Anyone have the awkward regrown roots? How do you feel about them?

[catarinalaree]

After two years of bleaching and dying all kinds of colors I decided to stop dying my hair and wish to grow long virgin hair but until then I have 1 1/2 inch roots which my mother describes as "disgusting". She's even offered to dye them for me, though she is usually against chemical dyes (she's a henna-head) and it got my self-esteem down because now I feel like I have really horrible hair! Yes it is damaged (no trims until 2012!) but I never knew the difference of color was a problem. My roots are dark brown and the rest of my hair is a light ginger-y brown with blonde ends. Do I keep growing it? You must admit dark overgrown roots look terrible :rolleyes:

[Alaia]

It becomes easier as the regrowth gets longer. I have about 1.5" regrowth too, and it's noticeable. At this stage it just looks like we forgot to go back to the salon :lol: I was very careful to only go 1 or 2 shades lighter than my natural colour, and as it grows it will just look like natural lightening for me.

As it gets longer it's more obvious we don't want to dye any more.

If the colour difference is huge, maybe dye the length a colour closely matched to your natural colour. If it is darker than the colour they are now, a deposit only dye won't cause as much damage as if you had to lighten the hair!

[amaiaisabella]

My roots are bad for sure, but I'm going to the salon today so I might not be the best example ;) The difference is that my length is faded from bleaching and so I am using a demi on the length.

If you really hate the contrast, you can use one of those deposit-only colors that you don't mix with anything on your head. It won't damage your hair any further. Something like Loving Care, Jazzing, and the like will help minimize the contrast between roots and lengths until it grows out enough where the demarcation is less obvious.

[catarinalaree]

I'm sooo afraid of getting into the dyeing cycle again because it has taken me ages to get into my head that my hair can't take it anymore. Deposit-only dyes do sound like a good idea cos the contrast really is hideous but it will take some further thinking because last time I tried something non-permanent or less damaging like henna, I ended up bleaching thrice. I so admire those with naturally lighter hair because having dark brown hair is making me look paler than ever but I'm never hitting the bottle (well at least bleach) again.

[apynip]

I went through a process of bleaching and dying etc too. And then I henna'd it till it was a semi decent colour... Its like a weird ginger colour with odd chunky highlights.... its just not very attractive... but anyways... my roots are 2.5 inches and they are an ashy light/medium brown and i HATE them but i'm not dying any more so i'm having to live with them.

good luck with growing them out. they will look alot better once it grows past the ears or chin depending on how long yoru hair is then you get the ombre effect.

[tiny_teesha]

Like the others i'm going to suggest using a deposit only dye. They really aren't that expensive. Buy one from your local shop, a cheap brand will do, even a rinse type thing. IF your lengths are darker it wont be able to tell so much. :)
Otherwise just deal with it or you could go the other route. Maybe (and i wouldn't go with this) lighten your roots a shade between your natural and the colour your dyed hair is. That way the demarcation will be gradual. Then you can regrow and it will slowly get lighter instead of "dark roots" "light hair" it will be "dark roots" "medium hair" "light hair". Does that make sence? But you'd have to start re-growing your virgin roots all over again.

[MsBubbles]

There are a whole load of us over on this thread (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=51155)...you will have plenty of company!

[spidermom]

I've never cared about two- or more-toned hair. I bleached for awhile and stopped as a teenager. I hennaed about 10 years ago (once), then stopped. It does look rather shocking at first because the line of demarcation is so obvious. But the more you grow, the less obvious it is.

On the other hand, I'm really fussy about having even ends, so go figure.

[lemonmelon]

I had roots for a while but then I made the decision to dye my bleached hair to match my roots and have not regretted it.

The way I see it, you're going to be living with these roots for a very long time, so why not make it easier on yourself? When I had it dyed, I went to a hairdresser who dyed the bleached hair a few shades darker then my natural hair so that eventually the bleached area faded into my natural color and I no longer have the sharp line separating the two.

[catarinalaree]

Thank you MsBubbles for introducing me to the thread. I somehow am not able to search for threads :/

[catarinalaree]

Still not sure whether to dye it or not. At the rate my hair grows (next to nothing every month, I'm sure the weather has something to do with it) it will take me a VERY long time. Actually I think that my hair is so tortured, it holds on to no kind of colour. I just noticed how many times I've dyed my hair medium brown and most of my length is still blonde. Henna has useless too :rolleyes:

[catarinalaree]

Just in case you want a look at the current state of my hair I will try to link a picture - I don't think I'm allowed to post pictures directly (too much of a newbie probably). http://www.flickr.com/photos/42680507@N05/5978505730/in/photostream

http://www.flickr.com/photos/42680507@N05/5978508028/in/photostream/

Hope they're ok :)

[Bohemian Haze]

Hi :) I've been growing out bleach damage for the past year....6 inches of very noticable roots. Get lots of comments on them and lots of offers to dye my hair for me......I dunno why people think that I'm not capable of dying them myself - IF I wanted to do!
If you're determined -keep going. You could try a deposit-only colour on the length if you want to have less of a 'line' as it grows, as has already been suggested. Ignore the comments from others; it's up to you what you do with your hair :)

[Unofficial_Rose]

How about some good old-fashioned lowlights? I know they fade, but by that time it will have grown out a bit more. Maybe wearing it up will make it less obvious, too.

[McFearless]

There are so many of us in the thread http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=51155

You just have to hang in there and stay patient. Before you know it the colour no longer becomes an issue. It gets easier and easier, you just have to pass the awkward stage of short roots. :)

[naereid]

Hang in there! Beginnings are the worst because it just seems like you let yourself go, I know. Once the roots get to a decent size, it looks more like you're doing it on purpose. At least that's how I feel. :grnbiggri

You're lucky in the respect that your length is lighter than the roots - as someone above already said, you can easily even it out with little damage. I know it's scary and sounds like you're giving your new beliefs up. But if that one little sacrifice will help you feel better about your two-toned situation... it's worth it. Growing out dye is hard enough by itself, don't make it even harder for yourself if you don't have to. :)