Your hair observations: dyed vs. virgin

[xoxophelia]

What differences in care, behavior, or appearance have you noticed between your virgin (preferably minimally heat styled) and dyed hair?

For the past year I have been growing out old hair dye and have noticed some glaring differences between the "roots" and the length. Background: before this last year, I colored my hair for two years so most of my life I did not color my then hip lentgth hair. However, my hair was often in the sun, heat styled, and I also swam daily. Awhile into coloring, my hair became much worse than it ever had been. Now, the new growth is much healthier than ever. So with all of these factors, I am hoping to compare info with our experiences

[lillylonghair]

Hhhmmm probably just less tangling and it lays nicer even without blowdrying. Before I had to wrestle it into shape and put serums and things in it to make it lay nicely.

[xoxophelia]

A few changes I have noticed (I may add to this as I remember):

CARE:
-My ~6" virgin roots react to CO totally differently (not sure if this has to do with them being closer to the scalp or that they are virgin though). When I do CO, the roots take much longer to dry than the length compared to when I wash "normally".

-The virgin roots can handle shampoo better. If I start to shampoo on a regular basis the length becomes more and more frizzy until it looks horrible.

-My length benefits greatly from jojoba oil where as the roots don't have much of a difference.. perhaps because they are healthy to start.

-The dyed sections do become shinier from silicone products but not really less frizzy as it does with oils. The roots just look more limp.


APPEARANCE:

-fly aways and frizziness starts pretty much right at the demarcation line when I gave up coloring and reduced heat styling drastically. I heat style gently and only as a touch up not even once a month. Probably 5 times a year compared to nearly every day.

-the dyed hair is much duller or the shine is more broken up (less like silk and more like glitter).

-the previously colored and heat styled hair is wavier

BEHAVIOR:

-the virgin hair is heavier weight and drops when lifted more like silk than cotton

-the virgin hair requires no work to lay flat but the dyed parts poof out and don't fall on my back really

[cmnt831]

When I used to have highlights several years ago, the highlighted part basically felt like straw and the rest of my (non-highlighted) hair was soft. I could really feel the difference when I would wash my hair. The highlighted part always felt dry and stiff even when it was wet.

[2peasinapod]

Now that I've stopped dying my hair, it is soft and wavy. It behaves very well and no longer feels like plastic.

[milagro]

I dye my hair (roots monthly and the length less often) for a few years now and my hair has become much more prone to damage, ends particularly. I use 6% oxide color developer, it is not the strongest but still damage shows.
After coloring the hair looks nice and shiny but then gradually color fades a bit and shine as well. I try to minimize all other damaging factors such as blowdrying, heat-styling etc.

[prosperina]

For me it's a question of texture. The hennaed virgin hair feels silky and smooth and is wavy, and the stuff that had been bleached before it was hennaed feels bristly and rough. I can still get it to feel soft though, it just takes some time.

[pepperminttea]

When I had dyed hair, it was also permed, so my experience might be a bit exaggerated.

Dyed and permed hair: More tangles, more frizz, and extremely dry - I honestly was worried I'd actually changed my hairtype, I just couldn't give it enough moisture. (Ah, pre-SMTs... Dark times! ) Felt rough to the touch.
Unprocessed hair: Generally less unruly. Still frizz and tangle-prone but a lot less. Retains moisture a lot more easily, and for longer. Softer, smoother.

[maddog_running]

Definitely the bleached hair is drier and brittle to the touch. It tangles more easily and subsequently is prone to more split ends than my virgin hair. Granted the bleached hair is much OLDER and has weathered more then the virgin hair but there is an immediate texture difference between the two as soon as I bleached it.

[rosieex3]

I'm glad you made this topic! My hair is currently growing out extreme chemical damage from hair dyes/color removers. Here's what I notice: I'm gonna include some pictures.

Virgin hair:
~Soft, silky, and loose waves.
~Virtually frizz free.
~Very shiny.
~Appears very thick.
Here is my virgin hair growing in: (As you can see - ever since I stopped dying it..I have tons of new hairs coming in! Hench the headband.)

(I don't have a picture of my hair all virgin, I haven't had it all virgin in about five years).


Dyed hair:
~Rather then loose, silky, pretty waves; they are dry and crunchy looking waves. Plus, my hair is MUCH wavier then it is when virgin.
~My hair is very "piecy" (each wave is in its own clump i guess you could say).
~Literally IMPOSSIBLE to over-moisturize. I could put a handful of frizz serum on my dyed hair, and it will look greasy for about five minutes..until my hair absorbs it all very quickly.
~SO much breakage and white dots/splits.
~Frizz.
~No real shine.
~Feels very rough when you touch it.
~Looks thin and straggly.
Here is a picture of my dyed hair (the whole length basically, only my roots have grown in so far):