Colour Help

[Gwen]

Hi everyone,

I'm hoping someone can help me out with a colour question. I currently have bleach blonde hair, but I want it gone. NOW. I've tossed around the idea of going back to my original colour for some time now (which is an ash blonde colour). But I just got back from the salon where we touched up my roots (with the bleach) and I've decided that this is it. No more bleach! I want my length and healthy hair back and the only way I can get both of those is if I stop bleaching it.

Is there any way I can colour my hair over top of the bleach without damaging it? Can anyone recommend a good brand of hair dye? I'm not sure if I'm going to do it myself yet, but I just want to know what my options are. I'm done with the bleach and I'm not sure I have the patience to wait two months so that it can grow out and I can do something about it.

Thanks for your help!
Gwen

[MsBubbles]

Hi Gwen! There are many of us following the same journey. A lot of us already have waist length or longer hair, so we have rehashed this same question over and over! Check out the thread here on the main forum called "Giving up the dye/bleach and growing out natural? Share your progress."

I'm no good at linking to threads. I somehow always do it wrong. I may go back there and 'bump' the thread so you can see it.

Anyway, for me I tried to get my stylist (who used to do such a great job of highlighting my hair) to color over my ends to match my roots. Well the whole thing turned out a horrible greyish, greenish mud colour. Luckily it washed out completely in about 4 months - I used to wash my entire hair length every day.

People here have tried various substances and dyes and had either no or varying results. I think the safest way to try to cover your bleach is to use something temporary so it'll wash out if you hate it. Although if your hair is very bleached and porous, it may take more to remove a colour mistake. Even those who were able to colour successfully over their bleach to blend with their roots line eventually found that colour washed out over time.

A lot of us have decided to just grin and bear the demarcation line until it's all grown out. Some brave souls chop off all their hair and start again!

ETA: I am by no means the authority on this and we do have some hair dressers/stylists/colorists on the board who hopefully can chime in and give you better advice!

[spidermom]

I bleached in high school, and when I decided to stop, I stopped. There was a demarcation line for awhile, but it gradually blended better as my hair grew longer. Right now, Ombre hair is all the rage, so it's a good time to look modern as you grow out your natural hair color.

What I've observed in other people is that the more they try to correct color, the more damaged the hair gets and the more awful the color gets. To be fair, I've seen a few successes, too, usually at the hands of an experienced stylist (but sometimes they make things a lot worse, so your mileage may vary).