Red hair darker at bottom?

[Rhianna]

Sorry if there's already another thread that explains my problems, but I couldn't find one.
I have naturally red hair, and I've noticed that it's (slightly)lighter at the top (by my scalp) and darker/more deeply red at the ends.
Is that caused by aging? I'm currently 21 and really don't want to lose my red hair, so it's really causing me to panic.

A possible explaination is that the top of my hair is my -natural- hair color and I've managed to darken my ends over time. For a year or so I was CO, I scrubbed my scalp(not my ends) with baking soda almost everytime I got in the shower, when I found out that baking soda would lighten your hair I started doing ACV rinses with herbs*. For reference I added Burdock, Catnip, Lavender, Peppermint, and Rosemary (alot of rosemary), maybe some others. I switched to S&C a few months back (pantene, which I've switched off of after finding out about cones and sulfates).
It's not much of a difference at the ends, it's just a deeper, darker red, I'm hoping that by repeated AVC rinsing (4-5 times a week) caused my ends to darken while the rest of my hair stayed the same due to baking soda,sun exposure, or maybe it's just because my ends dry last that the AVC concoction had more time to darken it.
So, pretty much, can prolonged use of herb infused ACV cause my hair to darken at the ends/lower length where baking soda wouldn't have reached?

If this is the wrong place/ not how to go about this I apologise, and would be greatful if you pointed out to me how to go about this appropriately. Thank you :)

[redkdawg]

I'm curious what other folks will say. I dye my hair an auburn color and have the ends darker than the scalp. I use a shampoo bar and the ACV rinse once in a while.

[kmoc123]

My flaming red headed daughter is having the same problem...she is so upset!!! I guess it comes with getting "older"...if 21 is "older".

[Anje]

I do think that redheads tend to darken or lighten with age... Mine's turning a bit brown with the years, I'm afraid. That said, I'm pretty sure rosemary is known to sometimes darken hair, so that might be what made the difference.

If worst comes to worst, you could occasionally apply a henna-cassia blend to your hair to boost the red a bit. (I'd suggest avoiding straight henna, like I've done, since it builds up a bit over time and gets a bit on the dark side with multiple applications.)

[stinamoo]

Red hair often does change with age - bright flaming ginger in children fading to light ginger-brown by their mid-twenties runs in my family. I know it's not what you want to hear, sorry!

[helwa]

I'm not gonna be of much help but I'm kind of having the same problem. I'm worried that I might be losing my red-ness! I wasted 20 years accepting the fact that I wasn't born blonde and now I'm not even sure that I will still be a redhead when my natural hair color grows out. :brickwall

[pepperminttea]

Could it be sun-bleaching? If you've worn the ends up to protect them this summer (assuming you're in the Northern hemisphere), the roots would've taken the brunt of it.

[LoveMyMutt]

My hair was very red as a child, mellowed to light auburn in my teens, and as an adult it has gotten steadily lighter and less red. Now at 41, I still tend to think of myself as a strawberry blond but others usually describe my hair as dark blond. It only looks red in certain lights these days.

I think that is fairly typical of red hair -- most who were childhood redheads either darken to auburn/reddish brown or fade to blondish. I have seen some flaming red hair on people my age but tend to think it is maybe not always natural ;)

The good news is that my gray hair blends in really well with my blonder color. When I was hennaing and my hair was very red, my gray stripe was REALLY obvious, but now that my hair is its natural color, the white hairs just sort of look like blonder highlights. In fact, I've had several people compliment me on my "highlights" since I've stopped coloring my hair!

[KittyLost]

Have you noticed this before?

It may just start off lighter and as it grows darkens with age, if that's possible.

[Medievalmaniac]

Or, it may simply be how the light hits it. It seems strange to say that the roots are lighter than the length and that this is because hair darkens with age...if it were due to hair darkening overall, you would think the roots would be growing in darker. Perhaps it's how the light hits the hair that makes it seem that way...have you tried looking at it/snapping shots from various angles?

[Reds11]

I dont recommend this but, I have tried using a colour remover called Hair B4 and it removed residual dye so I could go over it in a lighter colour but, you have to condition like crazy before considering to colour. if you colour it same day you can use a shampoo with a tint in it maybe Hennara?

as it is really strong to use. H.I.H.

Good luck

[Aevra]

I"m a natural redhead and I'm having the same problem...it's just not as pronounced. I know that with my genetics and with the way the redheaded ladies in my family treat their bodies( and in return their hair) that our hair grows lighter until it's more brown-red and it's only red highlights in a very mousy-brown colour. It makes me sad so I"m trying to keep all the red that I can for as long as I can, but I'm almost 21 and my hair is starting to brown (hehe food jokes >.<) but seriously, it is sad, and I love my colour, so I do henna glosses and red tea rinses sometimes to cover the brown and blonde lightening.

BUT!

It's kind of a good thing, it just means that if your hair is getting lighter now, then when your hair is ready to go full gray, then you will probably be full SILVER. A lot of redheads don't go gray, some go white and some go silver. So there's some good news in the midst of the bad.