To dye or not to dye...

[Mellifluous]

Help! I’m bored of my hair and wanting to change the colour. My issue is, I decided to go on a healthy hair journey in around February/March this year when I decided to stop bleaching my hair, cut a few inches off and go back dark (because it’s less maintenance). A month or so later, I also quit my use of heat, silicones, sulfates etc. You name it! I’ve kept this routine pretty strong all in the hopes that I could get my hair in better health after having it bleached for a couple years. I’ve definitely achieved this to an extent but I think I’m just going to have to wait for the bleached hair to grow out. My plan was to just grow out my natural colour and stop dying it altogether, but recently I’ve been getting the urge to go darker again. My hair has faded significantly due to the bleach underneath (makes it harder to hold colour) so the ends are a lighter gold and the top is like chocolate brown. It’s still pretty and I still enjoy my hair but I think the lighter ends is making it look thin and washed out which is making me want to go chocolate brown all over again. I just don’t know whether it’s worth throwing away a lot of hard work to damage my hair again (my hair isn’t really that damaged I just wanted to restore it to full health). Does anyone else get these urges and what should I do!?

[sipnsun]

Wow, I could have written your story! I haven't bleached since January and also gave up heat, cones, sulfates and have been trying to grow out naturally. I have a lot of gray so it's killing me not to color it but whenever I get the urge, I say I will do it if I still feel strongly about it next month. I usually get over and start obsessing about something else by then. I even went so far as to order some henna for a henna gloss but have resisted using it so far. The only advice I can offer is possibly trying a deposit only color on your ends if you don't want to damage it. Good luck, hopefully the 'urge' will go away soon!

[Amenahh]

How about just dyeing your ends to match the brown of your hair? That way, your new hair will still be untouched by dye.

[Dark40]

I agree with Amenahh. How about just dyeing your ends to match the brown of your hair? That way, it won't be touched by dye.

[SleepyTangles]

What about a brown deposit dyes? You could have fun with different shades, but no damage :)
And if you are not ready to commit to a single color, they will wash out eventually.

[DropStitches]

What about a brown deposit dyes? You could have fun with different shades, but no damage :)
And if you are not ready to commit to a single color, they will wash out eventually.

I second this - I would worry that using a permanent dye would damage the bleached bits further. Maybe you could channel your boredom into learning some new hair styles? Good luck!

[2gaits]

I could have written this! I have the exact thing going on with lighter bleached ends. I've realized I'm never happy with it when I try to color it. Mine just doesn't hold the dye or it isn't a pretty color etc. That has made me stop messing with it and just leave it alone. If you do anything,I would suggest overtone. It's temporary and won't cause damage. It washes out so you aren't stuck with it. If you like it, you can keep using it.

[Jo Ann]

I second (third? Fourth?) the deposit only dye, or even a semi-permanent dye. Both should fade with washing your hair and the contrast between the natural and dyed hair won't be as noticeable.

If you do not like the color, use a sulfate-based shampoo, like a clarifying shampoo, to help speed up the fading process (and don't forget to deep condition afterwards--clarifying shampoos can be very drying).

[Xlena]

That happened to me during my journey, I had bleach my hair to a platinum blonde a few months before I started so 4 months after I last dye my hair, it had faded a lot. I had no problem dying it again, except for the roots, and that helped my hair to stay one tone for the next 3 years (tho the ends were very golden anyways, but I didn't want to touch them again). The journey is difficult, but definitely worth it. Natural hair looks so much better than dyed hair :)