I noticed how beautiful black hair is. I noticed many ladies and gents dye their hair black, either to be "goth" or just because it's a lovely color that suit their skin tone. More and more people are sporting brunette or black hair. Is black hair considered brunette? I plan on dyeing my hair a soft black since that's pretty close to my natural color and to avoid flat looking black that is prevalent with many black dyes. What do you think of black hair? Some people said I'm so blessed to be born with black hair, yet I feel it's so blah and boring while browns, reds and blondes are much more appealing. What do you think?  :P

Nature usually picks the best color hair for you.  Black hair is beautiful on people that have the right complection for it.  I would look horrible with black hair.

If you are looking to add some color to your already dark hair, you might try a henna.  This will not only give some depth to your color, but add shine and condition your hair.

When I was young I always used to so admire the hispanic or Native American girls with long beautiful black hair.  I have light- med brown hair with very fair skin.
I dyed my hair very dark once- It did not suit me!!! I looked half dead!!
However, it sounds like it is close to your natural color, so maybe it would look great on you!

I have always thought black to be THE most appealing and beautiful colour out there. My whole life, I have coveted long, flowing raven locks, but alas, God gave me light auburn-ish brown.  :-/  That's OK & all...but it's not black.

Being a goth myself, I have naturally dyed my hair black many times, but what bikerbraid says is true. It only looks good on those with the proper colouring for it. Sadly, I am not among them.  :(

My skin is far too ruddy and my colouring far too Celtic for black hair to look the least bit natural on me. Yes, I realize that there are dark and black-haired Celts, but I follow the fair, red colouring. *sigh* Ah well.

Clairol's Natural Instincts used to make a beautiful shade of indigo black, which looked amazing on top of black hair. Gave it a wonderful "moonlit" sheen. Unfortunately, I don't think they make this colour any longer, but Herbal Essences haircolour has a shade called Sapphire Black, which may be similar (I haven't seen it close up).
 But yeah, if you're just looking to subtly enhance your own natural black (you lucky gal!), I would suggest either a purplish, bluish or indigo tone to go over it. But they also make a burgundy black if you prefer a warmer look.  :)

my hair is flat black and curly. my whole family used to make a fuss over how black my hair was they loved it, but i always disliked my hair color. just like people with fair skin and light hair cant go dark. people with hair as black as mine cant go light. i think its a case of the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.

When I was in intermediate and high school I didn't like having black hair. I think it was mostly because it was so hard to dye a different color...But a nice black dye job is hard to achieve. Last year when I dyed my hair back to black, my mom said it looked really fake. :P

I love all colours I must admit and I change haircolor every month....I'm blessed with both spanish and swedish features and can have all colors.The color that suits my SOUL is black.
It brings out my green eyes and you can wear every color on clothes to.
I also love how good it looks with hairpins of any color.

Stay black honney and grow it long;)

heelo i agree with what Bikerbraid said, plus if you want shiney hair i would stay away from the chemical dyes and try henna, did you know that it is nearly impossible to lighten black dyed hair it nearly always has to be stripped out, i think if your hair is dark anyway you should just forget the dye.

All colours are great as long as they are healthy, i read today that if a person has a lack of vitamin b there hair coulour can become very pale and almost colourless which looks horrid.

Black hair is great but on me it would just be too dark and im definatley a blonde hair lover even though my hubby has black hair i prefer myself with golden brown hair (my natural colour).

I think balck hair only looks good on those with the real thing, the fake black look is awful,f lat dull and does not shine. A friend of mine has dark brown hair she died it black and now she hates it, it makes her sunkissed skin look pale and dull, she looks quite grey and ill looking, i have seen women with green eyes and light skin and natural black hair and it look great but to recreate the look on a person who was not born with it is very very hard simply because there is something about people with black hair who have a certain tone and beauty that NO ONE else can copy, its unique to tem, just as what is ours is unique to us.

The day i became truly happy was when i made the most of who i was and not what looked good on others, i have never been eyed up so much now i make the most of myself and i am loving every minute of it ;)

The color of my hair is so called black.  Well, black hair doesn't exist in nature but it's the darkest brown shade that appears black so that's why we call it that :)  It's also darker than the Caucasian hair color called darkest brown, sort of naturally off black and in my experience, blue/black dyes work really well to counteract naturall reddishness that can occur in the summer and the artificial blue in the dye doesn't show up in my hair because it's already so dark, it just looks fantastically black and shiny! :)  However, I imagine it's a color that's difficult for most people to maintain and keep shiny.  Thinks it's a bit of a curse like red dyes.  Oh how I wish I had naturally red hair or could just carry natural red shades!

Just my own experiences, limited knowledge and own opinions.  I'm adopted from Thailand but I'm Danish and live in a part of Denmark where blond/blonde is the most common, followed by lighter shades of brown, then red and finally darker shades of brown.

Funny thing is, that here women "over a certain age" are encouraged to dye their hair dark brown because they're told it'll make them look younger.  That's the exact opposite of what their American peers are being told, I've been told  :-?  The typical look for a 40+ woman in my area is short dark brown hair often with very wine/plum/deep red "effects" and matching red or black glasses.

Uhm...sorry, I lost the plot and got sidetracked :-[

LOL... don't worry about getting sidetracked... we do a lot of that here.  ;D

Raven black hair (the dark blue/black) is a beautiful color that few have naturally.  I understand your frustration.  I live in Minnesota which was originally settled by the Scandinavians and Germans.  The fair hair and skin are predominent here.  Recently, however, we have had many, many immigrants from Laos, Korea, Viet Nam, China, and other eastern areas.  This has suddenly turned the "crowd" of hair to the dark shades that were not typical just 10 years ago.  I'm sure many hair stylists have had to learn new techniques for dealing with this type of hair.

Dark hair actually does make a person appear younger because it detracts attention from lines and wrinkles in the skin and stands in strong contrast to the skin, making it appear brighter. It's a cosmetology basic.  ;)

I'm guessing that the red or black glasses is more of a fashion statement than an age-defying tactic because glasses tend to make a person appear older.

I've always heard and felt that black hair can make you look older as well, but I feel that it all depends on who's wearing it and the persons features.  On some it looks wonderful and yet there are others (like myself) who can't wear it well.  I think that on people with larger features, lighter shades tend look better because it helps to soften your appearance more.

Years ago I did an add for a salon, and they dyed my hair jet black.  I'd always loved that shade and wanted my hair that color since forever so at first I was excited.  Afterwards, I loved it but I actually didn't realize how dark it was until I got outside into the light.  I happened to be walking past a building when I saw a reflecton of my hair in the glass.  There were so many people outside because they'd just gotten off from work, but I could't hold in my tears and I began to bawl.  I hated my hair so badly and felt that the color made me look sick, I was in tears for days.  


The funny thing is that even though I had such a horrible experience I still sometimes get hair envy when I see long jet black shiny hair.   I just have to remember that just because something looks good on one person, that it doesn't mean it's going to look good on everyone. :)

I've been using the same hairdresser for 8 years and no one else gets near my tresses!  She's the only one I've been able to find here in the more rural south western part (eastern part of SW Jylland) who understands the prorperties of my hair.  I'd rather lose the shape of my style than risk having another hairdresser mess up my hair.

Hmm...La Diosa and Angel Spun you both make sense :-?  I guess it's very individual what a hair color will do for you and perhaps what's really wrong is that women are told general rules that may not apply to them individually.  

Btw, I'm getting streaks next Thursday I just can't decide whether to stick with cool browns or go wine or berries if you know what I mean :-?  I generally wear either safari colors such as beiges, dark browns and olives or pang and neon colors.  I know those are color extreme differences so whatever I get needs to work with both.

I like the way streaks can highlight the details of an updo.  That's what I envy about lighter hair colors; The details of a style are more visible than on really dark hair that appears one shade.  My oldest son who has Autism has however noticed that I have different natural shades of off-black, brown, dark auburn and a red reflection all over.  He said so one evening when I was peeling potatos and the kitchen light was shining at different directions of my hair and he was sitting on the kitchen top watching me :)

Black hair on Asians, Indians and Native American Indians make them look very beautiful 8-)

Some of the Asian ladies who go blonde look ok but most of them look aweful and they should just keep their hair black :o

Goths are somehow attractive to me and I think it is the color of black including the hair since black is one of my favorite colors 8-)

Jerry

My sister has the prettiest, shiniest, thickest, jet black hair and it looks great on her features (we're hispanic).  My hair is naturally black too but it has a lot of dark dark brown as well and can look brownish-reddish in the sun, but it's thin/fine and I'm much tanner than her so nearly everyone says I look best when my hair is dyed brown-ish colors.  There are some that have mentioned that I look nicer w/black hair, but I get a better reaction with lighter hair.  But all that hair dyeing damaged my hair so I am just going to stick to my natural black hair!

Quote:

Goths are somehow attractive to me and I think it is the color of black including the hair since black is one of my favorite colors  8-)

Keep your distance, Jerry...Flaming Bunny and I are spoken for.  ;)  lol

And kudos to you, MTBBIO, for keeping your natural black colour. God doesn't make mistakes.

Thanks Angel Spun!  I just get so tempted to dye it lighter when even my mom says it looks nicer when it's brown! I just think she says that because she hasn't seen my hair naturally black for 5 years now.  I had dyed my hair black, and that was when everyone was telling me to go back to brown, but dyed black hair isn't nearly as pretty as naturally black hair so I think I'll be fine ;-) ;D

also, why are there only 3 posts for this topic! Are we the only ones interested in black hair? :-(

MTBBIO - you are not the only ones interested in black hair!  :D  There is a lot of cross-posting in the categories here. So you may find references to black hair just about anywhere on these boards.  But feel free to start your own thread here!

You can use henna and indigo to get really cool brownish tones.You can read about it at hennaforhair.com.It´s cheap and you can do it on your own (add yogurt to the dye so it doesn´t run) it makes your hair much thicker and incredible glossy!!!It´s very good for your hair and scalp.I use it as often as I can and right know I have like licorice/rasberry tone.

Good luck!!

Hey - good to see ya around again fata morgana!

Thank you bikerbraid!!!!Thank you!I´ll pop by more often now and try to get fotos to my avatar.

A huge hug to you!!

Thanks! I tried some black henna, but it didn't do much for my hair! I think it looks/feels exactly the same, but my mom swears it looks darker and healthier...but I don't know! I tried Rainbow Henna in persian black that I bought from the health food store

With indigo (the black henna) you have to be real quick because it only stains for the first 15 min and you have to use cold water. After an application you should follow up the next day with henna.

Sorry it didn´t work out for you. You should give it another try. It gives a super glossy shine to your hair.

Is black hair a relative judgement?  When does it go from being brown to black?  Am I imagining that the description of hair as being brown or black also depends on how fashionable black hair color is at any given time?

I'm not trying to patent anything nor do I claim any authority in judging other people's hair color.  It's just a curious thought I had.

No, hon. Black hair is black hair. Period.
Not dark brown, and certainly not hinging upon fashion trends.
Just black. Either it is or it isn't.

Almost doesn't count.

People whom I think have dark brown hair are often described in our press as having black hair.   Maybe some Danish journalists don't see black hair often enough to tell the difference between black and brown hair. ;D

Most of the time I have to agree with people who say my hair appears only black.  At least, when I do searches on 'darkest brown hair' my hair's still darker than the photo examples I see.   Well, it's the color you see in the profile image.

Long ago I got it into my head that black hair doesn't exist and I think I've argued it on here in the past because the explanation I've been given is that it's really just a very dark brown that's darker than the one we call 'darkest brown' and it's the appearance of this very dark brown hair that we judge the color by and call it black.  Off-black or soft black is what I've begun to describe my hair as.  However, at no time does all of my hair ever appear to be definitely red or brown.

I think I confused the biochemical properties of hair with the hair color we actually see.  Okay, I'm no more proud than I can apologize for claims I've made due to misconceptions I've held.  Correct me again if "you" (anyone) know better. :)

Gosh, I can't believe the number of times I've dropped my chores to go do more searches on human hair color. :-[ ;D

It has been a while since I've posted. Well, I have noticed how popular black hair is nowadays. I guess black hair is very strong color and bring out features. I can see that. I think darkest brown isn't really black although it may look like it under shade or against lighter background. Any shade of browns is brunette. Black hair is not brunette, is that it?