How do you stay happy with your haircolor?

[Maverick494]

The "why don't you like your natural haircolor thread" inspired me to create this one. While I can give you a million reasons why I don't like my natural haircolour, I can't seem to stick with one dyed color either. So, how do you stay satisfied with your dyed/hennaed haircolour? Or any colour, for that matter.

My own hair now has that in between colour: not blonde, not brown. Plus it's ashy to the point it almost looks grey. I have pretty much dyed my hair in all different colours. I started out innocently with some highlights. Then I noticed the beauty of black hair and dyed it in that colour. Because the dye was destroying my hair (all of this is pre LHC) I went back blonde. Well, the hairdresser attempted it and ended up giving me a head of orange hair so bright it could burn your eyes. After neglecting it for a while I had a better hairdresser correct it and give it a nice medium blonde colour. I kept it for 3 years. After a while I got tired of that and dyed it a caramel brown. But now I'm tired of dyeing and letting natural take over. And....I don't like how that looks either.

Now, after seeing users like Angeletti with that gorgeous pitch black hair, users with gorgeous copper red or auburn hair, and users with a mane of flowing blonde hair, I'm itching for a change---again.

So to make a long story short: How do you settle when it comes to hair? Share your experience!

[Capybara]

I have a blonette blonde/brown colour, probably similar to yours. I think it's brown, everyone else says it's blonde :p Still in denial about it!

I like my colour. I've never done a full head dye, just highlights, so maybe that's the reason why - I don't know what I'd look like with different coloured hair :p

Have you tried thinking about what you like about your hair colour? I admire everyone's colour here on the boards, but also like my own :shrug: I think any hair colour can be beautiful.

[Speckla]

I love red hair but hate to use chemical dyes. Henna gives me the color, condition, and is much more cost efficient than boxed dyes. It's win/win for me. Plus I have lot of grey so I get the benefits of the look of highlights without an extra step or cost. I get tempted sometimes to do other stuff but than I look in the mirror and look at look pictures and I see the difference in my hair. It's the longterm I'm after and henna is helping me achieve that.

[Alcenaia]

I like to appreciate how others' hair looks without feeling like I need that for myself. Just because you see a beautiful object doesn't mean you need to buy it.

If I feel blah about my hair, I like to remember nice comments people have made about it. An outsider's perspective--someone who doesn't have the mane attached to their head all the time--can sometimes be refreshingly helpful.

[spidermom]

It's so much easier to leave it alone. I never liked the idea of keeping up with roots, so what colors I have tried for the most part have been temporary (except for an unfortunate little detour into henna - YUCK!). Your hair color sounds light enough that you could play with temporary colors from time to time, then just let them fade out. Nothing wrong with that.

[spidermom]

And I second what Alcenaia said. I can enjoy all the colors on other heads. I don't have to bring them home to try on my own head. My hair color is somebody's favorite color, I'm sure.

[Honeylove]

My hair color is probably similar to yours. If I would change my hair color, I couldn't decide between the darkest brown and a nice blond. So I said to myself, Hey, stick to your own color - that's somewhere in between. :p

[mira-chan]

Be way too lazy to care or change it? :p That's how I do it.

My hair color is darker than yours. Enough so that henna is not very visible on it and even that I did more for conditioning and shine than color. Haven't kept up with that after a couple of random instances too.

[Honeylove]

And I second what Alcenaia said. I can enjoy all the colors on other heads. I don't have to bring them home to try on my own head. My hair color is somebody's favorite color, I'm sure.
I second that, too. And yours is very pretty.

[Carolyn]

I agree with the others about appreciating other colors on other people. I've always been thrilled that I was born a blonde. I love my natural color, so much so that I pay big bucks to keep the silver away. I've never wanted to be anything but blonde.

[punkcatknitter]

Well, I'm only 25, and I feel like the dyeing process was part of growing up for me. I took have a darkish blonde color, and started highlighting it when I was 12 or so, then kept dyeing it progressively lighter and lighter until my late teens when it started getting darker and darker. After several shades of red and brown, it wound up black, which i LOVED. I still love black hair, but eventually I got sick of the upkeep and decided I wanted to try the natural route.

A box of colorfix got my hair a dark reddish blonde and fried to the extreme. My hair was chin length at the time and I started growing it long.

Fast forward two years, to a month ago. I now knew what my natural color was (darker than when I was a kid, but still blonde) and honestly? Still didn't like it. So after much research and thought, I did a henna gloss. It's only been two weeks, but I'm so much happier. I just don't feel like a blonde. It doesn't feel like me. I'm not sure I'll stay a hennahead forever. But I think for me, wanting to keep my hair healthy will reign supreme in the end. I wouldn't have changed the color if it weren't for henna not doing damage. If there wasn't henna as an option, I would have settled with my boring blonde.

[Heartwillfollow]

never experimented growing up changing the color of my hair, my moms friend who did hair for a living told me to never let any one color my hair, because red hair always turns sea weed green so I never did.. I've's always like my hair color glad I found henna as it started to fade.. :) I've never met a person that their natural color didn't look good on them and often wondered why they would dye it.

[HintOfMint]

Being a brown-skinned Indian girl certainly helps. The black hair I was born with simply suits me the best, and the "face lifting" or "warming" highlights simply don't make a difference, except point to the world "hey look, I dyed my hair!" When I had highlighted hair in high school, it was a novelty thing, at best. It did nothing to make me prettier or "brighten" my face. It's hard not to succumb to the lure of novelty though.

[Honeylove]

I agree with the others about appreciating other colors on other people. I've always been thrilled that I was born a blonde. I love my natural color, so much so that I pay big bucks to keep the silver away. I've never wanted to be anything but blonde.
Agree. To me, it is like this: There are so many beautiful hair colors in the world, both natural and dyed. You just can't wear them all on your own head. :D If you go for one color, what about all the other colors that are also beautiful? Some people may enjoy a constant change of hair color, but for me, it's way too much of an effort. So I have decided it's best to love my own hair color for what it is (the color that the creator carefully chose for ME alone to perfectly match my complexion, lip colour, eyes etc.), and admire all the other colors on the people who wear them. :flower: :grouphug:

[Tiina]

Hmm... I have both practical and aesthetic reasons for trying to grow out and accept my natural colour. Practical as in, I suck at doing roots only. The nearest hairdresser is an hour's drive away. Even if I get there I have to pay a whole lot of money (they charge over 50$ for just a 15-minute trim, I kid you not). Also, colour dulls. That is a fact. I can have a month or two of nice hair but then it just loses the luster while my natural colour will remain shiny and strong for as long as it is on my head. Not to mention the condition of my hair is definitely a lot better undyed. I've also discovered that I can like my natural colour if it is long whereas when it was only roots or short hair it looked ghastly. Now that it is growing longer and longer, the natural colour seems more appealing. So that is something to consider if you are still in the early stages of growing out.

In conclusion, the benefits of having healthy hair and no time or money wasted on upkeep outweigh the fact that my natural colour is not my favourite.

[RecklessCharlie]

I've never wanted anything but my natural colour. I've always been content and confidant with the colour I got from the combined genes of my parents.
The only time my hair changed colour was when I was using Black Malva shampoo from Aveda, without realizing that is was gradually deposting colour onto my hair and making it darker though the change was so gradual I though my hair was just getting darker as I got older!
I stopped using that shampoo and my hair has since returned to its medium brown, red highlighted natural-ness :)

[bubblyredhead]

I hating being a red head as a kid because every little old lady and mom would come up to me and go oh my gosh your hair is gorgeous, and I hated the attention so I begged my mom to let me dye it when I was 12 or 13 and it went from strawberry blond but more on the red side to blond and every other color but red and black. I got sick of the dye and everything else and stripped it out my hair color has darkened so much more to more red and I finally feel comfortable being a real red head and my personality fits it.

[JulietCapulet]

I'm sorry you have had a hard time with your hair color. I like my hair color simply because it is the best compliment for my skin. I don't look good in any other color.

[WinterInBloom]

Being a brown-skinned Indian girl certainly helps. The black hair I was born with simply suits me the best, and the "face lifting" or "warming" highlights simply don't make a difference, except point to the world "hey look, I dyed my hair!" When I had highlighted hair in high school, it was a novelty thing, at best. It did nothing to make me prettier or "brighten" my face. It's hard not to succumb to the lure of novelty though.

I'm not Indian and my hair is more really dark brown instead of black, but this is exactly how I feel about dying my hair now. "Look my hair is dyed!" highlights. I did varying amounts of highlights and a couple different colors in my hair when I was younger and my hair was naturally almost two shades lighter than it is now, but it still looked obviously fake on me (even when done well).

My natural hair color just compliments me better and there doesn't seem to be anything that I can do to improve it, so I just leave it alone now. And really, what are my options now that my hair is so dark? Go all the way black (that might look a little harsh on me), or torture my hair with a whole lot of bleach and then dye to get a different color. Meh.:p

[UltraBella]

I have kept my copper red Demi color for six or seven years now, except for recently when I tried to go back to my natural color. That was short lived, the coppery red just looks so much better on me. I stick with this color because it is the color I wish I had naturally.

[Eolan]

Over many years i cut and colored my hair in all colors and shapes. Guess that was part of finding out who I was and also because I was curious and restless. When I decided to grow out my hair in 2006 I had a pixie that was bleached into oblivion. I let the bleach grow out enough so that my hair dresser could color it to a color similar to my own. I just got to a point where I didn't know what my own hair color was anymore and having long, natural hair was the only thing I had'nt tried. Four years later, and I'm still on the same route. I get tired of my own color from time to time, but the thought of having to color it and keep up the roots makes me cringe. Too much work! I also take pride in having my natural color. It is after all my very own. Having said that, I think you should color your hair if you like that. You don't have to like your own color. But if you want to grow out your own color, you shouldn't compare it with your colored hair. Boxcolor tend to make any natural hair color look boring in comparison. Bur once you get the box dye out, you'll see that your own color is very interesting and beautiful. My hair is very ashy, but I also have hints of blonde and red in it. I never knew!

[Dreams_in_Pink]

I learned to stay happy with my own hair color after i tried other colors. I wasn't happy with my own color, but i was really upset with any other color (dark blonde and henna red) so i chose to go natural. As for living with henna color, ummm i failed that part :D

[linnepinne]

I've had alot of hair colors. Henna, platinum blonde, black, highlights, brown, blue and everything in between. I used to hate everything about my natural hair, including colour, thickness, straightness, you name it. So I changed it quite alot over the years. I even had a loooong period (years) of always teasing and making these incredible, HUGE hairstyles. Because I never felt my hair was good enough, big enough, special enough...

But now I've made a comitment to grow my hair out. And I want to become friends with my hair and appreciate it for what it is: MY very own, personal, uniqe and NATURAL hair. I want to do this the natural way, to see what my hair is capable of on its own. That is what drives me not to change my colour.

[Angeletti]

Your too nice Maverick494, thanks! As for your question this is probably the longest time I've had the same color without getting bored so I'm a little shocked. For some reason I just love how my color looks against my fair skin tone and since I always love wearing black it matches my clothes. Probably another reason why I stay happy with it is because I know I'm "stuck" with the color unless I want to damage my hair by using harsh chemicals to lighten it so that kind of makes up my mind about not changing it anytime soon. I do love hair with the dark red henna color, I have always wanted to try it out so maybe some day I will have to cave in and change my color. : )

[Unofficial_Rose]

I use henndigo. I have de-henndigoed and had highlights but that involves several highlighting sessions and cutting off any green bits. Just to end up going back to henndigo when the 3rd lot of highlights fried my hair too much to ever consider another highlighting session. The whole thing was such a massive pain in the arse I'm not in a hurry to repeat it.

Guess I'll be sticking with this dark brown for a while. At least I can do the roots myself.

[TrudieCat]

I fantasize about henna a lot, but I know from past dyeing experiences that I would hate the root upkeep and most likely just wish for my natural color back since I do like it. I like to think about where I see my hair color reflected in the natural world. My hair is basically the same color as a puma, which is cool because I am fascinated by wild cats. It's also the color of dry fields in the fall, after they've been harvested, and beach sand on a cloudy day. I like to think about how my hair matches some of the earth around me, makes me feel better about it. :)

[foggybrooke]

I have never colored my hair, and I think I can safely say, I never will. Not because I love my own hair color, I don't. I am terrified of damage, and cringe at the thought of the required up-keep.

So, I focus on what I do like (the silvers) and admire the colors of others. Although, I have found I tend to prefer natural colors. More often or not when I compliment someone on their hair color, I am told it is their natural color. I suppose they could be telling tall tales but I prefer to think better of most people.

[Coan-Teen]

I know exactly how you feel, Maverick494. When I get bored with my hair (see: way too easily) my first instinct is to cut it. If I for any reason I don't want to cut it, my next instinct is to dye it and I am a former member of the Every-Unnatural-Color-Under-The-Sun club. I've done blue, black, teal, fire engine red, henna, purple, once I even ended up with green from a blue that didn't set properly and loved it. I've always wanted copper-red hair but I know myself well enough to know I would hate keeping up with the roots and eventually stop.

What I definitely know is that I want long hair again. I had it when I was younger, spent about a decade cutting and dying, and now I want it long again. I've had my natural color for about two years now, maybe closer to three, and in the meantime when I've gotten bored I've just gone in for a cut. That's not an option anymore so the antsy genes are acting up screaming, "CHANGE THE COLOR! YOU'RE HAIR IS BORING! BLAHHHHH!"

I am, however, opting to ignore them in favor of the long term goal. I just don't have the patience to bother with root up-keep and I know if I have two-tone hair I'll get frustrated and cut it off.

[Valdeon]

I guess that is the matter of right attitude. Healthy shiny hair looks really good in any color. It is just MUCH easier to maintain it healthy without any dye or weird procedures aimed to permanently change its natural texture in any way.

I am a medium blond with A LOT of natural high and low lights, and by trial and error I realized that this color is the most flattering for my skin tone.

[Intransigentia]

I also went through years of colours both found and not found in nature. Even though I know my natural colour looks good on me, I do sometimes get cravings to colour, either through boredom, or, lately, henna envy.

For the boredom, I've found there are lots of things to do besides colour: try a new updo, a new toy, a new homemade moisture treatment ingredient, for example.

As far as I can tell, the only cure for henna envy is the mantra, "You don't date henna, you marry it." And I know I can't make the commitment due to laziness among other factors (even though I'm pretty sure it would look really good if I were able to keep it up.)

[pepperminttea]

I think for me, experimenting with colours was something I did several times in a short period, and now it's out of my system. The damage of box dyes was something I didn't even know about prior to using them, and though I didn't bleach beforehand, I tried a number of reds and purples, which faded to a browned-pink, and left my hair a fried mess. I'm glad I tried them, and grew it out during a time (high school) when I didn't need to look professional, but never again. The root upkeep is far too labour intensive for me, and I don't have the charisma to pull off being a redhead if tried henna. If anything dyeing my hair only made me love my natural colour more.

[HintOfMint]

As far as I can tell, the only cure for henna envy is the mantra, "You don't date henna, you marry it."

:rollin:That's the perfect way to describe it, haha!

[gotzbrainz]

i dont, i always reinvent myself with new color, however i envy blondes, im one now and loving it

[redheadlynn]

Being a brown-skinned Indian girl certainly helps. The black hair I was born with simply suits me the best, and the "face lifting" or "warming" highlights simply don't make a difference, except point to the world "hey look, I dyed my hair!" When I had highlighted hair in high school, it was a novelty thing, at best. It did nothing to make me prettier or "brighten" my face. It's hard not to succumb to the lure of novelty though.

It is definitely hard to avoid changing things up! I blame the hormones. :)

For me, it was figuring out why I felt dissatisfied. Often times it wasn't my hair color. If it was, whenever I changed it I felt better.

What hair color best gives out the image you want to project?

[RubyEmpress]

So I am trying to quit the hair dye. Right now I'm using demi-permanent so it's not absolutely terrible for my hair.
However, I am curious to see what a full head of my natural hair looks like again. I'm hoping for shiny virgin hair with reddish gold tones like when I was younger, but we shall see.

[Peter]

For me, I only keep my natural colour because it's black. Dyeing it would mean bleaching it repeatedly, I think, and I don't like the sound of that. Also, I don't want to have to deal with bleaching and dyeing my roots every month, both time-wise and money-wise. If my hair was naturally blonde, I think I would definitely try funky colours like bright blue or pink.

[RubyEmpress]

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs463.ash1/25445_1237916748283_1240170010_30597645_4567321_n. jpg

Here's a good picture of my attempting to grow out my natural hair last year around thanksgiving. There's about a good 3-4 inches of virgin roots there. I guess I could deal with that color.

[prosperina]

I'm not sure... I'm still mad at my hair for fading from the awesome natural golden blond to a draber darker vaguely honey blond.

If you can't make friends with your natural color, pick something that changes the color gently and without damage--that way you're more likely to be happy with your hair because it won't be damaged. For me this meant giving up the bleach (boxed dyes and salon dye) and going with a light henna/cassia mix. Although I do have two inches of undyed hair... I'm tempted to see how long I can go without a root touch up, it doesn't look that bad...

[kwaniesiam]

I don't, which is why I keep changing my mind :(

I'm hoping to settle on something as it grows out though. This is one of the hardest parts for me.

[Inane Romance]

I have the hair-change disease, too. :C

I really really REALLY hate my natural color. In a weird way it sort of looks like my skin, which both grosses me out and makes me look incredibly washed out. It's somewhere between blonde and brown, like a dirty dish towel or something, which looks horrible next to my pale skin. I've been dyeing it for a few years now. At first I went for golden blonde, which was nice, I guess, but not really ME. Then I dyed it to a light brown, which I liked even better for its contrast against my skin. I never went wild with my hair color, I just wanted to find some solid ground that didn't make me look like the living dead. My most recent color is a reddish-brown, and I am completely IN LOVE with it. I don't think I want to stop dyeing it, even though I probably should!

My family has a history of starting out life with blonde hair and ending up with dark brown hair in their 20s. I guess I'm just waiting for my hair to turn completely before I stop dyeing it. My mother, on the other hand, still dyes hers constantly. Her hair is blonde/brown/red/grey/black, like "some sort of inbred mutt's fur", I quote.

I really don't know what to do about my hair color, honestly. Other people have even told me that my natural hair color isn't that great for me, and I've gotten a lot of compliments on my current color...

[nemileo]

I have been changing a lot too, and had everything between very light blonde to black. Even green and blue. I guess it all came down to having healthy hair and a color to match my personality. I also have dark eyes and eyebrows and olive skin, so I felt like I should have dark hair. Even though my hair color is really a greyish dark blonde. So then it is henndigo for me. I am a lot more confident with that than the dark brown box-dye that made my hair dull and damaged. Then I felt like having a "face-lift" for my hair every once in a while. Now I am just happy that my hair feels and looks healthy and natural.

[Henrietta]

Maverick494, I don't see ANY grey tones in your hair. It has red hue to me, which is awesome. My hair lives between "dark blonde" and "light brown" and that's why I like it.I can call myself blonde or brown, it depends on my mood. And the fact that 9 girls in my group have exactly the same hair colour won't destroy my joy:D