Dark ashy blondes-are your roots as light as the rest of your hair?

[juliaxena]

I have been growing out my natural color for about 3 months now just to see how it looks like. I was hoping it is dark ash blonde, but it looks more like ash brown. I think this is too dark for me to keep, UNLESS there is a good chance the color will get lighter. Not by sun. I don't intend to spend time in the sun because I'ma allergic and also I won't go into natural methods because noone of them worked for me. So please don't suggest that. I just want to know if your dark ash blonde color gets that way or is it that way from the start.

Thank you!

[FoxRain]

Well usually my roots are lighter than rest of my hair. It'll go from being almost white at the top to ash blonde in the bottom. My hair is kind of weird. I'm not sure if it'll turn lighter for you though. Maybe it's just your roots that are dark?
I've heard that putting lemon-juice in your hair will help bleach it, but that may only be in the sun.

[BelleBot]

I find mine are a lighter ashy blonde at the front of my head, more of a dark ash blonde the further back and underneath they're a dark ash brown. With sunlight they lighten to more golden blonde tones making the rest of my hair lighter the further down the length.
This is why I dye my hair, simply as I don't like my natural colour variations, plus the darker ashier tones don't flatter my pale complexion.

[trillcat]

I am dark ash blonde/brown, and no the hair does not get any lighter as it grows ( I bleach my hair)
If left natural, I do get some highlights that are very gold and pretty, but the whole head, still dark ash blonde/ brown.
Its a pretty color, but does not suit my skin tone. I wish it did, would make things a lot easier!

[iris]

Usually dark ash blonde hair is quite a bit darker at the roots than at the ends. That's true for me, and also true for most dark ash blondes I see on the streets here - lots of dark ash blondes on the streets here, it's the most common hair color here, and young women generally have it at around BSL so you can really see the difference in color between roots and ends.

What color are you growing out? I'm asking because when I started growing out my henna, I kind of panicked at the darkness and general blahness of my roots. It didn't look like my natural color the way I remembered my natural color. Only after I grew out all my henna and cut the last bits of henna off, did I recognize the color as my natural color. It was just the contrast between the vivid henna color and my natural color that made my natural color look so blah and boring and actually unflattering. Now that the henna is gone, my natural color looks good to me. I'm very happy I stuck with growing out the henna, it was a lengthy and unflattering process but it looks so much better now than the henna ever did on me.

If you're growing out a warmer color (warm blond for instance), you may have the same effect going on - it's not so much that your natural color looks bad, but the contrast between your natural color and the dyed portion makes the natural color look dark and blah. I found it really hard to tell what was going on until the very last bit of henna was gone and my whole head was my natural color. Even just a few inches of henna at the bottom made my whole head of hair look not so great. It was a magical transformation when I trimmed those last inches off - instantly looked so much better.

[juliaxena]

I'm growing out a gold blonde, but the lenght I cover with dark ash blonde temporary color to hide contrast. It's not that my natural colors seems blah, it's just darker than I would want my color to be. I'd want to be dark blonde, not brunette.



Usually dark ash blonde hair is quite a bit darker at the roots than at the ends. That's true for me, and also true for most dark ash blondes I see on the streets here - lots of dark ash blondes on the streets here, it's the most common hair color here, and young women generally have it at around BSL so you can really see the difference in color between roots and ends.

What color are you growing out? I'm asking because when I started growing out my henna, I kind of panicked at the darkness and general blahness of my roots. It didn't look like my natural color the way I remembered my natural color. Only after I grew out all my henna and cut the last bits of henna off, did I recognize the color as my natural color. It was just the contrast between the vivid henna color and my natural color that made my natural color look so blah and boring and actually unflattering. Now that the henna is gone, my natural color looks good to me. I'm very happy I stuck with growing out the henna, it was a lengthy and unflattering process but it looks so much better now than the henna ever did on me.

If you're growing out a warmer color (warm blond for instance), you may have the same effect going on - it's not so much that your natural color looks bad, but the contrast between your natural color and the dyed portion makes the natural color look dark and blah. I found it really hard to tell what was going on until the very last bit of henna was gone and my whole head was my natural color. Even just a few inches of henna at the bottom made my whole head of hair look not so great. It was a magical transformation when I trimmed those last inches off - instantly looked so much better.

[melikai]

I'm I think a medium blonde, and yes, my roots are darker than my length, maybe by a shade or two. However, I think that is from general light (not necessarily direct sun) and environmental exposure.

[Oskimosa]

I'm not sure what you mean that you won't go out in the sun because you're allergic, but your hair will definitely lighten as a result of being in it. Naturally my hair is as BelleBot described hers, and it lightened to near platinum when I spent time outside doing volunteer work one summer. But when I stayed in most of the time, there was very little difference. It would look very pale when I was growing out brown, and very dark growing out bleached hair.

So, yes, your roots may look dull in comparison just because your length is lighter, but you may like it more as it grows out. That said, I'm not sure your hair will simply lighten on its very own, without being exposed to some chemical treatment (natural or not) or the sun for extended periods. Not seeing how that can happen.

[Kris Dove]

My ends have always been a lot lighter than my roots- see my old signature photo and the older ones in my album. I'm in Scotland, burn easily and never spend much time in the sun either.

I currently use Lush products to lighten my hair, (the Marilyn hair moisturiser and blonde solid shampoo fwiw) so it looks a bit lighter atm than it naturally is, so the more recent photos are misleading.

As your goal length is BSL, then if you'd prefer it to be lighter, you could probably get subtle highlights (as I used to) without doing much damage if you are maintaining at that length, but you'd struggle to grow much longer than that.

[schweedie]

I think I'm an ashy blonde, although my colour shifts a lot depending on the lighting. I'm not sure if my length is lighter than my roots, but it's definitely blonder - my roots are quite ashy, but the ends can look almost golden.

I don't have any pictures saved where it's really obvious, but you can kind of see that the braid below is blonder than the roots:

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=6095&pictureid=79649

[smileycat]

My hair is also dark blonde being darker at the roots at lighter down the (sadly short) length. I have some old, old highlights at the very ends.

I still struggle somewhat with my darkening blonde hair, but it is normal for blonde hair to darken with age, and I've learned to love the kaleidoscope of colors throughout my hair. I am also outside a lot, however. I do try to avoid products that seem to darken my hair even more (lots of them discovered through reading here right at LHC).

[jasper]

My ends are lighter than my roots. I see a big difference between my braid tassel and my bangs, for instance.

I know my hair easily lightens in the sun, but I don't seek sun exposure. I can't avoid it- I am in Texas- but I find the shade as much as I can. I do spend a minimum of 20 minutes a day outside.

[Neaira]

Before I dyed my hair with henna, I had dark ash blonde hair. The 3-4 inches at the top were really ashy, almost grey, and the ends were really blonde.
Once I was a hair model and the lady, who was putting my hair up in an updo, asked me if my ends were bleached. At the time no dye or products of any kind, other than shampoo and conditioner, had touched my hair. The ends were at the time light blonde, and made a big contrast to my 3 inches of ashy roots.
Guess my point is that your hair may get lighter as it gets older. Mine were probably about six years old at the ends (at my waist. Yay, hoping to get there again:D).

[julliams]

My theory on this is that the hair at the ends is several years old so there is a chance that the person with lighter ends was simply blonder several years ago. I would guess that whatever colour is growing out will be the colour only it may lighten slightly with exposure to the elements. Just a theory and not proven in any way.

[FrannyG]

I was dark blonde from toddlerhood to adulthood (although it often photographed brown). I did notice that after the age of about 25, my hair did seem to look darker. My hairdresser still declared my hair to be dark blonde, but it just didn't seem to have the natural highlights that it had previously had.

Even when it grew longer, it still didn't appear as light as I was used to.

It was around that time that I started to dye my hair not only to enjoy feeling blonde again, but also to cover the ever-increasing silvers.

I do notice many dark blonde people whose length is lighter than the roots, but they generally do spend time with their hair exposed to the sun.

I wish I had more encouraging tales to offer you.

[LouLaLa]

My hair grows very light/baby fine then darkens. The only time it gets light is if im in the sun alot/photographed in bright light.

I wish I had happier news for you!

[TrudieCat]

My hair grows in a tawny color and lightens to dark ashy blonde in the sun. It was white blonde when I was a kid. I know that the sun is what lightens my hair now because the layers underneath the canopy remain that in-between-blondey-browny color. As a teenager, I'd dyed it lighter blonde and then grew it out, and my roots looked so dark! I liked it because it made me feel like Courtney Love (not sure why I thought that might be a good idea :rolleyes:). But once I cut all the dye out I was... blonde again! Just a different color blonde. The contrast of the dye made my natural color look much darker than it was.

I was a little sad that my hair has darkened as I got older, so I put a bright blonde bleached streak in it last spring. I liked it for about a week and have basically regretted it ever since. I realized that I'd internalized the dark blonde color as being my color. It's a somewhat unusual color where I am (east coast of the US) since most people with this color seem to dye it lighter. I like this color because it reminds me of all the variations of tawny on some of the wild cats, like pumas. :) It's possible that you will end up liking your hair a lot more once the dye is grown out.

[MsBubbles]

Juliaxena: I notice you are also a 1a/F/ii like me. If it's any consolation, my roots currently look medium ash brown indoors (so ashy, in fact, my hair almost looks a dull, greenish grey in certain mirrors! Horrors!)...but in natural daylight it looks medium blonde.

I don't think you'll really know just how much lighter your hair will look when it's all virgin until you grow it all down, but I'd say since you're fine haired, your hair might be more sensitive and porous, perhaps lightening up significantly from environmental factors, as Melikai said. Even if you don't spend much time in the sun.

Although it has been decades since I saw my own natural color at BSL, my fine ends are definitely lighter than my roots, as is the case with my sisters' hair, who all have slightly darker hair than I do.

Have you seen some of the gorgeous photo updates from ladies here with this same hair color, waist+, all natural? Their hair is simply stunning, not to mention inimitable with salon highlights, bleach or boxed dyes.

[clairenewcastle]

MY hair has always grown out darker at the roots then lightened after about a year of so of sunlight and environmental exposure. I was white blonde as a child but I've darkened a lot over the years.
Since my teenage years I've sworn by lemon juice and camomile tea to accelerate the lightening effect, eventually resorting to bleaching my canopy as my hair darkened in my late twenties.
My hair has been kept covered as much as possible over the last couple to years as I attempt to grow out my virgin hair but I'm still finding my roots are darker to start with before getting lighter over time.

[Blueglass]

I find my color is the same though out unless I highlight, or the platinum under my canopy, due to the fact that I have a mix of blonde and brown. I have seen other people with my hair color who do get lighter at the ends

[Chamomile betty]

My blond is darker underneath. My roots are actually a dark/med blond. I hightlight so my ends do look lighter then the rest of my hair. I am getting ready to add some lowlights to the length to tone down the very light blond. My hair bleaches out so easily in the summer.

[punkcatknitter]

I remember when I was a kid the ends of my hair would be nearly white... and if you held them up to the top of my head it was a HUGE shade difference. My roots would look almost brown.

[Capybara]

No, my roots - though still ashy - are quite dark compared to the length of my hair. In some lights, it looks like I am growing out old bleach :o