Jet black hair is making a comeback (we
wonder if its all the vampire influences around these days?)
Whatever the reason, dyeing your hair
black at home often ends up looking like you dumped a bottle of ink
on your head (and might make yourself a candidate for the dreaded
“chemical cut” which comers of improperly processing hair.)
Black hair also may not be the answer
to your hair’s natural fading as you age. Black hair tends to make
Caucasian women look older and harder ( if we only could age as
gracefully as our Asian or African American sisters), but if you have
your heart set on going black…here’s some rules of the road:
- Don’t do it yourself: (See ink-dumped-on-head reason above). Make an appointment to come see Lisa, a trained Master Colorist, or one of Believe's talented staff to handle the coloring for you.
- Try a temporary rinse first: Black hair doesn’t suit every type of skin. If you are fair with light eyes, the effect can either be sultry and dramatic or make you look like the undead. Don’t commit to so serious a color change until you see if you can live with it. Dark brown to black might not be so noticeable, but if you are light haired—be prepared for a shock.
- Avoid flat black: Highlights are the way to relieve the stark appearance of black hair and there are many different ways to go. (Come into Believe for a color consultation and we will take into account not only your skin and eye color, but your personality, too, in recommending what high (or low) lights you should consider. You don’t want to look washed out so as a general rule, if you have a cool skin tone you'll want to keep excess reds or gold out of your highlights. Use an ash color and go for a neutral medium brown color. If you're a warm-colored woman, do the exact opposite. Look for browns with a hint of red or gold to complement your skin tone.
- Types of High (Low)Lights: There are Natural highlights for the more demure among you –these are using colors that occur in nature as your highlighting choice; Contrasting colors make more of a statement or you can go Bold showing the world your wild side.
Here are some suggestions:
- Natural shades are usually no lighter than three shades above the black—so subtle you might only notice the difference in the play of light on your hair (and so you don’t end up looking like a skunk). This may be one look you’ll wish to consider if you are trying to blend your grays into your new color.
- Caramel highlights may help avoid some of the fading and brassy red tones that may surface towards the end of the 4-6 week period when you get your hair colored.
- Bronze highlights can enhance black hair without being so bold, adding depth and texture to help avoid that matte look.
- Honey blonde highlights can look fabulous on short black hair, showing off a great layered cut (that we can also provide at Believe.)
- Colored high(and low) lights can bring out your inner rocker. Crayon colors from royal purple and magenta, to hot pink or deep blue can turn a few heads and add a little pizzazz to your look (Give them a try during the summer months. If you can’t let loose then, when can you?) Or go all Avril Lavigne and put black streaks in your blonde hair and then live up to the image—be bold, be brave and World, take notice.
- Take care of your new black color: First and foremost, always use a sulfate-free shampoo and conditioner like Aestelance After Color (that we sell at Believe.) Every other week, you might want to also use a purple shampoo and conditioner to prevent brassy tones. (Don't use them every day or you might actually turning your hair purple!)
Make your appointment now for us at
Believe to
show you that black really is beautiful (and call soon—as the
weather heats up, so does our appointment book.)