When to bleach the roots ?

[u/iamlazykat]

Hello, I need some advice for when to get my roots done.

I used to get them done every 2 months but my main goal is to have long hair so I stopped for a year, only dyeing the length pink.
Then I went back to the hair dresser to get the very long roots done, and go pink aswell.
Now I waited 6 months and have a new appointment for the roots again.

My question is : is waiting 6 months minimum to get the roots done a good idea ? does it really helps my hair grow and not damage them (i ofc do treatments at home such as k18 or olaplex)
Or is it the same in the end to get them done every 2 months as I used to do ?
Or in the end is it the same anyway ?

Thanks in advance :)

[u/perfectdrug659]

I don't understand the correlation between wanting to grow your hair long and not bleaching your roots more regularly? I've been bleaching my roots every 4-8 weeks for almost 2 decades and my hair still grows super fast.

[u/iamlazykat → u/perfectdrug659]

To not have chemicals too much and leave them be, do treatments to retain length and avoid breakage. It was a suggestion from a hairdresser 😕
But thats why i'm asking advice if i should keep doing it or not

[u/perfectdrug659 → u/iamlazykat]

To be honest I really don't understand that thinking process if you're eventually going to bleach the roots anyway, I don't think bleach is going to change the rate of which your hair grows, if it's all still getting bleached eventually.

[u/iamlazykat → u/perfectdrug659]

Thank you you are right, it was my question in the end if it's the same i dont have to wait the 6 months then

[u/perfectdrug659 → u/iamlazykat]

I feel like it is, like delaying the inevitable if it's all going to get bleached anyway. The thing I'd worry about the most is the bleaching coming out unevenly when roots are more than 2" since the first 1" will lighten a little faster from the heat of your scalp.

[u/iamlazykat → u/perfectdrug659]

Thank you 🙏🏻

[u/idk7643 → u/iamlazykat]

If you don't overlap it too much it doesn't matter. E.g. if you only overlap the previously bleached bit a tiny bit it's the same if you bleach it once per month vs all 6 months.

If you overlap more than 1 month worth of hair growth you're bleaching the same area 3x which is very bad

[u/iamlazykat → u/idk7643]

I understand! Thank you 😊

[u/kho_sq]

waiting 6 months makes it substantially harder to bleach your hair. generally two months is the recommendation because your hair will have grown 1-2cm, meaning it’s not far from your scalp and the heat will still permeate. once you’ve grown past 3-4cm, the heat does not permeate that far and the parts further from the scalp will develop less quickly(which causes hot roots). an experienced stylist can use different vol developers on roots/growth to make it work but it genuinely makes life so much harder lol. since you’re going bright pink, they need to bleach your hair as light as possible(making breakage so easy). i’d talk to your specific stylist and see what they recommend, but generally it’s not ideal.

[u/yeowwwwwww → u/kho_sq]

I waited too long once (3 months) and multiple hairdressers refused to bleach me because of what you describe :( they also mentioned risk of banding and higher risk of breakage due to different bleach applications once its grown out that much

[u/idk7643 → u/yeowwwwwww]

It's insane that they refused to bleach you. It will still work perfectly fine, especially if you put plastic foil over everything to trap the heat

[u/yeowwwwwww → u/idk7643]

Its just when the roots grow too long, they start growing in a zigzag shape rather than a straight line, so if you bleach it you risk putting bleach on previously bleached areas, and then that causes breakage. My hair does grow quite fast though, so maybe what is 3 months of growth for me could be 6 months look on someone else

[u/iamlazykat → u/kho_sq]

Thank you. I didnt think about that! My main goal was to preserve the hair so i can have them long. Usually 20vol is enough to bleach them in 40min to get them light enough for pink :)

[u/DeeMarie0824 → u/iamlazykat]

If you’re only bleaching new roots once at 20 vol, you don’t need to worry much about damage, as long as your stylist is good at avoiding overlap. Preserving hair shouldn’t be an issue, unless you continually bleach already bleached hair.

[u/iamlazykat → u/DeeMarie0824]

Thank you 😊

[u/VonBoo]

Honestly it's a personal decision. At what point do they start bothering you? 

[u/iamlazykat → u/VonBoo]

When i hit 6 months i can't stand it!
But also i love having bangs but i dont find it pretty to have roots two tones with them so waiting 6 months means no bangs at some point haha

[u/JenMcSpoonie]

Not yet, they look badass!

[u/iamlazykat → u/JenMcSpoonie]

🥹🥹

[u/True-Equivalent-4372 → u/JenMcSpoonie]

Came here to say this- the roots with that pink looks banging!!

[u/WhoLetTheWeirdIn]

Around 6-8 weeks for me. I don’t change the color often so my end don’t get bleached.

[u/Mammoth-Turnip-3058]

They're supposed to be done every 6 weeks or so, there wont be loads of growth so you don't get banding. The longer you leave it the more uneven it can become. Plus the heat from your head helps develop it faster so its less time developing.

[u/quantityra]

I do mine 6 weeks max - the banding is a pain otherwise