The Best Black Hair Dye – Reviews and Top Picks

Are you still confused as to what the best black hair dye product is to achieve those gorgeous black tresses? Or are you still not sure what to look for?

Deciding on the best permanent jet black hair dye that’s suitable for you includes a lot of factors to consider. Some may consider how easy to use the product is, the stuff they’ve put in the product, and how long will it last on your hair.

  • L’Oreal Paris Excellence Crème - Having Pro-Keratin, Ceramide, and Collagen makes this product as a great choice if you are concerned about the fullness and strength of your hair. This can also be a great product to choose for those who want to kiss those greys goodbye.
  • Vidal Sassoon Salonist Hair Colour - If you’re looking for color to stay in your hair, you can check this product out. It can maintain color quality for up to 8 weeks. It gives you a 2-step salon technique on how to color your hair, which is a nice bonus.
  • Clairol Nice ‘n Easy Hair Color - This features their Color Blend Technology which is good for tones and highlights. It comes in 3 different shades of black: Soft Black, Natural Black, and Natural Blue Black. Each shade can closely imitate the tones that are found in natural, uncolored hair. The kit includes 3 individual packs of the same color.
  • Bigen Permanent Powder Hair Color - Being a deposit-only color, this product does not need any kind of lifting or lightening to darken the hair. That means less hair damage. For someone who has deep concerns when it comes to the damages that color treatments can bring, this is a great choice.
  • Schwarzkopf Color Ultime - If you want to add more volume to your hair, then this product can be the right one. It also prevents up to 80% hair breakage.
    With Skin Tone Matching reflexes, this product can easily complement your complexion.

Reviews of The Best Black Hair Dyes On The Market

Ranking
Brands
Color Lasts For?
Perks
Editor's Rating

#1

L'Oreal Paris

2-3 weeks

Strengthens and smooths hair

#2

Vidal Sassoon

8 Weeks

Long-lasting color

#3

Clairol

4 weeks

Good toning and highlights

#4

Bigen

6 weeks

Less damaging

#5

Schwarzkopf

3 weeks

Adds volume to hair

#1. L’Oreal Paris Excellence Crème

Loreal Black Hair Dye Review

What we really liked about this hair dye kit are the pre-conditioner and the final conditioner that came with the kit. After the entire process, it makes hair definitely looking shinier and softer.

Well, even after a couple of weeks from applying the treatment, the color still has not faded. Though it is not that noticeable, there could be some changes on the tone but you don’t have to worry about going back to your natural color.

True to their word that it would make hair strong and moisturized after, we didn’t see dryness and frizz on the hair. Also, it did cover up residual color from the last treatment, and those unwanted greys.

This is great if you are looking for that even tone all throughout. Still, it could have been better if it didn’t come with a strong odor.

Despite shampooing daily, the color did not wash out. Even after shampooing right after the application, the color still held on.

Another thing that stood out is the simple application process, though you might have to sacrifice a metal bowl to mix the ingredients. It could have been better if the product came with its own bowl. Here is the summary of the things that we did and didn’t like:

What We Liked

  • The pre-conditioner and conditioned included in the kit
  • Color doesn’t wash out easily right after application.
  • Grey coverage

WHAT WE DIDN'T LIKE

  • No container for mixing
  • The smell of the product
  • Lasts for only a couple of weeks

#2. Vidal Sassoon Salonist Hair Colour

Best Black Hair Dye

Matching natural black hair can be difficult but this product might help your hair have more depth.

Let’s start out with the grey coverage, which is great, as it seemed like it has added highlights at the same time. Some of the greys may lighten after some time but the color doesn’t completely go away and few might actually notice.

For me, starting with the roots and adding to the lengths after is a cleaner way to go. However, it would still be great if you choose to follow the 2-step instruction in the package, especially if you’re someone who is more comfortable with following instructions.

The instructions tell you exactly what to do and that would help keep the same color quality for up to 8 weeks.

Unlike most hair dye kits, it instructs you to wash your hair right after and it really helps a lot with the smell of lingering chemicals (not that it has a strong odor in the first place).

We didn’t notice any kind of irritation after application, which is good for people who have sensitive scalps. But don’t even dare to use it to color your lashes since it might cause serious damage to your eyes.

It’s not the usual box dye — there’s plenty to use and however time-consuming the process may be, the color turned out great on the long strands, but might leave your hair dry and frizzy.

What We Liked

  • Helps add depth to hair color
  • Lasts up to 8 weeks
  • Easy-to-follow instructions
  • No irritation on the scalp

WHAT WE DIDN'T LIKE

  • Time-consuming process
  • Doesn’t color the grey roots well
  • Might result to dry and frizzy hair

#3. Clairol Nice ‘n Easy Hair Color

The Best Black Hair Dye

Having 3 individually packed hair dyes of the same color is great, as this can be really handy for storing or for sharing with your friends and family.

After testing the product, it came out with a natural-looking color that most women would really appreciate. In addition to that, it included some beautiful lowlights and highlights, all thanks to their multi-toned color.

However, the results that we had were not really intentional. With behavior like this, this product could bring a disastrous outcome if you’re out of luck.

One of the consistencies of this product is that it greatly covers residual colors from your previous treatments and that’s great news for someone who likes to change from bright to black.

When using this, you might want to be careful where you wash your hair. The dye might bleed out and stain your sink, but make sure to wash it out as soon as possible because it can quickly irritate your scalp. The color might also completely fade within 4 weeks.

As a summary, here are things that we liked and didn’t like:

What We Liked

  • 3 individually packed dyes
  • Natural-looking color
  • Greatly covers other residual colors

WHAT WE DIDN'T LIKE

  • Can only last 4 weeks
  • Result can be unpredictable
  • Color easily bleeds out

#4. Bigen Permanent Powder Hair Color

Bigen Black Hair Dye Review

What we liked best about this product is the fact that it doesn’t contain ammonia or metallic ingredients and it doesn’t require hydrogen peroxide for it to work. Using it is as easy as adding water, literally, but could be a bit messy.

Having none of these chemicals, Bigen Permanent Powder Hair Color does not have any strong odors. This is best for people who easily get dizzy from whiffing chemicals.

Since there is no need for hydrogen peroxide, it causes less damage to the hair compared to other products. It might still cause dryness after the application, though.

With careful use and maintenance, you can enjoy that natural-looking color up to 6 weeks.

If you’re planning to lift your hair color, this product is not meant to do that because it is only a deposit-only hair dye. It cannot lighten the color or pigmentation of your hair.

One of the downsides of this product is it doesn’t come in a bigger size — one kit is only enough for shoulder-length hair, so you might want to get another box for longer ones. Let’s do a recap of what we liked and what we did not:

What We Liked

  • Non-ammonia or –peroxide-based
  • No harsh odors
  • Could last up to 6 weeks

WHAT WE DIDN'T LIKE

  • Need more boxes for longer hair
  • Does not lift hair color
  • Dryness of hair after application

#5. Schwarzkopf Keratin Hair Color

Best Jet Black Permanent Hair Color

After trying this product out, we noticed that it gave the skin a healthy glow. Maybe it’s because of what Schwarzkopf put into this hair dye that they call Skin Flattering Pigments.

This hair dye is being promoted as suited for aging hair; however, roughly around two weeks after the application, grey hair has started popping out. Also, the color was bleeding every time it’s washed and stained some clothes and towels.

Though the color didn’t stay on that long, about 3 weeks, it left hair feeling silky smooth and hair smelled great with the conditioner that came with the kit.

This hair dye also has low odor, so we didn’t have to prop our windows open. It contributed to the great coloring experience that we had.

The total time of the treatment took about 30 minutes, and with that short span of time the results were satisfactory. The grey areas were covered and it enriched hair volume, which were what we hoped for.

The kit came with a pre-treatment conditioner that you need to put on the ends of your hair, as instructed, and kept those damaged parts moisturized. It’s a great choice for those with worn-out hair from frequent color treatments.

Well, here is a summary of the things we loved and the things that we didn’t like:​

What We Liked

  • The pre-treatment conditioner
  • It just needs 30 minutes to get that color you want.
  • The low-odor formulation
  • The additional volume it gives after the application

What We Didn't Like

  • That it just stayed on our hair for about 3 weeks
  • The color bleeds out such that it stains towels and other garments.
  • Grey hair popped up after around two weeks.

Things to Consider

Best Black Hair Dye - Things to Consider

We suggest that you try to condition your hair first before getting busy with coloring. You could apply a deep conditioning treatment two days earlier.

Conditioning can moisturize the strands of your hair, especially the damaged ones, which could help absorb the color more and keep it there longer.

You can also wash your hair the night before coloring it, not on the day itself. This is to try to avoid any scratches from your nails that can help save you from irritation.

We want to make sure that you decide on the right product to get and we think that you might want to look at these usual qualities that you should be looking out for.​

HOW MUCH DYE WOULD YOU GET?

HOW BLACK IS BLACK?

What’s included in the kit?

What is it made of?

Is it easy to apply?

Verdict

Now that we have finished going through the pros and cons, it’s time to choose the best permanent jet black hair dye among them. It was tough to pick which was the best since each has its own beauty bonus.

After considering different factors of the five hair dyes that we picked to review, we’ve decided to go to Vidal Sassoon Salonist as the best black hair dye. We are not saying that the other four hair dyes are not good; we just had to pick the best one and for us, that was it.

One of the things we first considered was if there is any kind of irritation, and Vidal Sassoon gave us security in this category. It wouldn’t really make sense if you have to suffer any kind of irritation that might lead to more serious damage, just to make your hair look good.

Some of the hair dyes are better in some aspects compared to Vidal Sassoon Salonist, but we’ve considered remedies on the shortcomings of all of the products we mentioned. And in the end, the one that came out with less flaws and was easier to remedy is Vidal Sassoon Salonist.

The main deciding factor is the long-lasting color quality that only Vidal Sassoon can offer — 8 weeks is some serious time. We know that it might cause dryness and frizz in the end, but since we can remedy that with a continuous dose of shampoo and conditioner, we can still have that smoothness we all want for our hair.

Some might offer less odor compared to Vidal Sassoon, but that can be fixed with good ventilation in the area where you will perform the application. It’s not like we’ve never experienced that stinging odor from other hair products.

We also mentioned that the process of applying this product may take time, but with continuous practice, on your hair or someone else's, you can definitely overcome that. Also, you can color like a pro if you get the hang of their two-step process, which is great for aspiring home-coloring experts.

If you could try these products out, perhaps we would agree on our pick, but of course, you should always choose the best permanent jet black hair dye that would really suit your needs.

Though it is ultimately your choice, we encourage you to always read our reviews on these products to help you out.​

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