Mushy hair (after bleaching)

[JustKeramie]

I'm kind of new here, but I've been looking around and it seems like maybe someone could help me out. Nearly a month ago I got tired of having black hair (naturally blonde but dyed black) so I got my mom to bleach it...(stupid, I know) and I planned on it lifting a little and then I'd go over it with dark red dye. Well after bleaching it, half of my hair felt mushy, and handfuls of hair were falling out (you couldn't tell though because I have an insane amount of hair, but still) my scalp was really messed up and burned from it, but it's much better now. I went to the salon and she cut off alot of the damaged stuff, but alot of my hair is still mushy because I refused to have 2 inch long hair. I've done a couple of protein treatments with Redken's CAT and it doesn't seem to have made a difference, I'd do more but my stylist advised against it seeing as too much protein can make hair bittle and change the Ph... I'm really not sure where to go from here, and I used a semipermanent (more temporary than anything) dye on it about an hour ago, and it's still wet but i can already tell that the color is completely wrong. The front half of my hair is fine, and the color took beautifully, but anywhere that the hair was soft is this ungodly brownish greenish color... I'm afraid of dying it again but I really can't stand this. I'm thinking about going back to the salon but it's alot of money that I don't want to fork over. Any suggestions on how to make this situation better? :confused:

[Buggheart]

Wow, that really bites. I've had that mushy hair thing happen a few times before too but the only thing that ever worked was to cut the damage off. Sorry!

[wintersun99]

.............

[Cinnamon Hair]

The only real solution is time. Ultimately you will have to grow it out again and trim off the damage. As for improving the feel of your hair, avoid shampoo and do many many deep conditioning treatments. Maybe check into SMTs (type of deep conditioning treatment involving aloe vera gel, conditioner, and honey). I am sorry to hear about the green hair! Next time do a strand test.

[Barca]

Okay, first: breathe! Second: no more dye. I know you hate the color, but since it's temporary it will most likely change/fade in a couple of weeks, even days. Try low manipulation-- little combing/brushing, NO DYE, no bleach. My hair was mushy and awful from bleaching over a relaxer. in the end I had to cut off about 6 inches, but I waited a year, because I saved it enough for it to be tolerable. I did conditioner washes ONLY. No shampoo or anything to dry it out. Comb it gently, and if you use something mild like suave naturals, you can even leave some conditioner in. Invest in coconut oil. It keeps you hair from losing protein which keeps it strong, but not brittle. Deep condition, deep condition, deep condition. lastly wear your hair up as much as possible. Eventually you'll have to cut it, but there's a way to survive without having 2 inches of hair. :) hope that helps

[redtea]

I once had platinum hair and while I loved how it looked, I only had it for about 6 months before it really took its toll on my hair. I tried having it professionally dyed back to match my natural color, but the color faded quickly and every color I used to try to recolor it looked very dull and faded very fast. I eventually gave up and had my hair cut short. That green color you got is most likely the result of overprocessing. Unfortunately, there's nothing you can do besides to cut it off. It would also help if you could take a break from coloring it for a while. Good luck!

[justgreen]

I would use honey in a non cone conditioner, alot. Like at least three times a week.

[jojo]

I am sorry you are sad about your hair at the moment but you have a few options
1) bite the bullet and cut all the damage off
2) dust your hair monthly until all the damage is gone
3) protein treatment will help a lot
4) condition washes will also help with improving the condition of your hair
5) use henna (if you like red hair that is!)

Good luck ive been there myself in the past, hair does grow better if healthy. If your hair is as bad as you say you might notice your hair is not growing, this simply being because it is damaged from the bleach it will snap off. My hair was damaged through bleach and I refused to have it cut, it took me 8 years from shoulder length to get to waist. Then I went for a trim and the stylist 'miss heard me' apparently and gave me a bob/pixie cut. It has taken me just 3 years to get to the length in my siggi and I hope to reach waist by late summer. I am glad now that all my damage was cut off, even though i hated my hair short it is the best it has ever been. I learnt my lesson, never again will i dye or bleach.

The choice is yours really but although i don't advocate cutting as a rule in this case I think it would be the best option for you. xx

[Kirin]

Yup, know this well. First, again don't panic. The worst thing you can do is in a panic state try to fix this. You need to give your hair some time. Chances are, the protein treatments you are using just because of the one your using. Protein is not a problem, as long as you do a moisture treatment right AFTER each protein shot. So, hit sally's or a hair/beauty supply, and stock up on several protein treatments, and make sure to get:

Protein filler! You'll need this when you do eventually color. It is added to the color mixture and "fills pourous holes" in the hair, which is why you got uneven results. I do recommend though, that you do not dye your hair with anything (with one exception i'll get to that later) for at least four weeks! Placing chemical color on top of freshly bleached hair is a no no, and worse if you got chemical burning from the bleach. Your scalp might feel better... but it likely isn't.

Now onto the exception of hair coloring. If what you are looking to go for eventually is red, try body art quality henna. This stuff will SAVE your hair. Nothing can actually heal damage, but henna can strengthen hair (seriously), and the red will completely cover over that "green tinge" the chemical color messed up (or should at least). It takes several applications of henna to get to a dark red, but you can henna as often as you like, its good for your hair!!! Just make sure you use body art quality, go over to henna for hair and check it out.

The best part is, Henna CAN be chemically covered over to a darker red later if you arent 100 percent satisfied with the color.

[squiggyflop]

i feel your pain

my hair was really really mushy when i joined.. not to mention highly flammable.. i bleached my hair over and over.. i didnt know how to do roots only so i would bleach my whole head everytime.. and i would leave the bleach on extra long to get the lightest shade possible.. it broke off at the shoulders..

the only thing that helped me was henna.. my hair right after my first henna was instantly alot less mushy.. after 2 hennas my hair wasnt mushy at all anymore.. and also it grew past my shoulders..FAST.. i was able to save my hair.. but if you dont want to commit to red then henna isnt for you

ive been cutting out the damage slowly..

[JustKeramie]

Thanks for all of the help you guys, it's much appreciated. I guess I'll look into some henna (I'm definitely not afraid of red). Any kind that's better? Or is it pretty much all the same? I've never used henna before, and I don't know anyone who has

[Addy]

Oh my... I'm so sorry your hair is mush. :( That black and bleach is :evil:

If all else fails, go get yourself a short pixie and rock it out the best you can.

{{{HUGS}}}

[JustKeramie]

Oh my... I'm so sorry your hair is mush. :( That black and bleach is :evil:

If all else fails, go get yourself a short pixie and rock it out the best you can.

{{{HUGS}}}
haha, I'd look mental with a pixie cut. My best friend told me that I wasn't allowed to cut it above my shoulders because I'd look so stupid. Oh well

[JustKeramie]

worst part is, almost all of it that's damaged is my short layers, so I'd end up with a mullet if I tried to cut any more off right now... we didn't bleach the bottom layer of my hair, so it's still as long as it used to be, minus an inch or two of split ends that I got trimmed off

[Anje]

I'm going to echo the others out here -- your hair is going to need lots of protein until the damage is cut off. Ideally, that's a "hydrolyzed" protein on your conditioners, since it gets into the hair better, and you'll want to follow with moisture. I've heard good things about the Hask Henna & Placenta treatments, which are quite inexpensive, but conditioners labelled "reconstructor" will likely be the most helpful.

As far as henna is concerned, body art quality (BAQ) is always best, though if you want to shop near home, you might be able to find henna at an asian/indian grocery store. If it comes in different colors, I'd recommend just skipping the brand, as some of the colors have chemicals mixed in to make them more consistent, and these may not get along well with dyes. Real henna (Lawsonia inermis) dyes a reddish-orangish-brownish only.
Good places to start reading are Nightshade's henna article (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=7) and what Catherine has to say at Henna for Hair (http://www.hennaforhair.com/).

[chickpea]

oh boy have I been there. I tried to bleach out black dye years ago and it really damaged my hair. Aubrey Organics GPB conditioner helped a lot, but I still had to cut off the bleached & dyed bits.

[squiggyflop]

Thanks for all of the help you guys, it's much appreciated. I guess I'll look into some henna (I'm definitely not afraid of red). Any kind that's better? Or is it pretty much all the same? I've never used henna before, and I don't know anyone who has
well im not sure what kind is best for you but i get really inexpensive henna.. its sold in indian grocerys.. dulhan deluxe henna.. i got it for 10$ per kilo.. its actually sold for body art so i figure if its sold mainly for body art then it must be body art quality.. there is no reason to get anything outragiously expensive.. i find that henna from the net is very expensive considering that ive tried net BAQ henna and dulhan henna from the body art section of an indian shop and found them both to be mostly the same.. the only difference is that i found dulhan got a quicker dye release and can dye my hair with it in 20-30 minutes vs 3 hours with the net BAQ stuff..
unfortunatly i learned the hard way that dulhan henna will stain my hair burgundy if left on for more than an hour.. its powerful stuff..


um i found this on dulhan
Dulhan Henna Powder
Agarwals Dulhan Henna Powder

henna powder, henna mehndi powder, mehndi is best premium Quality and tripple refined Henna powder from Marward (Rajastan)[/

if i were you and i wasnt feeling like buying online i would not buy anything that says its henna hairdye.. i would get the powder stuff sold for henna tattoos.. the stuff that says its henna hairdye could have all sorts of bad stuff in it..

[Kuchen]

I think Loviatar had something similar and her hair is looking great now. *activates bat symbol to call Lovi*

[Xandergrammy]

Sweetie, maybe you could go to one of those websites where you can see what you'd look like with short hair? Sometimes friends mean well, but they aren't necessarily correct in their assessment of what you would look like. The good news is that you're 14 and your hair probably grows quickly and is healthy. And you said you have alot of it. You do what you think is best for you and your hair. (and don't let Mom touch it for awhile!! :gabigrin: )

[brok3nwings]

im really sorry that you are in this situation. Really. Most of us know whats like to be in your position... at least you know you wont repeat it. and i know you didnt intend to ruin your hair, but that is what strong chemicals like bleach do.

if you want to grow your natural colour you really should cut, find a nice short style.
if you dont mind with red and you want to keep it try henna it wont make it worst it will only make it better....
avoid shampoo, lots lots lots of conditioner left on for long time.

i must tell you, the time i had bleach on my hair it was a nightmare for me. I tried all the heavy conditioners and nothing made the difference. i didnt know henna back then but people say it can sometimes save your hair from breaking like crazy

[brok3nwings]

squiggyflop i dont agree with you. i dont use henna but you cant be sure of the quality from the grocery...if most people from here say it its because it should be true.

I would buy for now good quality henna from the internet. We are not talking about natural hair, we are talking about hair that has been bleached so this is only my opinion.

[Nightshade]

I second henna from a good quality supplier. Now is NOT the time to take a chance that your grocery store brand henna has wonky crap in it that can react to your bleached hair.

Also, check out the article on damaged hair in my siggy :) I grew out some pretty epic dye damage (though it wasn't mushy), perhaps there will be a few additional ideas in there for you :flowers:

[Katze]

Good advice, Nightshade.

I had mushy hair only once, and it fell out in handfuls. Because this was during my wild days I just dyed it more and it was "fine" - but if you want healthy hair, obviously this is no solution.

The only thing that worked for me was cutting it off. As many have said, your hair has been ruined, from the inside out, and despite what hair product companies try to tell you, you can't repair it. You can baby it and try to keep it at its best, but that hair is damaged forever.

I am growing out damage from bleach, and I notice those parts are never the same as the rest of my hair. However, moisture treatments do help, and I am slowly trimming.

Good luck to you!

Katze

[suicides_eve]

i had to cut it off.

i had waist length hair i bleached the crap out of, it ended up melting off in spots turning super old lady white- a breaking off. I tried every thing to salvage it. I gave myself a pixie cut after 4 months of trying and feeling horrible about my looks with straw hair. It is 2 years later and i am nearly back to my mid way point of waist.

if you o cut there is many inspirational picture albums of pixi to long hair... i have a few photos of my bleach damaged hair. it looked like straw *shudders*

[Loviatar]

I think Loviatar had something similar and her hair is looking great now. *activates bat symbol to call Lovi*

You called? :D

In May 2008 I bleached my hair and dyed it bright red (pillarbox) with LOreal Majicontrast at a salon. I knew I shouldnt have done it at the time but I was so miserable and my hair was my only focus for control. It's a looong story, but it basically involved this process:

Salon: Shampoo hair, bleach hair, shampoo bleach out, apply bright red chemical dye, shampoo out, blow dry
Me: Excuse me! I have pink hair, and a stripe of black running through my hair where the black dye hasn't lifted.
Salon: Uh, we can fix that.
Salon: Shampoo hair, re-bleach hair, shampoo bleach out, look worried.
Salon: Uh, we need to put a dark brown toner on.
Salon: Apply toner, shampoo out, reapply bright red, shampoo out. Condition (FINALLY.) Blow dry.

This was the point at which my hair gave up. I could see the wet parts of my hair looking like (TMI) armpit hair does when you apply Nair or Immac/Veet. Mushy, right? Protein bonds totally destroyed. Epic fail on the hair front. As the stlylist blowdried me, 1-3 inch pieces of hair were dropping off as she brushed. Right into my lap, just dropping off.

PICTURES:
I went from this (before any salon visits):
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j47/Kate_Blacksmith/DSCF0548.jpg

to this (immediately in salon after treatment):
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j47/Kate_Blacksmith/ToniandGuy1.jpg

When I got home it looked like this:
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j47/Kate_Blacksmith/DSCF0733.jpg
Note my utterly wrecked hemline. No more U shape there.
So I cut 3 inches. But in a week it looked like this:
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j47/Kate_Blacksmith/Majioneweeklater1.jpg
The dark red ends faded to maroon... and even though I had cut, the ends kept on breaking and being fuzzy.
and in two weeks, it looked like this:
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j47/Kate_Blacksmith/Maji2weekslater.jpg
Blurry but realistic. The bleached areas didnt hold the red; it utterly washed out. The ends were almost greenish brown and it was utterly trashed. The sections round my face were much shorter too. I still have broken jaw-length pieces today.

RECOVERY
So, I used Nutrisse semi permanent dark brown dye and in about a month or so it became this:
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j47/Kate_Blacksmith/DSCF0755-1.jpg

but the hair was so porous and damaged it went almost true black, and I still have that dye in my hair now. You can see the blackish length/ends in my avatar.

The salon didnt charge me (the tears helped) and gave me a free pot of Label M intensive conditioner with brazil nut oil and shea butter. It had cones but a LHC friend, BBGrrl, told me that cones are totally made for wrecked hair. I used to leave the Label M in my hair overnight in a braid. I used cones continuously for maybe a month and then switched to Chagrin Valley shampoo bars. I had soft water then so they lathered well and I firmly believe these babies did a good job of saving my hair. (If I hadnt moved to London I would still use them now.)

I also used honey in every mix each time I conditioned, as Justgreen suggests. I used Redken anti snap on the length maybe 2x a week and MOP Extreme Protein mask maybe once a week. I couldnt get on with Redken CAT spray so the mask was better for me. I did not SMT; I can never get the hang of it without curdling my mix. But I left plain conditioner and honey on for at least an hour at a time, maybe twice weekly. I cut my daily washes to maybe twice a week. I stopped measuring my hair and taking photos, and wore my hair up almost continuously for all of June, July and August. I oiled with coconut oil (the liquid, refined kind) practically every wash night, diluted my shampoo, and oiled my poor abused scalp too. This was serious hair abuse: I went from maybe 3.75 inches nape circumference to 2.25 in one fell swoop. I am only back to 2.5 now.

Note: When I chose the brown dye I only chose it as I was job hunting. I always return to red dye in some form or other. Once I had secured the job I felt confident to return to henna. No other hair colour has been on or near my hair since. Cassia is permitted but I havent used it yet. Now my hair looks like my avatar. It's got a long way to go but I will never use bleach again. And I hope my experience can help other mushy-haired LHCers.

Wow long post :blush:

[JustKeramie]

Update: I trimmed off some of my nasty frazzled stuff today, and my henna arrived, much to my surprise. Seeing as I have school all week, I probably will wait until friday to do it because I'm going to leave it in over night so that it will be darker... I also have to wait until I have lemon juice. But I'm really excited, and I have high hopes for it fixing my color... hopefully it won't let me down

[suicides_eve]

wow loviatar, thats a tragic story, posted to your come back thread you hair has come a long ways:)

:patrol: i wouldn't have been so kind to them peoplz

[suicides_eve]

Update: I trimmed off some of my nasty frazzled stuff today, and my henna arrived, much to my surprise. Seeing as I have school all week, I probably will wait until friday to do it because I'm going to leave it in over night so that it will be darker... I also have to wait until I have lemon juice. But I'm really excited, and I have high hopes for it fixing my color... hopefully it won't let me down


great news good luck keep us updated

[JustKeramie]

I hennaed my hair a couple weeks ago, and I'm going to do it again tomorrow after school. :] The color was fine after the first time, but it seems like it's been washing out, especially in the mushy parts. I just now shampooed and conditioned for the first time in a few days and the mushy parts are looking green again. D: Has this happened to anyone else? Everything I read about the washout said it was just the henna stuck to the surface and that it coloring the water shouldn't effect the color in your hair, but mine gets uglier with everywash. I've also stopped using any heat on my hair, washed less often, and I've been wearing it up nearly everyday...yay for taking better care of it. I'm kind of worried though, lately I've had really bad dandruff and I never did before, only the past week or week and a half. Any good/cheap remedies?

[JustKeramie]

Oh and I really miss my black hair :[ so I've been considering indigo after I use up the rest of my henna. Does it have the same benefits? I promise I won't bleach it again haha. And is the color pay off actually black?

[suicides_eve]

been there, growing it out now.. sorry to say your'll have to cut the damaged bits off. no saving them. i've tried as have many others with no luck. no amount of condtioners or protien treatments will bring it back.

[JustKeramie]

Indeed. I've been trimming little bits and pieces off every once in a while when I'm feeling brave. Seeing as all of the mushy part is in the top layer of my hair, it's pretty much all short. Haha, I'm great for doing this (sarcasm). Oh well, it's slowly getting better... I guess. maybe eventually I'll feel decent enough to take a picture for you guys, but for now it's staying in its bun with a hairstick. Oh and something annoying to think about. Has anyone else realized how stupid middle school kids are about things you stick in your hair? I wear winnie the pooh chopsticks in mine pretty much everyday because I'm too cheap to buy something new. The kids are always like "OMFG why on earth would someone put a stick in their hair?!" hm maybe to hold it up.

I'll cry if one of them pulls it out and unleashes this beast onto my head lol

[Delila]

You might try a porosity control conditioner. Roux makes one you can get at Sally's.

[Anje]

To get a good black, your best bet is to do a two-step process of first henna, then indigo. Indigo by itself is kinda blueish-greenish-gray, but it looks black when layered onto henna.

As far as the henna fading, I've recently seen other folks with damaged hair complaining of it after their first henna application. The general response was that it won't fade after another application or two to the whole length. You'll also get the strengthening effects each time you do all your hair, though it'll darken as you do so.

[RancheroTheBee]

I'd hate to hijack this thread, but what exactly is "mushy" hair? Ya'll are making me think of peas, and I'm awfully confused.

[ChloeDharma]

I was in a similar situation to you when i first joined LHC, though my hair hadn't been bleached it had been coloured repeatedly using 30vol peroxide on the length each time because red fades so fast.

I didn't cut it all off in one go. I switched to henna and repeated applications every 2 weeks at first, then every 4 weeks. I washed twice a week, CO routine, no shampoo at all, ever. I also added honey each tme i washed, used diluted vinegar rinses, and ket my hair oiled all the time, wth a minimum of an overnight heavy oiling each night before i washed but usually giving it 3 days a week at least of constant soaking in and i never wore my har down at all.
I also misted daily with a mixture of water, a drop of glycerin, aloe vera gel and sometimes a drop of conditioner.
I trimmed every 3-5 months depending on how quickly my ends started catching.
The combination of regular henna, CO washing, heavy oilings and keeping it up, plus the DT's each wash allowed me to still grow from APL to nearly waist without it tapering too much or looking too bad.
Another suggestion i'd make is to try using natural yogurt, maybe mixed with honey and some conditioner. I find it's always worked wonders on me.

In terms of indigo, personally i'd just use the henna for the moment and not fuss with complicating things as your hair is finding colour hard to hold anyway. You might also want to do a weekly henna gloss maybe mixing it with yogurt so that it refreshes your colour, plus you get the added benefit of the strengthening properties of both of those ingredients at once.

HTH

[ljkforu]

Yup, know this well. First, again don't panic. The worst thing you can do is in a panic state try to fix this. You need to give your hair some time. Chances are, the protein treatments you are using just because of the one your using. Protein is not a problem, as long as you do a moisture treatment right AFTER each protein shot. So, hit sally's or a hair/beauty supply, and stock up on several protein treatments, and make sure to get:

Protein filler! You'll need this when you do eventually color. It is added to the color mixture and "fills pourous holes" in the hair, which is why you got uneven results. I do recommend though, that you do not dye your hair with anything (with one exception i'll get to that later) for at least four weeks! Placing chemical color on top of freshly bleached hair is a no no, and worse if you got chemical burning from the bleach. Your scalp might feel better... but it likely isn't.

Now onto the exception of hair coloring. If what you are looking to go for eventually is red, try body art quality henna. This stuff will SAVE your hair. Nothing can actually heal damage, but henna can strengthen hair (seriously), and the red will completely cover over that "green tinge" the chemical color messed up (or should at least). It takes several applications of henna to get to a dark red, but you can henna as often as you like, its good for your hair!!! Just make sure you use body art quality, go over to henna for hair and check it out.

The best part is, Henna CAN be chemically covered over to a darker red later if you arent 100 percent satisfied with the color.
Henna can also be modified towards brown or black using katam or indigo.

[suicides_eve]

I'd hate to hijack this thread, but what exactly is "mushy" hair? Ya'll are making me think of peas, and I'm awfully confused.


The best i can describe it:
The hair is so chemically damaged it begins to disintegrate.

The mush feeling is like touching a wet noodle slimy and squishy. There is no point of return after reaching this stage.

when the hair is so chemically changed through repeated bleaching (stripping of color) it weakens the natural bonds of the hair.*SNAP*

*shudder* brings back memories

[RancheroTheBee]

The best i can describe it:
The hair is so chemically damaged it begins to disintegrate.

The mush feeling is like touching a wet noodle slimy and squishy. There is no point of return after reaching this stage.

when the hair is so chemically changed through repeated bleaching (stripping of color) it weakens the natural bonds of the hair.*SNAP*

*shudder* brings back memories

Ooooh! I see. Yeah, that happened to me a few years back, when I decided it would be sweet to be blonde. It wasn't. Anywho.

I know this girl who bleaches, chemically relaxes, curls, blowdrys and backcombs her hair regularly, in addition to getting extensions and sitting under UV lights all the time. Ughn. HER hair is mushy. And crunchy. At the same time.

[missy60]

I had my hair like this once. If you dont want to try henna I would get Apoghee it really saved my hair. Before doing any more coloring always do a strand test because you can get really weird results with bleached mushy hair.

[JustKeramie]

I had my hair like this once. If you dont want to try henna I would get Apoghee it really saved my hair. Before doing any more coloring always do a strand test because you can get really weird results with bleached mushy hair.
Apoghee? I'm always so confused, everyone mentions things that I have never heard of and I can't ever find the exact definition. Anyway, I've already hennaed once, and I currently have some in that I'll be leaving in over night tonight :] yay.

[JustKeramie]

About the henna glosses, I have a general idea of what they do but how do you use them? What do you mix and so on. And how expensive? I got 500g last time I ordered henna and it was $40 =[ considering I'm 14 and have no income that price really sucks. My parents refuse to help out lol and I don't get allowance no matter how many chores I do

[Amara]

You've got lots of good advice here for keeping/saving your hair... just thought I'd throw this out there...

get a really short, cute pixie cut, and instantly be rid of almost all the damage. Enjoy it short for a bit, and know that it'll grow long and healthy with no evidence of the previous mishap.

Just another option. :)

[JustKeramie]

thanks for the advice, I really do appreciate all of this. When I first posted this thread, I thought I'd get one reply that said to shave my head haha. As for the pixie cut, I totally would if I could look good with it. I'm a pretty hefty girl and my face is way to fat for anything very short. Plus I think the really bad stuff will be gone in a month or two, my hair is growing pretty fast and I'm trimming more off than I normally would anyway.

[Poppy Seed]

You'd need to check on the Henna thread for gloss mixtures - everyone uses somehting slightly different! They'll probably work out cheaper than attempting to use henna to dye the hair, because they use more of other products generally.

I'm kind of surprised that more people haven't already mentioned CASSIA: it's another plant derivative like henna and indigo, but is pretty neutral colour-wise. Great for people who want the conditioning and stregthening effects of henna without the red. Really good for conditioning and strength. There's loads of information on the henna thread about cassia too.

On the subject of black hair via indigo and henna. Yes, the two step gives a darker look than one step process. And yes, the more you do it, the darker the net result. And yes, your hair will feel a lot better afterwards. And yes, there are about a million different receipes and techniques for mixing and applying to get the result you want...everyone's hair responds slightly differently. (Yes, check out the henna thread for more info on indigo too). And of course, as you're on a tight budget, pure indigo is more pricey than henna.

My own experience though, is that unless you start with fairly dark brown natural hair, you won't get very near to black with henna and indigo. I have light/mid-brown colour hair naturally and henna indigo didn't really get my roots black as I wanted. Maybe a dark brown with gingery overtones in the sunlight. I also found that the colour did fade pretty quickly (the indigo washed out after two or three weeks, which accentuated the gingery part of the henna). I spent a year doing henna/indigo before I admitted that it just wasn't for me.

[JustKeramie]

hm indigo sounds like too much trouble. Oh well, so much for that. I'll just stick to henna and I'll look into the glosses. I like the red ok anyway.

[wintersun99]

.............

[suicides_eve]

it is found at Sally' beauty store and is a super protien goop.
It has the constiansy of eggs and as it hardens it gets brick hard.. it puts the protien back in you hair to help keep it from snapping.

Nexxus Emergencc is what i used.. it is like $13 drug stores or walmart. it helped keep the hair from snapping off but it was a lost cause for me unfortunately


LINKS
http://www.aphogee.com/


READ ME:D:: http://talk.hairboutique.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=53969

[suicides_eve]

Apoghee? I'm always so confused, everyone mentions things that I have never heard of and I can't ever find the exact definition. Anyway, I've already hennaed once, and I currently have some in that I'll be leaving in over night tonight :] yay.


shoot this was for the post above:google:

[Isilme]

if henna helps, just keep applying it until it doesn't fade anymore. I had to do that quite alot when my hair was damaged, it just faded and faded. Be aware that at one point you will reach satuaration and the henna will stop to fade, just something to keep in mind if you don't want burgundy hair;)