I can't decide what to do with my hair color

[kittinsune]

my hair is naturally medium-dark brown. last year, I did a bleach bath on my virgin hair, and lifted it a few shades. after that, I dyed it red with henna, and I have been using the henna every couple months. the bleach bath was not completely even but luckily with the henna it evened out. it is currently mid-back length, and my goal is to have classic or mid-thigh length hair. so my dilemma is that I reeeally love red hair on myself, it makes me feel really pretty, and my natural hair is too dark for any red to show up. but I also want to be able to retain my hair length long term, and have high quality hair. it is currently not very damaged, it still feels soft and the ends aren't breaking. I take care of it well. I have a couple inches of regrowth, and I am not going to lighten it again for a while (if at all). I can't tell if keeping it in the color I prefer, will stop me from reaching my length goals. in the end, the length and quality is more important to me. what do you think? will it be possible to have classic length hair if it is occasionally bleach bath lightened? if not, is it better to wait until my natural hair grows to my chin, cut it short, and restart the length, or try to color the red part with brown henna to try to blend with my natural hair? I am so indecisive hahahah thank youuu
:blossom:

[jane_marie]

How long is your hair now?

I did this exact thing. Only I hated the red with my skin tone and slowly came to realize that for me my best color was my natural deep cool brown.

I think that your ability to get to classic is going to depend on a variety of things (what length was your hair when you bleached and he hennaed over it? What is your hair type? How much time and effort are you willing to spend on it? Do you live in a cold climate? Are you willing to mostly always wear protective styles? Do you use products that provide your hair with a protective sheath?

For my hair type it seems like the bleach dried out my hair and the henna created a sheath that made it difficult to moisturize. I liked having my hair down occasionally for a variety of reasons. I live somewhere that experiences below zero Temps in the winter and I didn't want to put in a ton of time and maintenance to keep things looking great. Since I disliked the color on me it made my choice very easy.

I think if a person's hair starts with a good degree of length (waist? Hip?) before they bleach and dye there might be a chance of making it to classic given they are willing to do all the things right while they continue to bleach bath and henna over new growth. That is, if they have resilient hair of course.

That said, I found the combination to be particularly difficult to deal with personally.

Whatever you decide I wish you luck. :)

[JasminxCat]

If your hair can stand that amount of bleach, then it should be fine but don't take my word. I've never had long bleached hair. I wouldn't over do it by bleaching your ends further. I would suggest getting it done professionally if you don't know what you're doing or you could end up with a blotchy mess
I've over bleached my hair in the past because I was trying to blend in the blotchiness. It ended up turning into string cheese and falling out in pieces.
If you aren't already, I would suggest doing regular protein masks 1-2 weeks to help keep processed hair moisturized and strengthen the base. However, don't overdo it, protein overload will cause your hair to become brittle and dry. You need a good balance

[Hexana]

You said that your ends feel fine (are not breaking) so I don't see a problem with growing your hair longer even while (carefully!) bleaching. Just make sure that you continue bleach bathing only your new growth and giving extra care to your hair (masks etc). Also Henna will help keep it stronger.

[Bat]

You should be able too, just have to be careful of overlapping the Bleach you may possibly need more trims but if you cut off less than you grow you could do it

[lapushka]

my hair is naturally medium-dark brown. last year, I did a bleach bath on my virgin hair, and lifted it a few shades. after that, I dyed it red with henna, and I have been using the henna every couple months. the bleach bath was not completely even but luckily with the henna it evened out. it is currently mid-back length, and my goal is to have classic or mid-thigh length hair. so my dilemma is that I reeeally love red hair on myself, it makes me feel really pretty, and my natural hair is too dark for any red to show up. but I also want to be able to retain my hair length long term, and have high quality hair. it is currently not very damaged, it still feels soft and the ends aren't breaking. I take care of it well. I have a couple inches of regrowth, and I am not going to lighten it again for a while (if at all). I can't tell if keeping it in the color I prefer, will stop me from reaching my length goals. in the end, the length and quality is more important to me. what do you think? will it be possible to have classic length hair if it is occasionally bleach bath lightened? if not, is it better to wait until my natural hair grows to my chin, cut it short, and restart the length, or try to color the red part with brown henna to try to blend with my natural hair? I am so indecisive hahahah thank youuu
:blossom:

Haven't read the replies in this thread, so sorry if there is overlap.

I believe Nightshade has the same routine. She uses henna but sometimes lightens it, and I do believe it is with sun-in rather than with a bleach bath. Nightshade will have to correct me on that one.

I don't think it's that damaging what you are doing. Bleach baths are pretty "low" on the bleach scale, so not that awful.

I would though be careful with full strength bleach (a couple times) & henna, to get it out if you are tired of it. It's namely exactly how I burned my hair off from bra strap to chin (chemical cut).

[Dark40]

my hair is naturally medium-dark brown. last year, I did a bleach bath on my virgin hair, and lifted it a few shades. after that, I dyed it red with henna, and I have been using the henna every couple months. the bleach bath was not completely even but luckily with the henna it evened out. it is currently mid-back length, and my goal is to have classic or mid-thigh length hair. so my dilemma is that I reeeally love red hair on myself, it makes me feel really pretty, and my natural hair is too dark for any red to show up. but I also want to be able to retain my hair length long term, and have high quality hair. it is currently not very damaged, it still feels soft and the ends aren't breaking. I take care of it well. I have a couple inches of regrowth, and I am not going to lighten it again for a while (if at all). I can't tell if keeping it in the color I prefer, will stop me from reaching my length goals. in the end, the length and quality is more important to me. what do you think? will it be possible to have classic length hair if it is occasionally bleach bath lightened? if not, is it better to wait until my natural hair grows to my chin, cut it short, and restart the length, or try to color the red part with brown henna to try to blend with my natural hair? I am so indecisive hahahah thank youuu
:blossom:

I agree with all of the above posts. Just be careful with overlapping the bleach on the length. Just concentrate on the new growth only. But I honestly think the bleach baths will be less damaging than the regular full headed bleaching. I think you'll be able to achieve classic length with also using the henna as well. I also love red hair on myself too. Good luck in what you decide. :)