Natural Hair Dye Files – From Redhead to Black Widow
From the natural hair dye files: A change is coming.
I’ve been dying my hair red since I was a sophomore in college, before I had locs. It was what made me a little more comfortable with wearing my natural hair out. I initially made the big chop shortly before my second year in college, in a haste and subsequently fell into shock and wore headwraps every day until my roommate/bff convinced me me to dye it. I used Clairol’s Tones & Textures in Red Hot Red.
The picture above is me some time last year, right after a touch up (which you can read more about that process here):
Lately I’ve been craving a change…
Bored and frustrated:
(Red dye jobs fade fast, btw)
Black hair was on my mind. So I took the plunge and enlisted the help of Dark & Lovely. I chose their dye in “Midnight Blue.”
Three boxes did the trick.
The instructions tell you to leave the dye in for 30 minutes if you’re natural but I add an extra five since I have locs. I’m not encouraging you to do this as everyone’s hair is different but it does work for me.
Once I rinsed the dye out I washed it with Pantene’s 2 in 1 shampoo/conditioner.
And then I conditioned it with Pantene’s color seal conditioner
Dark & Lovely included their own conditioner, which I didn’t use because it had petrolatum in it. It’s bad enough I’m already frying my hair with dye so why seal the deal (literally because all petrolium does is act as plastic wrap) with petrolatum? Be careful when it comes to black hair products because a lot of them contain petrolatum. It could be the difference between a flaky scalp and a moisturized one, or hydrated hair and thirsty hair.
I deep conditioned it with a Castor oil/Grapeseed oil blend, hot oil treatment:
I twisted my locs with my new favorite product, Eco Styler Gel. I used to use Carol’s Daughter’s loc butter, which is expensive. So, when I accidentally discovered Eco Styler Gel in the beauty supply store for $3 (for the regular size) and read its claims of extra strength hold and being flake and alcohol free on the jar, I went for it:
This one has been through it lol.
You can also get the jumbo size one for $7, pictured below:
This gel is amazing. I stopped using gels to twist my locs a while ago because they all falsely promised no flaking and not to harden my hair. There’s nothing worse than having flaky locs, ilk. But this Eco Styler stuff is cool! There’s really no flaking, my hair doesn’t get stiff and the holding power is immaculate. I. Am. In. Love. Again, it’s cheap and the jumbo will probably last me at least 8 months if not longer (I’m going for a year).
And this is what I look like now:
I hated the black at first but now it’s growing on me and I’ve surprisingly been getting compliments on it so I think I may keep it for a few months or until I feel like changing up, whenever that will be.
Category: Hair
LOCS… **drools**
I must admit that it’s odd seeing the pics with the black hair but hey, change is a good thing sometimes.
<3 the new look!
Thanks for the tip about petrolatum-I had no idea that stuff was harmful for black hair. I have a TWA and I'm all about having healthy hair.
I've been thinking about dyeing it just for a change.
@Justine
Thanks chica. Let me know if you have questions about products and maintaining your hair.
I love the black hair! But I may go and do the opposite and dye my hair red. So we may be switching up homes. I had it red in college and went back to black but I’m definitely thinking of dying it for the new year. Yea…I just may do that. Again, love the black!
I love the new color. And yes, Eco Styler gel is the biz-nass. It’s also great for twist outs. It helps define my curl pattern and it’s much cheaper (and in my opinion, better) than Kinky Kurly or Miss Jessies.
wow, totally gorg! i’m so afraid to color my locs. i’ve heard about not making the color saturate into the locs (i.e. squeezing the color into your locs). what’s your process? have your locs remained healthy throughout your years of coloring? also, how long does the color last. it’s cute, i like the black.
HI Kamilah,
Thanks for the compliment. My locs have remained healthy throughout years of coloring. I cheated initially because my hair was colored before locing so saturation wasn’t much of an issue, however since locing there have been times where I lightened my hair first and then dyed it and so far no problems. I just use extra conditioner and keep it moving. Plus I really only dye my hair about once every few months so there’s not too much stress going on. As far as how long the color lasts, it depends on the shade. Red dyes fade fast like, you could really start to see fading after your second wash. Browns and blacks take a little longer (maybe a couple of months).
I love your new hair, it looks fantastic! Greetings from Berlin 🙂
it looks nice. u go girl lol!!!!!