the secret blonde

[Atherea]

hey everyone!!!!

this is my first post so i hope i get some feedback.:eek:

OK here is the down low! :) I'm a natural dark brown, i have been a strawberry golden Blondie scents 10th grade after my Blonde highlight accident. my hair is pretty long i guess for most people. its very damaged though, but i love being Blonde and most likly will never go back to my ugly, i swear natural grey highlights dark brown hair. anybody got any suggestions to keep my Blonde hair, to keep it as healthy as possible so it will grow longer. some products that would help, like brushes, shampoo/conditioner, oils, etc. it would make me so happy if i got an answer. I'm new to this type of thing. and everyones post have really inspired me to go longer, stronger, and healthier :-)

[Yozhik]

Welcome to LHC! :flower:

I suggest you read some of the articles and check out the VIT (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=32573) (very important threads) list -- those should get you started in the right direction. Also be sure to check out Ursula's standard newbie advice!

There are a number of members who dye their hair blonde and have gorgeously long hair, so it can definitely be done! Hopefully they'll stop by to help out on the specifics.

If you heat style, you may want to cut back on that, and generally treat your hair very gently to compensate for the inevitable damage done by conventional dyes. There are also natural ways of lightening, such as lemon and honey lightening, so you could check those out, too.

Good luck on your hair journey! :)

[chrissy-b]

I know there are some people on here who have sucessfully grown to great lengths while bleaching and/or highlighting their hair and I hope they will post their routines and experiences. However, for the first two years that I was growing my hair, I cut off all the old dye damage and only used cassia and/or henna. I do all the right things for my hair too (wearing it up all the time, oils, gentle combing, etc). Then last year I decided to use a semi-permanent dye three times over the course of the year. My length is damaged from those three semi-permanent dye session. I mention this because we have similar hairtypes and I sure highlighting would've done much more damage to my fine hair. Now I'm spending this year slowly trimming off the damage instead of growing to my goal length.

[Atherea]

thank you for Ur suggestions!!! i really appreciate it! :-)

[Capybara]

Welcome to LHC! There are many ways you can lighten your hair. It's even possible to lighten your hair with cinnamon and honey. However, it's also possible to grow long, beautiful hair while using conventional dyes, as is displayed by many members here! (Carolyn, Curlsgirl, and JustGreen come to mind!)

I'd suggest you check out this thread: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=21256

Good luck!

[ericthegreat]

Welcome to LHC. :)

The first thing you'll learn about this place is that here, no one thinks that their natural haircolor is ever 'ugly'. There's a thread for people who are proud of their greys, and a thread for those proud of their virgin color. There are also many members here who also proudly color and highlight their hair, like myself :). I'm certainly not trying to convince you to stop coloring your hair, just to open up your mind to let you know that if you decided to stop coloring your hair and go natural, that people here would like you just the same.

As to taking care of your hair in a better way, its best to start slow and only try one new thing at a time instead of buying a whole list of new things and then finding out that 8/10 of those things don't even work for you.

For instance, and you don't even have to completely follow my personal haircare routine but I don't even regularly wash my hair with shampoo. I only wash with conditioner, which is known as CO (conditioner only). I have personally found that this method is much gentler on my hair. About once a week, I apply coconut oil to my hair and leave it in overnight as a deep treatment. I wash that out the next morning. I can personally say that coconut oil kept my hair healthy and shiny after all the different colors I've tried. My natural color is jet black, and my current color is the blonde that you see in my avatar.

Good luck in your hair journey here. :)

[Atherea]

thankyou for telling me that,im sorry if i affended anyone. wow u have beutiful hair. i have faith i can grow it out now. i have already bought coconut oil, and olive oil and use it in treatments, and to smooth out my hair. i have also swiched to non saulfate shampoos. im going to try not shamppoing at all some weeks. i only wash my hair about 2 times a week to limit the damage anyway. :cheese:

[spidermom]

Nothing wrong with ash brown hair, but if you want blonde, you can have it. You may not be able to grow it to your knees (I don't see a goal for you), but you can grow it pretty long - waist or hip at least (I've seen bleached hair that long).

[Malibu Barbie]

I color my hair, its been many colors but I keep it light blonde. My natural hue is blonde but a little darker. My hairdresser uses a color that isn't as harsh as bleach. I use shampoo and conditioner (goldwell kerasilk)and right now I follow it up with Agadir Argan oil hair treatment and through the week I spray Agadir oil on my hair everyday. I wash my hair once a week.

I tried the COing and it didn't work for my head. Everyone is different, If you have a good hairdresser ask them. My success in growing my hair has always been due to my hairdressers advice. She knows what she's doing and has been taking care of my hair for over 15 years.

[lundmir]

Hello and welcome! I keep my hair healthy with coconut oil. I use it on my shampoo, as a deep treatment, and as a protective pre treatment whenever I bleach my hair.
I found that last bit of info on this thread http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=10495
and although the number of pages is a little overwhelming, I do suggest you read it. It saved my hair from a lot of abuse!

I'm going blonde right now, if only because I want to have silver long hair this year. My natural color is black.

I wish you the best of results!

[McFearless]

Welcome to the forum:)

I suggest you search for the thread "Bottle blonde grows long". Its full of tips and stories on growing dyed blonde hair long. I think if you limit it to one application of dye- meaning don't layer your dyes and do root touch ups only you'll be okay.