Coloring Natural Hair

[Country gal]

I want my natural hair to grow longer because I think I can do more with it once it is longer. I am trying not to add heat to my hair to aid in the growth. I wonder if I should also stay away from coloring my hair? My aunt says my cousin has colored her hair a light brown. She is natural too. It got me yearning to color my hair. What have your experiences been with coloring your natural hair?

 

[CurlyCrly]

I'm interested in responses to this question too...that is one of the reasons I'm considering transitioning to natural. I'd like to color my hair light brownish and don't want to do it on texturized/relaxed hair.

 

[Country gal]

My natural hair is jet black so a rinse probably won't do the trick.

 

[locabouthair]

if my natural hair color is 1b would a rinse show?

 

[ChocoKitty]

I've colored my natural hair with a permanent color before on a couple of occasions. The first time my hair was at least near bra length--I believe. I colored it a honey blond using Dark & Lovely if i remember correctly. Back then I didn't as much as I know now about my natural hair now. I didn't lose any hair but the cuticle of my hair did swell up. So my hair was thicker and I'm sure a bit more porous (although my hair is normally porous anyway) The second time my hair was colored was with golden blond and golden brown highlights. These were done professionally. I think highlights are much safer than all over color. The damage--if any-is minimal. Depending on how you choose to style you hair-- a permanent color should not cause havoc IMO. If I was smarter I would have deep conditioned on a regular basis...

I've done rinses too! I LOVE rinses but you'll never be able to lighten you hair with one. They created rich deep colors on your hair with a lot of pure shine.
I used to get rinses made by Matrix but they've been discontinued. This fall I plan on applying a Sebastians colourshine. The best thing about about a rinse is that it coats your hair. It protects it and makes it look thicker and healthier IMO. But the downside is that they wash out after so many washes. That's why I'm waiting until the fall to apply one. I wash my hair too often to hold one for a month right now.

Hope this helps...

 

[ajargon02]

Well a great person to talk to about color is AFashionSlave! I have done permanent coloring on 2 occasions, and I am a natural. The first time was a mahagony, then 2yrs later I went blonde. What I have learned is to do a protein tx 1 month before coloring, then weekly deep conditioning.I did my deep conditioning for 5weeks, then I colored. It came out wonderful,very little dryness. Then to follow up I continued to do weekly deep conditioning tx for the 4-6 weeks following the color. With the blonde, I had no damage. I am now in braids(b/c I am lazy) but if coloring is done right, it's wonderful, and you don't end up hurting your hair that you worked so hard to grow!

 

[Country gal]

I've colored my natural hair with a permanent color before on a couple of occasions. The first time my hair was at least near bra length--I believe. I colored it a honey blond using Dark & Lovely if i remember correctly. Back then I didn't as much as I know now about my natural hair now. I didn't lose any hair but the cuticle of my hair did swell up. So my hair was thicker and I'm sure a bit more porous (although my hair is normally porous anyway) The second time my hair was colored was with golden blond and golden brown highlights. These were done professionally. I think highlights are much safer than all over color. The damage--if any-is minimal. Depending on how you choose to style you hair-- a permanent color should not cause havoc IMO. If I was smarter I would have deep conditioned on a regular basis...

I've done rinses too! I LOVE rinses but you'll never be able to lighten you hair with one. They created rich deep colors on your hair with a lot of pure shine.
I used to get rinses made by Matrix but they've been discontinued. This fall I plan on applying a Sebastians colourshine. The best thing about about a rinse is that it coats your hair. It protects it and makes it look thicker and healthier IMO. But the downside is that they wash out after so many washes. That's why I'm waiting until the fall to apply one. I wash my hair too often to hold one for a month right now.

Hope this helps...

Tracy got me on to colorshines. I loved it. I had highlights before when they faded I added the colorshines. I think I want my hair to grow a little longer because I had bad experiences in the past with color.

 

[Country gal]

Well a great person to talk to about color is AFashionSlave! I have done permanent coloring on 2 occasions, and I am a natural. The first time was a mahagony, then 2yrs later I went blonde. What I have learned is to do a protein tx 1 month before coloring, then weekly deep conditioning.I did my deep conditioning for 5weeks, then I colored. It came out wonderful,very little dryness. Then to follow up I continued to do weekly deep conditioning tx for the 4-6 weeks following the color. With the blonde, I had no damage. I am now in braids(b/c I am lazy) but if coloring is done right, it's wonderful, and you don't end up hurting your hair that you worked so hard to grow!

I'll have to shoot her a pm. Thanks for sharing. Deep conditioning is very key.