Are you tired of the question “Is that a grey hair sticking out of your head?.” You have reached the right place. This article provides you best ideas for making natural hair dye at home. Atleast one in three persons will be facing the problem of premature greying in his or her 20’s. Leading a stressful life could be one of the primary reasons for this. The ‘cosmetic’ market has taken this advantage to create various artificial hair dyes ranging in price and colour. However, most of them will be knowing the side effects of the synthetic dyes. When the artificial dye is used, the skin of the scalp tend to absorb the chemicals present in the hair dye, and this will be passed into the blood making it even more harmful. The only solution for that would be making your own natural dye at home.
The natural hair colours are obtained from plant sources and therefore is safer than any other commercial hair dyes that may contain unhealthy and unsafe compounds. Here we have compiled a few hair colouring ideas that you can to try at home.
Coffee
If dark is your colour? Then you should try Coffee. Coffee works with grey hair grey hairs. It adds dimension to dark locks. You just have to brew a strong cup of coffee. If you ask me, I would suggest espresso. Now let it cool and then mix the one cup with a couple of cups of ‘leave-in’ conditioner along with two tablespoons of coffee grounds. You have to apply this blend on clean hair and allow it to rest for atleast an hour. Apple Cider vinegar helps the colour to last longer. In order to see remarkable results, you may need to repeat the process few of times.
Tea
Just like the coffee, black tea can also help you go darker and help hide grey hairs. Black tea can darken blonde hair, and chamomile can lighten it, mainly when you rest in the sun while you have it in. If you leave the tea on your hair for more time, the more prominent the colour will be.
Henna
Henna contains compounds that tint the hair or skin a dark brown or red. This is what makes it an excellent natural hair dye. If you have a black hair which has gone grey, then use henna in combination with curry leaves and sesame/til/gingelly oil. Heat some sesame oil/gingelly oil, add a few curry leaves and store this liquid in a tightly sealed container. You can colour your hair anytime by just adding some henna into this extract and boiling it for a few minutes. Let this mixture cool and later on, you can apply this directly to your scalp. You will have to wait for atleast three to four hours before you clean your hair with Shikakai.
If you grind a beetroot and mix this juice into the henna mixture, to make a paste, you can get a burgundy shade. If it is a reddish-brown colour that you are looking for, then you can mix henna with some lemon juice and curd along with some tea decoction.
If you combine henna with indigo in varying proportions, you can get different shades of brown. Apart from colouring, henna has various other properties like making your hair healthy and beautiful.
Amla
Amla alone does not have the property to dye the hair. Nevertheless, it serves to tone down the red or brown colour of a henna-indigo hair colour. Apart from that, Amla also helps to give a natural glow to the hair after you have rinsed off the dye. It is essential to add the amla powder last into the paste, just before you apply the paste to your hair.
Herbs
You can use a variety of herbs to achieve the colour you want. Here are some recommendations, depending on what your natural colour is:
Red hair: Try calendula, rosehips, marigold and hibiscus to increase the red shade or even add a few red highlights.
Brunette/Dark Hair: Rosemary, sage and nettle, are the best herbs for dark hair.
Blonde hair: As suggested above, chamomile tea works. However, you can also try marigold, calendula, sunflower petals and saffron.
Adding black tea to the darker colours above will help the colour last longer. Catnip serves for lighter colours.
Beetroot and Lemon
Beet and carrot juices can add natural red shades to your current colour. Depending on the shade you want, you can use each separately, or even mix them together and use about a cup of the juice. When you mix coconut oil along with it, it can act as a hair conditioner.Mixing with some coconut oil can condition the hair as well. Rinse the juice out after leaving it on for about an hour, and seal with an apple cider vinegar spray. If the colour isn’t dark enough, you can repeat it the next day. If you spray and fresh squeezed lemon juice and brush it through your hair, you can attain a few highlights. However, you will have to leave it on for several hours. If you sit in the sun, you will find more lightening. Blondes can experience even further lightening by combining with chamomile tea. Lemon juice works gradually. You may need to repeat the process several times to see the best results.
Walnut Shells
If dark brown is the colour that you want, this is the way to go. You just have to crush the walnut shells and boil it for about half an hour. After cooling and straining, you can apply this mixture to hair using a cotton ball. You may have to take proper precaution since this dye has a tendency to stain everything. In order to get a more intense colour, return the strained juice to the flame and boil it until it is seethed down to about a quarter of the initial volume. Let it cool in the refrigerator and you can strain it if needed. This mixture you can pour through your hair. If you are thinking about saving time, then you can also use walnut power rather than shells. Let it remain for at least an hour or even more and then rinse off. Lukewarm water is what you should use rather than really hot water since it can take the colour away. Wash in lukewarm water to make the colour last longer.
These simple homemade dyes not only give you coloured hair but also guarantee you lovely and strong hair that will certainly help improve the confidence in you!!
