Hi peeps, what's been on??

"To dye or not to dye???"

Just before I finally went ahead and dyed my hair after many donkey years of having basic black natural hair (with some interesting splashes of grey hair here and there), I was faced with the above question.

We've all heard different horror stories when it comes to changing hair color.

"Dyes break your hair"
"Dyes dry out your hair"
"Dyes cause irritations of the scalp"
"Dye never turned out like the color in the box"

.....enough reasons never to look longingly at a box of dye, yeah???


Well I'm not helping matters when I say there's some truth in those stories and I'll give five reasons to NOT dye your hair.

1. DON'T DYE YOUR NATURAL HAIR WHEN YOU'RE BORED WITH IT.

We all get in a styling funk once in a while with our natural hair. Your hair seems to have a mind of its own.
 That permrod set that looked great last month looked horrible yesterday even with the very same products and methods.

You have no idea how to get out of the bun life.
That image you had of rocking different uberhot natural hair styles week after week is now dull and grey.

You're totally bored!

Then a brilliant idea pops up....how about a burst of color to spice things up???

Please don't.

Dyeing your natural hair shouldn't be impulsive. It should be done with purpose and an understanding of the process. Dyeing your hair impulsively can lead to big mistakes such as choosing the wrong color for your skin tone (that's why it didn't look as good on you as it did on that YouTube guru), choosing the wrong formulation for your hairtype and also failure to prep your natural hair sufficiently for the dyeing process.

So please, embrace the bun life!!!

2. DON'T DYE YOUR HAIR WHEN YOUR MOISTURE GAME ISN'T ON POINT

Dyeing increases porosity in the hair strands and this increases dryness. If you're still struggling with maintaining moisture balance in your hair, dyeing it is not the answer.
It will make things worse!!!!
.....and honestly, parched, brittle color treated hair isn't the look you're going for.
So if you're struggling with dryness and breakage and what not, try sorting those out before dyeing your natural hair.

3. DON'T DYE YOUR HAIR IF YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOUR HAIR TYPE IS...

Unless you'll be dyeing your hair with a professional who is supposed to run a proper analysis on your hair, don't dye it if you have no idea what your hair type is.
I'm not talking about type 4a,b,c and z kind of typing. It's just one part of the picture. I'm talking about porosity, thickness, density and length.  These factors play a major role in how well your hair responds to the dyeing process and how light or dark you can go. Which means that even if you want to go blonde and your hairtype doesn't favor the stripping that comes with going blonde, it's a bad idea to go blonde especially if you plan on doing it yourself.

4. DON'T DYE YOUR HAIR IF YOU AREN'T READY TO INVEST IN GOOD QUALITY PRODUCTS

When you dye your hair, you may need to switch up some or all of your hair care products to products that are color safe. These protect the colored hair from fading, dryness and environmental damage. If you're not one who cares about spending money on good quality hair care products, then my advice is don't change the color. You need to use good quality hair dyes to minimize damage and they are not N300. You need to switch to a sulfate free, pH balanced shampoo that's safe for colored hair. You need to invest in a good deep conditioner. You also need to invest in a good salon and stylist.

5. DON'T DYE YOUR HAIR IF YOU ARE A REALLY LAZY NATURAL

I'm not talking about too lazy to do different elaborate natural hairstyles every week. I'm talking about too lazy for washday, to lazy to deep condition, to lazy to patiently detangle, too lazy to moisturise, to lazy to go to a professional. If this is you, please ditch the dyeing idea. Dyed natural hair requires more effort and care than you're willing to sacrifice!


Still interested in switching up your natural hair color???

Go for something less permanent like hair chalk, colored sprays and temporary dyes.