Because I don't post enough...

[amaiaisabella]

Hi all :) About a week ago, I posted that I had lightened my henna a good portion with Sun-In. Unfortunately, it was a bit too gold/brassy, so I purchased one of the toners recommended. Apparently, my hair did not take too well to that, and returned to a bright henna red, as if I had just colored:

Before lightening:
http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z20/amaiai64/Image.jpg

After lightening:
http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z20/amaiai64/newhair.jpg

And after toner:
http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z20/amaiai64/IMG_1483.jpg

I decided to then go for bust and bleach it out. The bleach brought it to a light orange, upon which point I put a medium blonde dye over it. That brought me to a lovely shade of neon yellow :rolleyes:, so I went back and bought a dark blonde dye. Unfortunately, in my zeal to remove the yellow, I left it on too long and am now back at medium brown hair:

http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z20/amaiai64/Image4.jpg

Because I used a demi, it is supposed to fade eventually, but I'm not so sure it will, since it really grabbed hold. I'd like to bring out more golden tones like you see in the photo. I was thinking of doing a chamomile tea rinse, but I don't believe that's permanent. Would it be better if I combined it with cassia? I would dye again but I don't think it would take too well to the dyed portions. Plus, the girls at Sally's are probably sick of seeing me, or rather, hearing their cash register ching every time I am there :p

My hair is not too badly damaged, though it is a bit harder to comb at the moment. I'm babying it with deep conditioning and leave-ins, and I'm mostly keeping it up, but I'd like to do something to enhance the golden tones while still protecting it. If y'all have any advice, I'd be very grateful (and amazed you had the patience to sit through reading this!) :)

[VitaR86]

wow, I like the color the toner gave you. That just sucks that you had to go through all that. Do you at least like the color it is now?

[amaiaisabella]

It's not bad, I've washed it a few times and am getting used to the brown. But I would like some golden tones because I've been dark before and it made me look depressed and washed out with my pale skin.

Just wanted to edit to add that if the hemline looks different, it's because I gave myself a trim with layers ;)

[Reptilia]

Just leave it be for some time or you'll have no hair left to play with!

I think you should just stick to honey treatments and sun in for some time and let all of the chemical dyes fade out, then just go to a salon and get some highlights added.

I've dyed my hair brown and had it fade to blonde within a few months many, many times. You just have to learn to not add more chemicals to it. Believe it, it WILL come back to bite you and you'll have more damage than you know what to do with!

[Medievalmaniac]

I liked the henna results, and the lightened version, but the color seems fine now - and for all you have been through, your hair looks to be in great condition!!

Can you not try a gloss - maybe 80/20 cassia/henna?

[Loreley]

I think that actually all the colours look lovely! :)

[amaiaisabella]

I'd really prefer not to add henna to my hair again, so that's why I was thinking cassia or a cassia blend. Honey lightening didn't work, and believe me, I tried it many times as I know it takes slowly. I'd like to avoid sun-in again for a while as well, as it dried out my hair a bit and I don't need that.

[spidermom]

After all that, I'm afraid there's going to be a "help me; my hair is breaking off by the handful!" thread. But your hair still looks pretty - nice and shiny. Could you give the perfect color quest a rest for a couple of weeks at least?

[amaiaisabella]

Never fear, spidermom :) My hair is quite hardy and I don't plan to color for quite a bit. I was just hoping to find out if cassia might help bring out those golden tones I so desire.

[amaiaisabella]

Here's a photo I took today to give you a better idea as to how the color looks against my skin:

http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z20/amaiai64/img_1543.jpg

I think I am going to try to do some chamomile rinses for now, and maybe cassia if I can get my hands on it, but otherwise it doesn't look too bad and I think will grow out nicely. I do wish I was blonde but if I can get some gold in there I'd be satisfied :)

[SimplyViki]

I think the color now is pretty!

[amaiaisabella]

Thank you! It's the closest to my natural color so I suppose I will have to be satisfied for now ;)

[Lianna]

It looks really good! How can one tell their hair is damaged from dyes or just dry? I have colored hair and sometimes gets a little dry feeling.

[amaiaisabella]

Mostly damaged hair will look dull in color, will have a ragged appearance, and, in my case, very tangly. Deep conditioning usually helps the appearance, but regular trims until the worst damage is gone would be the most effective at improving the appearance of the hair.

[kristymarie87]

I think it looks nice now, but i actually loved the red!! As i cant see your face in that pictue i cant tell if it suited your face, but i think a few golden tones as you describe would look good.

Your hair in the very fist picture is what mine looks like after washing and air drying.... but i thought im 1b as ive always had straight hair! Did you style it like that or is it naturally flicky like that? It looks terrible on me but im wondering if i have waves like that or whether its because my hair is short (its about 1cm shorter than yours).

[melrose1985]

It looks great!

[amaiaisabella]

Your hair in the very fist picture is what mine looks like after washing and air drying.... but i thought im 1b as ive always had straight hair! Did you style it like that or is it naturally flicky like that? It looks terrible on me but im wondering if i have waves like that or whether its because my hair is short (its about 1cm shorter than yours).

No, my hair naturally dried like that. Well, it dries wavy, and that's how it looks after I sleep on it. I tend to avoid the blowdryer unless I'm in a hurry as my hair dries fast anyway, and my hair is straight so I don't really need a straightener.

[FrannyG]

I think it looks great as it is. Please don't mess with any more colour for a while. Just keep taking care of it. :blossom:

[amaiaisabella]

Do you think chamomile rinses would help? I'm doing deep conditioning treatments but I'm afraid to do protein as my hair normally doesn't react well to it (though I don't suppose my hair is in "normal" condition anymore...). I'm also S&Ding regularly and keeping it up, so that helps too, I think.

[Mutinous]

It's a bit hard to guess what would work on it I think. Unless I have read it wrong you have Sun-In, Henna, bleach and chemical dye in at the moment? Chamomile rinses would work on all natural hair, but it's a bit hard to predict how it would react with everything else. It looks in really good condition considering all that, and the colour suits you. I would just hold tight for a couple of months, see how the semi dye fades and go from there. It's a bit frustrating but at least it looks good in the mean time! :)

[amaiaisabella]

Very true, Mutinous! But I don't know if I would count the Sun-in and henna, though, the bleach thoroughly stripped my hair so I think I'd just count that and the dye. I figure the chamomile can't harm it, though. I was debating doing cassia to help protect it but I'd like to see how it responds to the rinse first. I have been doing nightly (heavy) applications of Nightblooming's Panacea, and the hair is responding really well to that. It actually feels pretty good, if more tangly than usual. Guess I should count my blessings!

[SpinDance]

I think the brown looks quite lovely with your pretty brown eyes. In my very limited experience dyes have tended to fade to golden, which personally is not good for me. It sounds like it would be just what you want, though.

[Mutinous]

Very true, Mutinous! But I don't know if I would count the Sun-in and henna, though, the bleach thoroughly stripped my hair so I think I'd just count that and the dye. I figure the chamomile can't harm it, though. I was debating doing cassia to help protect it but I'd like to see how it responds to the rinse first. I have been doing nightly (heavy) applications of Nightblooming's Panacea, and the hair is responding really well to that. It actually feels pretty good, if more tangly than usual. Guess I should count my blessings!

Very true, though henna can be very persistent, so I would be a bit cautious. I'm not sure how cassia would work on darker colours, as I don't think it would have the oomph to lift the colour, though it would give it a nice gloss.

Good luck with what ever you try :)

[amaiaisabella]

Thank you :) I'm sure it will fade, I just have to be patient. And I'm very lucky my hair is not more trashed! I did the chamomile rinse and it feels moisturized at least, but I doubt it added any golden tones.

[halo_tightens]

I seem to recall that Sun-In isn't recommended for use on hair that has been chemically dyed... I read up on it when I was thinking about using it to lighten my henna a while back. It's okay on natural or hennaed hair, but not chem dyed. Check it out, please, if you get the urge to play more with your color!

I personally like all the colors you've shown us; I haven't seen one yet that looked bad or clashed with your coloring. :flower:

[amaiaisabella]

Thanks, Charity :) Yeah, I was using Sun-In on the henna, so no fear there. I don't think I'll be using it again, but I have my old bottle kept under the sink just in case. Depending on how much it fades, I'll use a lighter shade of the demi later on, or just do cassia and some chamomile rinses. It might be my imagination, but I do think I see a few more golden tones in my length now that it has dried! :)