Should I dye my hair black?

[BombDiggity]

I'm sick of having reddish brownish purpleish hair. I'd love to keep it a dark violet shade but it fades back to this reddish brownish whatever super quick. I don't want to be blonde because I don't want to deal with the upkeep.

Is there a downside to having black (or darkest brown) hair? Is there a difference between the two? If I even get sick of black hair, how hard is it to remove to say, go back to auburn or something?

I don't know why but, I'm scared that black (or darkest brown) is going to be this huge commitment that I'll never be able to get out of lol

Other info: I have medium blah brown hair naturally, I normally only dye my hair about every 6 months (last time I dyed it was the  beginning of Dec.)

 

[Pancua]

There are two different kinds of black. 

There is a black that has been cut with brown (but is not the same as dark brown) and then there is the black that has been cut with blue.  The first one will compliment all but the fairest of skin tones. The second is really stark and manages to even wash me out (olive complexion).

So the first answer is how far do you want to go? If you are already a brunette, there isn't that much of a commitment since there won't be a stark line of demarcation but if you want to go lighter at some point, you will need to use a color remover/stronger peroxide to lift the color in order to go lighter.

This, of course, means more damage to the hair shaft. So in the end, it really depends on how much you are willing to invest.

 

[BombDiggity]

Thanks for the reply Pancua =)

I have a few more questions if you don't mind. I have a fairly light complexion, I'm an NW20. Sorry I'm not much of a color guru, so when I'm in the beauty supply how could I tell the difference between a black/blue and a black/brown? I'd be much more interested in the black cut with brown because if you, with olive tones look washed out with the black/blue, I'd probably look very sickly lol

Is there much of a difference in color between the darkest brown I could get and a black cut with brown? Or is it something like more of a couple shades of difference?

I think based on my past track record with hair colors I'd have black hair for at least a year, I'm not one who likes to change up my hair all that much, I normally pick something and stick with it for 2-3 years.

 

[Pancua]

You'd be able to tell from the color swatches fairly easy. A blue/black is BLACK (the blue comes out when it is in sunlight), a brown/black is a softer shade of black and has a brownish highlight in sunlight. There really isn't going to be THAT much of a difference between a dark brown or a black cut with brown in indoor lighting. The big difference will mostly be in the highlights. 

A dark brown usually has gold/red highlights. A black with brown, again, will looking brownish. Both can be really pretty either way. Its just a matter of color depth and personal tastes.

 

[BombDiggity]

Thanks for all the replies, I'm still mulling it over as far as what I'll do, I really like the idea of black hair, but I'm worried if I wanted to change it at some point going through the whole process of stripping the color off will be a pain, I'm going to think about it a bit more before I jump into it for good =)

 

[Firefox7275]

The reddish-brown colour is probably closer to your natural colour, having been exposed to very low vol peroxide which tends to leave red behind as it works. My strand test came out ginger, even tho my natural shade is mouse no red at all! If you like the violet why not change up your routine so that your hair is in better condition/ less porous, and your products encourage your hair to hold colour? My hair has been dyed blonde and then red and TBH the blonde was easier upkeep and was gentler because I never had to re-dye the lengths just touch up the roots. Reds fade easily so have to be coloured each time, which helped wreck my hair and caused build up on the ends. Black fades also, anything where you deposit colour can. No commercial dyes are designed to look great for six months, the only truly permanent colours are peroxide and henna which bonds to the structure of your hair.

After switching to red I learned that colour protecting shampoos are absolute rubbish, general sulphate surfactant shampoos are little better, sulphate free or cleansing conditioners are much gentler so preserve colour better. Also that silicone conditioners are rubbish, using products containing real oil are a little better, but coconut oil is king. My hair needed to be colour stripped and then redyed to get a more even colour last year and it was no more of a PITA than colouring your hair except for the smell. Apparently the darker the colour the more likely you are to need to strip a couple of times.