Dreadlock Dye Colors Guide: Express Yourself Through Color While Maintaining Healthy Locs

Switching up your look can be exciting, and dyeing your locs is an excellent way to accomplish that. Whether you’ve always wanted to be a redhead or are considering electric blue, coloring can take your locs from dull, tired energy to something more youthful and vibrant. However, loc-wearers have more to concern themselves with than just appearance; you want the real thing - healthy, vibrant locs. This guide explores the best practices for loc color, considering factors such as skin tone, hair type, personal style, and the health of your locs.

Coloring Locs: What to Consider Before You Dye

Coloring locs is different from coloring loose hair, and the potential for damage is always there. With locs, there are additional concerns. Here's what to consider before taking the plunge:

Assess the Health of Your Locs

This is one of the most important questions to answer: How healthy are your locs? If your locs are already having challenges, like thinning or breakage, you probably shouldn’t dye them until health is restored.

Hydration is Key

The big issue with hair colorings is that they can dry out the hair to the point of severe breakage. It will take effort on your part to keep your locs hydrated and moisturized. It’s always important to hydrate your locs, but it’s especially crucial if your locs are color-treated. It requires more hydration, so add another step to your regimen.

Invest in Quality Products

There are lots of things you can skimp on, but hair dye isn’t one of them. Are you able to spend the money on a quality product?

Read also: Types of Dreadlock Rubber Bands

Patience is a Virtue

The sad truth of color treatments is that you don’t always get what you want the first time. Hopefully, this won’t be your case, but if it is, do you have the patience to work through it? Additionally, you will have to refresh your color regularly - even if you choose less conventional colors like purple, pink, and blue.

Dark Hair Considerations

Many loc-wearers have naturally dark hair, and this will affect how bright your new color will appear. The temptation is to bleach your locs, but this is a risky move. Bleaching will strip your hair of all its color and moisture, leaving it brittle and damaged. Remember that damage doesn’t appear immediately; it can take months, but when it does show up, it will take time to fix. If you aren’t up to patiently building up to the color you want and feel like you must bleach your locs, the safest thing to do is let a professional handle it.

Choosing the Right Color for Your Locs

Choosing the best hair color for your dreadlocks is a personal choice that should be based on several factors. Here are some things to consider:

Skin Tone

Your skin tone is an essential factor to consider when choosing a hair color for dreadlocks.

• Warm Skin Tones: Consider colors like honey blonde, copper, ginger or chestnut brown. Warm colors compliment melanin the best.
• Cool Skin Tones: Consider colors like ash blonde, cool brown, or burgundy.

Anyone can wear color, but the shade makes a difference. The tones create the nuances. Tones that are too close to the skin tone can make the wearer look washed out. When people with locs dye their hair blonde, they often have the wrong shade of blonde for their skin tone. Honey blonde is a warm blonde. Platinum blonde, close to white, is a cool blonde.

Read also: Caring for Dreadlocks

Hair Type

The thickness and condition of your hair play a significant role in determining the best hair color for your dreadlocks. Thicker locs can handle darker and bolder colors, while thinner locs may look best with lighter shades.

Personal Style

Your personal style is crucial when choosing a hair color. Consider the image you want to project and the clothes you wear to ensure that the hair color you choose complements your style. If you're a more reserved person, you may prefer a natural-looking color like brown or black.

Popular Color Options

• Blonde: Blonde is a classic hair color that can look great on dreadlocks. If you want a more natural look, consider a honey blonde or golden blonde shade.
• Red: Red is a bold and vibrant color that can look great on dreadlocks. If you have warm skin tones, consider a fiery red or copper shade.
• Brown: Brown is a natural-looking color that can complement any skin tone. Consider shades like chestnut, chocolate, or caramel. Chocolate brown is another classic hair color that looks great with dreadlocks.
• Platinum Blonde: Platinum blonde is a beautiful and unique color that is sure to turn heads.
• Silver: Silver is a cool and edgy color that can make your dreads stand out.

Types of Color and Their Characteristics

Understanding the different types of hair color is crucial for achieving your desired look and maintaining the health of your locs.

Type of Color	Lift or Deposit	How it is Used	Key Benefit
Semi-permanent	Deposit	Temporary colors hair and tones hair	Washes out easily
Demi-permanent	Deposit	Mixed with developer with low concentration	Lasts longer but washes out
Permanent	Deposit or Lift	Must be mixed with developer	Does not wash out

Semi-permanent hair color washes out easiest, demi-permanent lasts longer but eventually washes out, and permanent color does not wash out.

How to Color or Dye Locs

Lightening (lift) or darkening (deposit) the hair impacts the chemical process you must take to achieve your color. When you color your hair, you must lift the hair’s cuticle to deposit or extract chemicals to the cortex. If you want to add a darker shade to your hair, you must add colors to the cortex. In lightening your hair color, you extract color from the cortex. Depending on your hair color and your intended color, the intensity of chemical processing varies. In general lightening hair may require more processing than darker colors. Achieving lighter colors can be difficult and potentially damaging to hair. Lighter colors require lifting the hair which removes pigment from the hair.

Read also: Achieving Ideal Dreadlock Size

DIY vs. Professional

Any dye that will color loose hair will also color your locs. The issue is that dye, like other hair products, will go inside your locs as well as coating the outside. As the color fades or is washed away, much of it will remain inside your locs, depending on the dye you used.

If you are a novice at hair dyeing, it is best to seek help from a professional loctician to help you. If you already have experience with hair coloring, you can also choose to dye your locs at home. But before you do that, you need to carefully research and compare different hair coloring brands and products, and then be sure to familiarize yourself with the entire hair coloring process.

Phoenix Rose, a professional loctician who specializes in dyeing locs, emphasizes the importance of professional knowledge: "Aesthetically, hair lifts at different levels. A professional would know how to color the hair to get it to the desired result. The same box color can look completely different on two different people." She is available for styling and consultation. You can also call to book her at Tru Rootz Salon in New Orleans, Louisiana at (504) 433-8198.

DIY Steps for Coloring Locs

If you decide to dye locs yourself at home, then you must be familiar with the entire dyeing process. Here are the basic steps:

1. Part Your Locs into Sections: Just like loose hair, you want to part your locs into sections. Dividing your hair into sections makes it easier to color your locs evenly.
2. Apply Barrier Cream: Before using hair dye, you can apply Vaseline to the edges of your hair so that the dye on your skin can be easily washed off. Apply the included barrier cream to the skin around your hairline. This will prevent the hair color from staining your ears and hairline.
3. Mix and Apply Color: Once your barrier cream is applied, put on your gloves and mix your color. Unlike loose hair, you will not use a comb to evenly distribute the color, though you can use a tint brush if you like. You want to soak your locs in the color, using the scrunching method to properly saturate your dense locs. The color needs to settle deep into the locs, or it can result in a spotty dye job. For shorter locs (0-4 years), one Radiant Cream Color kit should be enough to color all of your hair. For longer locs, however, it is recommended using two kits, as you need to saturate your locs to ensure consistent color. If you are coloring your hair for the first time or changing your overall hair color, you will need extra Radiant Hair Color so that you have enough to fully saturate your hair all the way through the ends. It is recommended using 2 tubes of color for dreads that are shoulder length, and 3 tubes of color for dreadlocks that are elbow length or longer. Luckily, there is an easy way to add an extra tube to your Radiant Hair Color order at checkout.
4. Process the Color: Apply a cap to your hair. Most hair care boxes will suggest leaving the color on for 30-40 minutes. For locs, it is suggested 45-50 minutes. Since your hair is matted, it will take longer for the color to penetrate. If you start applying color in the back and the instructions call for applying the color for 45 minutes, by the time you complete the entire crown, that time has potentially passed. If you wait 45 minutes from the last place where color was applied, then you lengthen the processing time for the back of head (the first section where colored was applied). You run the risk of over processing the hair, resulting in uneven coloring or damage. Hair at the scalp processes differently than hair away from the scalp. Color is exothermic, which means that it is heat activated.
5. Rinse and Condition: Rinse out the color dye on your locs until the water runs clear-normally two washes, and then apply moisturizer to your hair. Madison Reed will provide with really great shampoo and conditioner for washing out your hair color. With loc’d hair, it is also suggested following up with a deep oil conditioner to properly nourish the hair. You can apply coconut oil or Jamaican castor oil.
6. Retwist and Style: Once your hair is washed and conditioned, go ahead and retwist your locs to style. Coloring locs requires a lot of moisture and attention. It is important to making sure you are properly moisturizing your hair daily to reduce any amount of breakage.

Special Considerations for Gray Hair

Use color specially formulated for gray hair. Gray Hair is a complete loss of pigment. The hair shaft is basically empty. Some colors may not stay, causing fast fading or no change in color at all.

Root Touch-Ups

Root touch-ups are an important step in color maintenance. Wait until you have enough new growth to not overlap what has already been colored. Semi-permanent color is the exception because there is no chemical processing taking place.

Colors to be Aware Of

Red and blue are extremely difficult colors to remove. Over time they tend to fade to lighter shades, for instance red to pink. Their presence can greatly affect the result of the new color you are trying to achieve, so it might be necessary to cancel them out with a complimentary color before proceeding with a new color. Orange is an easy color as its yellow base is easy to cancel. As a consumer it is hard to know how to change a color and how to cancel out a color. That’s why going to a professional helps.

Alternative Coloring Methods

• Henna: Henna is a natural hair dye derived by crushing the leaves of a plant. It is thought better for your hair than commercial chemical hair dyes because it’s natural. Henna contains properties that make it a strengthening conditioner for your locs. It is limited in the range of colors you can achieve, but you can get reddish tones and enrich darker colors. Henna promotes healthy hair growth and a nourished scalp because of its anti-inflammatory properties. The one disadvantage of using henna is that because it is pulverized leaves, it contains tiny bits.
• Indigo: Indigo can work with henna to achieve even darker colors and to effectively cover grey. You would use the henna according to instructions and the following day perform a similar treatment with the indigo.
• Hair Chalks and Waxes: For today’s trendier colors, hair chalks and waxes are an option. Hair chalk can be applied as a liquid, stick, or sprayed onto each loc and displays a vibrant color. Hair color waxes are smoothed onto the locs by hand. As long as you don’t overdo it, you can avoid flakes. Hair color waxes are temporary, most washing out in one or two shampooings.

Loc Coloring Techniques

• Ombre: Ombre is done by fade coloring into the next color. You can do it all in one setting. Transitioning your ombre from a natural hair color to another color is medium maintenance. Coloring your hair color from the roots is higher maintenance because root touch up.
• Highlights: Highlights for locs has a different effect.
• Color Blocking: Color blocked locs are hard stripes where the color changes. Phoenix Rose showcases her color blocked locs a popular hair color technique.
• Tips: Tips is when the ends of the hair are colored a different color (lowest maintenance).
• Special Effects: Phoenix showcases special FX colors.

Coloring your hair adds interest and uniqueness to your crown.

Post-Dyeing Loc Care

1. Moisturize: Moisture is an important factor in maintaining the health of your hair, no matter what hair style or scalp. As long as your hair has enough moisture, your hair will look healthier, brighter and shinier, especially when it comes to dyed locs. Shanicia also spoke about dreadlocks and Black hair in general requiring more moisture, and our colorists agree, especially if you lighten your hair or use bleach. They suggest using a color depositing hydration hair mask, such as Color Therapy. This will help maintain your hair color and fight fading, while adding a huge boost of extra hydration. And remember-if you use bleach, you will need a lot of added hydration! You can use this alone, or cocktail it together with Tame for extra smoothing.
2. Avoid Excessive Heat: After coloring your locs, you must keep it away from excessive heat. After dyeing, using a hot hair dryer will make your hair worse. Also, don’t overexpose your hair to the sun and let your hair dry in the air as much as possible.
3. Maintain a Healthy Diet: Diet is also an important factor in maintaining the health of your hair. Hair needs enough nutrients to grow healthily. Therefore, you need to develop a good diet and pay attention to protein intake.
4. Use Color-Safe Shampoo: It’s best to use a shampoo specifically for color-treated hair. Color-treated products usually have SPF.

tags: #dreadlock #dye #colors #guide

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