Help with dull hair and length

[Redhead Rebel]

Hi All,

I'm new here and was hoping for some advice on growing my hair and how to improve the colour. Sorry for the long post.

My hair is currently around APL, I have some layers at chin length that were bangs and the longest layer is almost BSL but my ends are fairytale. Since joining LHC I have started taking Biotin, Vitamin B and MSM to try and increase the growth as it got very damaged when I did hair modelling for a Salon. I have also started doing conditioner only washes which is helping turn my frizzy hair back to curls. Any suggestions on how to increase the growth? Also how often should I be brushing my hair and are there special brushes I should use for 3a hair?

My hair has become very dull since the Salon had to bleach my hair 3 times because they couldn't get my natural colour back, it is currently similar to this colour: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qCxxuZJ1Qlk/T9tA0YONJ7I/AAAAAAAAAlE/YfoIQrCsFhE/s1600/Lily_Cole_x200_x290.jpg

I was hoping to brighten it back up to my natural colour which is like this : http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lybjym4ggR1qj0xwio1_500.jpg

I was hoping to use Henna but after reading these forums it seems that is would turn my hair red rather than the firey orange I want back.

Any advice is appreciated :bowtome:

[Curly Crone]

I can't really help with color advice but if you are a 3a I would suggest you ditch the brushes and just stick with combing your hair. Some people comb in the shower when their hair is full of conditioner, I comb after I get out of the shower while still very wet. Some people just use their fingers only. Most curly hair is delicate and dryish and needs lots of moisture but if you have bleached 3 times you may need some protein too. Good Luck!

[Tisiloves]

You can get orange with a cassia/henna mix, but you would have to strand test and experiment to nail the shade.

[Madora]

Hi All,

I'm new here and was hoping for some advice on growing my hair and how to improve the colour. Sorry for the long post.

My hair is currently around APL, I have some layers at chin length that were bangs and the longest layer is almost BSL but my ends are fairytale. Since joining LHC I have started taking Biotin, Vitamin B and MSM to try and increase the growth as it got very damaged when I did hair modelling for a Salon. I have also started doing conditioner only washes which is helping turn my frizzy hair back to curls. Any suggestions on how to increase the growth? Also how often should I be brushing my hair and are there special brushes I should use for 3a hair?

My hair has become very dull since the Salon had to bleach my hair 3 times because they couldn't get my natural colour back, it is currently similar to this colour: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qCxxuZJ1Qlk/T9tA0YONJ7I/AAAAAAAAAlE/YfoIQrCsFhE/s1600/Lily_Cole_x200_x290.jpg

I was hoping to brighten it back up to my natural colour which is like this : http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lybjym4ggR1qj0xwio1_500.jpg

I was hoping to use Henna but after reading these forums it seems that is would turn my hair red rather than the firey orange I want back.

Any advice is appreciated :bowtome:

As far as increasing growth, generally speaking, diet is the most important thing you can do. Exercise helps also.

Other factors you may want to consider:

Daily scalp massage (either bent at the waist, or with your head hanging down over the edge of your bed)

Using silk or satin pillowcase covers

Wearing your hair up to protect the ends and lessen the possibilities of needing to detangle

Avoid HEAT..NO blowfrying, no hot irons, not curlers

Using gentle products and keeping your hair moisturized (mineral oil helps a lot in that respect)

Because of the structure of your hair, a wide tooth comb is a better way to keep your hair healthy. Be sure it doesn't have any rough seams. Comb every day and keep your comb squeaky clean.

If you haven't learned to braid, now is the time! Avoid ponytails if at all possible.

Sorry, but I know zilch about coloring. Good luck!

[DancingQueen]

I can only agree with Madora, and what else have been said so far. Plus, oils work great for curls, so you might want to try that out.

According to growth, I would be careful about taking too many supplements. It can end up causing hairloss, and can actually be dangerous for your health. But, I recently started to take Priorin. I am taking it to thicken up my hair, because I lost a lot of hair the past year, not to make my hair grow faster. But it does seem to make my hair grow very fast. I have barely used it for two weeks, but it made my hair grow 0.5 centimeter in 6 days (and my hair grow extremely slow). I have tried other supplements, but none of them worked.

I don't know if it will help you, but if you try it, please consider not taking other supplements, as it can be dangerous, and maybe interfere with the effect of each other. If you want, you can follow my thread on Priorin if you are interested.

Hope you find something that works for you :)

[Rosalaun]

Hello there! Just figured I'd add on the colour front - it may be worth looking into henna for that orange shade.

I won't bore you with the full photo-story, but basically I bleached my hair, dyed it brown which faded, then put moroccan henna over the top. That faded quickly to a strawberry-blonde type shade (my hair doesn't hold any dyes particularly well unfortunately. The bottom right photos here show it best: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/album.php?albumid=7024&pictureid=127091).

I disliked that colour greatly, so I shaved half of my hair off and bleached it all again, and went back to dying my hair rainbow for a while. Eventually the dye got expensive so I went back to a dark blonde colour over which I put a stronger type of henna over (I lost the box so I don't rember exactly what kind), which gave me a very orange shade, before I added another layer which left me with my current colour. The henna was put over this colour (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/album.php?albumid=7024&pictureid=127093) - not the clearest photos, but I think it was perhaps a little lighter than the photo you gave as an example of your current colour.


At the bottom are photos of my current hair with a chunk of my hair from the piece I shaved off - it doesn't show perfectly well, but the old hair is pale copper shade, whilst my current ranges from red to bright orange depending on the lighting. Again note that this is two coats of henna, before the second henna it was much more orange than red. (ETA: The photos were taken just now for the post, yes I did keep a chunk of my hair after the shaving specifically for comparisons in condition and colour! :P)

Henna's something that can give you all sorts of shades depending on your start colour, so it might be worth getting a sample and doing a strand test to see how your hair reacts to it :)

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a126/Sarobando/086db57e.png

[Amber_Maiden]

A few rinses with some ACV will make your hair nice and shiny!

[Redhead Rebel]

Thanks for the advice everyone.

I'll have to give the henna a try, I still have the hair that the Salon cut off so i'll test the henna etc on that.

Dancing Queen , Do you know if Priorin capsules are vegan? I would like to try them but after converting the price and shipping it would be quite expensive for me to get.

Could anyone please suggest a type of oil that would be good to try?

[Madora]

Thanks for the advice everyone.

I'll have to give the henna a try, I still have the hair that the Salon cut off so i'll test the henna etc on that.

Dancing Queen , Do you know if Priorin capsules are vegan? I would like to try them but after converting the price and shipping it would be quite expensive for me to get.

Could anyone please suggest a type of oil that would be good to try?

Mineral oil (baby oil). Very lightweight. Leaves my hair shiny, soft and supple. Great as a detangler and helps calm the frizzies....and its dead cheap and lasts forever. No after scent either...and you only need 2 or 3 drops.

[Redhead Rebel]

Mineral oil (baby oil). Very lightweight. Leaves my hair shiny, soft and supple. Great as a detangler and helps calm the frizzies....and its dead cheap and lasts forever. No after scent either...and you only need 2 or 3 drops.


Thanks for that Madora, I have some at home so will start using it.:applause

Rosalaun, If I try some test strands with henna what do I mix with the powder and does it need to sit for a while? In the 4 photos in your post (not the links, I can't access those yet) I quite like the middle strand in the first picture. :)

[DancingQueen]

Thanks for the advice everyone.

I'll have to give the henna a try, I still have the hair that the Salon cut off so i'll test the henna etc on that.

Dancing Queen , Do you know if Priorin capsules are vegan? I would like to try them but after converting the price and shipping it would be quite expensive for me to get.

Could anyone please suggest a type of oil that would be good to try?

It consists only of natural things :) (at least the type I am using). I don't know where you live, but maybe you can see if it is available in your country? I bought mine in a beauty shop, and you can get them at pharmacies as well.

[Rosalaun]

Glad to help :D

Yes for henna, I mix it with a bit of lemon juice and lukewarm water, make it into a paste, and leave it to sit until it changes from bright green to green-brown. I probably should use cold water, but I'm a little too impatient! I have added coffee in the past to give it a temporarily darker hue, some people add various teas instead of pure water, some people add turmeric for extra red (again temporary), so it's probably worth asking around on the henna section (here: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/forumdisplay.php?f=21) for extra tips and mixes that people use, and if possible photos of the before/afters to see what results people have from their mixes and if anyone has similar hair colour to your current ;) People there have more experience than me and could probably give you more specific advice than I can, as I've not been purposefully experimenting as others do. Remember that different types of henna leave different stains though - moroccan henna is known for its copper shade, whereas Jamila henna is a very intense red.

I then put it on and leave it to sit about 4 to 6 hours - although I have had it on overnight (for my current colour) before. Generally the longer you leave it on, the more intense the stain is.

Also it might be useful to try and strand test a henna gloss rather than full henna if you want to slowly build up the colour and try not to over-shoot into something too red. That's basically where you mix a little of the henna paste into your conditioner and leave that to sit on your hair for a while. Lots of people who just want a red tint, have pale hair, or are wanting to not get an intense red use glosses. Although I'm not sure if you'd get the intensity from that, so you'd have to experiment :D