Dreadlocks with natural hair color look cool and unique on their own, but there’s nothing wrong with giving your locks a makeover with your desired color if that’s something you would like to do. After all, adding a little bit of oomph to your loc journey whether a bright yellow contrast, red, purple, pink, or any color you prefer can make them even more fun and exciting!
However, unlike coloring loose hair, dreadlocks require a little more attention and care in order to maintain dyed dreads longer and prevent unwanted breakage and dryness. Aside from that, choosing the right coloring treatment is also needed to avoid damaging your locs.
But no worries! In this article, we’ll cover the most important things that you need to know before you begin the coloring process, share with you the Best Hair Color for Dreadlocks that will not sacrifice your locs health plus a step-by-step guide on how to do it.
So if you’re interested to know more and would like to achieve beautiful, and healthy colored dreads, then keep reading.
Few Things to Remember Before Dyeing your Locs
1. Assess the Health of Your Locs First
Before you color your locs, it’s important to first make sure that your hair is healthy. Your locs shouldn’t be dry, thinning, or experiencing any breakage; if they are, coloring them might cause more harm than good. It’s best to consult with a professional loc stylist who can examine your hair.
2. Check for the Ingredients of the Hair Dye
Natural straight hair or textured hair — regardless of your hair type, it’s essential to check the ingredients of the hair color you’ll use. Make sure to use products that don’t contain too many harsh chemicals and are formulated with moisture-rich organic, botanical ingredients.
Also, It is a good idea to do a patch test before using any permanent or semi-permanent hair dye. To perform the test, apply some of the dye to the inside of your elbow or behind your ear, wait for 48 hours, if no skin irritation is experienced, this means it’s safe to use.
This method will ensure you’re not allergic to anything.
3. You’re Committed to Providing Extra Care to Your Locs
Coloring dreadlocks doesn’t just stop there, it requires a lot of after-care processes. As such, you need to level up your hair care routine. This includes applying hydration treatment on your locs more often. If you have color-treated hair, best to deeply moisturize your locs once a month instead of just 3. You may also need to apply protein treatments, especially if your hair is blonde.
[You might also want to check out: Best Shampoo and Conditioner for Dreadlocks]
Best Hair Color for Dreadlocks
1. Herbatint Permanent Haircolor Gel
Product Description
Herbatint Permanent Herbal Haircolour Gel unlocks the secret of beautiful hair, naturally.
Contrary to most hair coloring products, there are no harsh chemicals and ammonia in their formulation, instead, they utilize 8 herb and botanical extracts including aloe vera, meadowfoam, white birch, cinchona calisaya, witch hazel, echinacea, walnut husk, and rhubarb
that deposit color gently, giving you a subtle style and natural result.
Herbatint’s unique formula permanently colors hair while keeping your locs healthy. Not only does the color look great, but it also moisturizes, nourishes your scalp and hair during coloring.
Another thing we love about this is it’s available in a wide range of shades – 36 shades to choose from that works great for dark hair or black hair.
Pros
What I like about this product:
- Clinically and dermatologically tested
- Gentle formula
- Gluten-free, non-GMO ingredients.
- Free from Ammonia, resorcinol, parabens, and alcohol fragrance
- Cruelty-free
- Recommended for sensitive skin
- Available in a wide range of colors
Cons
What I didn’t like:
- You need to purchase a brush, measuring cup, and cape separately
Interested? Here’s the link to purchase it!
2. Naturtint Permanent Hair Color
Product Description
The next best hair color for dreadlocks is the Naturtint Permanent Hair Color. It has been leading the hair coloring industry for 25 years with its high-quality, botanically inspired formulas.
Naturtint is USDA-certified biobased, which means its hair color products can help you look and feel better while reducing your carbon footprint.
It is enriched with plant and seed oils and extracts such as oleic acid from olives and meadowfoam seed oil. Naturtint Permanent Hair Color contains everything you need to nourish your hair and scalp, as well as get gorgeous color results.
Moreover, it’s Dermatologist tested, it’s gentle on the hair and scalp, and has no artificial fragrances, gluten, parabens, resorcinol, or heavy metals. Naturtint is vegan and cruelty-free!
Pros
What I like about this product:
- USDA-certified biobased product
- Dermatologist tested
- Free from harsh ingredients – Ammonia, Parabens, Artificial Fragrance, Resorcinol, Heavy Metals, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, and Sodium Laureth Sulfate.
- Vegan and cruelty-free
- Available in 32 mixable shades
Cons
What I didn’t like:
- You need to purchase up to 2 boxes if your hair is longer than shoulder length
Interested? Here’s the link to purchase it!
3. Madisonreed Hair Color
Product Description
Last but not least, Madisonreed Hair Color. The quality of this hair color is that it’s formulated in accordance with European Union safety standards. It doesn’t contain potential ingredient offenders in its formulas, because instead, it contains nourishing ingredients like keratin, argan oil, and ginseng root extract.
Those ingredients are known to strengthen, repair, and protect hair strands from future breakage. Apart from getting beautiful colored dreadlocks, it also restores shine, adds natural smoothness, hydrates, and softens to leave hair feeling silky and healthy.
Like the first two on the list, this is also dermatologist-tested, cruelty-free, and free from harsh chemicals.
Pros
What I like about this product:
- Offers 100% money-back guarantee if you’re not satisfied with their product
- Dermatologist tested
- Leaping bunny certified (cruelty-free)
- Kit contains everything you need
- Easy to apply
- Free from harsh ingredients – Ammonia, para-phenylenediamine, parabens, Artificial Fragrance, Resorcinol, Phthalates, titanium dioxide, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, and Sodium Laureth Sulfate.
Cons
What I didn’t like:
- Available only on their official website
Interested? Here’s the link to purchase!
Step by Step Guide on Coloring your Locs
To color your dreadlocks, you can follow these simple steps:
1. Divide your locs into manageable sections, so you can work on them one at a time.
2. Dye your dreadlocks using the methods and tools provided in the kit. Once applied, use a tint brush to evenly distribute the color. Scrunch through suction to take the color deep into the hair and prevent a spotty dye job. Remember to wear gloves and to cover your clothes when dyeing, as you do not want bleach or dye on your clothes.
3. Allow the color to set for about 40- 50 minutes. (or as indicated in the instruction guide). Make sure the color gets through your locs.
4. Rinse your hair really well, and then apply the moisturizer to your hair. Once done, you can go ahead and retwist your locs to style.
[You might also like: Faux Locs with Kanekalon Hair vs Marley Hair]
Takeaway
While coloring locs can be something fun and unique, keep in mind that it’s still best to leave this type of job to the professionals, especially if this is your first time doing so – to avoid potentially damaging your hair.
If you like this article, you might want to check out our other reviews at HairAffairs.com