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jivete
March 3rd, 2009, 06:47 PM
So I've been letting my natural color come in and while I'm not super in love with it, I really just want to let it be. Unfortunately my length does not match. At all. I'm really tired of it.

I don't want to dye anymore. My fine hair just can't handle it. Indigo fades super fast on my hair and then I'm left with the red (which is leftover henna and some bottle dye damage). I've considered a Katam gloss to tone down the red but I'm not sure if that'll work.

I don't really mind two-toned, but this is a lot of contrast and the red tends to look more damaged to me.

What else do you guys suggest? My natural color is really ashy as you can see. I was blond as a kid and now it's light ash brown when clean and darker ash brown when dirtier. Pics are below.

Full Hair (still working on those pesky layers...):


http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee322/jivete/LHC/030309_5.jpg

Under canopy showing contrast:
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee322/jivete/LHC/030309_1.jpg

Natural Color (bleh, look how bad the length looks):

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee322/jivete/LHC/030309_4.jpg

Length with flash (it's not quite this orange in person):

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee322/jivete/LHC/030309_2.jpg

Oh and for fun, here's my hair from last year. I wish something closer to that color grew from my head but at least it grows...

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee322/jivete/LHC/15weekhair.jpg

Man, not my best hair pics. Hope someone can help. :pray:

Hahaha, my neti pot hasn't hardly moved. I've used it I swear.

spidermom
March 3rd, 2009, 06:55 PM
Wear it up a lot. Use head-bands, scarves, head wraps (see avatar), and ribbons to add color and minimize the focus being on the color of your hair. Slowly cut the old, damaged length off. Take the absolute best care of it that you can and bring out the shine.

For special occasions when you want to wear your hair down, maybe try one of those temporary colors that wash out in 6-8 washings.

manderly
March 3rd, 2009, 06:56 PM
Wow, that looks almost identical to mine now.

I've used Natural Instincts in a dark ash brown to try to blend the old henna & color oops with my natural roots, you can see the results of that in my profile pic. It was so-so and washed out in a few months.

I've done Sallys Ion color in 10 vol developer in a nice chocolate brown. That gave me my best results, but that too eventually washed out. I would love to keep up with that but it is difficult without a Sallys here, I need to find someone to supply it to me. The low level of developer made it very gentle but at the same time I think it made it a little less permanent.

I did a box of light mountain (or one of those natural ones, cant' remember which) and that washed out in a matter of months.

My most recent attempt was with Rainbow henna in dark brown (sable). I went through 2 jars in 2 attempts. Alas, that one seemed to stick around the shortest of all, and it was more work than my other attempts. I was hoping for some permanence.

For me, I'd be happy doing repeat applications of something if I could stretch it as long as possible, again, the Sallys worked great for me and didn't damage me at all or mess up my roots (no striped effect).

GlennaGirl
March 3rd, 2009, 07:04 PM
You know, call me nuts, but I don't think your hair looks bad AT ALL (in fact, it's lovely) and now I'm encouraged to grow out my own color, too! I had JUST this concern, in fact!

I think "roots" are kind of in style right now. I think people may think you're doing it on purpose. I think your hair looks just gorgeous and that for growing-out hair, it blends better than you think it does.

My advice would be: keep growing. And keep checking back in with me! Because pretty soon you and I are going to have identical hair except, sadly for me, the length and wave. :P (My hair shines a lot redder usually than it does in my avatar pic...that's why I chose this pic, because it looks more "blended".)

Sorry, I know that wasn't a huge help but I just wanted to put in my $.02.

Morningglory
March 3rd, 2009, 07:27 PM
I do not think it looks that bad either! Your natural roots look reddish brown and blend well with the ends. Problem is applying color to the shaft and the ends does a lot of damage over the long run. But, there is a product called shades by Redken a demi-permanent color that uses 3% peroxide (instead of 10% or 20% with box colors). It is a professional product but, most salons use redken. Anyway, it stains the hair with repeated use and stays very well and works for deposit only. You would want to use a shade lighter than your roots probably a level 6 or 7NB for neutral beige it will tone down some of that red/orange.

But, I agree with spidermom too it is good advice!

Speckla
March 3rd, 2009, 07:32 PM
French braids will look really neat with the two different colors.
________
HEADSHOP (http://headshop.net/)

Anje
March 3rd, 2009, 07:35 PM
Eh, lots of people's under-the-canopy is darker like that, even without dye. Less exposure to the elements... so don't worry too much about that not matching the upper parts.

I think you should definitely try katam or indigo on the red parts, without any more henna. Both do fade, but it's something.

Guess i'm not helping much. Still, consider all the celebs that you see these days with dark-roots styles. I think they do it on purpose, and you have much the same thing happening. It's rather "in" and it doesn't look as bad to the rest of the world as it does when you're taking a critical look in the mirror.

jivete
March 3rd, 2009, 07:52 PM
Thanks everyone for your fast replies. Unfortunately, I'm afraid of anything with any sort of peroxide since my hair gets damaged so easily. Plus it tends to be porous, so dye just falls out of it. If I do anything, I think it will have to be the Katam.

Putting it up is good advice too. My maintenance goal isn't that much longer at 27". I have one more 1/2" trim planned on the Solstice to get the layers just a little closer and then it'll be up for summer and then maintained at 27" until I think the ends are thick enough. Waist is as long as I'll go. Eventually. Er, I'm digressing.

Oh and it's usually more shiny. I got a little generous with the emu oil and actually used shampoo this morning and omitted my normal leave-in to make sure I'd gotten the lankness out because CO wasn't cutting it.

Fine & dry hair wants oil, owner has hard time not applying too much...:rolleyes:

kdaniels8811
March 3rd, 2009, 09:18 PM
Ummm,,, I think it looks really pretty! And roots darker than length, that is pretty natural since the older hair does fade, even without assistance. My suggestion would be to try katam on the ends if you want to even up the color with the roots. Or do you want the roots to match the ends? I was uncertain which direction you were going. But it is still pretty just as it is.

LinearChaos
March 3rd, 2009, 09:35 PM
You know, call me nuts, but I don't think your hair looks bad AT ALL

I was thinking the same thing...the head wrap advice is interesting. I think temporary color would be a great solution as long as you take very good care of it as to not damage it any more.

Deborah
March 3rd, 2009, 11:09 PM
I don't think it looks bad. My hair gets slightly lighter and redder at the ends compared with the top. So I have natural multi-tonal hair. I think lots of people do. Your natural hair is not SO very different from the colored parts, so the contrast is not really that strong.

Put it in nice updos every day, and forget about it. Don't dye or tint or anything else. As it gets longer, just trim off more and more of the damaged hair. Before you know it you will have all-one-color, much healthier hair! It will be worth it. :flower:

Jeni
March 3rd, 2009, 11:33 PM
Im with everyone else, I don't think it looks bad.

FWIW I'm also growing out color (cassia/henna) but I have 3 different colors going on at the moment. 1" of roots, medium blond (I think, hard to tell right now), 5" of virgin hair with cassia/henna over it and then the rest which is light ash blond dye with cassia/henna over it.

I love the length color but I hate how it looks on my virgin hair so the only choice is to grow it out. The difference in color kind of annoy me if I spend to long looking at it but I try to keep it up and pretend it's not there. I think it looks worse in our heads then IRL.

If I hadn't lost my camera I would post pictures of the multi color hair I have going on, so you know your not alone.

chelssix
March 3rd, 2009, 11:51 PM
I say just wear it up and experiment with headbands and scarves.

Debra83
March 4th, 2009, 12:14 AM
I don't think it looks bad either, if that means anything to you!!! Really, I wouldn't post if I thought it did, or I might make suggestions otherwise.

Katze
March 4th, 2009, 12:27 AM
I had a similar problem a couple of years ago and am still growing out the dye. Your third pic reminded me a LOT of my hair in, say, fall '07. I didn't have the red, but I did have old, brassy, faded dye (all ashy dyes, bleach, etc only ever went brassy on me over time, no idea why this is).

The bad news is that sticking it out is all you can do.

The good news is that it will most likely fade more, AND, as your hair naturally sheds and replaces the dyed hair with your natural color, the demarcation line will gradually fade.

There are quite a few "two toned" and "growing out dye" threads...maybe you can find some other good tips?

Good luck, and believe me, it WILL get better. Mine took a while, but it is hardly noticeable now when my hair's down...

:)

Aditi
March 4th, 2009, 01:47 AM
Wear it up a lot. Use head-bands, scarves, head wraps (see avatar), and ribbons to add color and minimize the focus being on the color of your hair. Slowly cut the old, damaged length off. Take the absolute best care of it that you can and bring out the shine.

For special occasions when you want to wear your hair down, maybe try one of those temporary colors that wash out in 6-8 washings.
I agree with spidermom. Although i really like your dual-tone color but if its bothering you so much then go for temporary color.

Calista
March 4th, 2009, 02:21 AM
How about some cassia treatments? Cassia might give a slight stain to your hair (it doesn´t do this on everybody´s hair, but my hair takes it very quickly), thus evening out the colour difference a bit. It fades within a few weeks, so it is by no means permanent.

I think your natural colour will look much nicer once the old artificial colour is gone. Ashy hair tends to look blah in comparison to other, "brighter" colours but looks very good on it´s own IMO. Very subtle.

Loviatar
March 4th, 2009, 03:36 AM
I'm seconding Spidermom's advice, which si what she gave me. I am growing out black dye and coloring with henna so I am also two tone, and it's a pain. But putting it up, wrapping my bun in stuff (ribbons, scarves, large claw clips which hide most of the colour of the bun for example) are really helpful.

I am also using a lot of solid virgin coconut oil to boost shine and minimise protein loss.

paper
March 4th, 2009, 04:21 AM
I just wanted to say, I think your natural color is very pretty!

I'm growing out dye too! I'm planning on doing Spidermoms suggestions.

Good luck!

jivete
March 4th, 2009, 07:20 AM
Thanks again everyone for the great suggestions and comments. I do use Cassia so I might try the Katam over the length, but I guess I should just let it be. I need to be wearing it up all the time anyway, so this gives me a good excuse.

Oh and for any confusion, I'm trying to match the length to the roots.

Calista, I agree with you on the ash part. Next to other, more vibrant colors, my roots do look pretty dull. But I've seen lots of gorgeous all over ash colors and in updo's my natural color looks good. I've only started to become happier with my hair in the last year. I'd like acceptance of my natural color to be part of that too.

Thanks guys, you're great.

Altocumulus
March 4th, 2009, 07:46 AM
Mine looks very similar, although it doesn't show as much in my siggy as in real life. I'm just letting it grow. I actually kind of like how the blonde stripes into the red when I do braids or buns. I also like the ombre look where the ash blonde transitions into the henna red over a couple of inches - neat! I'm sure I'll be happy to have all blonde hair again in 5 years or so, but I'm enjoying the interesting two tone effects right now.

AJoifulNoise
March 4th, 2009, 08:09 AM
Yours looks a lot like mine did.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v311/SycoTrekkie/2009/user12307_pic3247_1205637936_thumb.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v311/SycoTrekkie/2009/user12307_pic3248_1205637936_thumb.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v311/SycoTrekkie/2009/user12307_pic18274_1217880876_thumb.jpg

I've been growing out dye for almost 4 years now. I did wind up taking off about 6 inches last July. So, the color is just at my ends now and hardly noticeable (in pictures anyway). I'd suggest, like several here have, that you baby that hair and put it up for a while. Then, if you're still stick of it, you can trim it off bit by bit.

canary4624
March 4th, 2009, 08:57 AM
Is it necessary to quit the henna/dye cold-turkey? Why not dilute it gradually? I have a friend that was growing out light blonde dye over naturally light brown hair. What she did was to keep dying it regularly, but dilute the dye 4:1 with distilled water, grow it like that for 6 months or so, then start distilling 2:1, continue for 6 months, then dilute 1.5:1, and so on. It must take some patience, but it looked totally natural the whole time, like sun lightening on the ends, and not like a root line.

Altocumulus
March 4th, 2009, 09:27 AM
I considered that, but didn't think the transition from blonde roots to red length would look natural no matter how gradual it was. That might work better when the roots are darker than the length, since it would mimic natural sun lightening.

Treecrown
March 11th, 2009, 11:45 AM
Jivete, I agree with everyone that your hair looks really pretty--it doesn't even really look two-toned. But I can guess how it looks **to you** because I know how we look at our own hair, with a mental magnifying glass!

I'm in a similar situation, except that my lengths and ends are a bit lighter than yours, almost orange (uggh). I'm considering a katam gloss to make everything blend a bit better, but I also have a lot of gray/white in my natural hair, and I don't want that to end up a funny color by mistake, so I'm not sure. I'll post in the buxus/katam thread if I end up doing it.