide. I have plenty!

So Yes, I had some fun with bleach but now I vow never to bleach again!

[hopefulred]

Llama here is my natural colour, photo taken today outside

http://i345.photobucket.com/albums/p370/cheesecakelove85/Mobile%20Uploads/2016-12/97B338EE-A403-42D3-AE72-FD5925F9E10E_zpsqajjmxpe.jpg (http://s345.photobucket.com/user/cheesecakelove85/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2016-12/97B338EE-A403-42D3-AE72-FD5925F9E10E_zpsqajjmxpe.jpg.html)

[Deborah]

Hopeful,

Your hair is looking great! The strawberry blonde blends in nicely to the bleached part. There is much less demarcation that I expected, and it looks good right now. I know you will like it better when it's all one color, but honestly, it already looks good now!

(And, I'll be honest here - I think most people's roots look terrible - but yours are a notable exception!)

[hopefulred]

Hopeful,

Your hair is looking great! The strawberry blonde blends in nicely to the bleached part. There is much less demarcation that I expected, and it looks good right now. I know you will like it better when it's all one color, but honestly, it already looks good now!

(And, I'll be honest here - I think most people's roots look terrible - but yours are a notable exception!)

Aw thankyou honey that's really nice of you to say. I've been using blonde dry shampoo on the roots to help blend it when I leave the house so I feel more comfortable with it (haven't got any on in pic, this is after washing and air drying) and it's been making it easier to cope with

[OhSuzi]

Hopefulred, I saw pics when you first started to grow it out, it's already maybe 3 times ish or more longer than the original photo. And it looks really shiny and healthy and it's an awesome colour!

[Llama]

hopefulred your natural hair color is so pretty! I wish mine was a little more red like that. I don't know if you are into the ombre look at all (I personally am), but when it grows out a little more you are going to have the prettiest ombre :)
But yeah I think you could definitely get away with just letting it grow out and not toning or dying it along the way if you are trying for virgin hair.

I agree with what Deborah said, too- it already looks nicely blended as it is!

[hopefulred]

Ohsuzi- Thankyou I finally feel like I'm making some progress and the longer the roots grow out the more I like my natural colour 👍🏻

Llama- I can't dye or tone it as it's far too damaged but at least then when it's all grown out it will be totally virgin, I think in the summer i will get it all cut to virgin which will leave me with a layered bob and then grow to bsl from there. I can't wait to be able to wash it, dry it, style and go whereas at the moment I've got to dedicate all morning and afternoon to doing all the treatments and letting it air dry and with two young children (3months and 6yrs) it's very difficult so I reckon at the end of July when it's my birthday il have enough virgin growth to cut all the damage off and have it at a bareable length for me, fingers crossed. Aw thankyou Hon we always want different to what we naturally have don't we