If I quit dye, I'll have to bleach...

[miaeleanor]

Hi! This is my very first post on LHC but I've been reading the forum for months. My hair is BSL and in good condition. I regularly do oil treatments, I take my vitamins, my diet is decent, I have no split ends, and I don't use heat. My natural hair color is light blonde, and ever since I was 13 (I'm 17 now) I've been dying it dark brown and now it's pretty much stained black, because I have used black dye before. Right now I have about an inch of roots coming in, and it looks ugly because it almost looks like I'm going gray, due to the light blonde. My question is, do I keep dying my roots, or should I have it bleached so I never have to damage it with dye again? I know bleach is the most damaging but I feel like dying the roots every month is almost as bad. I want my hair to be as healthy as possible.

[Obsidian]

Are you trying to go back to your natural color? Instead of bleaching out the dark, try a product called color oops. It removes the dye without the damage of bleach. You might need to do it a couple times to remove really dark color and it won't take you completely back to your natural color but it will help a lot.

Be warned though, the stuff stinks, a lot and the smell will linger for a week or so but its worth it. You have to really follow the directions, especially the part about rinsing. If you do not rinse enough, the hair can darken back up. Once you think you've rinsed enough, rinse some more. Run your hot water tank empty if you have to.

You can see videos of dye removing with color oops on youtube

[samanthaa]

Well, it really depends on what your long-term goal is. Do you want a full head of virgin hair eventually? If you do, you're going to have to stop the root touch-ups sooner rather than later.

I'm tempted to advise you to suffer through the year+ of "ugly" roots. I did it growing out my henna (currently at 15 months). It's really only a few months that are super rough, and it will start to look like a reverse ombre after a certain point. Then you can keep the health of your hair (and ultimately the length) in-tact. And dye does fade to a certain extent, doesn't it? (I could be wrong; I've never used chemical dye.)

I'd say bleach if you are confident in your decision that you're going to grow out your virgin hair and stop experimenting with color after that. Bleach is damaging (there are things like Olaplex and coconut oil that can help prevent some of the damage before applying the bleach), but if it's what you need to feel hair-happy and start out on your healthy longhair journey, it might be worth it to you. I would say don't try it yourself; go to a salon and have it done professionally.

ETA: Ooh, Obsidian's advice about Color Oops is really good! Yes, try that first before anything I've mentioned!

[lapushka]

Yeah, I had that happen when growing out blue-black dye. It was a marked contrast!!! I just bit the bullet and suffered through the months it took to get some decent growth so it didn't look too too bad anymore.

The first few cm or inch is the toughest, once you get past that it gets easier.

I would not use bleach. I would not keep dyeing. The idea here is to go back to your natural color, right? You'll then have to stop dyeing eventually. Better sooner rather than later! :flower:

[AmberLouise89]

I've gone from black to blonde multiple times. One of the first times I did it by doing two rounds of color oops, then a high lift blonde box dye and a toner. I'll post some photos of that process, it worked but my hair was still damaged enough that it wouldn't really grow. The second time I went from black to blonde I did it by getting a super short pixie cut and just bleaching out the little bit of black I had left. If I were to do it again I would personal just go with the pixie cut again because I found it easier and more satisfying. With getting the pixie cut I was actually able to see my hair grow, unlike when I tried holding onto my damaged hair, in that case my hair pretty much just stayed the same length as I worked on cutting off the dead ends. Here are some pictures that I took while going through the first process that I talked about. Using the color oops saved me some damage but there was still damage none the less. All I can say is to make up your mind soon about what you want because you don't want to keep on dying it and then when it's super long end up changing your mind. If it's hard to think of damaging or cutting your hair now, it's only going to get worse the longer it gets.

Starting point
https://i.imgur.com/cMBmoFM.jpg

After first round of color oops
https://i.imgur.com/jnb1t8p.jpg

After second round of color oops
https://i.imgur.com/JRrDHKI.jpg

After dye and toner
https://i.imgur.com/C7TpoEW.jpg

[Anje]

I agree with the suggestion to at least try a color remover like Color Oops, Colour B4, etc. It might at least reduce the contrast. If you try it, make sure you rinse excessively. Set a timer, turn on some music or something, and just let the water run through your hair for an extended period of time, like 30+ minutes. Give your hair a week or two to recover with extra conditioning, and do it all again.

Another thought: If that doesn't fade it all the way (and it probably won't, but hopefully it'll help), maybe you just want highlights put in to match your roots. Maybe have them make it a reverse ombre. (Is streaky ombre a thing? Should it be?) That would reduce your damage compared to simply bleaching and correctively dyeing everything.

[miaeleanor]

Thank you everyone! I cut 3 inches off today to keep it healthy and I'm just gonna let my roots grow in.

[melesine]

You don't want to use bleach over black dye. You need a dye remover like effasol or color oops. And you will need to color over it to end up with an even shade once you remove the dye. BTDT.

[Glittervixen]

Be aware that with colour removers it *could* become lighter than your virgin hair due to the peroxide in permanent hair dye. It probably won't be a major visible difference between your roots and the treated hair, but just a heads up. I was quite surprised to have my dad's reddish/strawberry blonde hair colour all of the sudden. :D The stuff does stink but if you rinse out way longer than advised, it usually doesn't linger that bad. I would do that anyway to make absolutely sure the now tiny colour molecules are washed out entirely. Personally I keep a week between the several rounds of colour remover as it does dry out my hair and I want to give it some time and extra TLC.

Also, I would advice to use a colour remover and not a color stripper as color strippers usually contain a developer, something you want to avoid as it just adds damage.

If you really dislike it after the maximum uses of colour remover, you could consider a natural colour semi hair dye, like Adore, to even it out. :)

[Robot Ninja]

I would suggest Colorfix, from Sally's, rather than Color Oops. It does the same thing but it's less stinky.

I second the suggestion to use a semi-permanent color (not a demi; you want something that you don't mix with developer) to even out your color. They do no damage and will gradually fade out.

[spidermom]

I think just gritting your teeth and growing out your own color is the best option, really. As others said, if you want your natural hair color, you have to stop dyeing and bleaching your hair eventually. Might as well do it now and get it over with.

[ghost pisces]

Haircrazy has a mini-article on things to do while growing out black hair dye so you don't get bored. https://www.haircrazy.com/articles/dyeing-techniques/have-have-fun-growing-out-black-hair-dye/

[manuGmz]

Maybe before trying stuff like Color Oops, you can try fading it with dandruff shampoo, maybe mixed with vitamin C. I didn't try it myself, but it's supposed to be more gentle. Hot oil treatments also remove color, for me. Either way, I would never try to take out color with bleach. The cuticle is already lifted by the dye, so you just have to find ways to get the pigment to come out. Once the pigment is out, or mostly out, I would do a demi gloss that's close to the natural color, to even it out and cover any damage done by the color removing.
I did an unconventional thing when I gave up black; I dyed a lighter shade every month and when it was light enough, I did a red dye and stuck to red ever since. But that meant putting permanent dye on the entire length every month.

[lapushka]

Maybe before trying stuff like Color Oops, you can try fading it with dandruff shampoo, maybe mixed with vitamin C. I didn't try it myself, but it's supposed to be more gentle. Hot oil treatments also remove color, for me. Either way, I would never try to take out color with bleach. The cuticle is already lifted by the dye, so you just have to find ways to get the pigment to come out. Once the pigment is out, or mostly out, I would do a demi gloss that's close to the natural color, to even it out and cover any damage done by the color removing.
I did an unconventional thing when I gave up black; I dyed a lighter shade every month and when it was light enough, I did a red dye and stuck to red ever since. But that meant putting permanent dye on the entire length every month.

On black dye that is going to hardly do much, though. ;) You really need something stronger at that point.

[OhSuzi]

Healthiest & cheapest options for your hair:

1. Grit your teeth & bare it. It will take approx 1 year to grow from 0 to about chin / mid length / maybe even shoulder length hair (Unless its super curly, then it might take a bit longer)
Once your roots are a couple of inches long it will probably be clear that your naturally blonde & you eventually could pass it of as a reverse ombre / Gwen Stefani style blonde with dip dyed black tips!

(Also they have temporary sprays you could do your roots with now – so if you’ve got an important meeting / night out, you could spray your roots black to look neat & polished allover when you have to & the rest of the time just let them be).
Or you could attempt to use coco powder to the same effect??? – I have never tried this but you’ll smell delicious – just hope it doesn’t rain on you.

2. Have a major crop chop back to just your roots & grow all fresh blonde virgin hair. As above it will take about 1 year to be on the beginnings of longer hair again.


Less Healthy


could be done in conjunction with 1 - Attempt to strip some of the dye so the effect is less contrasting – regular washes with Vitamin C tablets / Washing up liquid / dandruff shampoo / lemon juice baking soda / something stronger & more effective like colour oops – even black hair dyes fade a bit with just basic washes – so I think it will lighten it a bit – All these remedies are varying degrees of drying / damaging though! So if you attempt them I would just mega deep condition your hair afterwards and judge after each wash if your hair could take another go at it or if you should leave it alone for a while & let your hair recover.


Permanent dyes often still have ammonia in so if you use colour oops / Hair B4 etc you should be able to strip some of the pigment out but the ammonia may still have lightened your hair / turned it a reddier brown colour underneath.
Plus leave it on & then wash wash wash til water runs completely clear and then wash some more and again - I used Hair before (to go from bright orangey red back to blondy brown & washed it very quickly - it did a reasonable job of stripping out the colour but I was a sort of left with a dirty reddyness in parts because I didn’t bother to really keep washing Everything out. It was definitely nearly as damaging as just beaching!

4. Bleach the bottom half either with a bleach bath or just full on bleach. If you’re hair is in decent enough condition it should be able to take it – it will go a bit dryer & thinner – but regeular trims & good conditioner & you should be able to just grow it out without worrying about the roots.
You might need to do it more than once though to go from black to orange to blonde. Give it at least a week between attempts!

5. Half head Highlights – Same damaging bleach – but only to top few sections of hair to help break up the black / brown and make your roots much less obvious as they grow out.

6. If you are not experienced / confident about your hair & you’re a bit precious about it – GO TO THE HAIRDRESSERS /or at least very good hair doing friend – they will know if your hair can cope with being stripped or bleached or highlighted or trimmed – & they will be able to see & reach the back of your head & be more accurate about where to put any dyes / bleaches so you don’t get left with weird overlap lines

[OhSuzi]

I really like whoever suggested the bright red roots too - they looked super cool & if you're using vegetable dyes that's going to be less damaging to your hair than permanent hair dye - although beware it may fade but red dyes are also a pain to get rid of completely- But fadey pinky red with blond roots might look more ok than just the black blonde contrast?

Or dying the roots slightly lighter brown thatn the bottom half, then a few months later dying an even lighter colour again so you eventually get a softer gradient of colour change & can then just grow out natural blonde – but that’s all gonna take a while.