Wonderful "side effect" of giving up chemical dye

[Rini]

I've used chemical dye for the last couple of years (before that I was a henna head) to "blend" my white roots with my blonde hair. I was using a permanent low vol tint in the same colour as my hair. Last October I gave it up and decided to go all natural. I have a good 2 and a half inches or so of virgin growth now and I'm really pleased with the way it's looking.

Lately, I've noticed that I have a lot of short hairs on my head that are coincidentally about 2.5 inches as well! They are soft and curly/ringlety and look quite nice all around my face. I even have a sort of mini fringe of ringlets going on :D I am concluding that perhaps this is hair that would normally grow, except my previous regular root dyeing may have been preventing it. I know that chemical hair dye can cause breakage and other damage, but I did not think that it may prevent hair from growing. Maybe it causes some sort of scalp damage that hurts the folicles? I'm just speculating here of course. Either way, I'm very happy that I may end up with more hair because of my decision to go natural :cheese:That's such a bonus for me, healthy hair AND more of it!

Has anyone else noticed this with their hair? What do you think caused it?

(btw, I have not had any big sheddings lately, so it's not the regrowth that I sometimes get after a big shed. This regrowth seems to be mainly around the front and sides of my head, whereas the regrowth after a shedding period is sort of all over. Also, this regrowth is lovely and silky and oh so curly :inlove: )

[luluj]

ME! I couldn't agree with you more, Rini! I gave up coloring in August 2008 and have never looked back. My hair feels better and looks better than it ever has (unless you count childhood!LOL!) I have the exact same fringe of mini ringlets that you describe and haven't had a major shed since I cut off the damaged hair (resulting in a very short crop) in December 2008. I found TLHC in August 2009 and the rest is history!

[Rini]

Yay! Well done :D Your hair looks gorgeous btw :inlove:

I only asked because it was a side effect of not dyeing that I hadn't heard of before.....it's good to know that it does happen!

[Henrietta]

I am happy that it happened:) Congratulations! Good to know you are happy with your hair:)

[ChatNoir]

This has happened to me as well. I stopped dyeing my hair last summer (2010) and I've experienced a lot of new growth! :D Happy to hear there are more of us! Congrats!

[katgib]

I generally wait a long time in between colorings because 1) the color I use is not far off from my original color, and 2) My hair hates me a little more every time I do it. In that time, I notice little hairs start shooting straight up out of my head. They're dark brown (my hair is medium blonde) and have tight waves. I'm not sure if it is actually related to not using chemical dyes for an extended period of time, but since you brought it up, I guess it's something to consider. I'm glad that yours are cute ringlets and not weird little Einstein hairs like mine. Haha :D

[Dyefree]

Meeeeeee!

The last time I bleached and dyed was the 28th September 2010.... I have almost 2 inches of regrowth and I too have a halo of almost 2 inch hairs sticking up at the front. It's definitely regrowth as the ends are tapered.


I even googled to see if other people had experienced the same.... So does dying make hair fall out? Stop new growth?

[OperaTeacherMom]

Someone else posted something similar the other day here: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=63177

Taking better care of your hair has lots of great side effects :)

[teela1978]

I gained a full inch of circumference when I stopped dying my hair (from 2" to 3"). I think for me it was more due to insane shedding that happened every time I dyed though.

[Loviatar]

Me too Rini - it seems like the best side effect. (I do henna though.)

[mellie]

Me too!!

Congrats on all your new growth!! :cheer:

[HairFaerie]

It must be the season for this!

I have a lot of "fuzzies" on the top of my head that are new growth, particularly on the right side where I get a thin patch. It makes me frustrated but happy at the same time. Frustrated because the fuzzies look a bit dorky sticky up!

I still chemically dye, so I have attributed the new growth to castor oil!

[Rini]

Someone else posted something similar the other day here: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=63177

Taking better care of your hair has lots of great side effects :)


Ah OK, I didn't see that. I have been taking excellent care of my hair since joining LHC 5 years ago, so I considered my hair to be in very good condition (despite the chemical root dyeing every couple of months or so).

I am genuinely suprised to see all this new growth! It seems I'm not alone either, and others have noticed new growth after just quitting the dye. I think it is possible that chemical dye may actually suppress hair growth shudder:

teela1978: Wow...you got a full inch increase in circumference? That's amazing!!!:cheese:

[Lianna]

Whoa! This way you ladies inspire me to give up hair dyes. ;) No, I couldn't, I love the fake color too much and my hair is thick enough. I also have this mini fringe of new growth, and gets 3a curly too! But I have bangs growing out so that might be some of it.

[KimmieWeiss]

I dyed my hair like crazy for a long time... mostly because of that colorsilk motto "leaves your hair in better condition". So I dyed, and dyed, and waited for my hair to be in better condition lol. Chemical dyes never made my hair better condition, gave it brief nice color which quickly washed out. Virgin hair is best, but I was tired of my natural color. Henna hair is much better condition than chemically dyed hair. Yes, when I stopped using chemical dye I noticed little springy hairs also. they did not match my longer smooth hairs

[dropinthebucket]

I have a ton of new hairs growing in, as well - I might even make it from F/i into the i/ii range if this keeps up! They're all about 4- 6 inches long, just about as much as my hair has grown since I stopped colouring it about a year ago. I started taking silica and a multi about that time as well, though, and biotin and MSM soon after that, so it's hard to know which has done the trick, lack of chemicals, or supplements. Maybe they're all working together! :)