Questions for people that have given up bleach for a few years or more

[Rocket22]

Basically I'm wondering if by giving up the bleach did you notice any change in thickness. I have a lot of breakage and am wondering if it's possible to gain a 1/2" or more in thickness. I believe to have really gained thickness it would have taken at least a year or so for the short hairs to get into the ponytail. I don't think after a few months of anything one can say I gain x amount of true hair thickness, (this just does not seem to be possible to me except if one uses maybe henna and it thickens the existing hair) Just looking for some success stories :)

[CurlyZ]

I've bleached for over a decade and gave it up last year.
In March 2010 I had my last "full highlights" and in July 2010 "partial highlights".
I've realized a whole bunch of new hair growing and no breakage in my virgin hair.
So automatically my ponytail got a lot thicker too. If I would guess, it's around 1/4 thicker! :cheese:

[Tatybird]

Well, I haven't bleached my hair over a year now.
I noticed thickness but I am still not sure whether it is just due to the layers that are long enough now to be in the ponytail, or due to the actual thickness of the hair:rolleyes: . I guess I need more time to figure it out. That is why my answer doesn't count. But I'd like to know some good stories too:) , especially because I am thinking about some highlights again:o

[Rocket22]

Thank you and maybe we can get some more people to chime in with experience. I'm assuming when all these hairs (broke off from bleach) catch up it should make it thicker. I have bleached for almost 30 years! yes I said that out loud.. I have no idea what my natural hair would even be like or even how thick it possibly could be, thankfully for the last several years or so I've only bleached the canopy and sides. but I remember many years ago a friend of mine had beautiful ,thick , past waist length hair, natural color and she started bleaching and I couldn't believe the difference in the quality of her hair and how much thinner it got. she used to have this massive ponytail and I saw her after bleaching for a year or two and her poor ponytail was even smaller then mine! it really got me thinking how bad it can be, (of course not enough at that time to stop):confused:

[CurlyZ]

:(
Nobody here to answer our question???

[Kathie]

I think this is a hard one to answer- in the time it takes for your unbleached hair to reach a length where it could contribute to the thickness of a ponytail there could be a variety of reasons why the hair is thicker. But, logic says because of the decreased breakage that not bleaching your hair would make it thicker. Anyways, I havent bleached my hair in over a year- its only just long enough to to fit in a pony, I think there is a small increase in thickness 0.25inch or so :shrug:

[lapushka]

As long as bleach doesn't touch your scalp and you don't exaggerate, I think you're fine. I know someone who bleached for more than twenty years (highlights) and she's got thicker hair than mine. It's no different in thickness than before she started to have highlights done. I've had my hair fully bleached in the past (to apply a different color), and it came out in places, in tiny chunks. They pulled out of the root without me even feeling that hair come out. No way that's healthy. I knew it was something I could expect, because I'd once seen a woman at the hair dresser's go through the exact same experience when she had her hair fully bleached.

[ooo]

the hair it self might get less thick, but you'll still win, because less breakage and taper.

I never had much breakage, but noticed, that my hair got a little thinner after quitting bleach.

[summerjade]

Repeated highlights can cause more breakage on the older hair, which is on the ends. Scalp area may not have as much noticeable breakage because it hasn't been bleached as much. I believe over time it does cause a thinner ponytail.

[CurlyZ]

I think this is a hard one to answer- in the time it takes for your unbleached hair to reach a length where it could contribute to the thickness of a ponytail there could be a variety of reasons why the hair is thicker. But, logic says because of the decreased breakage that not bleaching your hair would make it thicker. Anyways, I havent bleached my hair in over a year- its only just long enough to to fit in a pony, I think there is a small increase in thickness 0.25inch or so :shrug:

:eyebrows:
I've also grown out a year now. And even though my hair is much shorter now (and layered), I've realized when I take all my hair and make a ponytail on the top of my head that my circumference got thicker. Approximately a quarter inch.
Seems like I have less breakage! And my hair looks overall thicker! :cheese:

:rolleyes: WHY did I ever start bleaching????

[practikalmagik]

I've been growing out bleach since 2008 so it's mostly gone now but I've definately noticed that my unbleached hair is thicker, softer and shinier than the bleached hair. The thickness is not massively noticeable on me as I have stupidly thick hair anyway but if your hair was thinner it would probably show up more :)

HTH

[teela1978]

It totally depends on your hair. I've never 'bleached' per say but used to dye regularly. While dying my ponytail circumference was 2", after growing out the dye my ponytail is 3" around. I would shed loads each time I dyed though, which stopped when I quit. If you don't shed a squirrel every time you dye/bleach its probably not an issue.