Goodbye Henindigo - Hallo PPD hairdyes ! 'Grey' reflections...

[almudena]

Update here: After the fabolous results I got with the chemical dye it started to fade after 3 washes. I did an indigo/cassia gloss and the result was great.

I'm back to henna / indigo right now (in fact I have henna on my roots at this very moment). It's messy, time consuming but it's worth the effort.
However, it's good to have the chemical option when you are in hurry or in a fed up crisis with the henna/indigo process.

Good luck with your lightening and keep us updated

[Celebrian]

Humph! I didn't get much lightening last night, although I 'greened up' a bit (which I expected). Mind you I did add water (they told me to do that to stretch the mix) but rather more than they suggested PLUS I added a good blob of conditioner - so perhaps I hindered the lightening processI? I'll probably give it another go this pm, with less water and no conditioner, and have a bottle of light PPD red dye on hand as well as plenty of henna/indigo to deal with further color issues.

At least the hair still seems strong and totally unfried...

Back later.

Honestly, what a bore ...

[CopperHead]

Good luck tonight, Celebrian. Henndigo always washed right out for me until the last one I did. I could not get it to lighten up at all. I had to dye over it a couple times with a very reddish brown. It is much better now with the henna over it. I should have gone for a pure red dye, but this is okay. I think once you get your hair back to a red color, the henna will work great.

[Celebrian]

Good luck tonight, Celebrian. Henndigo always washed right out for me until the last one I did. I could not get it to lighten up at all. I had to dye over it a couple times with a very reddish brown. It is much better now with the henna over it. I should have gone for a pure red dye, but this is okay. I think once you get your hair back to a red color, the henna will work great.

Thanks Copperhead. I changed my mind about further lightening, thinking that I would put the light red dye on and see how that filled the color in. ATM I don't think it's done a great deal, but there may have been a bit of unifying - and my husband says it has taken on my roots to some degree (but I'm not convinced!

I blame the indigo aspect of things for all this problem with lightening, because I know very well that I've bleached over henna alone with good results before now. And as I've said elsewhere, the Indigo being bleached periodically over the last few months has left me with definite blue-green lights randomly throughout the hair. They didn't seem to take henna after that, and I tried a vivid red dye on a strand last week (a PPD permanent) which did cover the blue-green (although it was a vivid burgundy dye which is not what I'm after!).

Tonight, I used a demi-permanent (supposedly 28 wash) so perhaps I should have put a red permanent on instead? I may pick one up tomorrow and give it one more go, if tonights little lot has done precious little.

Yes, my hair seems fine - strong, and not fried (yet). Probably all the henna over the last couple of years?

Back tomorrow with update...

I'll see tomorrow in daylight. I am so sick of all this - really I am.

[Rini]

Hi Celebrian I was right where you are this time last year. I had been using straight henna for a couple of years, but I was going so rapidly grey that my roots were becoming a big problem. Loved the colour and condition of henna, but just couldn't cope with the upkeep! It took me a very long (and sometimes painful) process to get the henna out and get my natural colour back. Long story short: I now have a very natural colour I'm ecstatic with (light ash blonde) and am doing my roots only with commercial box dye every 5 weeks or so. I can go that long because the grey in my roots is not very obvious against light ash blonde as it was against flaming bright copper red.

I made a choice to balance convenience with hair health and this was what I came up with I hope you figure something out soon

PS: My sister was a henndigo head and had big problems when she switched to commercial dyes last year too. She had blue hair at one stage! Now she is slowly growing it out and matching the roots to the lengths with semi-permanents.

[Elfling]

I'm going in this morning to my hairdresser of two years for some chemical color After a ton of- I hate to call it soul searching, it sounds so dramatic - thinking I guess, I've really decided that the hair loss + time involved with henndigo just isn't worth it for me; coupled with the itching I get from indigo, I just can't keep it up right now. My hairdresser is really cool and I went in a few weeks ago to talk to her about my goals; she has BSL hair herself so she gets me. We've settled on dark color with minimal trims to get rid of the broken stuff from the highlights I never should've asked for; she warned me the highlights would break off but I insisted :

[Celebrian]

Hi Celebrian I was right where you are this time last year. I had been using straight henna for a couple of years, but I was going so rapidly grey that my roots were becoming a big problem. Loved the colour and condition of henna, but just couldn't cope with the upkeep! It took me a very long (and sometimes painful) process to get the henna out and get my natural colour back. Long story short: I now have a very natural colour I'm ecstatic with (light ash blonde) and am doing my roots only with commercial box dye every 5 weeks or so. I can go that long because the grey in my roots is not very obvious against light ash blonde as it was against flaming bright copper red.

I made a choice to balance convenience with hair health and this was what I came up with I hope you figure something out soon

PS: My sister was a henndigo head and had big problems when she switched to commercial dyes last year too. She had blue hair at one stage! Now she is slowly growing it out and matching the roots to the lengths with semi-permanents.

Thanks Rini. Your sister had 'blue' hair at one stage? Are you possibly talking about the blue-green lights I got by bleaching over henindigo? Did she try bleaching as well - and did the semi's cover well enough in the end as she grew out her hair? Questions, questions...

Elfling - listen, no need for soul searching. Life is short, and too short to be itching and hanging about for hours with mud on your head, unless you're happy to do so.

Life is more than hair, is it not? so don't waste time on angst.

Much as I like the 'natural' philosophy of henna and stuff - I value having more time to do the things I really need/want to do.

However, I will do as I think best, and if that involves henna, or mixing henna and commercial hair dyes - well, so be it.

Latest update:
Last night, instead of another bleaching session (with the Daniel Fields Natural Lights kit) which did precious little - I thought I would apply a light, warm red dye to set a base down for any further bleach or coloring (henna or otherwise). I used L'Oreal Casting Creme Gloss - in Amber. Didn't do a great deal really, but that may have been because it's a semi-perm. color.

As I type, I am running strands through a Jerome Russell bleaching to see if that lifts more color (Rini?). If the strands significantly lighten and the hair is unfried - I'll consider trying a heavy highlighting session rather than applying it all over the hair.

Now, whether I pass another light red dye through the hair first to act as a base for highlights remains to be seen. I've read that this can be a good way to get a highlighted effect. Either way, it looks as if at least one more bleaching will take place, followed or preceded by a PPD dye of some sort to pull the remaining (!) colors together. Then we'll see re henna etc.

Back later to tell you how well the strands cope with stronger bleaching...

[nomadhome]

I am a fan of Clairol Radiance for a demi permanent solution. I read on MUA to stay away from the ash colors because they tend too green. The MUA reviews may help you too.

[Celebrian]

Eeeeeek. Blue hair strands. No really, they were so blue they cast a blue color onto the white background of the paper towel!

I don't think I can risk any further bleaching, can I?

So, those strands have 'steeped' in a light red PPD dye (permanent this time) and seem to have picked up a warm red over that blue, thank goodness.

Tonight I've left my hair in peace, only doing a deep protein treatment, following with plenty of moisturiser, and finishing with coconut oil on damp ends. That shoul keep it quiet for a day or two.

Then, I will add a light red permanent all over - and see how those older blueish lights look in bright daylight, and whether they are covered.

Farewell for now...

[Rini]

oh dear Celebrian!! so sorry to hear you got "the blues" too

My sister actually went to a hairdresser and told them how she wanted to go back to a shade lighter than her natural colour (she is naturally a dark brown with many many greys.....about 70-80% now) and they did some foils......BLUE hair! They dyed back over them and it was all OK. I believe that what she is doing now is colouring her new growth with a semi (light brown colour) which is blending her greys in to look blonde. I think her plan is to do this until she has significant growth and then gradually trim the henndigo hair off.

I never did use indigo in my years of using henna, so blue never happened for me. However, I was bright orange after my first round of bleaching My process was a long one and I really should write it all down somewhere for those interested, but it involved bleach shampoo, 2 sessions of heavy foils, semi colours, permanent colours, toners and finally just plain ol' growing it out. On the plus side: I have the colour I want and my hair has survived quite well (although many inches were sacrificed).

I will keep an eye on your progress