Is it possible to get your natural colour back past a certain point?

[Celia24]

By this I mean after years of dye jobs, is it possible to get natural shade back with the help of stripping or a lost cause?

I'm 30 & my natural colour was always a copper red with golden tones. I didn't appreciate it enough & dyed it many times. Aged about 17 I had it stripped and my red hair was intact.

But now my hairdresser tells me my roots are growing in ash blonde. I'm devastated to be honest 😔 being a redhead has always been part of my identity. It's been a light red for the last year but the red kept fading fast to bleached blonde and a darker root.

I've just had it done again but now it looks like a dark auburn which also doesn't feel like 'me'. I'm now thinking I might just need to take the plunge and see what my real colour is like & consider accepting it with ageing. Is it likely to even be possible?

Well it's certainly cheaper and less maintenance.
I gave up the dye /bleach after 30 years of various colours after lockdown, figured I may as well embrace my natural colour while I still have it.
Your hair may still grow out with some red in it you won't know for a few months.
I'd dye your hair a similar colour to the natural colour and so regrowth won't be so noticeable.

Yeah, at the moment I'm on the fence. When I dye it copper people believe it's my natural colour because it matches my eye colour/fair skin/freckles. And I think I might miss the vibrancy.

On the other hand it is so costly and so much maintenance. As time goes by I feel more like I'm trying to get back something I'll never get back.

Scrutinising my roots the other day I could see light brown with some golden tones. Like you say, id only know in practice. The brief for the hairdresser WAS to dye it close to the root colour but it looks too dark to me. Maybe I need to wait and see.

A lot of people I know with red hair say that it does fade over time to a much less vibrant red, bright red in childhood and then much more of a strawberry blond by 30, so it sounds like yours has done that. I would guess then that you’ll only get the red back by dying it.

You’ll have to grow out the dyed parts to get your natural colour back. If you colour strip it will remove the colour, but your hair has been lightened by the developer so it won’t be your natural colour.

About 7 years ago I took the plunge and grew out the dyes I had used for years and years. It was painful and for a long while I looked awful with 2 toned hair! But now totally worth it. I'm a redhead and still have my red colour after years of bleach highlights. The best way is to grow it out as having it stripped won't be your true colour.

Your best bet is to stop putting any colour on it at all and let it grow out for 12 months then see what it actually is. I know that’s hard to do but my endlessly colouring it you will never really know.

Different hair colour here, but my natural colour has changed a lot over the last 20 years. It has also changed texture from
very straight to very wavy. So what you were may have naturally changed anyway.

I've been growing my dye out for just over two years. my hairdresser did a really good job of matching my roots on the last colour before I decided to grow it out and it's made it much easier, no harsh line. I wouldn't risk stripping personally in case I ended up with all my hair damaged or a weird colour.

I wish I'd done it after lockdown I had highlights then and that would have also blended nicely and I'd have had a head start.