Back to Black

As I'm writing this. its crazy to think that its been 2 years since I dyed my hair purple! I was a Freshman and ready to do something incredibly different. Purple is my favorite color and I'm very impulsive so it was done as soon as the thought came to mind. The color was like me, I like to think. It was unique. In certain lighting it was a deeper purple than in others. As time went on it transformed into a new color all its own. Here's my creation when it was first done!

In this lightening, it captures the color I was actually going for- a deep purple. I wanted people to know that my hair was purple, not pink, not dark red, but purple, PURPLE. Due to my natural hair being intensely black, it took multiple bleaches to dye my hair. My stylist didn't want to bleach my hair at all, but it would not turn purple with regular dye. The experience did not damage my hair. It just left it completely dried out after I washed it. Moisturizers, and deep conditions became my best friends after the purple dye experience. Overall, I can say it was good while it lasted. After a couple of washes my hair had become an all new color. As it grew out the two toned thing was cute for a while, but I honestly hated the newly transformed hair color. In reality I had a love/hate relationship with it. It had become a part of me, a signature, a statement look. Some of the ends, due to the bleach had even turned slightly blonde (only I could notice this though). I just got to a point where I knew it was time to cue Amy Winehouse and go back to black. (You can see the color it had become on the home page and about page, also this was my hair color for the past two years, so you should definitely be able to see what it looked like).

The hair color had grown out tremendously, manly the ends were the only sections with the hair color left on them.

This picture gives you a better visual of the new hair color that washes and time created. It had become a pinkish, red.

I was skeptical about how many boxes of hair dye I should buy. Since I was only basically dying my ends, I bought one box. I love, Love, LOVE Creme of Nature products, so I bought their hair dye. I purchased the color Intense Black. Can yall believe this hair dye only cost $4.99!? I've never bought hair dye before, so I had no idea what to expect. I was shocked.

I literally followed the instructions on the box. I watched a Youtube video, but the girl was not helpful at all. Literally all she did was follow the box instructions too! I was so nervous that I was going to damage my hair, but this turned out to be the easiest process ever! You just mix the color with the developer. Then you slap on some gloves and an old shirt and towel that you don't care for. The shirt and towel will be ruined, so get something you will not miss! I applied the dye to my ends in small sections and worked it through until it was completely black. Once my head was black all over (the back was even easier to dye than I thought, keep a small mirror to be able to see the back of your head- do this in front of a wall mirror, or bigger mirror so a reflection can be created) I sat for 20 minutes to let the dye set. Then I washed the excess dye out. I then applied Hair Mayonnaise and Creme of Nature Conditioner to my head. I put on a plastic shower cap and deep conditioned my hair overnight. In total I deep conditioned my hair for 12 hours. This was completely excessive. I did this in part due to being scared of damage and just being too lazy to rinse my hair. In the end I was back! Back to Black!

I did a BOMB twist out afterwards. It lasted a good week. I had 3 braided bantu knots in the front with two braids on the side that I applied hair jewelry to. Here are some pics!

Day 5 and it was still defined and popping!

Day 6!

After a week I took the two braids down, even though they were braided and I had a twist out, they blended extremely well.

For the second week, I combed out the old twist out, applied some Hair Mayonnaise and did this twisted pony. I did a flat twist in the front and pulled the rest of my hair into a low ponytail.

I go two weeks between washes. Once those two weeks were up, I washed my hair and did this wash and go for church. All I did was wash and condition my hair, I then added Eco Styler Gel: Olive Oil throughout and this was the result. It was one of the few wash and go's that I was actually satisfied with. So far with black hair, to me, I feel like my hair looks and feels healthier and more moisturized. I know this isn't the case, because its still the same head of hair, but I just love it so much now that its black again!