Dyeing hair black, the best method?

[angelfell]

Naturally, I have dark brown hair, that looks close to black. Recently, I used a semi-permanent dye on my hair for it to be black. Admittedly, when I first applied it, it was a very deep black and I wasn't too fond of that. But when it faded out to more of a soft black, one that was still black but could be confused for a very very very dark brown, I fell in love with it. Of course, I assume I only got that shade as the dye is supposed to fade out in 28 washes, and I'm afraid that if I got a permanent dye, it would STAY that deep, pronounced black.

I guess my question is if my best bet is to keep dyeing it with a semi-permanent dye, or is there a shade of soft and subtle black out there that is permanent? I'm open to just about any method.. chemical dyes, henna/indigo (although I would need a tutorial.. I'm not very familiar with it at all), etc. I've decided what I wanted, so now it's just how to get there :).

ALSO; in the future, I may want to add deep brown highlights, to give it more dimension, as my hair is thin/flat/volume-less. So whatever I did to it to make it black, would need to cooperate with that.

[Kristin]

I'm currently using Lush caca noir to get dark brown/black. Unfortunately, the indigo faded quickly on me, so I'm back to dark red brown after only 2.5 weeks. I think that indigo sticks better if you do a 2-step process (henna first, then indigo over that), but I've never tried it myself.

I used to use semi-permanent dye as well and thought it wasn't damaging my hair, but my hair is soooo much softer, shinier, and stronger since switching to hendigo.

EDTA: Oh, I just saw your edit. Indigo will not cooperate with highlights, so scratch that.

[angelfell]

EDTA: Oh, I just saw your edit. Indigo will not cooperate with highlights, so scratch that.

Ohhh poo :(. I was really thinking about looking into that, but I guess if I really want multi-faceted color to my hair, that wouldn't work :/. It's just my hair seems so thin and flat, and when I have more than one color in it, it creates the appearance of thicker.

[McFearless]

Henna+Indigo will get you the colour you want. You don't have to dye your whole head, if you want highlights.

[ScarlettAdelle]

One thing you may want to try is using a semi-permanent color in a deep dark brown. Since you already have very dark hair, one or two levels above black may give you that super dark brown that looks almost black. You may want to try a color that's phrased something like "natural black" since it's usually the "blue black" that tends to look almost cartoonish because it's so dark it doesn't look believable.

On different types of hair color:
It's a common misconception that "permanent" color will stay longer than "demipermanent" or "semipermanent". And an easy mistake to make when selecting a color, as the names are misleading. The level of permanence refers actually to the level of cuticle opening created by the product, and not how long the color will stay put. The farther open your cuticle is, the easier it is for the color molecules to slip out, so using a permanent color on hair that's already had permanent color may actually be not only damaging, but counterproductive. In other words, a semipermanent color may actually stay in your hair much longer than a demi or permanent color, depending on the level of damage you already have. Since you've already had color in your hair, I would reccomend sticking with a semipermanent color, and working with the color molecules that are still left in your hair by selecting a deep chocolate color.

And please, if you're planning on getting highlights, write down exactly what you've been using, the permanence level, the color number and the manufacturer, and the dates applied and have a hairdresser apply your highlights. This is valuable information that can assist your hairdresser greatly when formulating your color. Doing highlights yourself is an easy way to end up with a very costly color correction service bill.

[KittyLost]

Crazy Colour, Stargazer, Directions and Manic Panic do an assortment of Blacks that won't be as strong a black and easy to put in brown highlights on top of too and you don't need to bleach for it. From my experience Manic Panic and Directions have great moisturising properties too and don't appear to damage my hair as much as box dyes. You'd be able to fire it on straight on top of your hair.

This thread might help you out a bit, the poster achieved a nice soft black. http://www.forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=55638 :)