Unsure about what to do with hair

[MidnightMoon]

Long story short:

In August 2019 I dyed my mostly natural hair red. It had traces of deposit dyes and I had to bleach it several times to even it out. I really liked the colour, but the damage from having to bleach over and over was showing and I hate doing my roots or them showing. In February 2020 I dyed it all black with a box dye, and over it, used black and blue deposit dyes. Obviously, they fade slowly, and a part of me says I should wash more often so the red starts showing and maybe dye it red again, and a part of me says to keep dyeing it black, or not do anything.
The thing is, it will not be my natural colour for years anyways, and knowing myself, I might be bored by the time it's somewhere around BSL. Not to mention my natural colour is very boring (very dark brown).
I really wish I could like my colour, but my eyes are dark brown, my features are meh, and I feel like colourful hair at least made me a bit interesting.

The red hair:
https://i.imgur.com/c6Lefp8.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/2KvlDry.jpg

Today after washing, useful as hair typing photo as well :confused:
You can see the top part where the black is fading quicker probably due to shampoo. But this is also near a curtain with sun, and looks lighter. In artificial light you barely see any difference, looks mostly black.
https://i.imgur.com/Ee5oYj9.png
https://i.imgur.com/IudOspj.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/RID09tb.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/kq0PJ8m.jpg



I'm guessing in any case I'd still have to apply black and blue at least a couple times if I want to to stay dark, because right now it's quite unpredictable, it will just keep getting lighter.

[Puffer Fish]

I recommend finding the "two week" thread in the mane forum. It's exactly for indecision things like this!!

Unfortunately I don't have any good answers for you myself.

[Dark40]

Long story short:

In August 2019 I dyed my mostly natural hair red. It had traces of deposit dyes and I had to bleach it several times to even it out. I really liked the colour, but the damage from having to bleach over and over was showing and I hate doing my roots or them showing. In February 2020 I dyed it all black with a box dye, and over it, used black and blue deposit dyes. Obviously, they fade slowly, and a part of me says I should wash more often so the red starts showing and maybe dye it red again, and a part of me says to keep dyeing it black, or not do anything.
The thing is, it will not be my natural colour for years anyways, and knowing myself, I might be bored by the time it's somewhere around BSL. Not to mention my natural colour is very boring (very dark brown).
I really wish I could like my colour, but my eyes are dark brown, my features are meh, and I feel like colourful hair at least made me a bit interesting.

The red hair:
https://i.imgur.com/c6Lefp8.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/2KvlDry.jpg

Today after washing, useful as hair typing photo as well :confused:
You can see the top part where the black is fading quicker probably due to shampoo. But this is also near a curtain with sun, and looks lighter. In artificial light you barely see any difference, looks mostly black.
https://i.imgur.com/Ee5oYj9.png
https://i.imgur.com/IudOspj.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/RID09tb.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/kq0PJ8m.jpg



I'm guessing in any case I'd still have to apply black and blue at least a couple times if I want to to stay dark, because right now it's quite unpredictable, it will just keep getting lighter.

Your hair looks really nice with both colours! I'm going through the same thing you are going through right now. Right now, my hair is dyed black from a black box dye, and I've been thinking about dyeing my hair red again as well! Right now I have a couple of boxes of black dye that I need to use up, and I just decided to go on ahead and continue to dye my hair black for about 6 months, and then let the black dye fade out by me washing my hair a lot, and after 6 month or so I will dye my hair red. I was like you using bleach but I had to stop using the bleach. Because, the kind of relaxer I use it doesn't recommend that I use bleach. But I can use box dye though. So, that's what I'm going to do. I can even use a blonde shade, and it will lighten my hair up to a bright red or a strawberry-blonde. My natural hair is a medium brown to dark brown too.

BTW, I woould say your hair is very much longer than waist! It looks like it's hip length to me. :)

[Milady_DeWinter]

Why don't you try deposit dyes over the shade you already have? You can achieve some cool shades over dark hair (super black, purplish, blue, plum..) and won't be so aggressive as any box dye - actually those are super contitioning as I remember. It will fade, yep, but you can enjoy the colors without going though more damage :) Just a recommendation from someone who still has to cut a lot of damage from bleach and dyes.

[MidnightMoon]

Hi Milady, I hope you're doing well. I could try that, yes, maybe it will show a bit more once the black fades more. Last time I was growing out red dye, about 8 years ago or so I used Manic Panic in Vampire Red. Some people liked it on me, although the shade sometimes made me look a bit yellow. I'm unsure of my own undertone because I always think I'm rather yellow, but when next to my son, for example, though he has fairer baby skin, I also look pink, so maybe that changes.
Excuse the horrible quality but this was taken with a blackberry or something like that :lol:

https://i.imgur.com/9osBLTY.jpg

I also had blue, and when the blue faded it was sort of grey and white at the ends.

I do accept my hair is thicker without dyes. It's still not as horrible as it could be (I guess my hair can take quite a bit of damage), but not as thick. I'm just so not looking forward to have it all dark brown :/
I have some photos from last Christmas *2018* when it was still brown and if I recall correctly it was virgin, maybe a biiit of deposit dyes but honestly not much. I had bleached only one piece of my hair to almost white, but I still feel it's so boring when I wear normal clothes :/ With a ton of makeup, cool earrings, a choker (one of my favourite pieces, I've worn them pretty much since I was about 12) it's ok, I feel good, but with regular clothes, work clothes, and just brown hair I feel so plain.

https://i.imgur.com/fzCHInD.png

And since I'm mostly at home now and don't really dress up, I see my face without makeup, normal house clothes, no accessories and then boring brown hair and feel bad :/

[MidnightMoon]

I guess my short term plan could be... let it fade a few weeks and then add an intense blue, so brownish orange+blue... might turn out green, speaking from past experiences :p
I'm just afraid it might not be bright enough, or end up muddy. This red is a fun colour which is still acceptable as "professional" in case I want to look for a job in some (more than some, I guess, but still...) months. The green or blue I'd actually like, isn't :( Orange gets a pass as it's technically a colour hair comes in naturally, it's pretty and not "EdGy" :lol:

[Milady_DeWinter]

Sounds like a good plan :) I'm all fine in lockdown, also feel very plain with just my hair up, no make up, no fancy clothes... Oh well. I get that you feel that way too, and adding a pop of color to your hair is a way to make you feel fancier to yourself.

I think you actually have some kind of neutral skin for what I've seen in the pics: I myself am yellow and neutral, olivish. With that I think you will be fine experimenting with colors, quarantine might be the best to try new things with deposit dyes. The red hair looked great on you, and that Vampire Red was very cool. May be the pink in that shade was what made you look more yellow? Anyway, I think I would go that route :o

[Gabrielina]

I think red suits you very nice!
Have you tried Henna before? It gives you the red without the damage and there is no need for constant root cover.
I understand your position so well becuse I'm living a similar experience, the difference is I've been growing my natural hair for about 14 months now. I've been red, then dyed it black, then started grew it. The latter phase is the most frustrating, there are days I itch to cover it again. But I remind myself that it would solve nothing. So this is what I've decided and sticking with: grow my natural hair until it reaches shoulder length minim (preferably APL), do a really nice & clean professional cut and then apply pure Henna every 6 to 12 months, it would give me a nice shade of red without the stress of root retouch. I'm not decided if I wanna apply Henna on all of my hair or just some kind of layers/balayage. The latter sounds more appealing to me. So I would say P-A-T-I-E-N-C-E!
Good luck whatever your choice!

[MidnightMoon]

I recommend finding the "two week" thread in the mane forum. It's exactly for indecision things like this!!

Unfortunately I don't have any good answers for you myself.

Thanks anyways. I'll give it a read, at least not to feel I'm alone :lol:


Your hair looks really nice with both colours! I'm going through the same thing you are going through right now. Right now, my hair is dyed black from a black box dye, and I've been thinking about dyeing my hair red again as well! Right now I have a couple of boxes of black dye that I need to use up, and I just decided to go on ahead and continue to dye my hair black for about 6 months, and then let the black dye fade out by me washing my hair a lot, and after 6 month or so I will dye my hair red. I was like you using bleach but I had to stop using the bleach. Because, the kind of relaxer I use it doesn't recommend that I use bleach. But I can use box dye though. So, that's what I'm going to do. I can even use a blonde shade, and it will lighten my hair up to a bright red or a strawberry-blonde. My natural hair is a medium brown to dark brown too.

BTW, I woould say your hair is very much longer than waist! It looks like it's hip length to me. :)

Thank you Dark. I haven't seen that many photos of yourself, so I can't tell which one looks better on you. About bleaching, I think you've had this debate on another topic, so I'm not going to go deep into that, but basically I mean lightening. My hair is too dark to go red without that, so be it bleach alone as they sell it, or box dyes, or whatever, I still need it. I do think the problem were the several rounds I had to do. Maybe if it had been natural, without the deposit dyes, that would not have been necessary at all, since my roots got light enough right away with one box application.


Sounds like a good plan :) I'm all fine in lockdown, also feel very plain with just my hair up, no make up, no fancy clothes... Oh well. I get that you feel that way too, and adding a pop of color to your hair is a way to make you feel fancier to yourself.

I think you actually have some kind of neutral skin for what I've seen in the pics: I myself am yellow and neutral, olivish. With that I think you will be fine experimenting with colors, quarantine might be the best to try new things with deposit dyes. The red hair looked great on you, and that Vampire Red was very cool. May be the pink in that shade was what made you look more yellow? Anyway, I think I would go that route :o

Yeah, exactly, I think it was too cool. The ends looked sort of pink after a few washes, while the darker parts and my virgin hair looked like dark deer brown, but I don't like this colour on me. It just washes me out.


I think red suits you very nice!
Have you tried Henna before? It gives you the red without the damage and there is no need for constant root cover.
I understand your position so well becuse I'm living a similar experience, the difference is I've been growing my natural hair for about 14 months now. I've been red, then dyed it black, then started grew it. The latter phase is the most frustrating, there are days I itch to cover it again. But I remind myself that it would solve nothing. So this is what I've decided and sticking with: grow my natural hair until it reaches shoulder length minim (preferably APL), do a really nice & clean professional cut and then apply pure Henna every 6 to 12 months, it would give me a nice shade of red without the stress of root retouch. I'm not decided if I wanna apply Henna on all of my hair or just some kind of layers/balayage. The latter sounds more appealing to me. So I would say P-A-T-I-E-N-C-E!
Good luck whatever your choice!

Hi there, thanks for the reply. I haven't tried henna, but since my natural hair is so dark, like in the last photo, it would only be a dark muddy cherry red or plain muddy, I think. Of course, if my hair were light enough to get that orange only with henna I'd do it :/ It's natural, doesn't fade, or almost doesn't, doesn't smell as box dyes, and improves my hair in the process *sigh*, but what can I say, the only blonde in my family is my grandma, so there was no way to end up with light hair :lol:
Would it be possible to apply henna like you describe it? I thought it's so messy you can't really make much with it, just cover your whole head or roots with it and hope for the best :lol
My sister had a normal balayage, like, with bleach, I mean, and it actually looked good on her, because it didn't end up brassy, but it was at a fancy salon and I can't really afford going to a hair salon. That would be a nice alternative, because they can actually see what they're doing, unlike me when I did the back of my hair.
Argh, thanks for the patience advice, I wish the same to you!!

[florenonite]

I know how you feel! My face is rather plain and, while I don't dislike my natural hair colour, it's very muted (ashy blonde-brown) and looks better on someone with prettier features. So I henna :D

Your hair is darker than mine, so you wouldn't get as fiery a red, but it might still be a bright enough colour for you. You could try strand testing first (everyone should strand test, really, because henna is Very. Permanent.), and if you like the colour, go for it. I'd also suggest using something like Color Oops to get the blue-black colour out first, so you're hennaing over a single colour rather than having a demarcation line in the red.

[lapushka]

Oooooh I like the pink! Maybe that's me. :D

[AshtangiPNW]

Hi MidnightMoon! I'll start by saying that, from an outside perspective, your features are not "meh". I'm also absolutely certain that you will look beautiful and interesting irrespective of the shade that you choose. :heart: That said, I think that you have lots of great options (including your natural shade), so maybe choose the one that makes you *feel* the most interesting!

If you henna, keep in mind that there are different henna mixes. You could strand test different dilutions of henna/cassia, for instance. Given that you are considering both red and black, henna-ing does sound like a good option. If you eventually decide that you prefer black or darker brown, indigo for black or a henndigo brown are other relatively permanent options. Just make the decision knowing that both henna and indigo are known to be permanent. Henna does tend to fade a bit for some of us, though. In my experience, growing out henna can look pretty natural. For me, it has helped me gradually appreciate my natural hair color, too. Henna can also loosen wave pattern a bit with repeat applications, so this might be something to keep in mind as well. You could also consider cassia for a temporary and more subtle change in color.....:):)

[Dark40]

Thanks anyways. I'll give it a read, at least not to feel I'm alone :lol:



Thank you Dark. I haven't seen that many photos of yourself, so I can't tell which one looks better on you. About bleaching, I think you've had this debate on another topic, so I'm not going to go deep into that, but basically I mean lightening. My hair is too dark to go red without that, so be it bleach alone as they sell it, or box dyes, or whatever, I still need it. I do think the problem were the several rounds I had to do. Maybe if it had been natural, without the deposit dyes, that would not have been necessary at all, since my roots got light enough right away with one box application.



Yeah, exactly, I think it was too cool. The ends looked sort of pink after a few washes, while the darker parts and my virgin hair looked like dark deer brown, but I don't like this colour on me. It just washes me out.



Hi there, thanks for the reply. I haven't tried henna, but since my natural hair is so dark, like in the last photo, it would only be a dark muddy cherry red or plain muddy, I think. Of course, if my hair were light enough to get that orange only with henna I'd do it :/ It's natural, doesn't fade, or almost doesn't, doesn't smell as box dyes, and improves my hair in the process *sigh*, but what can I say, the only blonde in my family is my grandma, so there was no way to end up with light hair :lol:
Would it be possible to apply henna like you describe it? I thought it's so messy you can't really make much with it, just cover your whole head or roots with it and hope for the best :lol
My sister had a normal balayage, like, with bleach, I mean, and it actually looked good on her, because it didn't end up brassy, but it was at a fancy salon and I can't really afford going to a hair salon. That would be a nice alternative, because they can actually see what they're doing, unlike me when I did the back of my hair.
Argh, thanks for the patience advice, I wish the same to you!!

You're welcome MidnightMoon. Yes, I know you haven't seen me in that many photos which one looks better on me. About bleaching. No, right now I don't have any photos with my bleached hair posted on my laptop here. A lot of people in real life have told me that I look much better as a blonde more than the brunette. I agree. but I do like the brunette or dark hair on myself as well. So, whenever I get bored with one of the other i just switch it up. No, you don't have to get deep into the debate I had on this topic. I don't want to get into it either. Yeah, depending on how dark your hair, and if you're trying to go blonde some people do need to use bleach instead of just the box dye alone. Or, some people might be lucky enough to only need the box dye if the hair is virgin or all natural, and don't have any dye on it.

[demonamay]

Why not try a semi permanent like natural instincts cinnaberry is a beautiful reddish brown color, the best part is it washes out in 28 washes so no commitment.

[Bat]

I loved the red, it looks great on you, but you also suit darker colors as well, maybe it will be best to just let your hair do it's thing until you get that aha! moment, then change it up