by
Editorial
 by Kelsey (pictured above) of Lifewithcoco2
If you’re anything like me, then you loveeee hair color! Ive changed my hair color 7 times since Ive been natural and I’ve always been asked a lot of questions. From picking a hair color to maintaining the health of your hair, there are a couple of things you should think about when deciding to dye your hair:
Will it be appropriate for your particular working environment?
Depending on what your daily life consists of, you want to make sure your hair color goes with that. For example, you probably won’t want to have bright green hair working in corporate america.
Will you be able to take extra time to care for your hair?
Having colored hair means that there is no room for slack. You must be able to keep your hair moisturized and you must have a consistent hair regimen in order to avoid breakage or your hair being damaged.
Does the color I want compliment my skin tone?
There is no rule to who can wear what color; but it is important to make sure that you are going to love how it looks on you. I personally look at various types of hair color on women who have skin tones similar to my own to get an idea of how it might possibly look on me. I then tweak the color a bit to fit exactly what I want.
Keeping your hair healthy
When coloring your hair, it is important that you go into it with already healthy hair. I do not recommend coloring your hair if you do not have a healthy hair regimen or if your hair is chemical treated (permed) or damaged. Even though color is not as harsh as a relaxer it is still a chemical and it is important to keep your hair very hydrated when adding a color to your hair, especially if it is a lighter color. You can keep your hair hydrated by doing the following:
– Drinking lots of water
– Deep conditioning regularly
– Wetting your hair frequently
– Staying away from heat
After asking yourself these questions, do you think you’re ready to make the jump to color?Â
About Kelsey: I’m Kelsey Janae aka Lifewithcoco2, I love all things natural hair. I seek to inspire and educate using my knowledge of all things hair, health, and beauty. My goal is to encourage women and men to always be the best version of themselves.
26 Responses
Hi I tried to dye my hair but the colour never took. I have black hair! Someone recommended colour stripper, but I don’t like the sound of that!
Do you use colour strip to achieve your colour results?
If you don’t mind me asking?… What color/dyeing brand did you use in these photos? And what color is that, because that is a beautiful color for your skin complexion. I’m the same and I would like to try it out. Plz Wright back! 😀
I have Senegaless twist an I am getting ready to take them down an I want to Color my hair which I believe is 4G it is coily an medium course I have Grey that needs to be covered an I would like to dye it a color of 27/33 any suggestions for brands. Oh I am all natural no relaxer for 2 years an no rinse for 6 months or more.
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I henna/indigo to gain strength and to cover my graying edges.. In the past Ive used Bigen, but it was just too harsh for my scalp.. Are there any other brands that arent so harsh ?? I’d like to go lighter for the summer and Henna just doesnt do that.
Open to suggestions
My hair is naturally jet black, which is fine with me; I wouldn’t want any other color. Now, as a midlife woman I’m into covering gray edges. For the past 4 years I’ve been using henna & indigo to keep my hair black. I tried Bigen & Kid powdered dye & then found out they both have PPD, a dangerous chemical, plus they made my hair dry & very brittle. Other women I know with fine natural hair like mine had the same problem. With henna/indigo there are no bad chemicals & my hair stays in great shape. I get my henna & indigo from mehandi.com aka hennaforhair.com.
Whats the point of bleaching hair when your going natural . Bleach damages your hair so much similar to a relaxer . It’s basically the same thing except you have colored “natural hair “. As much as thinks it looks good but the breakage and dryness is awful .
I never experienced any breakage or dryness when bleaching my hair and I’ve done it twice in one year
Just because a person chooses to wear their natural hair texture doesn’t bar them from being creative with their hair. People call it “natural” because it doesn’t have a chemical straightener. It was used in the 1970s and made it’s way to the 2010s. Let her be.
I see the mention of bottled dyes. What about henna? Does anyone have any experience with the use of henna coloring on natural hair?
I’ve used henna since I have been natural (3yrs). I have had no problems with it. I always do a moisturizing deep conditioner afterwards.
I’ve used it, it loosened my curls and I wasn’t happy about it, other than that my hair seemed to thrive. I’ve stopped using it though
Black is beautiful and that’s the color that I use and will use to cover my grays, to me there is nothing more beautiful on a black woman than black hair.
Also need to consider the water used for shampooing. Hard water was one of the culprits in my dyed hair breaking off
I used to use dark & lovely. It gave me gorgeous color, but my hair is so fine and delicate that I decided to stop using it just to be on the safe side. I now do henna glosses.
so far as brands go, i’ve consistently used dark n lovely for the last decade. since high school, not a single year has gone by that i haven’t dyed my hair at least once, but i tend to dye my hair several times over the course of a year. i’ve already used up my allotted dye opportunities for the year, and i don’t want to overdo it, since i’ve changed the color on the same length/bulk of hair now five times, which for me is normally a no-no. but i couldn’t get the color i had in mind, and did a bad job, and kept trying to color over it, and though i’m haven’t fully accepted the dye job i’m gonna hafta suck it up and live with the results since i don’t plan on changing that color again. my only option would be to cut if off but…uh, that’s not gonna happen, or at least not anytime soon since that would mean i’d hafta chop off all my hurr. not so for this chica! i’m gonna wait til my hair’s about BSL or MBL before i even consider that maneuver. In my experience, dye does dry your hair out. If you simply go a shade or two lighter you might not notice, but if you use bleach/peroxide, especially if you’re drastically changing your color for a lighter shade then the degree of stripping that’s involved of that won’t necessarily fry your hair- but you will definitely notice a slight texture change- for better or for worse. In most people’s cases, it’s for “worse”, because it can make your hair rougher- which is where i’d say kelsey’s spot on when she says you must make sure to keep your hair moisturized- but particularly if your hair breaks when dry. i think bleach is less harsh than relaxing, though, if i had to weigh it, but bleaching the same hair too many times will have about the same effect and will result in breakage, so it’s best to try to nail the right color the first time, if you can, so you won’t feel compelled to keep damaging your hair in attempts to correct undesired results.
Some people say that coloring their hair made it softer, but i think those claims are in the minority. but with that said, the texture change is not usually dramatic enough to keep one from maintaining a head full of otherwise healthy hair. provided your hair is healthy to begin with, you shouldn’t have issues. i’ve never had problems with hair dye at all, no breakage, no extra split end issues, and no falling-out-hair, that i would ever have attributed to hair dye or bleach.
i’ve dyed my hair about five times now, and i’ve finally decided to just live with the color i have. so for now i’m two-toned. blond at the top and red at the bottom. i’m plenty colorful, and i think i look like a deciduous tree, but i’m slowly warming up to the colors lol next time i touch up my roots i’m going for blond again. i love blond 🙂
Drinking water will not hydrate the hair.
it actually does because you still need work from the inside out – the same way a healthy lifestyle maintains your hairs health and hydration (exercise increases blood flow thus stimulating hair growth).
I can attest to this as well. I’ve had a stomach virus for the last 5 days and I’ve been quite dehydrated. I haven’t been able to keep much down, not even water. I noticed these last few days that my hair had been feeling drier than normal, even though I’ve been keeping it moisturized by spraying it with water and using moisturizing products. It’s just not the same, and I know it has to do with the fact that I haven’t been taking in as many fluids. So I do believe that drinking plenty of water helps to keep hair hydrated and healthy.
i agree. people tend to get this point confused. drinking water will hydrate the hair that has yet to come in, but not the hair that’s already emerged from your follicles. so drinking lots of water won’t affect the length of your hair that’s there already, but it’s good to drink water because it will nourish from the inside the emergent hair. i get annoyed when people don’t make this distinction. just like taking hair vitamins or eating healthy will not do didly squat for the hair you’ve already grown; it will aid, however, the hairs that are yet to come, provided you remain consistent with your routine.
Nice article, thanks BGLH for posting!
What coloring brands or methods do you recommend for 4C naturals?
Hopefully a 4c will chime in to answer. I think this advice is universal but the brands that may not be harsh on her hair may not be great for us 4b/cs.
Ty, I’ve heard Textures and Tones are good hair color for natural hair.
I used that brand before and it damaged my hair so much.
I’m not sure how relevant my experiences are, but I’m a 4a with fine hair that is prone to dryness and split ends. I dyed my hair (twice, I wanted lighter) for the first time two or so weeks ago and was scared to death, but I have noticed no increased dryness or fragility whatsoever. I used Dark and Lovely Go Intense in 10 Golden Blonde to put chunky highlights in the front of my hair. I chose it because it has olive oil in and kept it on past the instructed 30 minutes and have seen no ill effects.
Hope that helps a little!