Black mulches that are dyed will change color. I don't care about color very much, but if want a color that lasts redwood mircobark will retain the red color. If you want you can compost that first mulch if you compost, if the pieces are not big and get the redwood microbark. It is good to keep adding new mulch to existing mulch as it will in time breakdown. Since the pieces are small I can compost redwood, so it is better, then the other mulch I had before that was big hardwood pieces. That mulch was brown and did not change color. I guess topping off could help, but I don't know how long it will last. How long did what you have last before it began to fade?

Here is a link that might be useful: redwood microbark example color

Agriculture major told me that the black in rich soil was caused by a mircrobe & was a sign of poor drainage.
That the riches soil in North Carolina was a little brown, I do not live there, I do not know what the facts are.

Neat and gardening dont mix...Lol I used to try and keep things neat but mother nature would always say otherwise.

My "neat" consisted of black garden fabric covered with white rock. That basically sterilized my soil.

Now that Im beginning to understand the value of healthy soil, I try to do what ol' mother nature would. The most of a "colored" or "dyed" mulch cover I personally would use is pine or redwood chips. I do know that Scotts Earthgro has pine chips dyed black but I do not know the nature of the dye. These chips are different from "mulch". Mulch will always dry out and look somewhat "dry" and bland whereas wood chips will usually retain some color and appearance. They dry out but not as bad and are made to keep your soil underneath HEALTHY. They also compost into your soil after a while and make good stuff.

http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/productImages/300/dc/dc5944e1-c152-44c8-bdd6-d0a2e6f67375_300.jpg

I personally use the natural brown pine chips and when they are wet they have a nice dark color contrast between the green grass and colorful flowers/fruit.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:286726}}

Joli, we aren't talking about soil at all but of dyed wood mulch.

Bub, I think that the addition of the black stuff will simply draw the eye to ...the mulch, rather than the landscape. I know that the color of mulch is an aesthetic issue with some people, hence the popularity of the super bright reds, oranges that have come on the market. I'm of the opinion that the house should be the primary focus, then the plants. An unnaturally tinted mulch can detract from the whole picture. Especially if it's two-toned.

Something else to think about is the depth of the mulch layer. It should be no more than three inches...four is almost excessive and detrimental to the root/soil system. That, after all, is the reason why we apply a mulch layer in the first place.

An article in Fine Gardening magazine a short time ago indicated that the dyed mulches can put bad things in to your soil, things like aresnic, Cadmium, etc. That does sound quite reasonable especially if the mulch is made from construction waste, Oriented Strand Board, Plywood, etc.
Any mulch, when wet, will appear darker, because of the way the light is refracted from that mulch, just as the plants in yuour garden appear a darker green, or any other color, after a rain.