Mixing Red and Black Hair Dye

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Some people love mixing hair dyes, which can make their hair look wild with amazing touches of colors that pop out and give them unique or stylized looks.

What happens when mixing red and black hair dye? Well, it depends on what you’re going for, but usually you end up with brown dye.

Getting your hair dyed one color is simple and can be used to easily create an identity or match your clothes and skin tone.

But what about mixing dyes? How can you combine red and black dye? Stick around and learn:

How to darken a red tone
How to get black hair with red undertones
What happens when you mix black and red dyes

Let’s get into it and see your hair revitalized.

Contents

Mixing Red and Black Hair Dye: What Happens When You Combine Black and Red Dye on Hair?

If you try to mix a red dye and a black dye, you will end up with… a shade of brown. There may not be any hints of red in it after it’s mixed.

You’re not going to get some gorgeous shimmering black with rivulets of red refracting through your tresses when the light hits it in the right way.

You’re gonna get brown.

You’re not going to get some gorgeous shimmering black with rivulets of red refracting through your tresses when the light hits it in the right way.

If you want black and red, choose dyes specifically designed to get you to the color you want. Don’t try to invent your own color!

Have you seen how many colors of hair dye are available? Amazon lists over 10,000 results of the search “hair dye”. You really can’t find one that gives you what you’re looking for without needing to mix?

Have you seen how many colors of hair dye are available? Amazon lists over 10,000 results of the query “hair dye”. You really can’t find one that gives you what you’re looking for without needing to mix?

Why Should You Not Combine Black and Red Dyes?

Combining dyes doesn’t usually yield the expected colors. It’s not like combining paint. Dyes are chemically reactive compounds, and they may not mix. And even when they do, you can easily lose the colors completely.

Dyes are chemically reactive compounds, and they may not mix. And even if they do, you can easily lose the colors completely.

Mixing the black dye with the red one will change the dye’s colorway and pigmentation. In some cases, you may even be surprised that the resulting color will not have any pinch of red that will be visible.

You’ll get a nut brown.

Could look fine, but just buy a brown dye!

And combining black and red dyes to try to create a specific shade of red isn’t an efficient solution since you can almost always get a dye of any shade imaginable at your nearest convenience store or on ol’ Uncle Amazon.

As such, the only question left is, how do you dye your hair to get red tones that compliment your black hair?

Let’s see how you make this possible.

How To Add Touches of Red to Your Black Hair

To accomplish that, it is essential to know the range of hair colors and their numbering. The scale starts at 1 for black, and as it progresses to 10, the colors transition through brown, red, and finally blonde.

Next time you purchase the hair dye kit, make sure you use the color numbering codes to pick the right shade.

Next time you purchase the color kit, make sure you use the color numbering codes to pick the right shade.

So why is it important to know these color levels? Understanding them is key to achieving red tones within your black hair.

You’ll have to get the color shade six on the numbering chart if you want a red tone. The color has an eye-catchy, fiery look, and you can recognize it by comparing it to the color of a red apple or strawberries.

Now that you know how to dye your black hair red partially, what if you prefer a darker shade of red dye?

How Can Red Dye Be Darkened?

When you want to darken a red hair dye, it is important to know that mixing it with black dye is not the solution.

When you want to darken a red hair dye, it is important to know that mixing it with black dye is not the solution.

That being said, the solution here is simply searching for a darker shade of red. The red color has a parallel numbering system where the shades range from dark red at 6 to 9.6, which has an extremely pale reddish-blonde look.

This is why you don’t have to add black dye to the mix.

How To Dye Black Hair A Bright Red Tone

Some people with deep black hair don’t like having just one color; they go for vibrant colors, such as bright neon red. If you want to dye your hair at home, be ready to sacrifice five to six hours of your time for the entire procedure to be complete.

Although the dyeing process is easy, even if it’s your first time, applying the red layer takes a lot of effort. You must bleach your hair first before adding the red dye.

If you don’t know what you’re doing, you can really ruin your hair with bleach. If this is your first time, go to a stylist and may the extra coin. You don’t want your hair to fall out because you screwed up.

Yes, that can happen.

Although the dyeing process is easy, even if it’s your first time, applying the red layer takes a lot of effort. You must bleach your hair first before adding the red dye.

Here is the process of dyeing black hair with a bright red dye.

1. Preparation Before the Dyeing Process

First, do not wash your hair 24 to 48 hours before you dye it. This is important as the natural oils in unwashed hair protect your scalp and roots from hair dye, especially the red ones.

In addition, you should use a high-quality semi-permanent dye if this is your first time to allow you room to remove it if you change your mind.

In this stage, you decide how thick you want the black top layer to be. Next, you should decide how many black and red undertones and overtones you desire.

2. The Dyeing Process

The next step is separating the top layer from the bottom using clips. This will help you apply the black and red dye in their respective layers.

After doing so, you can begin applying your dye by following the instructions on the product label. You should wear gloves during the entire time and cover your neck and shoulders with a towel to protect the skin.

If you want to have a black top with a red layer beneath, start by applying the black dye to the top layer. Give it time to set in, and then rinse the black dye and dry your top layer of freshly dyed black hair.

You will have to bleach the bottom layer of your hair before applying the red dye. This ensures that the red color is more visible. Once again, if you have never bleached your hair, we recommend you visit a professional who can help you.

Once you have bleached the bottom layer of your hair, rinse the bleach with lukewarm water until the water runs clear. The next step is dyeing the bottom layer with semi-permanent red dye. You can rinse the red dye with cool water and use a deep conditioner once a week to maintain your hair color.

Getting Hints of Red Hair

Black hair can look incredible when there are hints of red in it. You can accomplish this with styles like peekaboo highlights and other creative highlighting locations. You’ll need to follow the process outlined above, but you won’t be doing your whole head of hair, just a few spots.

Conclusion

Mixing black and red dye is not advisable as the resulting color is brown.

The best option for getting the right mix of dye is getting help from hair specialists with years of experience in bleaching and dyeing hair, particularly if this is your first adventure with bleach.

That said don’t be afraid to experiment with your hair! You might get that look you’ve always imagined but never quite brought to life.