The other day I walked by a mirror and the lighting was just right, WHOA- where did all that grey hair come from! It hit me- I’m finally getting getting grey- I guess I’m lucky that the first grey hairs are showing up at 54 years. Normally I wouldn’t much care- but I went on a job interview the other day and I was old enough to be the mother of everyone who worked there. Unfortunately our society favors youth- and when you are in the job market- you don’t want them thinking you are about to retire!
For me personally, coloring your hair is expensive and a hassle to take care of. I don’t want to look in the mirror and freak out because the roots are showing- don’t want to have to make that quick run to hairdresser or store to buy products. Plus, everything in my house has to have a dual purpose, which is why natural and homemade hair dyes can work for me. The ingredients are readily available and can be used for other things like cooking!
Check out the below recipes for homemade hair dyes:
Before you start- It may take some time for anything to take effect. Always use gloves. You might have to experiment with colors to get the desired look. It would be best if you experimented with a small test sample first
Blonde
Wash your hair with one of the following rinses. Pour the selected rinse through your hair 15 times, re-rinsing with the same liquid. On the final rinse, wring hair, and leave for 15 minutes before rinsing with clear water.
Lemon and Water- Mix 1 tablespoon lemon juice in 1 gallon warm water.
Tea, Yogurt and Oil-6 chamomile tea bags, 1/2 cup plain yogurt, lavender oil
- Bring one cup of water to boil and steep tea bags for 15 minutes. Discard teabags. Combine yogurt and 7 drops of lavender oil with chamomile tea, mix thoroughly. Apply the mixture to dry hair, working through to ends. Cover head in plastic wrap and condition for thirty minutes. Shampoo hair.
Blonde Highlights- 1 cup lemon juice, 3 cups chamomile tea (brewed and cooled)
- Mix ingredients, pour over damp hair then let sit for an hour while you sit in the sun, wash out. Follow with a good conditioner.
Lemons, and Flowers
- 2 whole uncut fresh lemons (squeezed & strained for juice)
- 2/3 ounces or 20 grams of marigold flowers (you can buy at health food store)
- 2/3 ounces or 20 grams of chamomile flowers (buy at health food store)
- 1 – 1 1/4 ounces or 30 grams of finely chopped or powdered rhubarb root ((grocery store or heath food store)
- 2 ounces or 50 grams of acacia honey (health food store)
- 1 pint or 1/2 liter cider vinegar
- 2 ounces or 50 grams of 95% proof liqueur alcohol (liquor store).
Put the vinegar and rhubarb into a stainless steel saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer very gently for 10 minutes. Be sure to make it exactly 10 minutes. Less or more may cause problems.
Add the chamomile and marigold flowers and juice of the two lemons. Cover the pan and simmer for another 5 minutes. Remove completely from the heat.
Let the mixture stand covered with the lid until the liquid is tepid. Filter the concoction through a fine sieve into a bottle.
Make sure you squeeze out any liquid in the herbs left in the sieve. Remember to be careful since the liquid may still be warm or even a tiny bit hot.
Add the honey, alcohol and squeezed and strained lemon juice from the 2 lemons. Put a tight cap on the bottle and store for your next shampoo.
How To Use Dye:
There are a couple of ways that you can make use of the natural dyes. You can use a dilution of the mixture by adding 1 tablespoon of the dye mixture for each quart or liter of final rinse water. If you really want to punch up the highlights, apply the mixture directly to your hair and leave on for at least 30 minutes. Be sure to cover your head with a shower cap or the drippage can stain. To get less drips, you can also mix some undiluted dye with a thick rinse out or deep conditioner and glop that on your head to get a thicker mixture.
Rinse & Shine:
After allowing the mixture as a quick rinse or as a longer leave on dye, rinse your hair with cold water to seal the color. Let your hair air dry if possible. While there is no guarantee of the level of color you will have achieved, changes are good that you will definitely see some blonde highlights. The lighter the color your natural hair, the more intense the blonde color from the mixture. Remember that this is a type of all natural vegetable dye. The dye will only last from shampoo to shampoo. If you want to maintain the highlights or added blonde colors you will need to apply the mixture after each shampoo. One batch will last from 2-3 weeks if kept refrigerated. It will last a shorter period of time if kept at room temperature. Depending on the length and thickness of your hair, the mixture will provide several after shampoo applications. Remember to take special care because in undiluted form, the final liquid will dye any materials it comes into contact with. This means it can stain your hands, your skin and any clothes or other materials. Apply this mixture in the shower and wash off immediately.
Substitutions:
Flowers and herbs with yellow blossoms are almost all viable options for blond dyes, though chamomile is probably the most widely used. Other examples include yellow broom flowers, calendula, turmeric and saffron. Lemon juice is another popular natural lightening agent, while rhubarb root creates a rich, honey tint.
Brunette
Walnut Husk and Water imply boil the husks in water for about 15 minutes. After boiling, strain the mixture and use the liquid to color your hair. This homemade hair dye is good for making brown hair darker. (Use Gloves, will stain)
Walnut Husk, Water and Spices: To prepare the dark juice, first crush the hulls in a mortar, cover them with boiling water and a pinch of salt, and let them “soak” for three days. Then add three cups of boiling water and simmer the hulls, in a nonmetal container, for five hours (replacing the water as it steams away). Strain off the liquid, place the walnut hulls in a cloth sack, and twist it tightly to wring out all remaining juice. Finally, return the expressed liquid to the pot and reduce it, by boiling, to about a quarter of its original volume. The resulting brew can then be used to whip up a rich walnut dye, as follows.
Add a teaspoon of ground cloves or allspice to the prepared extract. Allow the dye mixture to steep in the refrigerator for about a week (shaking it frequently during that time). When it’s ready for use, strain the liquid (using a piece of cheesecloth) and pour it at least 15 times through freshly shampooed hair before rinsing it out thoroughly.
Red
Rosehips and Cloves Make a strong tea of rosehips or cloves, or use strong black coffee.
Beet and Carrot Juice –1/2 cup beet juice, 1/2 cup carrot juice. Mix ingredients together, pour over damp hair. Let it sit for 1 hour while you sit in the sun. Wash out.
Kool Aid -Mix the powder with a little water and apply to the hair. Allow the mixture to sit on the hair. The timing will depend on how bright you want the color. You can reapply this mixture if you want the red to be darker.
Grey
Sage-Simmer 1/2 cup dried sage in 2 cups water for 30 minutes, then steep for several hours. Apply to hair and leave on until dried. Then rinse and dry. Repeat weekly, until desired shade, then monthly to maintain color.
Sage and Rosemary –make a strong ‘tea’ of Sage and a bit of Rosemary, strain it and refrigerate it, and before washing hair, spray it on the base of the grey patches of hair, even massaged it in. leave it for 5 – ten minutes and then wash as usual, and care for hair normally . After a few weeks of this, the grey is disappearing. (use daily) After using the sage the normal coloring returns to the hair. It is not a ‘color-change’ shocker, and it will soften, and the amount of grey.
“My sister was totally grey headed and after a month of daily using this solution, she had her normal light brown hair. which she had not seen for over ten years, and she dabbs it on once or twice a week now to keep her normal color, and she is 40. I am 48 and do not want to be grey just yet.”
Sage- here is a great and natural way to dye hair: Simmer 1/2 cup dried sage in 2 cups water for 30 minutes, then steep for several hours. Apply to hair and leave on until dried. Then rinse and dry. Repeat weekly, until desired shade, then monthly to maintain color.
Tag Alder Bark- hair darkening botanical, but it generally produces a lighter tone than sage, so it’s best when used to darken blond hair or to cover gray in locks that are light to medium brown. To make a tag alder rinse, simmer an ounce of bark chips (your health food store can likely order them from an herb supply firm) in a quart of water for about half an hour, then cool and use it exactly as you would the sage rinse
Henna Powder: Take henna powder, around 4-5 tbsp if you want to apply it only around the area which has gray hair and more if you want to apply to your entire scalp. Make a thin paste of henna powder by adding juice of lemon, a tbsp of curd, a tsp of coffee powder (optional), the water of tea leaves and amla mixture which you prepared earlier. Add ½ tsp of mustard oil in this mixture to avoid dryness. Leave this mixture in an iron vessel for about 2 hours. During winter season you add a finely grounded paste of 2 cloves to elude cold. Apply the mixture on the hair carefully, cover gray hair completely. Leave this on for about 3-4 hours. (Some prefer to keep it overnight.) Then rinse off with water.
Saffron Hair Dye-Saffron 1 pinch Boiling water 500 ml- Soak saffron in water for 10 minutes. Strain and use it on the hair. Grey hair will acquire a rich golden tint.
Henna and Indigo
Coffee, Henna, Egg- Mix coffee powder (1 tsp) in the water and make a paste of henna (200 gm) with the water. Beat the 1 egg yolk and mix this into henna. Also add brandy (1 tsp) to it. Apply the paste and leave it on for 3-4 hours before washing it with lukewarm water.
Mix coffee powder in the water and make a paste of henna with the water. Beat the egg yolk and mix this into henna. Also add brandy to it. Apply the paste and leave it on for 3-4 hours before washing it with lukewarm water.
I have brown hair and might want just a strip of blond underneath my hair. How could I do that without ruining my other hair that I want to keep the same?
Does it fade out or grow out? I really need to know cause I don’t want roots showing and I would prefer the fade.
Are the dyes fade out? I need it to be fade out which ones are fade out?
Jelly powder works for red hair blue and pink -just not orange 🙂 xx
i have black hair and want green highlights
Try Jello first and see what you like
i am black and i have dark hair so i wanted to know if the results would show on my hair?
and i also wanted to know what was a substitute for kool-aid for red hair dye as i live in the UK and they dont sell it around here
thanks!
Try Henna
I have a question. I have beach blonde hair ,naturally, and I want to make it darker, especially my roots. Will black tea or coffe make it brown ???? Just want a few deeper darker tones than what I have now. Thanks:)
how do i make black hair dye
I dyed my hair with coffee and red wine. It is a beautiful brunette color.
take a small nonmetal pan
add 2 cups of brewed coffee
Add 1 cup red wine
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 tablespoon vinegar it opens hair folicules
bring to a boil then step 5 minted
let cool then mix with whip cream or plain yogurt about 3 cups
use gloves to apply on dry clean hair then blowdry and keep on for 45 minutes
what would be a good natural colour for me to dye my hair? I have dark brown hair, but side swept bangs with old faded blonde highlights.
I’ve been interested in dying it for a while, I just don’t know what would look good with the highlights.!
Hey I have dirty blonde hair and i want to go lighter, has anyone tried the blonde hair color paragraph/ plz respond!
I tried the coffee and red wine recipe. It did not cover the gray like i hoped it would. Still waiting for it to dry and smelling like a coffee head. I tried making a paste out of coffee grounds and conditioner to see if that would cover the gray. no such luck. I will keep trying tell i find something that works to cover the gray. Will update if any color change in the rest of my hair.
So i do not see any difference in hair color for the coffee wine hair color. I am not saying it will not work for everybody but it does not seem to have made a difference for me.
So I dyed my hair blue for the first time with this product from wal-mart and it damaged my hair really bad and not only that but it didn’t turn out like how it was suppose to. My hair looks kind of dead and it’s fading away too. I want to keep dying my hair blue though and that’s why I’m trying to look for a natural way to dye blue. So my question is what’s the recipe for dying my hair blue naturally?
Use blue jello and try that
do these methods work on hair which has been dyed chemically already? I have light brown dyed hair and would like to go darker. tks
i had a dark ashy brown color and i uesed hydrogen to lighten my hair and i repeated till it was really light butnow my hairs an orange color and i need to fix it with house hold products i want to get out the orange but keep it the same lightness mabe lighter
How do you get them out?!?!?!?!?!
I tried lemon juice and water and just lemons and then tried tea and it did not work do you guys know what else will work other than tea lemon juice & water just lemon juice and tea by the way i want to dye my hair to dirty blond or blond and right now i am a brunett
so the instructions on using sage on gray hair: simmer, then steep. the apply to hair. apply what ? the liquid? the sage and liquid? can you be clear please on this? thanks.
so the blonde hair will make my hair belch blonde right???
koolaid does not work. we left it in the normal 25 mintues and our hair was the same color as always. waste of time and precious koolaid
I have medium brown hair. I wanna dye my hair all red. I was looking at the beet & carrot juice solution and I just wanted to know how light or dark the red would be? And how long do you think it’ll stay in? I also take a shower everyday, I dont know if that’ll make the dye come out faster ?
So, for the rosehips and cloves recipe, do I need fresh rosehips and cloves or dried ones? Please help.
~~~Amber~~~
wh ydo you have to sit in the sunÉ is it for the heat, to dry it out, or uv rays?? i just dont want to get a sunburn and would prefer to just apply heat…
i have white hair and i want to dye it and turn as a little dark grey color. how do i make this happen?
does the coffee dye last
no the coffee, tea, sage, none of that works. not even with vinegar or lemon juice.
however indigo and henna do work. in 3 hours i had georgeous shades of copper, apricot, honey,and gold in my daerk auburn hair. the white hair took beautiful color. that is what works.
I would like to try the walnut husk dye, but where do you find the walnut husks
Several people have tried dying their hair with coffee, unsuccessfully. I have dark brown hair which is going gray at the temples and have had good luck using genuine (red) henna powder mixed with hot super-strong coffee, a small amount of lemon juice, and several drops of tea tree oil to help the hair accept the color. The coffee color combines with the henna color to make something more natural looking. On my hair, coffee alone wouldn’t make much difference.
I want blonde hair now. Do have any tips, please?
I have natural blackish-dark brownish hair and
I am really fascinated with brown(dark) hair! But i dont wanna use
Chemicals on my hair. I wanna dye them
without damaging them.
But is this stuff safe for like a 14 year old?
What would be the best for me?
What would be the fastest way to dye them brown(dark).?
um hi.. how do i dye my hair blonde? like really light light blonde, and touch up brunette roots? but also brighten up medium blonde?
Does the beet and carrot juice really work? I tried just beet juice with some honey (for thickness) but I found out I did it wrong, but I don’t want to try again and nothing happen…
i heard a while back that paprika can dye your hair red. i tried it a few weeks later and i like the results. but it doesn’t last too long. so if your looking for a temporary color, take a half cup of paprika and enough water to make a loose paste. apply to washed hair and leave it in for 35-45 mintes; rinse and condition with your favorite conditioner.
hi. so does the red or blonde wash out easily?
I would like a recipe that works to dye my hair dark brown. Please and thank you! :]
How long do these last for? Do they fade or was out? Please reply someone….x
does all of that hair dye last?
Hi. Um I need began blue hair dye. So NO jello. I was thinking of blueberries. Please help does it work? I don’t want to dye my full head but do want nice colors. I.also don’t want to buy any dye cause of the risk of horrible gone horrible. Please someone redond to this.
Actually kool aid does work I have very dark brown and red hair I wanted to add a orange red color to my hair I made the look aid warm put it on my hair and wrapped it up with tin foil and slept with it in over night for 4 days in a row i did the same thing. Two months later my hair is still a cherry red color. It works and looks nice depending I guess
I thought you might want to know someone plagiarized your work:
http://www.pioneerthinking.com/beauty/hair/hairdyes/graydye.html
Thank you for letting me know, but anymore I think everything is plagiarized..
1st: this takes time folks! if u dont have patients, time, or the willinginess then maybe this isnt 4 u!
2nd: u’ve got 2 b realistic! the darker ur hair, the longer it will take 2 lighten! the lighter hair will darken quicker but depends on what ur attempting.
3rd: kolaid & jello r 4 unreal colors & rn’t natural or organic in anyway!
4th: henna cannot get u blonde ever! it is great 4 reds, browns, blacks, & conditioning! it can b used even if u just chemically treated it! it can help renew its health but only so much it can do after u mess it up, if its that bad of a mess up go 2 a salon
5th: tomato paste 40min to hr to help remove green from pool, helps w chemical removal, & can help condition it but… shouldn’t b used after a coloring that u want 2 keep cuz it can very much affect the color.
6th: Cinnomon! Hibiscus! Lemongrass!
Lighting a shade of darker colors or use w blonde shades to help increase the lighting… uses cinnomon but.. cinnomon tea is better cuz cinnomon is hard 2 get out of ur hair otherwise & u will b trying 2 get it out 4 hours… anyhow, basically, it will reduce the darkening so if u take hibiscus tea (gives red), coffee (browner shade), cinnomon (lightening for more blonder colors & ur hair will smell like it 2 but strain b4 using), chamomile (lightening), & lemongrass (shine & health)… steep 2gether 4 shade ur looking 4, u’ll get a mid to light reddish brown w highlights. also, carrot juice can give u a reddish color. i also u vinger, honey, lime & lemon juice, cranberry, & henna. my roots get dark always even b4 i ever dyed my hair as it started bleach blonde & went dirty!
Finally: basically, what ever u have in the final color b4 u put in is what its going 2 tint 2! it may take time! might take 1 try or it may take 2 weeks 2 get ur results & if y’all read this & not skimmed thru, u’d know just that! u might have 2 repeat! plus, if it goes 2 far 1 way on the shading say too brown & not enough red, u will need 2 fix that! so guess what folks this is a commentment! this is 1 of many reason big brother & big sister have won the world, people have gotten 2 lazy 2 actually do this but hey, some of y’all might actually start a revolution & i hope y’all do! i’m personally working on mine naturally to even it out & get it healthy! once i get my shade mix perfect… i will post mine up! peace & good luck! oh & always strain all dye mixes well b4 u put in hai so add yogurt last & coconut, sunflower, &/or grapeseed oil can be added after all heating & fridge is done cuz those u want at last min due 2 fridge making more solid & u don’t want them on the stove. 😉
blueberries r going 2 give u purple blue.
it does but doesnt! depends on what u do! kooliad will fade! but if u start lighting then shading should stay lighter but w all dying u will have 2 maintain it! darkening last longer the darker u go! makes sense right. however, once u find ur rythem & what’s ur fav mixture than u’ll know what 2 do! plus many of them can b used in ur shampoo or condition, that is if u make ur own but if u don’t find ur favorites that might have some of the stuff u know works for the shading u want that ur using to shade w or would work w ur shade to help keep it. basically, learn ur herbs & spices & what they can do 4 u!
Henna
Pecan husks
I have used henna powder to completely cover white hair and trun the white a bright red. Since I have mixed brown and white hair, the brown part turns auburn, while the white hairs are a bit lighter and brighter red. This color stays in the hair for up to 5 months and gradually washes out unti after about 6 months the red will fade to golden blonde.
Pecan husks or walnut husks (which ever is available in your area) work as a temporary rinse that will last through about 2 hair washings and give a subtle light mahogany or chestnut color to white hair or to medium brown or dark blond hair.