Growing out is hard to do. [pic heavy]

[coscass]

I'm done coloring my hair- I'm sick of it. I love the color, but I just can't put up with it anymore, you know? So I chopped six inches off, then got another inch and a half taken off the other day. I just want my natural color back.

Judging from what I said, and these pictures (sorry bad quality, my camera just broke and I could only use an older one. My natural color is brownish/reddish/slate, the dye I use is red), how long do you think I'll have to wait in total? There's like 3 levels of fade-age in my hair... I just want it to look normal-ish soon.

This was a few months ago. The pictures sort of go in a timeline.
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d97/The_Squirrel_Has_Spoken/naturalcolor-1.jpg
Then the next stage: I was camping so please ignore the dandruff and stuff.
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d97/The_Squirrel_Has_Spoken/roots3.jpg


And this was just a few minutes ago. Sorry about the sun halo- makes it hard to see but I'm sure you guys can figure out what's what from the earlier pics.
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d97/The_Squirrel_Has_Spoken/roots1.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d97/The_Squirrel_Has_Spoken/roots4.jpg

Also, I have a wedding to go to in October, so I'm going to throw on a wash out color.... will it stain my hair? I've heard yes and no stories.

[spidermom]

It will stain the most porous areas, without a doubt. My Punky Rose-Red still lingers in the ends of my hair.

[coscass]

It will stain the most porous areas, without a doubt. My Punky Rose-Red still lingers in the ends of my hair.I'm not too concerned about the ends, since I'm starting the "let it grow then cut the ends off" thing so my hair will eventually match up, but I don't want to stain my new growth, then have my natural new growth come in and have to start the process all over. I don't know what I'm going to do for this wedding with so much new growth.

[chipzahoy]

Yeah, it'll probably stick around in the areas that have been dyed/dried out before. I wouldn't worry too much about the color not washing out of the roots though!

You've got good grow out progress, btw!

[coscass]

Yeah, it'll probably stick around in the areas that have been dyed/dried out before. I wouldn't worry too much about the color not washing out of the roots though!

You've got good grow out progress, btw!

About how much would you say? I'm terrible at judging.

[motormuffin]

I'm letting my color/lightening grow out too. You can't tell when it's up. How about wear an updo for the day?
I tried a wash a month before I got married...it totally stayed. I wouldn't recommend it.

[Linnykinz]

I was having the same issue with growing out my hair from a red to a slatey brown! I ended up just using Colorfix on my hair (words wonders, by the way!) to get the color out and dyed my hair closest to my natural color, one last time. It worked wonderfully. I just wasn't brave enough to grow it all out that way! Hehe

What do you mean, "how long will you have to wait"?

[triumphator!]

Aw don't feel bad. More women walk around with two-toned hair than you think!

[xoxophelia]

Honestly to grow out all the color and to maintain your current length it will take awhile. It depends somewhat on your growth rate but I would say you are probably looking at about 1.5 years. The color difference in your hair really isn't all that bad though. I am growing out color as well and most likely you notice it more than others do.

Just pull it back, continue to trim, and before you know it the color will be gone.

(You can also cut if you so desire but that is a very personal choice)

[Naturel]

Aw don't feel bad. More women walk around with two-toned hair than you think!

I agree. I don't even see it as a problem.

[dropinthebucket]

You're doing an awesome job letting it grow out! WTG!!

I wish I had your patience - I got tired of dying mine, but every time I tried to let it grow out, I got fed up with the two-toned look after a while and did something to it - highlights, henna - eek! If I'da just left it alone it woulda been all grown out now!

If you want a temp color that won't damage your hair, you could try Elumen - the Return product has been said to work really well to remove the colour, although a couple of people have reported it not getting all the colour out when they used a very dark shade (black, dark brown).

[bumblebums]

Permanent artificial red dye is the quickest color to fade, so you should get even more fading of the ends. I assume you've tried all the known methods for removing it, like ColorOops, hot oil treatments, deep conditioning, etc.?

Semi-permanent color was always permanent on me. It seems to vary from head to head; on some people, even henna fades. But splash my hair with Kool-Aid, and it will still be blue a year later.

If I were you, I wouldn't dye your hair for the wedding without patch-testing how it fades. Start now--get a wad of hair from your brush, dye it with the dye, and wash it the same way you wash your hair. By October, you'll have a pretty good idea of whether the dye will fade out or not.

[Bianca]

I'm growing out dye too. It's been 1 year and 7 months. Here's how much it has grown:

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=2008&pictureid=78023

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=2008&pictureid=78024

I think i'm a slow grower, so it might not take you as long. I wouldn't put ANY dye on it. Just put it up :)

Good luck.

[akrasia]

Hey, your hair's so thick and got such a nice wave. Who's going to notice a bit of two-tone?

I agree with putting it up, rather than messing about with dyes.

I had a similar problem when a horrible perm turned my brown hair to a greenish-tan color. So I had these straight dark roots with poodly-scuzz ends! Way more contrast than what you've got now. I pretty much spent a year with my hair in various buns and updos, but it was worth it.

[amaiaisabella]

Bianca, I love your color! What gorgeous tones :crush:

I, personally, would do a demi or temp dye on the length, but I'm real twitchy at the thought of my colors not matching up. When I was growing out my old color (before I went red, and then blonde) I used Loving Care and I quite liked that as it gradually faded over time.

[Joliebaby]

I'm growing out color too. You are so well on your way that I wouldn't mess with any dyes if I were you. I've had one of those "washes out in 6-8 washes" demi permanent dyes, in a red shade, stick horribly to my virgin hair. Or, start doing a strand test now to see if you will be able to get it out!!

[ButterCream]

Wow, when I saw your pictures I thought I looked in a mirror!

No. Seriously. That is EXACTLY how I look right now!

I am also just growing it out so I don`t know about the time frame since we are in the same boat.

Glad I am not alone at least...Happy growing:)

[Spike]

Yes, dye will stick like you wouldn’t believe to the porous parts. I did a temp magenta wash years ago—came right out of my roots, but stuck in the ends for years until hairfall and trims got rid of it. If you color wash, match your roots—that will at least blend the line of demarcation.

Otherwise, it’s not like you’re going from platinum blonde to raven black. Could you just do an updo so most of what shows is root?