If you have been watching my videos since the beginning of the year, you may have noticed that I seem to have an “issue” that’s getting worse as my hair grows. Yes – the dreaded dark roots on blonde hair from my little color mishap at the end of February, which left me with blonde roots, and color that didn’t really take on the rest of my hair. Peep the video:
When this first happened, although I was thoroughly amused (honestly, I don’t get really upset about my hair unless it’s falling out in clumps or breaking), I had planned to get my hair either dyed by a professional or dye my hair medium brown to correct the color. Taking a friend’s advice, I was going to wait at least two weeks to do this, because she is very knowledgeable about dye and told me that my hair needed some time to normalize and for me to deep condition/protein treat it. Well…two weeks came and went, for a few reasons.
First, after a couple of weeks, I already saw my darker roots peeking through. If I was going to go to a colorist and have my whole head dyed blonde, I would be in the same predicament another two weeks later. See, one of the major issues I find with color is that many women cannot stand roots, so when they dye their hair, they have to keep getting it dyed in order to avoid roots, which is um…the same “issue” with relaxers. I stopped getting relaxers so I didn’t have to worry about touching my hair up continuously, and I wasn’t about to get sucked into that cycle now.
Second, although my hair seemed to continue to retain moisture well and my elasticity wasn’t of concern, I know what dye does to hair, and I know what overprocessing does to hair. Dye isn’t a process that washes out; like relaxers and heat, the damage can build over time until your hair cannot be saved and you need to cut. I still have flashbacks from when I bleached chunks of my hair in high school (using Loreal Chunking) and the blonde sections turned into mush and would stretch and snap anytime I applied any kind of tension to my strands. That shit was way more uncute than some brown roots.
Third, oh my stars and suns – THIS DAMN HENNA! I have tried my darndest to get rid of this stupid red color/tint. I’ve done dark rinses, tried to go lighter, etc. It always comes back! I feel as if I’m just going to eff my hair up trying to make it go away – you win, henna!!! YOU WIN!!! I’m just going to grow my hair out and keep trimming it as needed to get out the red.
After contemplating all that, I decided that I didn’t really care about my roots and this tricolor blend thing I’ve got going on. I’ve been dyeing my hair since before I could drive, drink, or have a job, and I always let my roots grow out. Hair color is just experimentation to me, I’m not trying to make people think I am a natural blonde or black haired maven. And, I’d rather have healthy dark roots than a head full of effed up fried and dyed hair. But…that’s just me. Will I dye my hair in the future? Maybe, but for right now, I’m coastin’ bishes.
xoxo
questfortheperfectcurl.com 
Just wanted to add something. For the ladies dealing with gray, I have read it’s better to use demi-permanent rather than permanent color. This way, the color gradually fades out instead of leaving that harsh line of demarcation. If you decide to stop coloring, there is no grow out process.
This is why I only get highlights, and not full color. Number one, like you, I hate the feeling of being trapped in a cycle. Plus I couldn’t stand the way my roots looked. I ended up using a dark semi-permanent color on the length of my hair until it grew out. My hair stayed healthy but it was a pain.
I thought that it looked cool and just assumed that you did that on purpose. Guess I can never dye my hair either because I use henna.
celebrateyournaturalbeauty.blogspot.com
I figured you have tried everything. A prime example of everyone’s hair is different. I was prepared for fading but so far all is well. A nice surprise especially since gray is supposed to be the hardest to keep covered.
I love your dark roots/red hair combination. But if you are unhappy with the red, have you tried henna + indigo? As long as it is body art quality henna you will be fine to use over dyed hair. I stopped relaxing about 3 years ago. My hair is approx. mid back in length and I stopped using synthetic hair dye at that time as well. I looked for a natural alternative after having a reaction to dye that turned my entire face and body beet red for about 4hrs. Sooo….now I dye my sporatic patches of grey roots every 6 weeks or so and the coverage is 100%. I buy Henna for African American hair (the difference is finer granulation which washes out easier) by Ancient Sunrise. The only negative is the amout of time you must be willing to commit to the 2-step henna/indigo color process, which is about 6 hours total. ~ Ciao!
I have used henna and indigo, but the indigo faded and just left the red.
I love your dark roots. Why? B/c for years I have been obsessed w/the length of my hair. Even when I was processed and this doggone mane of mine just wouldn’t give me results. Once I decided to go natural, I realized that when it isn’t breaking off ridiculously every day, it’s growing. I BC’d in Sept. 11 after 15mo of transitioning and I subbed to you in Jan 12, just before the blonde roots incident. I love your dark roots b/c now that I know my hair is growing, as I see your growth evidence I can say, hey, I’ve had somewhere around the same amount of growth over the past few months…Totally a selfish, self-serving reason, but why else do we like or not like things, right! lol.
Clearly *you* give a f^%k enough to write about it, and seek validation from your “followers” on “not giving a f&^k”.
LOL.
🙂 Did you even read the post?
HaHa!!! Lettem Know!
That happened for me with a Loreal Feria Color when I was relaxed. I thought it was chic and cool,My lovely non-assuming aunt decided to tell me that I looked like Philippina woman. Pure awesomess
I feel u girl. Im tri color as well. I think its fly.
I am glad you wrote about this because I just did this last night and have blonde roots and dark hair now. I wanted to color my gray hair and thought the sun-kissed blonde by dark and lovely would take (just because it was for black hair) and now I have reddish dark hair and blonde roots. I am good with it too and decided to let it grow out. I will have to dye it again soon, because I have a full chunk of gray hair in the front and I am not into gray right now. Thanks for sharing.
I want to color my hair but i’m super nervous because i’m newly 100% natural so i’m cautious, i’ll stick with rinses for now. Thanks for the words of caution.
Btw I’ll see u at the Curly Girl event tonight.
Elle you didn’t owe any of us an explanation. It’s your hair and you can do whatever you want with it.As you said it’s not falling out and I happen think your curls look nice and plump.
It’s not an explanation, I just wanted to write about my color experience. Just something to think about for those who use color or are considering it.