Black Hair

Should You Get Black Hair?

By Lynn Lopez

You might be thinking of getting a drastically new look. Most times, this only entails a change in your everyday makeup, a new haircut, or a few touch-ups to your wardrobe. What's really guaranteed to up your look's shock factor is getting a new hair color. If you've been a blonde all your life, turning brunette will turn heads. If you've never switched your brown hair color for any other shade, going a lot lighter will brighten up your appearance. But if you go with black hair, then that will definitely give you a whole new look.

Black hair can convey lots of different images. It could make you look like a total Goth girl or make you look like the perfect Oriental doll. Done right, it could make you look like a raven-haired goddess with long, cascading tresses.

Not everyone is cut out to sport black hair, though. Before you head to your stylist and declare your intentions to blacken your locks, go over these few guidelines first.

• Black hair is your goal, but it's not advisable to choose a totally charcoal-black shade. Hairdressers say a really deep black sometimes makes hair look fake, so a dark brown-black shade would look better.
• Consider your skin color. They say black goes with everything, and that's more or less true with black hair. You could have dark skin, have a glowing tan, or olive complexion and you're going to be able to pull off black hair just fine. Fair skin also does justice to black hair, but make sure you're not extremely pale, unless you really are going for a Goth look.
• Take your cue from stars who have turned their manes black. While she's ordinarily gorgeous in every look she's experimented with, Angelina Jolie once looked sinister in black at the 2000 Oscars. Ashlee Simpson used to be an aspiring black-haired rocker chick when she emerged into the music scene. Britney Spears shocked everyone when she dyed her normally blond hair a stunning black. Burlesque artist Dita Von Teese is a natural blonde, but established her signature style with glossy black curls.

Having second thoughts about getting black hair? Get yourself accustomed to a darker hair color by getting a deep brown shade first. If it turns out gorgeous, let the color settle in for several months and give your hair time to relax before getting another treatment. Then you can launch your new look and go all out black.

Also see: Hair Extensions and Celebrity Hairstyles.

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