QuoteReplyTopic: 46 yrs, broken hair, color damage, grey. Posted: September 25 2004 at 11:06am
help. i am 46 yrs old, and i have hair below my shoulders, except for some pieces that have broken off.
i want to grow/keep it long.
i have been coloring my hair at home for about 4 years, using single-process permanent color. mostly clairol, the last 2 times loreal. up until 4 years ago, i went to a salon and had blonde highlights, but got to the point where my budget couldn't afford it. my hair is naturally a dark brown with about 50% grey at the roots/crown where it is most noticeable.
recently i tried a loreal product called color expert which put highlights in the hair, but it broke my very fine hair; i don't recommend it.
three months after using the loreal highlighting product, i colored over the highlights with a reddish permanent color by loreal. i am not sure, but i think loreal color may be harsher than clairol.
i am beginning to realize the effects all of this coloring and overprocessing has had on my hair. my hair is basically lifeless. it has no shine on its own. once the fake shine of the "color" wears off, it looks very dull and frizzy.
a lot of the pieces are broken off to above the ears. this isn't obvious to anyone if they are not looking closely, and if i have put product in it; i can fake them out.
i have been trimming it myself, using salon scissors i bought my self and use only on my hair. i recently trimmed around 2-3 inches off.
i am trying to figure out a way to go completely natural. i have so much grey at the crown it would make me look a lot older for my age.
are salon hair products less damaging than store-bought color? i always call the company (clairol or loreal) prior to coloring, so they know what i am doing and i can discuss the next step, but i cannot deny that years of repeated color have stripped all life from the long hair it took so long for me to grow.
i hope for a solution that will allow me to keep my hair at its current length, slowly grow out the top, trim off the ends, and somehow blend it until i have all healthy hair. this would take a long time, but i am willing to wait if there is a solution at the end of the tunnel.
my major hurdle is the grey in my crown. i do not see how i can both acheive healthy long hair *and* color over the grey. does anyone have any suggestions?
i saw someone here mentioned weaving lighter color into their grey hair to make it look more highlighted. perhaps this is something i should consider, with the aid of a professional stylist. the thing is, i am on a fixed income, which is why i have been avoiding the expensive salons. but by avoiding the salons and coloring it myself, i may have ruined my hair.
i live in florida; i do not know of any decent long hair stylists in tampa.
any and all advice would be appreciated! the last thing i want is to have to cut it all of and "go grey." it would feel very foreign to me, and i would feel old.
thanks in advance.
--skylark
joec
Members Profile
Send Private Message
Find Members Posts
Add to Buddy List
Member
Joined: January 22 2004
Location: Seattle Wa
Status: Offline
Points: 110
This is a good post from uzma: suggest Coconut oil - the heavy, unrefined, unfractionated type that has a gorgeous smell because it has not had any of it's natural therapeautic properties chemically removed in the refinement process. Apply only a little. It is not sticky like olive oil - and spreads easily. It should be solid at 15 degrees celsius. Use a clean spoon to pick some out of the jar and melt in in your hand.
The Cocounut is traditionally used in asian/eastern cultures for achieving long, thick, black hair in excellent condition. It is used as both a pre-wash oil and as a post-wash conditioner. In Japan, Malaysia and Indonesia the past generations even used Cocunut milk for washing and cocunut oil for conditioning. In India and Pakistan, the ladies and gentlemen wear it in their hair all the time for conditioning and sun protection. On occasion, they have a "champi" - a vigourous head massage using this oil for stimulation of the follicular roots for improved growth. As a hot oil, the hair is saturated with Coconut oil, then a towel, with it's centre dipped in very hot water is wrung out and a turban is made over the head. This is done every 5 minutes for 20 minutes. At the end of this treatment, the hair is washed with a natural herbal power or a synthetic shampoo.
How long do you want it to grow? If you want super long hair, you probably won't get it if you dye it at all. You will need too many trims to keep the splits at bay, and hair only grown 1/2 inch a month. If you want waist length hair, you can probably manage to get that if you only dye it once (meaning each length of hair...so that when you do the roots, you dye roots only and the rest of your hair isn't subject to chemicals). If you want bra strap length hair, you can probably get it there no matter what you do to it, you will just have to keep trimming off all the splits from the dye jobs, and it will take a lot longer to get there.
The oiling suggestion above is a good idea, you can also use jojoba oil (on dry hair after washing, just from the ears on down, and don't use so much that it makes the hair look oily...if it looks oily, or gets oil on clothes, you used too much). It will help keep hair moisturized and healthier.
I'm sorry I don't have experience with dying gray, so I have no suggestions for products to use. But I have dyed my own hair, and been to salons, and I don't think salon dye is any less drying than the at home stuff.
If you decide to grow out your natural hair, instead of going to a salon, you can try the colorful shampoo to help wait out your growth to see if it helps blend it. Complements makes some for $5-6 a bottle in ash brown. It should turn your highlighted hair brown, and may cover your gray with some brown ....again though, I've never tried it on gray hair, so I don't even know if the gray will "take" the color. I know that dyed light hair absorbs the color better than natural hair, but even then it took 3 shampoos for it to start showing the color.
Making metal barettes/concord clips hair safe, long hair style how to: http://alonghair.wordpress.com
joec
Members Profile
Send Private Message
Find Members Posts
Add to Buddy List
Member
Joined: January 22 2004
Location: Seattle Wa
Status: Offline
Points: 110
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot create polls in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum