Will previously bleached hair affect natural hair colour growth?! (Pics)

[mockingbird12]

Hi :D I'll cut a long story short and make this as brief as possible .... about 6 months ago I asked a hairdresser to put some blonde in my dark purple-brown hair. I said 'some' but he basically gave me a full colour. He left bleach on my hair for about 3 hours and my hair was pretty stringy after :( . It wasn't even blonde! I went on holiday and used John Frieda lightening Spray which lightened it a bit, then went over the darker patches with a bleaching kit.
My ends were snapping off a bit, so i went to a different hairdresser and stressed that i only wanted about an inch off. so i went home with 3 inches of hair missing and my trust in hairdressers gone :( (I've since learnt to trim my hair myself!)

Anyway, I've now decided to just grow my natural colour out. I've been dying my hair since I was about 15, so for the first time in 5 years I've seen my natural colour.
I've also decided to grow my hair out really long and was mainly making this post to ask if my bleached hair will affect it's length in any way? I've read about how damaged hair just snaps off/needs trimming so your hair length doesn't seem to increase?!

After 6 months I've gained about 3-4 inches of roots and i've been trying to compare the quality of it to the bleached hair. My ends are fine, I haven't seen any 'white spots' that people have mentioned on here. My hair is naturally quite straight so i've never really used heat styling tools, I use a wide comb to detangle and i'm trying to wash my hair as less as possible. My sister said it looked thinner but I think that might be because the hairdresser put thicker layers in and my longer layers look thinner .. but is it possible my hair has got thinner? :confused:

I use Kerastase Age-recharge Masque about once a month or whenever i can be bothered, and usually leave it on over night, it's a protein injecting thing so thats meant to help it right?? I read about a conditioner someone made on here that involves honey but does anyone know if this will affect the colour of my hair?
And before i bleached my hair i used to have it up all the time, now i've read that it's bad to have your hair up ... but on here i've read it's better for it :confused:

I'd really appreciate any replies or advice! Sorry i made this so long.... I've attached some pictures so you can see what i'm describing better


http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s126/j_c2/DSCF3226.jpg


http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s126/j_c2/300028_10150267307274211_520714210_8013237_2857662 _n.jpg

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s126/j_c2/281285_2242187059629_1396673748_32585553_5802900_n .jpg

[BabyRay33]

I actually am not seeing hair that looks terribly damaged. It looks pretty healthy to me! But bleaching my hair in the past did make it seem thinner to me too. But it could be a few things... the colors could be messing with you...meaning your roots look thicker. Or it could be that there is some breakage that is thinning it out. I think to be safest, you should take some measurements for your thickness and keep track. That way you'll know for sure.

And balance your protein treatments with moisture too! If you overdo it on the protein, it can make your hair snap. There is an article about identifying what your hair needs: protein or moisture somewhere around here...

[MychelleC]

My hair has been many colors over the years and it did not negatively impact my ability to get length. Trim every 3-4 months so you can get length while cutting off the damage slowly. Nothing looks worse than hair to your butt with damage from the mid-back down, you know? I have also learned the hard way about stylists - not that I don't trust them, but that you have to do your homework. Get recommendations from people whose hair you admire and ask a few questions before you let anyone take scissors or dye to your hair. Where and when were they trained, where have they worked, what is their specialty, etc. Find a qualified stylist and be loyal. The better your stylist knows your hair the happier your hair will be. Good luck!

[ZeppHead]

I used to color my hair dark and light for about ten years and I don't see my natural color effected by it. Your roots and your bleached hair actually look fine to me if you are trying to grow out your natural color. It actually looks very pretty! Keep treating it well and giving it treatments and getting regular trims.

[Demetrue]

Bleaching can end up stripping away the cuticle that covers the hair shaft, so indeed, each hair can feel thinner in diameter than before it was bleached, and breakage of some of the hair along the length can mean that you have less overall hairs that reach all the way down to the ends. The virgin hair at the roots has the cuticle intact, so will still grow in at whatever your normal thickness was before you bleached, and they are less prone to break off, so you will get your natural fullness back as well. Your hair looks very pretty, by the way, bleached AND natural.

[pepperminttea]

Off topic, but are you sure your hair is 4a/b? That normally looks more like this (http://images.google.co.uk/search?tbm=isch&hl=en&source=hp&biw=1366&bih=641&q=type+4+hair&gbv=2&oq=type+4+hair&aq=f&aqi=g3g-m1&aql=&gs_sm=e&gs_upl=488l3499l0l3677l11l9l0l0l0l0l259l1482l0.5.3 l8l0). :)

[mockingbird12]

Ahh thanks for letting me know my hair isn't a lost cause!
Does anyone what products i can use to put moisture into my hair?

[mockingbird12]

when i signed up i didnt know what the numbers and letters stood for lol , but yeah .. i dont actually have 5in afro hair :)

[racrane]

Your hair definitely isn't a lost cause! It just needs some TLC, that's all. :)

[McFearless]

The ombre colour looks really good on you. I don't see damage at all, your hair looks silky and I'm sure you can get to long lengths. There are many people here who dye and bleach their hair. If you are looking for moisture you have quite a few options. What shampoo and conditioner do you currently use?

[mockingbird12]

Shampoo is just a plain vosene one and conditioner.. at the moment im using a vo5 blonde one. I know i should use ones without chemicals etc but i just dont know what ones to get :(
And thank you! i was going for the ombre look!

[Aeltt]

And before i bleached my hair i used to have it up all the time, now i've read that it's bad to have your hair up ... but on here i've read it's better for it :confused:
Both are true. ^^'
Putting hair up protects it from damage, but if you wear it in the same style everyday it can damage it.

Nightshade's article about damaged hair : "
Repetitive Handling& Hair Toys- Twisting your hair the same way, tying off a braid in the exact same place, putting a ponytail in at the nape every day, well, that's repetitive stress on your hair. Altering how you style your hair, and using non-damaging hair toys, such as hair sticks rather than elastics goes a long way to minimizing areas of repetitive stress."

And i agree, your hair looks healthy. If your actual shampoo and conditioner work it's okay to keep it :)

[PorkChop]

Im in a dilemma at the moment with my hair. I get roots and highlights touched up every few months.

I want long hair, I want waist length hair, is this really possible to achieve with me bleaching it?
To me it doesnt SEEM too damaged. And i use no heat styling.

[xoxophelia]

Don't worry about it too much. It has given you a little bit of a bedhead look but honestly you are cute and pull it off. It will take a bit for your virgin hair to grow out but I have been doing it myself and it isn't too bad in the long run.

[09robiha]

Although my hair is currently black I have had in the past red, purple, pink, blue.....lots of unatural colours which required bleaching. I do think the use of bleach has effected my growth somewhat. The ends have needed to be trimmed more often to get rid of the damage which means im going a bit slower than some...however my hair is fine and curly but lots of protein in hair products and conditoners have really helped to keep my hair on track. I know people who have done a lot less to there hair than mine but there lack of haircare means its in far far worse conditon.

Maybe just doing the roots and not touching any previously bleached hair will help? I know theres several memebers on the board that do this and they still have beautiful long manes :) my hair just couldnt handle that. Treat your hair like lace and make bleaching your only sin towards it (no heat, gentle combing etc etc and you may be okay!

[knoxkatie]

Doing things to the length of your hair (bleaching, cutting, etc) cannot affect the growth rate or the quality of hair growing out of your head.

[Makyle]

The colour of your hair is genetic I don't think anything you do to the length can affect your actual hair colour.