What I Learned From Dyeing My Virgin Natural Hair For the First Time
These days, it seems like every Black girl is dyeing her hair. From honey blonde to penny copper to the perfect shade of brown to match your skin tone, the […] The post What I Learned From Dyeing My Virgin Natural Hair For the First Time appeared first on Essence.
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Courtesy of Brianna J. Heath 
By Brianna J. Heath ·Updated July 31, 2025 < /> Getting your Trinity Audio player ready… These days, it seems like every Black girl is dyeing her hair. From honey blonde to penny copper to the perfect shade of brown to match your skin tone, the girls are having fun with color. It can instantly >Lucille Javier, whose expertise with textured hair and commitment to keeping it healthy gave me the confidence I needed to take a leap of faith. Now a year later, here’s what I’ve learned about coloring and caring for natural hair.
My Natural Hair JourneyI’ve always been a relatively low maintenance natural. It might sound boring to some, but I’ve been married to my weekly wash and go for years, only straying for seasonal knotless braids, which I am currently on a six month hiatus from to preserve my edges. Additionally, I rarely if ever use direct heat. My tightly coiled and curly, fine, high-porosity hair thrives with low manipulationsrc="https://www.essence.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/IMG_2728.jpg" alt="What I Learned From Dyeing My Virgin Natural Hair For the First Time" width="400" height="711" /> A Step Into Color
Still, the decision to dye my hair wasn’t one I made lightly. My past forays into chemical processing had been traumatizing, to say the least, and I didn’t have anyone to look to who had healthy, color-treated hair. After connecting with Javier, whose intentionality in caring for the health of your hair first, my perspective changed.
Ranked as one of New York’s best colorists, she’s been doing hair for over 18 years and has worked with some of the industry’s best talent including famed stylist, Lacy Redway. She’s known for bolddecoding="async" src="https://www.essence.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/IMG_2752.jpg" alt="What I Learned From Dyeing My Virgin Natural Hair For the First Time" width="400" height="711" />Screenshot What To Know Before Trying Color
Professionals Know Best: It is always best to go to someone who is licensed and has in-depth experience to ensure the health of your hair. At home box dye is nowhere near as precise as an in salon treatment where your colorist can customize it for your hair texture, porosity, and base color.
Consider Your Life decoding="async" src="https://www.essence.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/IMG_2732-Cropped.jpg" alt="What I Learned From Dyeing My Virgin Natural Hair For the First Time" width="400" height="531" />
Oxidation and Sun: Time and exposure to sun will gradually lighten your hair. Whatever color you achieve after your first process will lighten with time, especially in the summer.
Dryness Is Inevitable: Your hair will be dryer but as long as you keep up a solid routine, you should be fine. I never go more than a week without washing my hair and deep condition every wash, prioritizing clarifying and hydrating shampoos to keep my strands healthy.
Heat or Color: Ideally, you should pick heat or color because together they can be a recipe for disaster. Both the process of coloring and heat styling breaks down the bonds that keep your hair healthy and strong.
Never Skip Wash Day: Deep conditioning and bond repair are a must. Fully saturating your hair with water is the best way to hydrate it, so I make sure to never go more than a week without washing. I also use a bond building treatment every few washes to repair and strengthen.
If you are considering dyeing your hair, I say go for it as long as you are working with an experienced professional and are ready for the additional maintenance. Just over a year in, I’m falling in love with my color more and more each day and I’m pretty much convinced it grew out of my scalp like this. Maybe this is how Beyonce feels as a natural blonde.
TOPICS: blonde hair Hair Dye natural hairThe post What I Learned From Dyeing My Virgin Natural Hair For the First Time appeared first on Essence.
