...and hair we go again.

[Anniecat]

Hi everyone,
What a great forum!
I'm here for inspiration and advice about my newly chin-length, previously BSL hair :(
After some serious self-induced damage using a lightening product called Sun-In (nectar of Satan) I got 'the chop' which at this stage removed much of the wig-like locks. A lot of black dye has unfortunately remained as well as quite a lot of damage. I know, what a mess!
I've been trying to strip the colour with Head and Shoulders, doing clarifying rinses with baking powder and ACV but am still not sure what to do. To not colour and very gradually regain my natural chestnutty brown colour or colour close to my roots which are now slowly appearing? Perhaps watched follicles just never grow.
Anyway, any advice would be great. I'm currently using Kerastase Bain Satin products and lightly oiling with coconut oil.
Also , I'm in Australia.

[caiti42]

Hello and welcome from a fellow Aussie :)

[jojo]

hello anniecat (great name) have you tried colour B4 or color oops its really good at stripping colour from hair without damage. Id also suggest doing some SMT's to get your hair in tip top condition, welcome to LHC!

[the.fee.fairy]

Personally, i'd advise getting your hair back to a good condition before trying to strip or change colour. It's much easier to attempt to change your hair if it's in good condition, rather than trying everything at once and making it worse.

So work on getting your hair into really good healthy condition before trying to change it.

Good Luck!

[blondie9912]

Hi annie! Welcome to LHC :flower:

I would recommend looking into colour b4 and oops as well. I've never tried them, but have heard good things. Also, I know Kerastase products are very cone-y (and pricey :p) so look into whether your hair likes cones or no cones, same with protein. Some people's hair can't get enough protein and can't stand any cones, in which case you'd need a change of routine.

There's tons of information to sift through, but everyone here is very helpful :)

PS. Give up the dye! I'm going on my fifth month without colouring my hair after a similar incident (John Frieda Controlled Lightening Spray is Sun-In's evil twin...and dying my hair four times in one week definitely didn't do anything to improve matters). Nothing beats virgin hair :)

Good luck on your journey!

[Bethmc]

Hi and welcome! I'm a fairly new member myself. I just love this forum- such helpful advice and lots of beautiful hair to aspire to 😊 I'm sorry I'm not much help when it comes to your current problem!

[Anniecat]

Thank you all above for replying. I think that sometimes the best thing to do is to 'not do'. I shall cease trying to do everything at once as the.fee.fairy advised against and just nourish with oils, SMTs and a good diet. Oh, and Blondie I did the exact same thing as yourself. No wonder Sun-In et al phased out along with perms in the 80's!

[jacqueline101]

Welcome and good luck on growing. Some people talk about using honey to fade their hair I don't know much about it my hair isn't dyed.

[theodora]

Hello Anniecat and welcome! There are many ways to fade hair colour, but most of them are drying. Maybe not very damaging but definitely drying and you'll have to be very careful and make sure you moisturise your hair sufficiently.
You can use a product like Colour B4 (which I highly recommend), or you can use more diy methods like using aspirin, clarifying shampoo and Baking soda (like you've already been doing). I reckon you're just going to have to be patient, as I don't think you ought to do more than one stripping wash a week whatever method you use. Honey might be worth a try as well. Good luck with it!