If I quit dye, I'll have to bleach...

[miaeleanor]

Hi! This is my very first post on LHC but I've been reading the forum for months. My hair is BSL and in good condition. I regularly do oil treatments, I take my vitamins, my diet is decent, I have no split ends, and I don't use heat. My natural hair color is light blonde, and ever since I was 13 (I'm 17 now) I've been dying it dark brown and now it's pretty much stained black, because I have used black dye before. Right now I have about an inch of roots coming in, and it looks ugly because it almost looks like I'm going gray, due to the light blonde. My question is, do I keep dying my roots, or should I have it bleached so I never have to damage it with dye again? I know bleach is the most damaging but I feel like dying the roots every month is almost as bad. I want my hair to be as healthy as possible.

[Obsidian]

Are you trying to go back to your natural color? Instead of bleaching out the dark, try a product called color oops. It removes the dye without the damage of bleach. You might need to do it a couple times to remove really dark color and it won't take you completely back to your natural color but it will help a lot.

Be warned though, the stuff stinks, a lot and the smell will linger for a week or so but its worth it. You have to really follow the directions, especially the part about rinsing. If you do not rinse enough, the hair can darken back up. Once you think you've rinsed enough, rinse some more. Run your hot water tank empty if you have to.

You can see videos of dye removing with color oops on youtube

[samanthaa]

Well, it really depends on what your long-term goal is. Do you want a full head of virgin hair eventually? If you do, you're going to have to stop the root touch-ups sooner rather than later.

I'm tempted to advise you to suffer through the year+ of "ugly" roots. I did it growing out my henna (currently at 15 months). It's really only a few months that are super rough, and it will start to look like a reverse ombre after a certain point. Then you can keep the health of your hair (and ultimately the length) in-tact. And dye does fade to a certain extent, doesn't it? (I could be wrong; I've never used chemical dye.)

I'd say bleach if you are confident in your decision that you're going to grow out your virgin hair and stop experimenting with color after that. Bleach is damaging (there are things like Olaplex and coconut oil that can help prevent some of the damage before applying the bleach), but if it's what you need to feel hair-happy and start out on your healthy longhair journey, it might be worth it to you. I would say don't try it yourself; go to a salon and have it done professionally.

ETA: Ooh, Obsidian's advice about Color Oops is really good! Yes, try that first before anything I've mentioned!

[lapushka]

Yeah, I had that happen when growing out blue-black dye. It was a marked contrast!!! I just bit the bullet and suffered through the months it took to get some decent growth so it didn't look too too bad anymore.

The first few cm or inch is the toughest, once you get past that it gets easier.

I would not use bleach. I would not keep dyeing. The idea here is to go back to your natural color, right? You'll then have to stop dyeing eventually. Better sooner rather than later!

[AmberLouise89]

I've gone from black to blonde multiple times. One of the first times I did it by doing two rounds of color oops, then a high lift blonde box dye and a toner. I'll post some photos of that process, it worked but my hair was still damaged enough that it wouldn't really grow. The second time I went from black to blonde I did it by getting a super short pixie cut and just bleaching out the little bit of black I had left. If I were to do it again I would personal just go with the pixie cut again because I found it easier and more satisfying. With getting the pixie cut I was actually able to see my hair grow, unlike when I tried holding onto my damaged hair, in that case my hair pretty much just stayed the same length as I worked on cutting off the dead ends. Here are some pictures that I took while going through the first process that I talked about. Using the color oops saved me some damage but there was still damage none the less. All I can say is to make up your mind soon about what you want because you don't want to keep on dying it and then when it's super long end up changing your mind. If it's hard to think of damaging or cutting your hair now, it's only going to get worse the longer it gets.

Starting point


After first round of color oops


After second round of color oops


After dye and toner

[Anje]

I agree with the suggestion to at least try a color remover like Color Oops, Colour B4, etc. It might at least reduce the contrast. If you try it, make sure you rinse excessively. Set a timer, turn on some music or something, and just let the water run through your hair for an extended period of time, like 30+ minutes. Give your hair a week or two to recover with extra conditioning, and do it all again.

Another thought: If that doesn't fade it all the way (and it probably won't, but hopefully it'll help), maybe you just want highlights put in to match your roots. Maybe have them make it a reverse ombre. (Is streaky ombre a thing? Should it be?) That would reduce your damage compared to simply bleaching and correctively dyeing everything.

[miaeleanor]

Thank you everyone! I cut 3 inches off today to keep it healthy and I'm just gonna let my roots grow in.

[melesine]

You don't want to use bleach over black dye. You need a dye remover like effasol or color oops. And you will need to color over it to end up with an even shade once you remove the dye. BTDT.

[Glittervixen]

Be aware that with colour removers it *could* become lighter than your virgin hair due to the peroxide in permanent hair dye. It probably won't be a major visible difference between your roots and the treated hair, but just a heads up. I was quite surprised to have my dad's reddish/strawberry blonde hair colour all of the sudden. The stuff does stink but if you rinse out way longer than advised, it usually doesn't linger that bad. I would do that anyway to make absolutely sure the now tiny colour molecules are washed out entirely. Personally I keep a week between the several rounds of colour remover as it does dry out my hair and I want to give it some time and extra TLC.

Also, I would advice to use a colour remover and not a color stripper as color strippers usually contain a developer, something you want to avoid as it just adds damage.

If you really dislike it after the maximum uses of colour remover, you could consider a natural colour semi hair dye, like Adore, to even it out.

[Robot Ninja]

I would suggest Colorfix, from Sally's, rather than Color Oops. It does the same thing but it's less stinky.

I second the suggestion to use a semi-permanent color (not a demi; you want something that you don't mix with developer) to even out your color. They do no damage and will gradually fade out.