Hair dye for Black women is rebellious, so now I'm a red head

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Notice something different? Yup, I dyed my hair red. Hair dye for Black women, as far as I’ve witnessed, has been taboo among really any hair altering. But I have to say, it’s like finally getting to rip off a bandaid to see a healed wound.

Hair dye for Black women is a “no no”

I find that there’s a sense of fear of really doing anything with your hair. But when you’re a Black woman who makes it known what she wants to do with her hair, you won’t hear the end of the grievances. So, I made damn sure not to tell anyone what I was doing with my nappy head until the night before my appointment.

It’s sad to say that my size, yes, my size, was part of why I also didn’t want to dye my hair. Dying your hair (to some) can mean you’re going through it. I legit wrote a whole think piece about it. And I felt like I’d be stereotyped into the fat goth girl who dyes her hair as an act of rebellion. Maybe that’s true. Maybe I am going through it…in a pandemic. Or maybe I just don’t give a fuck anymore.

Lucky for me, making the decision to dye my hair was easy once my hairstylist friend Devon Alexander basically asked me “so when do you want to do your color? Tuesday?” Being the sucker and pushover that I am, I just accepted because (they say) there’s no better time than the present.

I blame (and thank) TikTok for my rash decision

@ms.bines
In case you needed a reminder. I also switched out my lipstick (it’s from the lip bar and it’s black owned) #fyp #butterglosspop #blackgirls
♬ Black Girls Are Pretty – Imani 💕

I have to say TikTok may be the influencer, ironically, that brought me to make the jump to bleach and dye my hair red.

If you haven’t already drowned in your FYP (IYKYK), a plethora of Black people are dying their hair — at fucking home! I don’t how some people do shit where they from, but where I’m from we don’t do shit like that, hence why I went to Hair & Co. a Black-owned hair salon in Brooklyn to get it professionally ombre’d.

Nonetheless, watching young Black women use hair dye to create looks — and that’s after shaving it all off — was amazing to me. Black women are doing this in their kitchens and bathrooms as if a new generation of naturalistas are embracing their hair in as many ways as possible. Because if Black people don’t see themselves throw caution to the wind with their locs, curls, wigs, braids, buzz cuts and more, we’ll always have those “what ifs” as other forms of “good hair” do the thing we’re all afraid to. And it’s nice for me to say: it’s just hair.

Why red?

Simple, bright colors pop on my complexion. I had gone to a Dark & Lovely event where the brand was, well, rebranding. But while I was there, the planners had a VR machine that let you see your hair as a different color and this one spoke to me. So I made my VR experience an R experience, which you’ll see how it was done…soon.

I have no regrets (I shot two TikToks the other day). There’s a lot going on and I am going through it, naturally because we’re in a pandemic and no one wants to wear their damn mask, but here we are. Anyways, chile, life is too short to be concerned with what people think about how you change your appearance, whether good or bad. Because at the end of the day, it’s you who’s gotta wear that shit. So make it hot!