If I dye my hair black will it fade

• Black dye fades just like any other dye. Although the pigments in its formula are stronger and more resistant, they will disappear from the hair fiber after some time.
• Black will stay in your hair between 5 to 7 weeks from when you apply it without any noticeable difference. Then between weeks 7 and 9, it disappears completely. Of course, this depends on how you take care of it, and I’ll talk to you about this in a few seconds.
• If you don’t have gray hairs, you should renew the color completely after five or six weeks. But if you want to cover up your gray hairs, you need to apply the dye to the roots every three weeks.

Of course, all of this I told you about depends on how your haircare routine is.  For example, if you wash your hair often, the black dye will disappear more quickly. The same if you use a shampoo and conditioner with sulfates. 

It will also depend on if you have gray hairs or not since after about a few weeks, you should cover them so they’re not noticeable.

For example, in my salon, I have two clients who habitually dye their hair black.

First, Elena, a young, 20-year-old woman, a self-ascribed goth. I remember that she almost scared me to death the first time she visited me in the salon. I thought I was in the middle of a vampire attack they hadn’t announced on the news yet.

After the first impression, I discovered a young woman who loves black clothes and is fascinated by horror movies – especially those including Dracula’s relatives – and sees life in black and white.

Of course, she wanted to dye her hair black to complete her goth look, so she came to the salon every eight weeks to completely renew her color.

In Elsa, who also dyes her hair black, we renew her color every four weeks, and we only touch up her roots.

And this is not because the color disappears, rather because Elsa has gray hairs, and when it grows out, it really stands out against the black.

But the mysteries of black hair dye don’t end here, so if you’re planning to dye your hair with this tone, stay with me because I’ll tell you:

• Why black dye is one of the most resistant tones
• How long black dye lasts and how often to re-dye your hair
• What to do when black hair dye fades

Whether or not you’re a goth at heart, today, you’ll know everything about black hair dye.

Why black dye fades more slowly than other dyes

Black, like all dyes, has a life cycle. But as it’s a darker tone, it lasts for a longer time. This is why after week 7, you’ll notice that the color starts to look duller as if part of the dye has disappeared.

But if you take good care of your black color, it can stay in your hair for up to 9 weeks without losing its intensity, and this is a true eternity when we talk about hair dye.

 For example, a brown 4 tone lasts 4 to 6 weeks, while a black tone lasts between 7 to 9 weeks. As you can see, this is an important difference. 

Do you know why?

Because black contains a lot of pigmentation, and your hair absorbs it rapidly. On top of that, it’s one of the most persistent tones in the color palette, along with red.

Is your hair quite damaged?

 Black hair is perfect for dyeing hair in need of repair because it doesn’t require constant maintenance, and you also don’t have to renew it often. 

What’s more, black dye for renewing the color can be applied with 10 volume developer, which causes much less damage than if you use a 20 volume developer.

But this changes for those of us with a lot of white hairs since these white hairs become quite apparent when the hair grows out. This doesn’t mean you can’t dye your hair, but you should assume that you can’t have as much time between renewing your dye, just like in Elsa’s case.

Another important issue I would like to point out is that if you’re thinking about dyeing your hair black, think about it well. Because if you want to get rid of the color completely, you’ll have to go through at least four bleaching sessions to get to a brown 5 hair color.

How long does black hair dye last, and how often to renew it

If you take good care of your color, it can last for up to 9 weeks without change, but it always depends on how often you wash your hair each week, the kind of shampoo you use, and how you take care of your hair in general.

• How often you wash your hair each week is fundamental.  Many women believe that they need to wash their hair daily, which I can assure you is completely false. 

My recommendation is that you wash your hair every two or three days, since this way, your hair will grow more quickly, and the black dye will last for longer.

• Another important factor is keeping in mind the haircare products you use since there are thousands of them.

Do you want to maintain your black color for longer? Then it would be ideal to use a shampoo made specifically for dark hair colors; since they don’t contain bleaching agents, they’ll keep your hair looking perfect for longer.

• Even if dark tones don’t require as much care as other colors, it doesn’t mean that you can leave your hair alone without doing any haircare routine.

Regularly apply hydrating oils such as argan or almond to the ends of your hair. You’ll want to be extra good about doing this if your hair is quite damaged.

How often should I renew my color?

We already saw that black dye doesn’t fade until after about 9 weeks – in an ideal scenario.

• But, according to my experience, it’s best to renew the color completely every 5 or 6 weeks.

Because when you want the color to look even and uniform, you should re-dye all of your hair, not just parts.

• As all of your hair is black, if you are going to apply dye to parts where it’s growing out like the roots, the best option is to go ahead and apply it to all of your hair, since this way, the tone will be more intense throughout your hair.

But if you have a lot of gray hairs, the story changes completely. You’ll have to re-dye your roots every 3 weeks, and that way, when your gray hairs start to show, you can hide them completely.

And in this case, you only need to apply black dye to your roots because here, if you apply the dye to all of your hair, you’ll only saturate it with color.

What does that mean?

• It means that your hair will become overloaded with color and won’t absorb more pigments.

Now that we know that black dye fades and how long the color lasts, the last thing I need to tell you about are your options for when the color fades.

What to do when black dye fades

When your black color fades, you should renew your color. And you to do that, you should apply black dye again.

But, what about if you want to change your color?

There’s no problem if its black or very dark brown.

• You can apply a midnight blue 1-7
• You can apply a mahogany 1-5
• A golden brown 2-3
• A copper brown 2-4

If you have black hair, brown 2 is the only tone you can change to without bleaching your hair.

Because to get the black out of your hair isn’t an easy thing to do since you have to do at least 4 bleaching sessions to arrive at a medium brown 4 tone.

And if you didn’t already know, bleaching is a chemical process that damages your hair, and on top of that, bleaching black hair is very complicated.

Conclusions

• Black hair color fades much more slowly than other colors in the palette.
• It can last up to 9 weeks as long as you follow a strict hair care routine.
• If you don’t have gray hairs, you only need to re-dye it every 5 to 6 weeks to keep the color vibrant and uniform.
• If you have gray hairs, you’ll need to re-dye just the roots every three weeks.
• Right after you dye your black hair, let the color settle in, and don’t wash it for at least 72 hours, since otherwise you’ll end up with a horrible washed charcoal color instead of the gorgeous midnight tone you were looking for.
• Avoid using very hot water if you want your black hair to keep its vitality because hot water can open the cuticles and make the black dye come out.

Goth or not, now you know all of the mysteries of black dye, deep and intriguing as the night itself.

What do you like the most about the color black? Tell me your secrets.

Will dyed black hair fade?

How can I dye my hair black without it fading?