I want to dye my hair black with indigo and henna. But I want to make sure my skin coloring will go with it. You'll have to ignore the indian getup, I was doing a demonstraition for a group about indians.:D



http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd112/jonescounty4h/Home%20School%20Hobby%20Day/historyday022.jpg

Would dark chocolate-y brown make you happy? I wouldn't go for all out, blue black with your complexion (at least based on that picture and in spite of the Indian blanket ;)).

Your hair is lovely and suits you very well, but that's probably not what you want to hear!

I know nothing about henna and indigo, but your own natural color is simply gorgeous.

I'm not sure - do you have a picture of yourself in outdoor light, maybe? I think if you did go black, you'd want to make sure that you darkened your eyebrows as well, since they are so light.

I concure that your natural color is gorgeous - many people here strive for that beautiful auburn color!!

Don't do it - unless you are 1000% certain that you want dark chocoloate brown/black. If you henna+indigo in such a way as to acheive this color it may be a very, very, permanent decision and one that cannot be rectified other than to grow out and cut out. I would suggest going to a wig-store and trying on the colors you think you want to change to, it may help you decide. Or, doesn't Manic Panic make a temporary wash-out black? That might be a good way to go too, until you know for sure. Just know, that henna+indigo (or henna alone) is permanent.

*I agree with the others, your current color is gorgeous.

My hair is a tad lighter than yours naturally and I pull off black relatively well (at least I like to think so) but there are things you have to do to make it not look akward. I darken my eyebrows as well, and I tend to look better with dark eye makeup on too. Im sure some people could pull it off without all that, but not I.

If youre unsure whether you want to do it or not, try a temporary dye before you henna/indigo, because as many menbers will tell you, henna simply will not come out, and requires a lot of experimenting sometimes to get the desired color.

You could go just a shade or two darker, and if you like that, go anoter shade or two. In my opinion, youll probably find another shade in the dark brown range that will suit you better than black, and you can get some gorgeous browns using henna, indigo, amla, etc.

But if youre set on it, do the temporary dye thing, and maybe take some pictures and post for another opinion :)

Your color is beautiful! Remember that if you indigo it will pretty much be a permanent committment. I put indigo in mine several months ago and tried everything but chemicals to lighten it without much of a dent. Why dont you do something temporary like manic panic or something like that and see how you like it first. That way you can have flexibility.

i think your hair color is pretty as it is, i wouldnt change it :)

Your natural color is very similar to mine. You probably get inundated with comments about it!

I think you could pull off black, or something close, but you might do better to stay on the warm side, rather than going to a cool blue-black. Having no experience with indigo, I'm not quite sure how you'd best tune the color, though I suspect that a little less indigo than henna would do it.

Be aware that indigo seems to require a lot of upkeep, as it fades, while the henna does not (at least for the vast majority of people).

I know nothing about indigo/henna but just had to tell you how beautiful your hair is-color and texture. Very pretty : )

Your hair is a very pretty color now. If you go to dark, you may risk the chance of looking washed out. I did my hair black and that's what happened to me. Took a while to get back to the color I liked.

From looking at your photo, I would be inclined to think that no, a true black wouldn't be suitable to you. That could have a lot to do with the lightning and the camera, tho. It is hard to tell true skin tones in snapshots. :) If you really want to see how a true black hair colour would look on you, hit a local wig shop and play. Look at the wigs in indoor and outdoor light. Get an employee to accompany you outdoors and take a mirror to make sure the colour truly suits you.

I wouldn't recommend a temporary dye. Often, temporary dyes, especially those in dark shades, turn out to be more permanent than the user thought they would be. It would be a bummer if you used one of those dyes, decided that you didn't like the colour after all and were stuck with it.

If black does suit you, henna and indigo are a great way to go. henna is wonderful for the hair. But remember, henna and indigo are permanent. I am talking nuke your hair into oblivion then chop it off if you decide to remove it permanent. So, think carefully before you go this route. Make sure, if the black does look good that it is really, really, really what you want.

Good luck with your hair, whatever you decide to do. :)

Oh, yes, and Welcome to LHC! :flower:

I HAD your hair color, I dyed it black and it made me look to pasty. You may want to gradually take it to black to be on the safe side :flower:

Another one chiming in that your natural hair colour is absolutely gorgeous, and the perfect match to your face.

In my experience it is very hard to get back anything really close to your natural colour once you start dyeing. If you go a lot darker than your natural colour you would probably have to go lighter in degrees (which will take years) before you let your natural colour come back in, unless you are happy to go for the two-toned look. So please consider carefully, before you decide on this change. Maybe you could borrow a wig somewhere in the colour you are aspiring to, to give it a "trial run"?

Greetings

katharine

Maybe instead of trying on wigs, you could take a picture of yourself, straight on with your hair pulled back, and go to one of the numerous free "makeover" websites and play around with color? You probably won't be able to find a hairstyle similar to your current one, but at least you will be able to see how black hair would look on you, without having to find a wig store (there isn't one close to me, so I'm not sure how close one would be to you).

Or, if you are familiar with photo manipulation software, you could always just "color" your hair there to see how it would look. I would take the picture you provided and do that for you, but I'm at work now, so I cannot. If you would like me to, I'll get it done tonight.

Just a few more options for you. :D

Wow, so many replies in so little time! And thanks for all the compliments. I honestly didn't think it would really go. I just wanted it to, lol.
KajiKodomo, Thanks for the offer. if I can find I pic of myself that will work then I will post it. But most of the time I'm the one doing the taking of the pictures, not getting them taken.

Someone mentioned something called manic magic, I've never heard of that before. Can you explain what it is?

I'll save the picture you originally posted and darken your hair. Don't get your hopes up too far, since my skills aren't perfect, haha! But, it will at least give you an idea of how it would look.

You so need to go jump in front of random cameras to get your picture taken! Yeah, so, I love having my picture taken (even though I usually take pictures of myself, instead of having others do it), but I used to HATE it. :D

Manic panic is a semi-permanent dye that's made out of good stuff (vegetable-based, I believe). It comes in all sorts of bright colors (red, green, orange, purple, etc.). Seriously, I keep thinking about growing out my natural color and dyeing it with MP in one of the purple colors. I'm not sure if the people at my job would like that too much though, haha!

Sorry to be a wet blanket, but I'm going to have to advise strongly that you do not dye your hair with Manic Panic to "test" the black. Even semipermanent black dye often never leaves completely on hair as light as yours. Manic Panic is good for fun, quick changes in hair color - so, it will give you a monochromic black that you will almost definitely be unhappy with (you are fairly warm-complected!) and may never wash out properly. It's really difficult to get a warm black using dye anyway, and that seems to be what you would need for it to suit you.

I am another one who really likes your natural color, by the way, but if you really want to go darker I think you'd look good with dark brown. :grin:

your current color is very nice. I have colored my hair before and now cannot get it all one color...it wants to stay two toned. Yes I would also suggest a wig to see how that dark of a color will look.

Yes, it would look very drastic on you and I would advise you to try it out in some way or another before you do it.

I know my hair is naturally darker than yours, but I am also very fair. I have dyed my hair blue-black before (with chemical dye), and IMO it looked great. However, I was in high school and unnatural colors were the norm. But black looked good on me. I can't really tell you much about indigo/henna (only tried that once, never again) but I can tell you the blue black dye was only blue black for a couple of weeks, then it faded to a more natural black. I am actually thinking of doing it again (although I will go with natural black, not blue black!!). I think I have some picutures in my album, although not very good ones, of me with black hair. There is a picutre in there that is a collage I made to show people the difference between the black hair and brown hair (people couldn't tell). The befores are brown and the afters are black, and there are pictues in both bright and low light (it made a difference)

I know that everyone here has already said this... but I'll say it again.. Oh my goodness your hair is beautiful!

I love the color that you have and I think that the darker one might look too fabricated.

But if it's something that you really, really want... then do it.. (and be sure to post pictures!!!)

Here is a link to that picture, I know they are small and low quality, but the two to the farthest left have me with black hair,

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v520/flamescheergirl/haircolours2.jpg

eh I don't think it works but Idk how to fix it, lemme work on it.

Thanks misspriss, hope you can get that link working.

I didn't think to add that I look really good in black clothing, and my eyes are very, very, dark brown. I don't know if that affects anything.

Your current color is gorgeous. If it's not broken, why fix it? But hey - change can be good. If you want black, have it.

Noooooooooes!! Don't do it!

Your natural color is too pretty!!!

I agree that your natural color is too warm for blue-black. But a darkish warm brown would probably look good. Why not do that first, and take it from there?

wow!!!!! your eyebrows match your color.I'm amazed when I see that,mostly because I haven't seen my natural color for a long time.

If you think that you still want to change,its up to you of course.I'm going to put my :twocents: in and say go a little bit more chocolate brown,if you must.

but again,your natural color is divine.

Okay, so I played around with the picture, and while it isn't perfect (it's not really as shiny-looking as it would be, black tends to bring out the shine, or make it more noticeable), it should at least give you an idea. I'd also like to mention that I'm not too awful good at this kind of thing, so ignore my mistakes!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v643/komodokaji/historyday022black.jpg

Hope that helps some!

I like your natural color better - it brings out a nice warmth in your skin tone! :-)

I think blue-black might be too harsh, but warm black would be nice. I also love your natural color, but it's fun to change. Staying in the "warm" family would be less of a shift. If you go to a "cool" black you'll be needing to spend more time with makeup adjusting your coloring to coordinate.

My advice is to two-step but do the indigo step first and the henna step second. (I always end up recommending this, ha ha) For reference, look at the actress who plays the main character on "Torchwood"-I think the character's name is Gwen-she has black hair with red highlights.

The nice thing is that the first time you do this, you'll have major darkening but you won't have true black. Indigo needs a couple of applications to build up. So you'll have a middle ground at first, that'll let you make decisions about how MUCH darker you want.

I don't think the black is horrid, I wouldn't laugh at you on the street or anything. So if you have your heart set on black, and wont be happy until you have it, I think you will look ok. That being said I will 30th the opinion that your hair is GEORGIOUS!!!!!!I would kill for that hair color! I have always wanted red (don't care what kind of red, dark, light, brownish red, as long as its red). I do think you would look better with a warm tone. Good luck.

KajiKomodo So how did you do that picture? I've seen people do it before and I'm not getting it. I would love to "try" different hair colors and doing it on the comp would be a lot easier and way less damaging.....

Okay, so I played around with the picture, and while it isn't perfect (it's not really as shiny-looking as it would be, black tends to bring out the shine, or make it more noticeable), it should at least give you an idea. I'd also like to mention that I'm not too awful good at this kind of thing, so ignore my mistakes!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v643/komodokaji/historyday022black.jpg

Hope that helps some!

I think you've done a very good job indeed! You've produced her as having a warm black - and having seen it, I still think that she would be best with a warm dark brown. But, as you say, the 'shine' aspect is missing, so maybe the black would work in reality?

Jeni, it takes a bit of time, as I have to trace around her hair and then change the color using a filter (or colorize it, and then she can have green hair or some other wild color). What I did was to select her hair, then I desaturated it and changed the darkness to make it black. The only problem I had was the shine issue, and of course, I had to clean up the edges.

Thanks Celebrian! I prefer her natural color too. It's so pretty! But black looks good too, and it's a good option.

Something I was thinking about that would look good on her would be straight henna. I think the bright red/copper would be stunning on her!

Kajikodomo here's my opinion- step away from that indigo. It's to cold and dark for your warm, peachy skin. If you want to change your hair color, I would suggest a henna glaze. Lots of info here on henna. Or try a brown specality henna. In the end I think you would be much happier with a warm color even if black is an exotic color. I'm sure you will never look right in black. It won't suite you. I definately admire black hair on others, but I know I'm too fair for black, and I'm too cool toned for red. In your case, your too warm toned for black, even faded black. The best you can do is a dark warm chestnut brown, if you must have dark.

You guys are so wonderfully helpful(not to mention giving me an ego the size of the Grand canyon about my current hair color!). I've never considered using plain henna before, but since I'm wanting a change, I just might go that route. I"d have to do research and I'm not sure I'd want to go completly red, but maybe just a slight step-up.

Thanks so much, Kajikodomo for the pic. I think you did a wonderful job.

Another vote for your natural color!Your color is so flattering to your skin tone as it is.I dont think black is suitable for you either.The darkest I think you should go is to a medium choclate brown, but still if I had your color I wouldnt touch it at all.Plus looks like you worked hard to get your hair to its length, and if you go black, its a big commitment.

You are so cute! Sorry, I just had to mention that.

I really think your natural color is going to look better on you than black does. I think I'm not quite as warm in skin tone as you are, but I am similarly pale... and I get really washed out looking with darker hair. Unless I wear visible make-up, which was never my style-- and now I don't generally like to wear make up at all!

I think your skin looks lovely and peachy with your current color, and yes, I also think your hair looks lovely just the way it is!

On the other hand, I also think that the person who should be happy with your hair is YOU. So if you really want to dye it, go ahead and do it. But I would definitely say that a dark, warm brown, or a warm black, would be much better on you than a cool blue black. I've wanted blue-black in the past, too.
You don't have enough posts to look at albums, yet, IIRC-- I think you need 25 posts.
But I do have a few pictures in my "face" album with the darker hair, if you are interested. I think your natural hair color suits you more than mine suits me, though. :p

Kajikodomo here's my opinion- step away from that indigo. It's to cold and dark for your warm, peachy skin. If you want to change your hair color, I would suggest a henna glaze. Lots of info here on henna. Or try a brown specality henna. In the end I think you would be much happier with a warm color even if black is an exotic color. I'm sure you will never look right in black. It won't suite you. I definately admire black hair on others, but I know I'm too fair for black, and I'm too cool toned for red. In your case, your too warm toned for black, even faded black. The best you can do is a dark warm chestnut brown, if you must have dark.

I'm not the original poster, and my hair is actually dyed black, so I got VERY confused when I first read your reply! La Serenissima is the original poster, btw. :D

Thanks so much, Kajikodomo for the pic. I think you did a wonderful job.


You're welcome! :D

I love your colour too; I wouldn't change a thing.

You guys are so wonderfully helpful(not to mention giving me an ego the size of the Grand canyon about my current hair color!). I've never considered using plain henna before, but since I'm wanting a change, I just might go that route. I"d have to do research and I'm not sure I'd want to go completly red, but maybe just a slight step-up.

Yes, I also meant to say that you could use henna to intensify the coloring you already have. You could carry it off because of your coloring - and it's another valid way to be striking or make a statement, which is partly why you wanted the black I would imagine?

Please keep in mind that henna is very permanent! If you ever want to go back to your beautiful natural color, you'll have to just let it grow out.

You may want to try a henna gloss, I believe they are less permanent.

im photoshopping your pic right now to show you what you will look like..
aww KajiKodomo beat me to it.. im still going to post it because it took me so long to get the shine right..
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v512/kidmol/historyday022copy.jpg

Sorry, I did mean Serenissima, and not you.

Looks much better with the shine factored in still not sure about black. I think Serenissima is better off with auburn and reds.

My natural hair color is a dark ash blonde and I have blue eyes. I color my hair black with chemical hair color (I use only professional lines). My skin is fair, but has a bit of a golden undertone. I can pull off the black. It might also be attributed to some relatives on my mom's side having naturally jet black hair (so somehow this allows me to be able to go this shade) :shrug:. Anyway, I tried to picture what you would look like with black hair from the photo that you posted. I would say DON'T dye it jet black at first. I would color it a dark brown, then if you feel that you want to go darker then do it. Going from lighter into jet black is something you might have to ease yourself into since it is pretty drastic. I went a deep dark brown before I colored it jet black and it made the black easier to get used to.

Now, there are various degrees of black hair. If you do decide to go black, you could do the following:

1. Soft black with chocolate highlights
2. Soft black alone
3. Blue Black
4. Jet black with no blue
5. Black with a reddish tint

One of those might suit your skintone best.