We all know that hair dye is used by pretty much everybody. From the elderly to the youth, for a party or to express yourself in your everyday life. Hair dye lets you do these things as if it’s an extension of yourself much like clothing. But do you know the history of hair dye? Or the factors to consider before dying your hair? Or how to do a red hair dye for dark hair without bleaching? Stick around to get some interesting facts in our not-so-wordy read on hair dyes. Before we head to how to use red hair dye for dark hair without bleaching, let’s look at the history of hair dying.
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History of hair dyeing
The main reason you’d want to dye your hair is either to restore your more youthful look, cover up some white hairs, or simply change things up. But for the first recorded cases of hair dyeing, these were not the reasons to dye the hair.
Diodorus Siculus, a Greek historian, wrote about how the Celtic warriors dyed their hair blonde. Highlighting their tall, pale, and terrifying figures matched with dyed blonde hair made them look nothing short of a god-like figure.
The warriors were known to use lime to color their hair and keep it combed back giving it a clean look. Having thick and shaggy hair like that of a horse’s mane would send terror across the opponents as they thought they would be battling something supernatural.
Both the Celts and other ancient people dyed their hair using a variety of plants. These would include henna, turmeric, amla, and other natural ingredients. Later on, in the 17th century, a book was written called the eighteen books of the secrets of art and nature. This book went over several methods to dye hair in colors like black, yellow, and more. By the 1860s people found that para-phenylenediamine or PPD had reactions when exposed to air, this chemical soon became a key ingredient of hair dyes. In 1907 Eugène Schuller the founder of L’Oréal created the first synthetic hair dye and the rest was history.
Let’s quickly go over the factors to consider before dying your hair and then how to use red hair dye for dark hair without bleaching.
Factors to consider before dying your hair
Most people don’t have that much concern when wanting to use red hair dye for dark hair without bleaching. But with things like the odd and harsh scent of most modern synthetic hair dyes, you’d think people would be warier and think twice before putting it on their heads.
Is dyeing your hair jet black hair dye any different from light brown hair with red highlights? What slowly strips away at the color over time? Or how the incredibly dark dye once it settles, ends up so light and vibrant. Or maybe what’s a good shampoo for red-dyed hair? When you think about it, it all sounds borderline magical. But of course, the answer to all of these questions points to the science behind them. For hair dye to settle it doesn’t just make its way through your hair and color it. It makes its way through several barriers to be able to settle in your hair permanently. For the dye to make its way into the hair itself, It has to make its way to the hair’s natural shield against all the nasties, the cuticle.
The main tool used by the dye is ammonia which lifts the cuticles allowing the hair molecules underneath to be dyed. But what is the cuticle and why does it matter that it is displaced for dyeing?
Well, the cuticle is the first line of defense in keeping the integral structure of the hair fibers, much like the shingles of a roof which keeps the inside safe. The pigments are found below the cuticle, and the dye needs to reach the natural pigments to apply the new color. The cuticle needs to swell for the hair color to get in.
Once the cuticle is broken, you can dye your hair to the hue that you want. To make it so that it can, you have to use peroxide or better known as bleach to remove your natural hair color and make room for the new pigment. Technically with permanent hair dyes, red hair dye for dark hair without bleaching isn’t possible.
There is also the question of what hair color to use for my hair. Not all hair colors look great. Some might look great going blonde, while others might want to stick with darker tones matching their natural hair color. There is different hair color for dark hair and light hair too. See which one suits your skin tone and natural hair profile best.
Now we know what you’re going to ask, what’s the difference between bleaching and coloring your hair? Well, the best way to represent this is that when dyeing your hair it’s like making a way in your hair molecules to then inject it with the new color molecules. After which you wait for the cuticles to close up again. While on the other hand, bleaching removes the amount of pigment you want then you would put your demi- or semi-permanent re-deposit tone. You may have heard that bleach is damaging and this is because hydrogen peroxide isn’t a “smart molecule” meaning it doesn’t target anything specific and instead interacts with the dominant protein in hair fiber also known as keratin.
Differences between red hair dye permanent, red hair dye demi-permanent, and red hair dye semi-permanent
The reason that permanent hair dye stays is that it puts a large molecule of the new pigment in the deepest parts of the hair making it stay even after washing. After the cuticles heal the coloring that fills up or replaces the lost pigment is sealed within hair fiber very much like our natural hair color.
When compared to a semi-permanent dye which has less peroxide in its mixture, a demi-permanent dye partially penetrates the cuticle. Since most of the dye is on the outside, this results in the dye not being strong enough to water and can disappear after a couple of washes.
What about semi-permanent dyes? The semi-permanent dyes don’t penetrate the cuticles at all. Meaning after some washes it fades away completely allowing you to do temporary hair dye for dark hair without bleaching. It also means that it is the best way you can use red hair dye for dark hair without bleaching.
Now, why might you opt for one over the other? Well in the case that you decide to use permanent hair dye repeatedly, it can cause damage. Since the hair structure is every once in a while opening and closing, the actual molecule’s bonds with each other weaken. This leads to the hair having a harder time keeping the color in place.
With demi-permanent having a bit of the same problem, the intensity of damage is not that much as the color does not reach the cuticles. And of course, the semi-permanent dye does not leave any damage at all, although both last a good amount shorter than permanent hair dyes.
A middle ground between permanent and demi-permanent hair dye
Assuming though that you want to have a permanent level of hair dye while minimizing the damage what can you do? Well, it’s as simple as reading the product description as hair dyes with their “recommended” time for application is a bit more important than you might think. This is because this time is usually how long the coloring will take effect, as in after this time the coloring dies down. Going over this time can lead to unnecessary damage as the peroxide is still active and sitting in your hair. Though this isn’t quite red hair dye for dark hair without bleaching, it’s as close as you can get with permanent dye effects.
When it comes to making your hair lighter though damage is unavoidable. Bleaching hair to lighten it will be exposing your hair to high amounts of peroxide since it’s actively removing your hair’s natural pigment. But just like with coloring your hair depending on the level of lightness of 1-10 with the lightest being 10, it can’t get any lighter than 10.
Another thing to avoid is adding hair color on top of hair color as doing so makes the hair more fragile. So let’s say to properly remove black hair dye, the best solution is to go to a professional who will strip away the dye allowing you to recolor your hair. If you want to get your hands dirty however there are many commercial dye strippers. These slowly lighten the dye until it is completely gone. Be sure to use these over any home remedies assuming you want to recolor as home remedies only lighten the dye by a shade or two.
How to remove hair dye
Before we head to showing you how you can use red hair dye for dark hair without bleaching, let’s look at how to remove hair dye. Stick around if you want to find out how to remove the black hair dye that you put on earlier and now dislike.
There are several reasons to want to remove hair dye. Either because the color didn’t quite turn out how you wanted so you want to peel a bit back. Or because you want to recolor since you were unsatisfied with your current dye.
For these dye strippers there are several options, the two we will be covering however are going to be sulfur strippers and clarifying shampoo. Both of these solutions don’t contain any ammonia or peroxide so no need to worry about any further damage by doing this. As with the hair dye itself, it is advisable to follow the instructions of the product down to the tea. As even though they don’t have ammonia or peroxide they can still be harmful.
With the sulfur stripper, you may want to be wary of it as some users can be quickly put off by the very strong scent. You might not even be able to do the whole process properly so wear a mask or have someone on hand just in case. As the scent is quite strong you should listen to your gut feeling of washing your hair a lot afterward. Doing multiple rinses when using a sulfur stripper is advisable as it can be hard to remove all of it so be sure to do so at least until the scent is gone from your hair.
What the sulfur strippers do is enter your hair shafts much like the dyes but since they are smaller they don’t need to peel the cuticles. Once in there, they break down the hair dyes from ALL of your hair dyeing escapades. This allows you to wash it out with a regular shampoo when cleaning your hair from sulfur. Watch out though as some hair dye removers have bleach in them and if you want to avoid that be sure to read the product labels.
As for clarifying shampoos, they are just meant to be deep cleaning shampoo that goes for all of the smallest buildups in your hair. To remove the dye, you want the non-color-friendly clarifying shampoos as some are meant to work with dyes. This will reduce the pigment of the dye but not completely remove it. You may also want to use clarifying shampoos if you use a lot of hair products as it cleans and clears any remaining buildup.
How to use red hair dye for dark hair without bleaching
Now yes it is safe for you to use red hair dye for dark hair without bleaching, as long as you follow the specific product’s instructions. There are a few things to keep in mind when using red hair dye for dark hair without bleaching as there are times where dyeing your hair even when following instructions can be bad.
If you had recently permed your hair for example using red hair dye for dark hair without bleaching is ill-advised. This is because both processes cause some damage and doing it simultaneously will do much more. If you have to use red hair dye for dark hair without bleaching for them, go to a professional salon where the professionals will ensure minimal damage.
Using red hair dye for dark hair without bleaching at home though needs time with many professionals suggesting to wait seven days after having your hair permed. You need to do this before you can use red hair dye for dark hair without bleaching. It is also optimal to do this as recently processed hair will dye quicker, but this also means to do less than the recommended time on the packaging.
There are many different brands with bright red hair dye like splat red hair dye, Arctic Fox red hair dye, L’Oreal, and more. You might even find blue hair dye for dark hair, or purple hair dye for dark hair, or even ruby red hair dye. Each brand has its unique selling point, some are excelling in using natural products while others may have a plethora of different colors that you didn’t even know exist. Before you make your call on which color to use, survey the market and research online to see the vast options you may have to choose from.
