Newbie - want to get to BSL, growing out dye, would appreciate advice!

[crazyblondchick]

Hi,
I have just joined this forum hoping to find tips on how to sort out my hair, grow out the dye and get it to grow further than the length it has been for years

I have APL ish hair, which I have been getting bleached for around 8 years now. Naturally my hair is that dirty blonde colour and at the moment it's quite a white blonde. It breaks off as fast as it grows and currently has stayed the same length for years.

I barely straighten it anymore, and if I do it is only my side fringe part which is fairly disposable. About half the time I blow dry it and the rest I let it dry naturally. When air dried my hair is wavy with a bit of a curl here and there, and if blow dried will go straight with a bit of a wave.

I tried the condition, shampoo, condition technique when I last washed my hair, obviously it is too early to tell if it improves but I am willing to try anything. I also have some coconut oil and argan oil at home which I need to start using when I get back (im currently abroad for a few months).

Which leads me to the next part... Being away for 3 months will allow me to get a good length of roots, and I am interested to see what my natural colour is these days and whether it is nice enough to keep 100% virgin.

I really want BSL or perhaps slightly longer than that hair.. so it's not a major difference, yet has been next to impossible to achieve! I have constantly been asking my hairdresser for advice, and although she is good at dyeing and styling my hair she isn't that great when it comes to advice for condition and growth. She told me sometimes hair 'doesn't grow' and it stops when you get older. I am only 24 and used to have hair past my waist when it was undyed.

I have been reading page after page of the 'giving up the dye and growing out natural' thread and hope I can try and rock the ombre trend and sort this mess out! The weird thing is my hair doesn't look in particularly bad condition, when styled etc it looks nice, it is just the ends snapping when I brush it etc.

If anyone has any advice I can try now before I arrive back home to help my hair get stronger etc I would love to know! I am so jealous of everyone's long and pretty hair!

(i will try to add pictures to this thread or an album depending what I can do on my first post to show the colour etc.. if anyone wants to have a guess as to what shade my natural is I would love to know too!)

[crazyblondchick]

im also having trouble putting a pic of my hair as a profile pic. I have resized to the correct size so not sure what i am doing wrong!

[BlazingHeart]

As I recall, you can't upload pics until you have made 25 'quality posts.

Re: growing out your hair, air drying is much healthier. If you must blowdry it, do it on cool. You will find that dying your hair with anything but a deposit only dye will shorten the maximum length your hair is capable of growing because of breakage.

Your sstylist's statement is silly. The speed at which your hair grows will change somewhat as you age, especially after menopause if you are female, but it doesn't just stop like that without serious health problems. What is happening is simply that you have found the maximum your hair can grow with the way you are currently treating it.

[crazyblondchick]

Ah I see, I will have to add pics at a later date in that case. The trouble is going from a bright blonde to the more drab inbetween colour my hair is now will take some getting used to! I am hoping as it grows out more the colour will look a bit nicer, and that the greyness shade it seems to have is only enhanced because of the shade of the dyed hair.

I am using the cool setting or just part blowdrying it, with heat protection spray and heat serum.. but I was addicted to my GHDs a few months back which has only made things worse! I now only use them for my side fringe, which I am also growing out, and I find that as it gets longer I don't need to use them anyway.

I understand hair growing will slow down but between the ages of 20-24 my hair hasn't moved, and she tells me it isn't due to the dye and that it is my hair and my age! I don't believe that at all - I just need to persevere and grow the dye out. I am thinking if I don't like my natural shade I could go a chocolate brown with an organic or special dye that won't wreck my hair, but for now I am going to aim for going back to my natural colour. It takes so long though!

[roundforest]

Another vote for 'Your hairdresser is talking rubbish when she says your hair won't grow because you're too old at 24!'

I bleached my hair for the last time aged 39 and my natural hair is now (at 42) below BSL. Like yours, it just broke off and never got any longer while I dyed it.

I just let the bleach grow out and paid my hair no attention. It didn't look great ( I can't post photos yet or I'd show you) but my natural colour is medium brown. Since you're a blonde there should be less contrast.

[Madora]

So, according to your hairdresser, hair stops growing as you get older! Au contraire! Here's my rebuttal to THAT!:
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=6554&pictureid=108420

I'm 65 and my hair is still growing.

Back on topic...you're going to need to be diligent and patient about getting your hair back to speed. All that bleaching wasn't the kindest thing for your hair.

Try and stay away from blow fryers and other heat appliances.

Wear your hair up in protective styles and detangle gently with a wide tooth comb.

Snip off any damaged ends so the splits will not split further.

A healthy diet with plenty of water is a great way to help your hair.

Good luck!

[geminiwoman]

I'm in the middle of growing out my natural color as well and would only say 2 things: 1) keep getting trims. The dyed parts are going to come off eventually anyway so don't be afraid to trim when the ends are gross. 2) Try not to harshly judge your natural color based on just the roots, especially when they're directly next to a bright chemically achieved color. Those first 6 months or so of roots you are likely to think the color looks dark and drab, etc.. It takes a bit more length, especially on lighter colors, to really see how it might look.

[geminiwoman]

Oh and that's total rubbish about your hair not growing because you're too old (at 24?!). I'm 30 and my hair still seems to grow faster than most people I know.

[crazyblondchick]

thanks for your responses, it has made me feel alot better and determined to grow my hair out natural! I just want to have a decent length of roots so I can see what colour it actually is these days, it used to be very light but has darkened. i put it next to a brunette wig i happen to have and it looks very light in contrast to that!

from now on it is no more colour and heat appliances, plenty of conditioning, coconut oil and trimming the dead hair!

[W2]

I'm 40 and have dyed my hair for about 20 years. Now going back to my own haircolor - which is dark - almost black with a lot of silver in the top.

Since I stopped the dye in may, my hair has grown about 7 cm - about 2,5 inches. That's not so bad.

[Hairitic]

You might want to check out Cassia.

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=406

You could do Cassia treatments for some brightening effects on your natural color. In addition, it is known to be a great conditioner/strengthener for the hair. I would also recommend Snowymoons Moisture Treatments (SMTs) on a weekly basis if possible while growing out your bleach.

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=128

I would reiterate the wide-toothed comb idea but I would go so far as to recommend a seamless "horn" comb as they are much less damaging than plastic combs which have seams from the molding process which will scrape, tear and break the hair. I have one at home and one in my purse.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=horn+comb&_sacat=11855&_odkw=&_osacat=11855&_trksid=p3286.c0.m270.l1313