Natural/Alternative solutions to cover unwanted bleached hair?

December 10, 2007 12:15 AM

Peroxide Mishap - Is it possible to get my bleached hair back to its natural color without resorting to boxed hair dye?

Using hydrogen peroxide as a facial toner for a couple weeks has caused my naturally black hair to turn brown and orange.

The peroxide only got so far as to bleach my eyebrows and a good portion of the baby hairs at my hairline.

Now my hair is a freakishly similar color/tone to my complexion and it makes me look completely washed out and lifeless. It actually looks like I have makeup foundation smeared in my hair.

I'm apprehensive to using hair dye to cover it because of the bad black-hair-dye-jobs I've witnessed in my life, plus I hardly have the patience to maintain the coloring. And frankly, I just don't want to use dye for such a small amount of hair. (plus I'd have to do my whole head otherwise it wouldn't match and then I'd have to constantly re-color because the roots would look gross, etc..)

I feel like I'm going to have to bite the bullet and begin the horrible cycle of dying my hair, HOWEVER, I was hoping someone out there might have advice or a work around for my problem.

Options I've considered:

1. Just shaving that bit of hair off (my hairline is freakishly high as it is, so this has the potential to look SUPERWEIRD)
2. Coloring it with a Sharpie (shrug)

That's all I got!

Is there some sort of home treatment where I can soak my hair in a natural solution of food products to restore the color, or a hair-gel that could mask the color until it grows out, or solutions of a similar vein? Should I just wait this horrible patch of bleached hair out?

If there are no alternatives (o plz say it ain't so), any advice on a black hair dye that won't destroy my hair?

posted by zippity to clothing, beauty, & fashion (12 comments total)

Go to a professional colorist who uses Goldwell ELUMEN colorant , it is different and there is no equivalent, until the patent runs out, the black is very strong and it will not damage the protein of your hair. Next best is a brand called 'water colors' a powder that releases a mild bromide to develop the dye instead of peroxide,but you may have to apply it twice. Sharpies try a violet blue one, that is the missing pigment.
posted by hortense at 12:43 AM on December 10, 2007

I'm going to start out by saying that the hydrogen peroxide probably did enough damage to your hair that I wouldn't worry about what a good, commercial grade hair dye would do. I certainly wouldn't go with a sharpie if you're worried about damage or "natural" ingredients.
This previous question has a lot of good suggestions, particularly this link about henna dying. There are a bunch of "recipes" on there for dying hair black using henna, though I haven't tried any of them personally (there are pictures and testimonials on the page though). Your easiest bet, however, would probably be just going to a salon. They would be able to mix a color that would blend nicely with your natural hair color so the new growth wouldn't be noticeable (i.e. roots), since you're trying to cover something already there, not what is naturally growing from your head.
posted by primalux at 1:35 AM on December 10, 2007

Yes, pay someone to dye your hair professionally. If you have a salon do it, you'll likely only have to dye that patch the once — assuming, of course, that you're more careful with the hydrogen peroxide around your hairline in the future. They'll get it to match your natural color, it'll grow out the same color as your hair, and so there won't be any cycle of dying your hair. When I get tired of maintaining red hair, I have a salon dye it back to the color of my brown roots, and it matches so well that I never have to dye it until I get bored of being a brunette again. I would imagine dying a patch to match naturally black hair should be even easier to get right.

I also think you should go to a salon because dying your eyebrows is something you really do not want to mess with yourself, risking blindness and all. (If, in fact, you'd like your eyebrows to go back to their natural color along with your hairline, that is.)
posted by adiabat at 1:57 AM on December 10, 2007

Bleach is far worse for your hair than dye, so dying it isn't going to destroy your hair (any more than the bleach did)
Find a colour thats as close to your natural colour as possible - there are hundreds of different shades to choose from, you shouldn't have any trouble getting a close match - then the regrowth wont look that bad. Stay away from the blacks, there are a lot of really dark browns that would do the trick without looking weird.
For your eyebrows, I'd go with an eye pencil til they grow out - eyebrows grow out pretty quickly.

You best best would probably to go to a really good beauty salon, they'll be able to assess the damage and advise on how best to fix it.
posted by missmagenta at 2:04 AM on December 10, 2007

If you're really adverse to dying it (though I agree with everyone else here- going to a professional is your best option), you could use some soft black/deep brown mascara on your hairline. For the eyebrows- brow tint might work.
posted by MiaWallace at 4:34 AM on December 10, 2007

Here's the trick with peroxide, it's not DYE, there's no way to just take it OUT. It's literally stripping color out of your hair, leaving behind the follicle.

That's why all the smart punks peroxide their hair before coloring it something strange, cuz it sticks sooo much better, the empty follicles sort of suck up the new color.
posted by TomMelee at 5:14 AM on December 10, 2007

I think you are over-reacting a tad! Really, just go to a Sallys (or any place that sells hair colour really) and get one of those root touch-up pens/crayons. They'll do the trick until it grows out, and they're not permanent so no more dying/bleaching required.
posted by gatchaman at 6:09 AM on December 10, 2007

Second gatchaman. I wouldn't worry about "bad black-hair-dye-jobs." Black dye jobs look bad because 1) they lack the color variations found in naturally black hair and 2) people with dyed black hair usually have the wrong skintone to pull it off. If you just dye the area around your hairline, and you already have naturally black hair, you should be fine.
posted by junkbox at 7:05 AM on December 10, 2007

You don't need to dye your entire head to touch up your hairline and eyebrows. I wouldn't even bother with dye for the eyebrows, just a pencil or tinted brow gel should do the trick. As for the baby hairs around your face, dying them seems like way more trouble than it's worth- it's really hard to dye those delicate hairs without getting dye on your scalp or making a harsh line of dye around your face. I've been dying my hair for many years, and I still don't always manage to do a great job on those parts. I'd go with gatchaman's suggestion, or maybe wear my hair in such a way that those bits are hidden.
posted by oneirodynia at 1:24 PM on December 10, 2007

You just need to dye the patches and the brows. Go to a professional Don't try to dye brows yourself, btw, home dyes could blind you.

Bottom line- there is no way to undo bleaching without covering it back with color of some sort. Bleaching is permanent because it strips your hair down.
posted by fructose at 2:23 PM on December 10, 2007

Wouldn't some of that stuff they advertise to get gray out of guy's beards work in this case? Especially if it's such a small area...
posted by clanger at 2:26 PM on December 10, 2007

Revlon's Brow Fantasy tool has an eyebrow pencil on one end and a tinted brow gel on the other, and it comes in black. Sold in CVS and other drugstores.
posted by Juliet Banana at 4:50 PM on December 10, 2007