Virgin Hair - Why never dye?

[Changling]

SO I CAN LIVE FOREVER! :D

Sorry, that's a silly joke. Anyhow, I searched for a virgin hair thread, and I couldn't find one. I used to dye my hair SO MUCH (way too much), and after about ten years of that, I shaved my head and went au naturale. No dyes, no perms, no chemicals on my hair. Since I started lurking here, I've switched from SC to BS and ACV rinses, and I love it! I've always been a lover of nature, and it seemed odd that my hair was so very unnatural.

I'm starting this thread as a place for support in resisting the temptation of dye. What about you? What makes you feel like you want to start dyeing again? What keeps you from buying a box of hairdye, in the end? How long has it been since the last time you dyed your hair? Do you do something new, to take the place of dyeing? Do you consider a temporary tea rinse to be hair dye (and therefor not use it)?

[Alaia]

Check out this thread (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=51155).

I'm growing my hair virgin because I'm lazy. I can't be arsed to dye it all the time :p

[HuggyBear]

In my teens and early 20s I used to dye my hair all the time just to change up my look. After a bad experience where I accidentally turned my hair green, I quit cold turkey and learned to love my natural color. Any time I even consider picking up the dye again, I remember how horrible my hair looked and felt after I had to have it stripped and dyed after the green debacle. I am proud to say that I have resisted the temptation to dye my hair for about 15 years now. However, I do brighten my hair with honey lightening treatments every once in a while. :)

[Changling]

@ Alaia, I'm the same way! I used to be lazy about touching up my roots, etc, and my hair would look horrible more often than fabulous...I just said, forget it! My natural color will NEVER look fake and faded! haha

I saw that thread before, but I felt like that was more for people who already had dyed hair, and were trying to grow it out. It seems like a different set of challenges rather than having virgin hair, and resisting the temptation to try something new.

@Huggybear, I'm considering trying tea rinses if I ever get the urge to dye again - do you have any experience with that? Do you know if it can permanently change the color of your hair in any way, or does the color just sort of coat the hair and eventually wash off?

[Kapri]

I still dye my hair BUT I look at younger women and men with the lovely skin-tone flattering shades they were born with and wish I could say to them 'It is lovely, it suits your coluring and you will wish you had enjoyed what you had naturally when, later in in life, you find yourself caught up in the hassle of maintaining colour etc.'

[HuggyBear]

@Changling - I have used chamomile tea rinses but never noticed a real difference in color. I think tea rinses only deposit color that usually rinses out unless it stains your hair.

[Changling]

@Changling - I have used chamomile tea rinses but never noticed a real difference in color. I think tea rinses only deposit color that usually rinses out unless it stains your hair.

I guess staining is probably something you'd have to worry about if you had lighter hair...mine's fairly dark, I thought of trying a sage rinse sometime. But ideally, I'll try to stick with my natural color. The tea is just an idea for if I'm afraid I'm going to go insane some night and dye the hair I waited so long for.

[Bianca]

Sometimes I will catch a glimpse of my hair in wrong lighting and totally get the urge to color it, but that quickly goes ago, when I start to think about the damage, the upkeep, the all one color look. Natural is just best for me. I grew out bleach and henna for some years, and its all virgin today, took about 3 years. In the growing out part I actually bought a hair color twice, a golden blonde, but returned it both times. Think that was kinda funny :p

When I was younger I dyed it every month, plus bleached it all the time. With no worries. Today I would be sooo scared to dye it again.

I do think dyed hair can look pretty, but more often I just see bleached blond heads of hair here in denmark, which is more yellow than blonde really, and im guessing most of them have my color, dark blonde/golden blonde underneath all that bleach. Im sometimes wondering why they all wanna look alike and dye over that pretty color they have naturally. But off course, we all have different taste. They are probably wondering why i'm not dying my boring ashy hair too and joining their yellow-haired-clone clan :D

[spidermom]

I'll bump another thread for you "long count for natural length"; check it out.

[Pixie0763]

I dyed for years out of boredom. I had my hair really short over the last 3 years; so I quit trying to keep up dye. I have beautiful silver sparkles now and really dark auburn hair. It feels so much healthier, I'll never go back to dying it! :)

[CavySong]

I shared this in another thread but it fits here. When ever I am tempted to dye I remember how my mom felt after a dye disaster. She had not waited long enough after a perm to touch up her roots. She was a natural dark brunette with blond from a bottle. I was helping her color her hair when it started to fall off in gooey lumps. She ended up with essentially a shaggy crew cut. She wore a wig for a LONG time.

Anything that can do that to hair has to be damaging in even small amounts. I stay far away.

[Kapri]

If you catch your dyed hair in the wrong light it looks yellowy or orangey and very fake!

[ktani]

Tea stains for me are temporary. Hair that is very dry or porous can hold on to stains longer.

I wanted to blend/cover grey and I wanted to see if I could replace conditioner with a plant tea. I succeeded with catnip.

Dying one's hair is a personal choice and there are many ways to achieve a change in hair colour from tea stains, to vegetable stains (like carrot juice) to permanent dyes like henna to Elumen (deposit only and it can cover grey) and the list goes on.

You can have very healthy dyed hair, even using peroxide based products. Many people here have beautiful dyed hair at long lengths.

[Zesty]

I only dyed my hair once -- when I was 14 and restless, I got the front of my hair bleached and dyed red, which quickly faded to orange. The difference in how the bleached part felt compared to how my virgin hair felt was shocking. It was rough and dry and not at all the soft shiny hair I was used to (my hair is naturally a dark brown). So my mom took me to her hair stylist and I got my hair cut off into a pixie and dyed something like my natural color, mostly because I just couldn't do the upkeep.

I've been growing my hair out slowly ever since, and I'll never change my hair color again, because it's pretty and my hair looks and feels better in its natural state! Every once in a while I think, "Wouldn't it make my skin tone look better if my hair were lighter?" but then I think about lightening damage and immediately change my mind.

[heidi w.]

SO I CAN LIVE FOREVER! :D

Sorry, that's a silly joke. Anyhow, I searched for a virgin hair thread, and I couldn't find one. I used to dye my hair SO MUCH (way too much), and after about ten years of that, I shaved my head and went au naturale. No dyes, no perms, no chemicals on my hair. Since I started lurking here, I've switched from SC to BS and ACV rinses, and I love it! I've always been a lover of nature, and it seemed odd that my hair was so very unnatural.

I'm starting this thread as a place for support in resisting the temptation of dye. What about you? What makes you feel like you want to start dyeing again? What keeps you from buying a box of hairdye, in the end? How long has it been since the last time you dyed your hair? Do you do something new, to take the place of dyeing? Do you consider a temporary tea rinse to be hair dye (and therefor not use it)?

I advocate and recommend that if one wants to color all of their hair, that they save up their money to consult and work with a stylist that specializes in coloring only. A colorist is a wonderful thing to have on your side, especially if you have long tresses.

There's rinses, spray in stuff (hello Halloween!), alternatives to heavy ammoniated applications. There's the question of highlights and lowlights. Most home coloring jobs have not enough of both, and there's a tendency for the hair to be all one hue of a color, and no tones of that hue of color, which realy hair possesses.

I strongly advocate working with a professional colorist, if one opts to color their hair.

And then you have to invest in shampoo/conditioner for color-treated hair to protect the color for longer, and those kind of concerns.

heidi w.

[heidi w.]

The color I dislike the most on most people, and it's popular among more elderly women - is this kind of red tone that is entirely unreal looking. I recommend avoiding that kind of red tone that seems popular among the elderly crowd.

I personally only once for a long time, about 10 years, had strawberry blonde colored hair, and it looked terrific. It was a great color on me and suited my skin tone quite well. Most people, even other hair stylists, couldn't quite figure out if I colored or not. As I've grown older, and now live in more Northern area of the US, my hair tone color has darkened. I began life as a white haired "blonde" and starting in mid-high school, my hair tone changed and went through lovely golden colors naturally. Now my head hair is a whole lot darker than my overall length.

heidi w.

[heidi w.]

Virgin hair tends to be the hair that younger people have, although there are some older people that may have never treated their hair with perming or coloring.

Virgin hair, in youth, generally doesn't need to be colored other than for flights of fancy, it seems to me.

When you color virgin hair the first time, it goes well; but as time progresses, one can possibly encounter problems.

Being that virgin hair is generally on young people, this age group tends to not have gray hair to be concerned with, and coloring tends to dull the sheen, overall; unless, you have a really informed colorist. Coloring is an act of chemistry on the hair, and not all stylists get chemistry, in fact.


heidi w.

[getoffmyskittle]

I hennaed my hair for a while, then dyed it black last fall, and since then I just can't be arsed to do it any more. I might start again once I forget how much of a hassle it is. Not sure. :p

[ktani]

Some people dye their hair because their natural colour does not suit them as well as it might. Just because one is born with certain colouring does not necessarily mean it cannot be improved upon.
I have known women who never dyed or chemically processed their hair their entire lives. Virgin hair can apply to any age.

[Changling]

I've always loved my grandmother's hair - it's about APL and straight (maybe 1b? hard to be sure), used to be salt-and-pepper when I was in kindergarden, then silver through middle school, and now it's white. My other grandmothers (I have stepparents ^__^) all had that short, curled style, and one of them kept her hair dyed, and I thought it looked very generic. I always wondered what their hair naturally looked like. I think one of the things that made me want virgin hair was because of my (renegray ^__^) grandmother.

That and this beautiful woman who works at the local public library - she has thick, tailbone length, wavy hair that is silver-grey down to about waist, then is auburn the rest of the way down. And she wears it half-up, so the color contrast is really striking. It's the most beautiful hair I think I've ever seen.

[Honestwitness]

In a few weeks I'll be 62. I have never colored my hair in my entire life. Too much trouble.

[BeccaAngel]

i have a love/hate relationship with my natural color. but because of other reasons i have decided to leave all chemicals alone. so wish me luck on resisting the hair color! :)

[MaryRose]

I colored my hair twice in 2002. My hair was a light brown that I couldn't stand so I dyed it to a more medium brown. After about a week, I decided to dye my hair again. I changed it to a darker brown which I liked a lot. I never really seen it grow out because it was so close to my real color. I felt like it was a waist of time since no one could even tell I changeed my hair color. Now I realize that the ash in my hair causes it to look lighter and darker in different lights. Since the dye, I have cut my hair to a pixie cut and now my hair is completely virgin. I will never dye again because it left my hair feeling dry and unnatural.

[racrane]

My hair's dyed a light brown for a show and I really miss my natural blonde. (It's a temporary dye.) I never knew I would miss it until I no longer have it! Hopefully, I won't have to dye it again for a very long time!

[Changling]

In a few weeks I'll be 62. I have never colored my hair in my entire life. Too much trouble.

Wow! I hope someday I'll be able to say I've been all natural for 62 years!


i have a love/hate relationship with my natural color. but because of other reasons i have decided to leave all chemicals alone. so wish me luck on resisting the hair color! :)

Good luck! :)


I colored my hair twice in 2002. My hair was a light brown that I couldn't stand so I dyed it to a more medium brown. After about a week, I decided to dye my hair again. I changed it to a darker brown which I liked a lot. I never really seen it grow out because it was so close to my real color. I felt like it was a waist of time since no one could even tell I changeed my hair color. Now I realize that the ash in my hair causes it to look lighter and darker in different lights. Since the dye, I have cut my hair to a pixie cut and now my hair is completely virgin. I will never dye again because it left my hair feeling dry and unnatural.



My hair's dyed a light brown for a show and I really miss my natural blonde. (It's a temporary dye.) I never knew I would miss it until I no longer have it! Hopefully, I won't have to dye it again for a very long time!

I learned to love my natural color, too, after dying it many times. It may not be as vibrant as pink, or as dark and mysterious as blue black, but I was born with it, and that makes it special to me :)

[Dogmatix]

I've never dyed my hair, except for some spray-in halloween stuff for dragon-con one year.

I've thought about doing it every so often because I feel like my hair color is pretty boring. It's dark brown just just looks like a blob most of the time when I put it up. I might try a rinse or something to bring out some more highlights...

Anyway. Since it's so dark, I'd have to bleeeach my hair to get any color in it and that is what really scares me.

My English teacher in high school had a different hair color every year. I went back to visit after I'd graduated and found out she was now wearing a wig because she'd damaged her hair so much that it had fallen out :(

[<3OnHerSleeve]

This is exactly the thread for me! Yay!!

I dyed my hair for 8 years. I have a love/hate relationship with my natural hair colour too. I'd tried many times to grow it out by just highlighting it etc. but I'd fall back into temptation because I wanted my hair to look nice for an event (and because it looked aweful especially when one is trying to catch the eye of a cute gentleman you don't really want to feel that you didn't at least try to look your best).

After two months of being on LHC I dyed my hair for the last time 9 Dec 2010. After 7 months my natural hair was 4-4.5 inches long and I cut my hair to 6 inches. I've still got bits of the old dye at the ends of some of my hair, but the majority is virgin and I'm happy to say I no longer feel the need to dye over it. The only thing is, I still get tempted by the thought that my hair as a child was a beautiful light blonde and that's part of the source of my constant dying: I was trying to retrieve that long lost golden head of hair. I was frustrated when I was a kid because it went so dark when I was about 7.

[Quixii]

Well, I'm not sure where my hair lies.
I never use anything permanent on it, and do not wish to ever permanently alter my hair colour.
However, I have used things like Manic Panic to add unusual colours, for fun. Eventually, those wash out completely.
So I'm not sure whether my hair counts as virgin or not. :confused:

[battles]

I'm sort of torn. I'd really love to henna, but I think I'm just too damn lazy to deal with roots. I've always wanted red hair.

The other half of me really likes my natural hair color and wonders why I'd want to dye it anyways. I can't wait til I have more silver sparklies. :)

[CC-Bale]

My sister has the exact same skintone and she has beautiful natural black hair and I have an awkward dark brown. I really really want black but I don't want to dry out my hair.

[joflakes]

I dyed my hair from the age of about 13 until I got my hair cut real short in May 2011...so about 12 years?! It got to the point that firstly, I could no longer be bothered with it all - cost, hassle, upkeep etc, but also I didn't have a clue what my natural colour even was!
Now, people often ask me if my hair is dyed (which it isn't!) and my hair is all my own colour. It's kinda cool! Dark brown with red and lighter bits in it in the sun. I can't see myself turning to the dark side again...I'm sure with this site helping me I definitely won't!

[Changling]

Well, I'm not sure where my hair lies.
I never use anything permanent on it, and do not wish to ever permanently alter my hair colour.
However, I have used things like Manic Panic to add unusual colours, for fun. Eventually, those wash out completely.
So I'm not sure whether my hair counts as virgin or not. :confused:

I'm not sure that there is necessarily an exact definition of what constitutes virgin hair and what does not, but it seems to me that if your hair color hasn't been permanently altered, then it is virgin. I know Manic Panic and Special FX are both dyes that just coat the hair, they don't actually do anything to it.


My sister has the exact same skintone and she has beautiful natural black hair and I have an awkward dark brown. I really really want black but I don't want to dry out my hair.

I've heard you can do a rinse with tea made from sage to sort of "enhance" dark hair. I've never tried it, and apparently you may have to do it several times to get the desired results, but it sounds interesting and it's on my "maybe I'll try someday" list.

[MissEarlGrey]

I dyed my hair for so long, thinking that I had dull ashy blond hair underneath and that dye made me look special. No, it made me look fake, and I had no idea I had such a lovely colour underneath.

[WaitingSoLong]

What about you? What makes you feel like you want to start dyeing again? What keeps you from buying a box of hairdye, in the end? How long has it been since the last time you dyed your hair? Do you do something new, to take the place of dyeing? Do you consider a temporary tea rinse to be hair dye (and therefor not use it)?

The only thing that remotely temps me is my demarcation line. I hate it and wish it would go away.

What keeps me from buying hair dye? I stopped dying for many reasons 1. the upkeep 2. the damage 3. I didn't like the changes being so drastic and people commenting. But mostly 4. because I cannot get all virgin hair if I dye it!

I last actually dyed my hair about 6-7 years ago. However, I used sun-in in 2010 and that is what I am growing out now. My 7 year demarcation line is now only a couple inches above my hemline thanks to my recent trim. I don't even think you can see that one anymore. My sun-in demarcation line is about 4-6" down (my under-canopy grows much faster). It has been a year since I last "used" lol.

I consider anything permanent to be "dye" and I don't do anything in place of dyeing my hair. I have considered temporary dyes several times but have read too many stories that it never completely fades out, especially if put on bleached hair, which is what sun-in does.

I did coffee once, but it washed out the very next wash.

[Changling]

I did coffee once, but it washed out the very next wash.

Coffee? I've never heard of using that! How did it work? And what color did it make your hair?

[Tsopana]

My boyfriend always complimented on how i looked when, a few years ago (before I met him) I had bleached my hair.. That made me- two years ago, at a time our relationship was not at its best- start bleaching my hair again.. Desperate, huh? I have not regreted it though, cause I also think I look better with blonder hair, like I had up until adolescence..

[discoisntdead]

I'm just lazy and dyed hair is usually dry and brittle. It's a total pain to take care of. Been there, done that.

[rusika1]

In a few weeks I'll be 62. I have never colored my hair in my entire life. Too much trouble.
I'm 54 years old and ditto.

[blondie9912]

I'm officially committing to growing out my blonde highlights :)

One reason I'd like to have virgin hair is because I found that dyed hair can just look...strange, at times. I had very skillfully applied highlights by a top hairstylist, but in some lights I would just feel like my hair colour looked a little 'off'. Sometimes it would look brassy, others ashy, etc. Natural hair colour also changes the way it looks depending on which lighting you see it in, but it never looks bad (like my blonde hair sometimes did) just different.

Maybe I'm crazy, maybe it's just a 'blonde thing' :p

Either way, natural hair colour has beautiful, authentic depth and dimension to it that NO stylist can replicate.

[WaitingSoLong]

Coffee? I've never heard of using that! How did it work? And what color did it make your hair?

I read about it on a website for how to cover up sun-in highlights. The color change was barely noticeable, just a slight darkening.

[Ramille]

I have never permed, dyed or otherwise done anything to my hair. I was brunette, but now am a Renegray. At 59 I'm leaving it up to Mother Nature color wize. As a newbie here, I'm interested in how to get it in the best shape possible. My hair tends to frizz. I always thought it was because I've always been too lazy to do anything but shampoo, condition, and let it dry while I walk the dog.

[Changling]

I'm officially committing to growing out my blonde highlights :)

One reason I'd like to have virgin hair is because I found that dyed hair can just look...strange, at times. I had very skillfully applied highlights by a top hairstylist, but in some lights I would just feel like my hair colour looked a little 'off'. Sometimes it would look brassy, others ashy, etc. Natural hair colour also changes the way it looks depending on which lighting you see it in, but it never looks bad (like my blonde hair sometimes did) just different.

Maybe I'm crazy, maybe it's just a 'blonde thing' :p

Either way, natural hair colour has beautiful, authentic depth and dimension to it that NO stylist can replicate.


Well it's not a 'blonde thing' - I'm brunette and I completely agree with you. It's not necessarily that dyed hair looks bad, but just that you can usually tell its dyed, even if it was done professionally. And I know that some people feel their natural hair doesn't compliment their skin tone, but I certainly know mine does, and I've never seen a case where it didn't. I think everyone is just more critical of their own appearance than of anyone else's.

When I dyed my hair, it was always either black (usually blue-black), or punky colors like hot pink and blue and purple. So obviously I wasn't going for a natural look, haha. Even so, I found that the reaction I was getting was a little too "WOW!" and maybe I'd prefer more of an "oooooh." :) Still working on the "ooooh" part.

[Honestwitness]

Blondie, you wrote...
"...natural hair colour has beautiful, authentic depth and dimension to it that NO stylist can replicate."

My sentiments exactly.

[joflakes]

Slightly off topic but I had a teacher when I was about 9 who had the most awesome hair I have ever seen. It was silvery-grey, must have ben about waist length and she always had it up in this amazing, mysterious grey huge bun. I always wanted that when I go grey, I'd hate to be all liney of the root area like my Mum is!
I guess that's another reason for going au naturel...! So not so OT.

[Changling]

I just tried a beer rinse for the first time - I wash with BS and ACV, so I just substituted the beer for the ACV. It made my hair awesome! So soft and thick and shiny! But here's the best part - it deepened my natural color! There are all kinds of golds in it now that I never saw before! Has anyone else tried a beer rinse? Or has anyone noticed a subtle color change from it?

[Amber_Maiden]

I think what made me dye in the first place was because everyone was doing it. I think now, the reason why I would do it would be for a change and to make more shine.

[Changling]

I think what made me dye in the first place was because everyone was doing it. I think now, the reason why I would do it would be for a change and to make more shine.


That's what I'm trying to resist - changing my hair all the time. I always want to dye my hair, and then I love it, and then the roots come in, and I think "oh, I have to dye the roots..." and then I just don't. And it looks REALLY bad. I just get all depressed about my hair...and then get a pixie cut D:

So I'm trying...to avoid...this vicious cycle. (it's hard)

[holothuroidea]

I disagree that dying is a "personal choice." There is a lot of pressure for girls and women to dye their hair and there is overall a lack of appreciation for natural hair color. Women who don't dye their hair get the "lazy," "frumpy," or "matronly" stigma and that's not fair.

When women dye their hair just to be able to be "normal" it is no longer a personal choice. Natural hair should be the norm, and dying should be different! Besides, everyone should be able to embrace their natural hair color at some point in their lives without stigma.

But I live in New Jersey. It might not be so bad in other places.

[Madora]

Three deterents for me: the smell, the mess, the eternal upkeep.

Not for me..but I admire those that can dye successfully and look totally natural.

[CarpeDM]

Looking back on it, I'm not sure why I spent so many years coloring my hair. But it all started when I was 15 and I found my first bottle of sun-in...ugh. I colored my hair for another decade - red, black, blonde - and then decided that I wanted to grow my hair longer. That was when the damage started to show and my ends were so dry and damaged that I had to start all over and cut off all the color. Since then I've been totally natural and I'm pretty happy with my natural color and condition!