How to Dye Black Hair Red

Bleach your hair. If your hair is resistant or if it has been previously colored, you’ll need to bleach it before dyeing it in order to get the shade of red that you want. Mix bleach and 10 or 20 volume developer in a bowl with an applicator brush until it's a yogurt-like consistency. Put on some plastic gloves and a cape to prevent your skin from burning or your clothes from being ruined. Part your hair with the pointed end of the applicator brush and paint the bleach onto your hair from root to tip. Continue making new parts and coating your hair until it’s completely covered in bleach. Let the bleach process until your hair color is the level of lightness you desire. Then wash it out with shampoo and moisturize your hair with conditioner.^[9]

• If you’re wanting your hair to be a light and/or bright shade of red, you may need to wait a few weeks and repeat the bleaching process to bring it up to a true blonde.^[10] However, bleaching a second time may cause breakage.
• Dying your hair in stages over several weeks is the safest way to achieve the lightness you want without significantly damaging your hair.^[11]
• Don’t bleach your hair if it is virgin. Products like L'Oreal Excellence HiColor Reds for Dark Hair Only in H8 may be able to give you red hair without bleaching the black first.
• Bleaching your hair too much can cause extreme damage and breakage, so limit how long you keep it on your hair and how often you apply it.

Brush and section your hair. You don't want snarls, so brush your hair thoroughly. Then, use plastic clips to pull the hair into four equally-sized sections.

• At this point, you can also apply Vaseline at your hairline so you don't end up dyeing your skin orange.

Mix the ingredients. Add your tube of dye and 10 volume developer to the mixing bowl. Use a measuring cup to measure them out according to the instructions on the bottle or package and then mix them together in the bowl with the applicator brush until the dye is smooth. The mixture should be the consistency of paste; not too watery.^[12]

Paint the dye onto your hair. Unclip one section of hair. Use an applicator brush to start applying the color an inch or two (2.5-5 cm) away from your roots. Completely saturate the hair all the way down to ends of the strands. Repeat this process for each section of hair.

• Wear plastic gloves when applying dye. Otherwise, you will stain your hands.
• Apply the dye everywhere except your roots. You usually have virgin hair at the roots, so if you do the roots first, you could end up with roots that are a brighter color than the rest of your hair.
• Consider filling a squirt bottle with the dye and applying it that way if you have long and/or thick hair.
• Remember to paint the tiny hairs near your ears. You might want to use your finger to reach those.

Let the hair process and apply dye to your roots. Then, put a shower cap on and let the dye process for as long as the product instructs. After about half of the processing time has gone by, remove the shower cap and paint your roots red with the dye. Then put the cap back on and let your hair finish processing.

Shampoo and condition your hair. Once the time is up, thoroughly wash the dye out of your hair with a shampoo that is designed for dyed hair. Then rinse it out and condition your hair with a conditioner also designed for colored hair. Finally, rinse out the conditioner.

• Use lukewarm or cool water, but never hot water as it will make your color fade.
• Avoid shampoos with sulfate in them. They can strip the color out of your hair faster.

Wash your hair 2-3 times each week. Red hair color tends to fade fast because the molecules that make up the dye are large. To slow down the fading process, resist the urge to wash your hair often.

• Do not wash your hair more than once every other day.^[13]
• If your hair gets oily fast, try using dry shampoo to keep it looking fresh in between washes.
• Don't take hot showers. Hot water will make your color fade faster.

Touch up the red color. Red hair dye is prone to fading. Apply a semi-permanent or demi-permanent dye to your hair from time to time to gently touch it up and keep it looking rich. If you need to touch up the roots, use a permanent dye.