‘Sis, colouring your natural hair won’t kill you’

http://www.thisisrnb.com/2013/01/chrisette-michele-announces-new-album-coming-in-april/

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What does Kelis, Chrisette Michele and Viola Davis all have in common?

They took the brave step of colouring their natural hair and haven’t looked back since.

2017 has seen a plethora of naturalistas taking dyed natural hair to the next level. Curls and kinks with hues and ombres of blues, purples and reds have unapologetically graced the pages of hair magazines and vlogs, showing us that natural hair can be dyed, fly and taken care of- all at the same time. I’d like to share my qualms about colouring my hair and how colour ended up adding edge to my tresses.

Tamala Ceasar – saltbloguk.com

What’s the big deal then?

https://unsplash.com/photos/TRGNLA5lfyQ

When it comes to dying natural hair, I’ve come to realize that there are two camps of people:

• You have group A who are the, “YOLO, I want to try something new and if it damages my hair, it’ll grow back!”
• And you have group B who are the “Nope, not doing it! My friend’s sister coloured her hair and it broke off!…no thanks”

I was Group B and I too feared the worst when it came to colouring my hair after going natural five years ago. I was anti-heat, anti-chemicals and uneducated about hair colour and I was precious about my untouched tresses; purposely avoiding anything that would damage them. It also didn’t help that I kept seeing the after affects of very damaged natural hair on people in public and confirming my thoughts, “Nah, it’s not for me”.

Do your research

This summer everything changed. I got bored with my hair colour. I decided to push past the mental block of ‘colour being the killer to natural hair’ and did some research on different non-bleach colours. I watched YouTube video reviews on the:

• Pros and cons of colouring natural hair,
• The different types of henna dyes for natural hair
• Tutorials on using the ombre method for natural hair
• And the do’s and don’ts for colouring natural hair – as well as thoroughly quizzing my hairdresser Wendy like Steve Harvey on Family Feud.

Where there’s a will, there’s a way and I went from being the chair of group B, to a strong member of group A, simply because I researched, consulted a professional and fundamentally, I really wanted to give a new dimension to my hair and try something new.

Colour me brown…?

Source:  Photo by Chris Barbalis on Unsplash

There are so many colours to choose from when deciding what colour you want to dye your hair. I decided to go for different hues of honey blonde highlights throughout my medium length natural hair, because I wanted a subtle colour that wasn’t too far off from my natural hair colour- and I totally loved the results.

If you’re deciding to dye it during the summer, you might be inspired to go for more vibrant colours like deep oranges, honey blondes or balayage highlights and ombres. If it’s winter you may want to go for dying your tips a deep red, ginger gold, or a cool bluey/purple.

Start as you mean to go on

Source:  Photo by Eye for Ebony on Unsplash

Moisture, a regular treatment and trim will be your best friends when you dye your hair, because the truth is your ends will be the driest they’ve ever been due to the colour (if you do decide to go down the bleach route) and so you’ll need to keep an eye for split ends.

If you’re still not sure after reading this, there’s no rush. Take your time, research and ask qualified hair professionals any questions that you may have. In the meantime, check out these videos from a selection of top YouTubers on the pros and con of dying, how-tos on achieving ombre tips and how to use henna to dye your gorgeous tresses (and the conditioning properties).

Pros + Cons | Should You Color Dye Your Natural Hair | HONEST Thoughts – Dearnaptural85

Dying My Ends with NO DAMAGE| Creme of Nature on Natural Hair – Honey Byte

Light Brown Henna (Blonde to Brunette) – Kia Jones