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ellimac

so ive been reading postings all day long, trying to find a similar situation to mine but haven't really seen too many postings from women with long hair recently. so sorry for using this board for my own personal situation, but any advice would be GREATLY appreciated!!!

i'm asian american and have long, dark hair that was highlighted 1.5 months ago. it's down to the middle of my back and i'd say it's medium to thick.

i smoke about 3-4 nights/week, and occasionally all day on a sat or sun. i used a tiny amount of shrooms for memorial day camping also. the last day i smoked was june 8. so it's been about 10 days of no smoking (altho the roommate still does). i'm trying to set up my hair test for mid to late next week with QUEST; so i'll have been clean ~2.5 weeks...

i've ordered a 3 pack of zydot and toxin wash online and expect them on friday. in the meantime, i'm doing the baking soda paste followed by joico K-PAK chelating shampoo (which is similar to Paul Mitchell 3, i believe. joico has a pH of 5).

i've read all about relaxers and bleaching/redying that people have tried. you can imagine that bleaching black hair and dying it back will have undesirable long-term effects, especially the maintenance. however, i REALLY NEED to pass this test, esp considering the current job market. so im pretty much willing to do whatever i absolutely need to to pass. but if i can go the relaxer route and have similar results to bleaching, that would be SO MUCH better... is bleaching multiple times more effective?

so.. to dingleberry and jerry g, who have been so helpful in giving their advice in certain situations, as well as anyone else that might be reading this... any tips on what you might do if you were in my shoes?

thanks!!

 

1tokeovertheline

With your smoking history, you need to do all you can and all you are willing to do. If possible you should delay the test as long as you can. The longer you are clean the better your chances.

Good luck and be sure to post your results.

Jerry G

I give you a poor chance of passing without extensive treatments.

Nav

You can't use a relaxer?

moxee22

i have a similar situation in regards to your hair type. my smoking history isn't as heavy as yours but what i did was use the relaxer. part of me believes it could be just as effective as bleaching/redying but that's my personal speculation simply on the fact that you can bleach/redye multiple times but relaxers are much harsher and it isn't recommended to do them more than once in a short time.--but *don't* go by my opinion. my hair is long, black and extremely thick which is why i wasn't thrilled about bleaching, and also mainly because the people in hr and the department i would be working in are past work acquaintances of mine-so a drastic hair change would be very fishy.

i know Nav used a relaxer twice and I myself am going to do the same just as reassurance. the bleach/redye method has a great success rate so if you're willing & able to do it, then do it. i know your frustration of trying to find out the effectiveness of bleach/redye vs relaxers- it seems that a lot of times when people come out and say they can't bleach that the only responses they get are to bleach and the whole relaxer option is sometimes ignored. just do different searches and pour through the results thread to figure out your battle plan. good luck!

 

Nav

Yeah I did it twice but I have not received my results yet.....I'm still going crazy wondering it it worked.

1tokeovertheline

Relaxers have been used alone and with other methods. Relaxers are a popular treatment with Afro-Americans and also people of Asian descent. The results are/were in this forum someplace.

Dingleberry

it sort of sounds like you will have to really damage your hair to be able to pass. If you are able to get a professional bleach and re-dye I strongly suggest you do. It isn't that hard to put up with after you redye. You will probably have to refresh your dye to keep it looking nice at least once after the initial redye. I would suggest relaxing your hair also. I'm not sure how the results have been for just a relaxer and no bleach. I need to read through the forums and check the success rate. I think if you did a bleach/re-dye AND relaxer with a zydot treatment or toxin wash the day of the test, you would stand a good chance of passing.

If you choose to bleach/re-dye, you should probably get a trim afterwards to get rid of the damaged ends. That will help you nurse your hair back to health a bit easier. With the right care, you could have your hair back in shape in no time. But it's all up to you..its really just how much you are willing to do to pass this thing.

One additional thing you might notice after a bleach and redye is that your hair seems thicker. That is because the bleach causes your hair to swell up to 40%. With the right conditioning its pretty easy to get your hair back to normal and not so fluffy.

Jerry G

Limited results, but very encouraging...

1tokeovertheline

I don't have time to look but I don't remember a relaxer used by itself. Any that I remember used the relaxer in combo with Mac Method, Aloe Rid Treatment, PM3, etc.
I think we all agree that this person needs to treat short of their hair falling out to pass. Which by the way has happened. One in particular had their hair start to fall out in clumps because they damaged their hair so much. This was an extreme case with real extreme treatment. The reason I remember is I told this woman she should pass if she had any hair left. I was joking. She passed if I remember correctly but posted later saying her hair was falling out.
I have seen people do some weird and dangerous shit to their hair to try and pass a hair test.
Later,
1Toke