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View Full Version : Coloured hair vs Virgin



TaraTilly
May 15th, 2011, 04:37 AM
Okay so I started colouring my hair 3 years ago when my hair was at my shoulders length. I love the uniquness of my hair and I'm always receiving comments on whether its real or not
And it is :D I beg the question, do you really need virgin hair to have it grow long? My hair grows at about 1 and ahalf - 2 inches a month and I only colour my roots when they come in. I have a very hard regimen for my hair
It keeps it soft and shiny, I sometimes think my hair is nicer than some virgin hair I've seen and its all in how you take care of it. I use a lot of jojobo, olive oil, keratin, etc and it just keeps growing. I eventually want to colour my hair an auburn colour when it gets long enough
And leave it (u can colour your hair close to ur natural and leave it and ur hair will restore itself to virgin after about a year or two believe me I've done it! Some pple say this is impossible but I've done it) even my under length, it used to be black as I wud colour it every month but after a year -2 of not colouring it
The colour has turned from black to my natural auburn red hair, I know this becasuse there's almost 4-5 inchs of virgin hair that's grown above it and you can see its the same. So I beg to ask the question, does virgin hair really make a difference than coloured? Or is it the way we take care of it.
Let me know what anyone else thinks and what your advices are!! Thanks everybody

CrystalStar
May 15th, 2011, 04:57 AM
I think, once hair is dyed, it's been exposed to chemicals and that can't be undone. The same can be said for bleaching.. I used to bleach my hair, and even though that was 2 years ago the damage is done. I treat it well to the best of my ability, but I have hair that has been exposed to chemicals and nothing I do can change that!

Hair that has never been dyed will be less damaged than hair that has been dyed, but that isn't to say all hair that has been dyed is instantly bad damaged hair. Some people, especially those with C hair have very hardy strands that can withstand a lot of beating! Mine withstood 5 years of bleach and are still standing..

Once hair has been dyed it isn't virgin anymore. You can bring it back to it's natural colour with colorfix, and washing the dye out, but the definition of virgin is that the dye hasn't been used on it. You can take care of dyed hair and keep it in good condition and it sound like you take brilliant care of your hair, but your undyed hair would probably be stronger just for the sheer fact that it hasn't had any chemical exposure. :)

Pierre
May 15th, 2011, 05:10 AM
It depends on what you color it with, as well as how coarse and strong your hair is to begin with. The main culprit is a mix of ammonia and peroxide (or something) called "developer", which lifts the cuticle and lightens the natural color. Deposit-only color won't do as much damage, and henna actually strengthens hair. I've never colored my hair except with henna, and my hair is down to my waist (not right now, it's braided around my head).

beccababesx
May 15th, 2011, 05:11 AM
I think it's one of those things where you'll be fine as long as you only want to grow to waist length or shorter. The damage of dying, especially bleaching, would probably make it impossible to grow longer than waist/hip length, due to breakage etc.
At the end of the day, there's no point in having long hair that you don't enjoy, so do whatever you like to it if it makes you happy :D
On a side note, first post! :cheese:

pepperminttea
May 15th, 2011, 05:15 AM
I beg the question, do you really need virgin hair to have it grow long?

Not necessarily, but if hair has taken a beating from bleach, many dyes, excessive heat-styling, or just rough treatment, it can be a lot harder. Granted, your hairtype seems very resilient, and your dedicated care regimen must help a lot. :) On finer textured hair, I'm not sure it'd stand up so well, even with all the care in the world - some hair just breaks easily, but some people win the hair-lottery and end up with hair that grows no matter what's thrown at it. :shrug:

But hair will never 'restore itself' to virgin, or undamaged. It just doesn't work that way - hair is dead once it leaves the scalp, it can't heal itself. All the damage is cumulative, and once it's damaged to the point where no protein or moisture treatments can help it, the only way to change that is to eventually cut it off. You can dye it to match, and treat it well, but it will never technically be virgin. If your hair's still in good condition and you enjoy it though, it doesn't really matter. :D

Angeletti
May 15th, 2011, 06:58 AM
It's definitely possible to grow your hair long when you color it, just look at my siggy pic as proof : ) I believe it's all about how you take care of your hair and what your doing to it... if your bleaching the heck out of it constantly and have weak hair then it's possible your hair will break off before it reaches longer lengths vs. if you use deposit only hair color (what I tend to do). Every person is different though and some people can get away with bleaching their hair while having it long because their hair is very resilient.

Lilli
May 15th, 2011, 07:10 AM
Well, you are young and lovely, so your hair might be able to take more abuse now, but as you grow older, it may not survive it. Though I am only 33, my hair is definitely drier and less smooth than it was only 10 years ago, and I don't even color mine.

Sunsailing
May 15th, 2011, 10:27 AM
So I beg to ask the question, does virgin hair really make a difference than coloured? Or is it the way we take care of it.

It all depends. How many shades away from the natural color? Going lighter or darker? Over the counter, or professional product?

Is there colored hair out there in better shape than some virgin hair? Absolutely.

Coloring hair will not make it healthier, but it will not always ruin your hair. In the case of grey hair, it can actually help the texture.

My hair was just beginning to turn grey when I decided to grow mine. My wife said "No" to long, grey hair on me. So I began to get the grey covered. I've been having my hair colored from the time I began growing it.....and have continued.

I believe your second question is key. How the hair is cared for daily makes the most difference. Don't wait until you see problems, then try to fix them.

But I will add this....If that avatar picture is you, I would say beaching your hair like that will do more damage than almost anything else you might do to it.

jojo
May 16th, 2011, 06:11 PM
Th op is only touching up her roots so I cannot see how she couldn't get to longer lengths? She is getting excellent growth too

Kristamommyx3
May 16th, 2011, 06:46 PM
My hair is colored treated. I am a dark blonde or light brown naturally, so it's not too far off of my natural color. I let my natural virgin hair grow for about four years, gave it proper time to see what it was like, and I couldn't stand it. So I went back to coloring it last year. My hair is very healthy and it is now just reaching waist without any damage or splits. I only touch up the roots, too.

ange1ito
May 16th, 2011, 07:01 PM
i suppose it's not too bad if you are just depositing, i keep away from bleach and permanent's these days

teela1978
May 16th, 2011, 07:14 PM
Depends entirely on your hair, how fast it grows, how it responds to damage inducing chemicals, and how you treat it after.

Example:
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=53806
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=53806
(I wish we hadn't chased this woman off, she's awesome)

growingpains
May 16th, 2011, 07:16 PM
As others have said:lightening is harder on your hair than going darker. But, the amount of damage you will have really depends on your hair. Someone with C hair may very well have pretty close to as healthy as virgin hair and cause of the shine from dye it's possible it LOOKS even better (though it won't actually BE better, as damage is often to the cortex and invisible).

I have very fine hair (the only reason it's an f/m rather than f is cause of a few courser hairs underneath) and if I bleach my hair (which trust me I have many times) it will literally disintegrate. It doesn't matter if I do it at home in one go or at a salon over time, when I bleach my hair I (and most others with fine hair) will have some serious damage.

That said, I used to dye my medium brown hair a shade or so darker/richer with over the counter dye for many years. I never noticed any damage from doing that every few months, it was only when I started dying more frequently going lighter or trying to change between colors that my hair was messed. So while I think it's possible for dye to not damage hair severely, with the right dye and circumstances, I don't believe dyed hair is EVER as healthy as virgin.

But really, who cares? If you like dyed hair and it's working for you, power to you, no matter that it may technically be slightly worse for your hair, especially if you are not trying to grow to extreme lengths (i.e. past classic).

Mesmerise
May 16th, 2011, 09:12 PM
Okay so I started colouring my hair 3 years ago when my hair was at my shoulders length. I love the uniquness of my hair and I'm always receiving comments on whether its real or not
And it is :D I beg the question, do you really need virgin hair to have it grow long? My hair grows at about 1 and ahalf - 2 inches a month and I only colour my roots when they come in. I have a very hard regimen for my hair
It keeps it soft and shiny, I sometimes think my hair is nicer than some virgin hair I've seen and its all in how you take care of it. I use a lot of jojobo, olive oil, keratin, etc and it just keeps growing. I eventually want to colour my hair an auburn colour when it gets long enough
And leave it (u can colour your hair close to ur natural and leave it and ur hair will restore itself to virgin after about a year or two believe me I've done it! Some pple say this is impossible but I've done it) even my under length, it used to be black as I wud colour it every month but after a year -2 of not colouring it
The colour has turned from black to my natural auburn red hair, I know this becasuse there's almost 4-5 inchs of virgin hair that's grown above it and you can see its the same. So I beg to ask the question, does virgin hair really make a difference than coloured? Or is it the way we take care of it.
Let me know what anyone else thinks and what your advices are!! Thanks everybody

It depends on your hair! It already seems as if you have long hair, and if you've managed that with coloured hair, then of course it is possible to grow it long.

Some people, though, experience a lot more damage than others and find it much, much harder to grow it significantly long if it's got too much damage.

I have grown my hair with dye damage... not super super long, but it's almost waist length now and it's been dyed (at least the ends have) probably 20+ times lol. However, I don't know how good my hair would be if I were trying to grow it classic length or longer!