This may not be the easiest decision but it comes down to either bleach or silky length. Unless you have naturally lighter hair. I’ve had long hair since my early 20s. I experimented with bleach in 2016 in an attempt to achieve a caramel balayage look. I tried going lighter after years of dying my dark brown hair to black.
In late 2017 I chopped off the bleach and dyed my hair back to black. Fast forward to 2020 and I trim my hair monthly to maintain my tailbone length. Read along to learn the 3 easy steps to achieve long locks.
Step 1
Minimize heat tools! Unless you can splurge on the Dyson hairdryer and tools. My sister bought her set and I can’t wait to get one myself one day. Hairdryers damaged my hair. What I do is take a shower in the evening to air dry my hair overnight. I also highly recommend using ceramic plate flat irons instead of titanium plate ones. I broke my ceramic flat iron and used a gifted titanium plate one for a few months and it was so harsh on my hair.
Step 2
Trim your own hair. I’m by no means a hairstylist but there’s an easy trick to do micro trims! Anyone can do this. It works for straight or wavy/curly hair. Every time I’ve tried growing out my hair and went to the salon for a trim I always got much more length taken off than I wanted/needed.
All you need to do is straighten your hair as flat as you can and part it down the middle. Tie it in a low ponytail and pull the hair tie straight down to the very ends. Bring your low ponytail to the front and cut straight across the thinnest ends. Even 1cm can make a difference in how healthy your hair feels and looks. I normally only need 1 cm per micro trim. If your hair is too short to pull the low ponytail to the front have a friend help you! Click the link below for a step by step guide to this easy self-trim method.
https://www.instructables.com/cut-your-own-long-hair/?amp_page=true
I use thinning shears at the ends if I don’t want a thick hemline. Sally’s has inexpensive scissors and thinning shears. I use $12 scissors and they do the job!
Step 3
Steer clear of bleach! Low developer hair dyes for natural color (or close to your natural color) touch-ups aren’t out of the question. As a first time mom and new to the 30s club I have a lot of grey hair. I’ve noticed when I use store-bought box dye my hair isn’t as shiny as when I use the Ion semi-permanent mix from Sally’s. Sally’s professional dye mix allows me to pick my developer number. The store box comes with a 40 volume developer and to deposit black hair dye to my dark brown a 20 volume developer has done just fine. I believe, the higher the developer number, the more damaging it is. It’s easy to use professional hair dyes. You can find everything you need at your local Sally’s Beauty Supply. I always opt for the créame ones for less cleanup.
That’s it! These are the 3 easy steps I used to grow my length back after bleach damage. Of course, genetics plays a role in your growth but these steps will help. I will add another on how I trim dead ends for shorter strands that a straight cut at the ends can’t fix. I hope you find this how-to useful!
