How should I dye my hair black?

Alright, so I have very dark brown hair, and I recently dyed it black with a semi-permanent dye (25 washes), and it's only lasted about 2 washes! My hair looked great when it was black, and people were complimenting it all the time saying it looked better and much more dramatic than when I just had dark brown hair. I now want to dye my hair permanently black, but I'm not sure whether I should do it at home, or get it professionally done? You lot got any advice?!

Also, if you think I should do it at home, what black dye product do you recommend? I'd love it to be jet black.

Thanks in advance!

LOL, do you know how many people on this board can't get that stuff OUT of their hair and they hate Hate HAte HATe HATE IT?! And here you are, can't keep it in and love it!

So, as a stylist, I always say to go to a professional. When it comes to coloring your hair black, you do have some leeway, though. It's pretty hard to screw up coloring your hair black so most of us can do it at home. The problem with doing it at home is that if any of the black color TOUCHES anything in the home (counter tops, floors, walls, etc.) it will stain forever and ever almost immediately. So do it standing in one place, in the bathroom, and cover the counter tops and floor you are standing on with old towels and apply it slowly so as not to splatter any of it anywhere. THe longer your hair, the more I advise a professional. Also, watch out for the black dripping on your skin off the hairline, it can actually color the baby fine peachfuzz on your face black, too! In that case, nair or razor it off. When you go to rinse, do not just add cold water before the shampoo. Before you even turn on the shower, put a load of shampoo on your hands, and lay it thick all the way to your elbow and slather it around your hairline and kneck, shoulders and ears. That will loosen and remove the black so it will wash off and not stain. If you put cold water on it over your skin, it will set it in and stay there for a day or two, sometimes three. And that can look quite silly!

Eventhough I'm a stylist, I colored myhair black for years and years and always did it myself. It's a pain in the butt and now I always go to a stylist to get it done because I just hate dealing with all that black dye. But try it, it is a lot cheaper.

Remember, the only way to get it out once you go permanent is to strip it or bleach it. It's damaging and you are best served if you do it once you've cut your hair into a bob if it was long. Black is a committment, just be ready for a lot of time, money, and work if you want to get it out anytime soon.

Me, I love shiny, deep, dark and lovely black hair! Go for it! And it's true, once you go black, you never go back. I have red hair now, but I always go back to black after experimenting with other colors for a few months. NOT GOOD for your hair. LOL!

Thanks for the reply and tips, that was great! I think I'll get it professionally dyed, 'cause I have pretty long hair plus this would be my first time properly dyeing my hair, and so I don't want some botch job!

Oooh, I'm kinda worried I'll go for it and then end up wanting my old hair back after a while :l

Oh well, got to take these risks! I think I'm going to do it :D Will let you know how it goes.. post pictures or summit. Ta!

I've stripped the black out of my hair without sustaining much damage, but all the revolving hair colors between black periods caught up with me. I bleached it a couple of weeks ago to make it red and boy, did I really get a lot of breakage and dryness. So I wont be going black for awhile. But I colored my hair black for YEARS and just loved it. Now I like more diversity and change a lot. I color it black about every 2 years, keep it for all of winter, then bleach it in the summer.

You've got the right attitude--nothing wrong at all with change and eperimenting. It's just a pain to get black out of super long hair and TIME consuming as all get out. So think about cutting a substantial bit of it off at least to shoulder length when you do bleach it out.

Blacks if fun and dramatic and exotic though--love it! Have fun!

my hair was dark brown and I dyed it black and the best dye to use is black 10 by revlon. I used two bottles on my head and my hair is jet black and not a spot of brown. all you have to do is make sure all of your hair is covered in the dye and leave it in for 40 mins, and then wash it out and it will be jet black. after you dye it black for the next couple of weeks when you wash your hair it will rinse out purple dye but your hair wont fade or lighten.

do the saloon they can offer more natural looking blacks then the ones in boxes...

Try asking someone you know, like your best friend or your mom what they think. Then, If there's a hot Topic near you, try there. They have really bold colors, like Jet Black or whatever you want to try. Just dont dye your hair like,, all the time or theres a pretty good chance youll go bald 1 day