Hi people, what's been on?
First I want to thank all those who sent me success messages. I appreciate them a lot! I also  missed blogging but I had to cut back for a while.
A lot has gone on hairwise and for those on Instagram, I've tried to be a bit up to date...it's so easy to put up a picture...lol!

Anyways, after thinking, yearning for it and using up memory space storing inspiration pics, I've finally dyed my hair. FIRST. TIME......if you don't count the henna!

Today I'll be sharing how I self dyed without problems.
 Whenever I tell people about dyeing my hair, the first question I get is 'Won't it break off?!'
My friends had doubts too about how safe it would be because one of them had a bad dye experience that caused her hair to literally melt off!

I won't say I wasn't scared of dyeing my hair but the need for a change was stronger than my fear. All my life my hair has been black and I've finally proved that I could grow my hair waist length. So why can't I get a pop of color to celebrate??

Kpata kpata...if it gets damaged, I can always do the big chop I've been itching to do and I'd have learnt my lesson, abi?

Okay... I still did my homework though!
I'm not afraid of risks but I do prefer informed risks! At the salon once I notice the client has fine hair, overly porous hair or damaged hair...I usually convince them to go for a temporary spray dye instead....I also don't encourage lighter colours like blonde especially for relaxed hair because the lifting is way to much process for already chemically treated hair. It's better to go for shades like red, brown, honey brown which lifts hair (lightens) in degrees.

So back to my hair. My hair is fine and porous. It breaks at the slightest opportunity which leads me to using strenghtening products regularly and combing less frequently. I fingerdetangle almost exclusively.
Truth be told, sometimes I wish I had thick strands because being overly careful with my hair can be tiring...#justsaying

I also wasn't sure the reason why it wasn't advisable to henna and dye the hair. I keep reading it in the instruction leaflets of chemical dyes how it shouldn't be used on hair that has been previously hennaed...but me being me....I wanted to know what would happen if I did because apart from using salon strength protein treatments, henna is the only thing so far that has really held my hair together.


As usual, I really didn't know when I was going to dye my hair because my hair styling moments are really random. I just do it before I chicken out. I've been looking over boxes of dye. I couldn't decide between L'Oreal, Creme of Nature or Garnier brands of hair color and there is this rumor that there are lot of fakes flying around.

To prepare my hair in advance , I decided to up my protein and moisture deep conditioning treatments. I hennaed my hair and then followed up with 'manshanu' deep conditioning. Then a week after that, I deep conditioned with Cantu Shea for Natural Hair Deep Conditioning masque.

One fateful Saturday, I stumbled across a box of Dark and Lovely Color Intensity Anti Dryness Permanent Color in Radiant Copper which claimed to be designed for African hair, to give intense permanent colour and to keep my hair soft without the characteristic dryness that follows hair coloring.
I was a bit skeptical about that seeing that it used a developer containing hydrogen peroxide and wasn't ammonia free. Also, experience has taught me that Dark and Lovely products are best suited for relaxed hair.



I bought it because I loved the color. It was a perfect shade between red and gold. It was also cheaper (N700) than the other brands of dyes I prefer to use (about N2500) and if it does a good job, some of my clients can easily afford the color they want without skimping on quality.

What you'll need
-An old Tshirt
- Clips for sectioning
- Application brush or sprush
- Processing cap or a showercap you can part with...
- Gloves
- Color foils (optional)
- Plastic bowl and spatula for mixing
- Dye
- An old towel preferably dark colored (Dye can be messy)
- Shampoo, conditioner, deepconditioner
- Rat tail comb for parts.

I followed the instructions on the box but did something a bit different. I divided the dye and developer into two equal parts. My reason being to color my hair gradually.
It's always important to follow instructions when using any chemical treatments, sha!

I divided my hair into four big sections (from ear to ear and hairline to nape).
I mixed half developer with half dye from the tube.
I wanted an ombre like treatment so I applied it about half way down my hair to the ends in each section.

I wish I had color foils with me. It would have sped up the coloring process and helped prevent the dye from touching other parts of my hair instead of just the ends. I used the clips to hold it up and away.

Then I covered my hair carefully with a processing cap and waited........20mins....30mins....45mins......then I rinsed off with a conditioner first before using the shampoo. Then I deep conditioned.

I repeated this process a week later concentrating more on the ends to get it lighter and redder. I wanted the color to gradually intensify down the tips not just have two colors;
black and copper....but have black, slightly brown, reddish then copper.



So how did my hair feel?
Well, I had to wait a while to really know if it dried out my hair but on the first day of coloring, my hair felt no different that it did when it wasn't coloured. The curls did loosen up though but not much.
After the second application my hair still felt okay.
It was soft, shiny and curly!

A week later though, I noticed my hair getting a bit dry....not scarily dry....just normal dry so I deep conditioned my ends only, bagged overnight and after rinsing off and air drying, my hair feels normal.
I have to moisturise my ends every few days but it's not a chore.

Verdict: So far so good I can say it was a success. I hope to maintain the color with henna. Let's see how that goes....


Have you colored your hair? What brands do you use? How do you get your hair moisturised?