How to dye hair at home naturally?
How to color hair at home without a hair dye?
Chemical-stuffed hair dyes can affect your hair and overall health badly, so it’s time to look for natural hair dye alternatives. We can encourage you by providing a choice of effective non-toxic substances and giving scientific reasons to opt for them.
Chemicals in Hair Dyes
Ammonia found in hair dye is causing respiratory diseases, but what about formaldehyde and p-Phenylenediamine provoking allergy reactions? A worthy reason to switch to natural ingredients that can be used at home!
How to Naturally Lighten Hair
Certain products contain active substances capable of lifting the hair a couple of tones higher. The process is not fast and requires some spare time since most of the following substances cannot be left overnight.
– Lemon juice is a powerful natural hair lightener due to its high level of citric acid. It works by affecting pH levels when used with heat. Make a sufficient amount of lemon juice according to your hair length, pour it into a bottle, spray it on your hair, and go out into the sun to let it activate the process.
– Vinegar contains acetic acid. It’s more aggressive and thus requires diluting with water in a 1:1 ratio at least. Blonds can opt for apple cider vinegar for a gentler effect. Dark hair needs a stronger action, so use white vinegar.
– Honey has glucose oxidase hidden in it. When combined with water, the substance releases hydrogen peroxide – the very same agent that is found in most permanent dyes. Damp your hair, apply a couple of tablespoons of honey, put a shower cap on, and leave it overnight.
– If the combo of sea and salt works on the beach without bleach, it will do the job perfectly at home by opening the hair cuticle and exposing the shaft to the sun. Damp your hair with salt water (1 tablespoon of sea salt per ½ cup of warm water) and let it air dry in the sunlight to get beautiful highlights on blonde hair.
– Chamomile. This option is considered the safest by professionals. It contains the apigenin pigment delivering a golden undertone to the strands while conditioning them. Make herbal infusion or even use chamomile tea in bags (it works fine for lighter bases), distribute it throughout the length, and turn on your blow dryer to get the mask activated fast.
How to Darken Hair Naturally
Looking for natural ways to darken hair, let’s consider widely available products famous for their inherent pigmentation.
– Coffee is the easiest way to darken medium blonde tresses without dyeing. To go 1-2 tones lower, get 3 cups of strong coffee poured into a bowl and soak your hair in the infusion. You can also use 3-4 tablespoons of ground coffee mixed with oils or your regular conditioner to make a toning mask.
– Black Tea is used for coloring light to medium shades of brown. Follow the above method of dipping your strands into the strong tea or opt for a mask made from boiled black tea and rosemary leaves (3 tablespoons of tea and 1 tablespoon of rosemary per a liter of water).
– Sage enhances dark hair shades, ranging from brown to black. Add a cup of dried sage into 1 liter of water, boil it for half an hour, let it cool down, and rinse your hair with the infusion after washing it.
– Black walnuts are capable of dyeing even bleached hair though you’ll have to sweat and toil to get ground walnut shells. Otherwise, buy black walnut hull powder and use it (3-5 tablespoons to 2-3 cups of boiling water) infused for a couple of hours. Soak your locks in the infusion for 15-20 min.
– Cocoa is another natural organic hair dye that can bring out darker shades of brown. Add cocoa powder to your shampoo or conditioner for gradually getting darker or blend a mask (3-4 tablespoons of plain yogurt, a teaspoon of apple vinegar and honey per a half cup of the powder).
Other DIY Natural Hair Dye Options
There are even more natural ways to dye hair depending on the desired effect:
– Vitamin C in tablets or powder contains citric acid too. Add this natural blonde hair dye to a spray bottle and wet your hair with the solution for lighter sparks.
– Baking soda and hydrogen peroxide can take the hair color 2 tones higher. Make a paste using 3 tablespoons of hydrogen peroxide and a cup of baking soda and apply the mask for 30-60 minutes.
– Carrot juice is a simple way to add orange flare to your locks: make some juice, blend it with any carrier oil (e.g. coconut), distribute the mixture throughout the length, top it off with a shower cap, and leave it for 1-2 hours.
– Beet juice from beetroots works as a natural red hair dye. Must be applied the same way as carrot juice.
– Henna is used to go darker or add a certain reddish tint to your hair. Natural henna hair dye is available in different shades starting from deep brown and up to dark blonds. This diversity is achieved by adding other herbs to the henna powder. It can be used as natural brown or black hair dye when mixed with indigo leaf powder or light brown hair dye when blended with Senegal henna.
How to Naturally Cover Gray Hair
Some herbs can ensure safe hair coloring for women in their graying phase:
– for blonde hair – saffron and marigold flower;
– for red hair – rose petals;
– for brown hair – cinnamon;
– for black hair – nettle.
However, all the above-mentioned methods of natural hair coloring will always work.
How Long Does Natural Hair Color Last?
Most of the described methods give only a temporary effect. E.g., such natural permanent hair dye as henna will stay in the hair for up to 6 weeks. Carrot, chamomile, and coffee-generated hues will last for 1-2 weeks.
Some tips on how to make the color of natural hair dyes last longer:
– Avoid frequent shampoos
– Opt for cooler water
– Skip heat styling/use heat protection products
– Apply hair sunscreen
– Wear a cap when swimming
– Minimize the use of hair masks and scrubs
Natural Hair Dye Brands
Only a few henna and vegetable brands can be considered as 100% natural hair color dyes without chemicals at all. The healthiest options among professional brands would be those that do use some chemicals but reduce them to a minimum.
So, what is the safest hair dye brand? Though our list is by no means full, we can name O&M, Overtone, Smart Beauty, IGK, Lime Crime, Manic Panic, Madison Reed, Aveda, Lush, and Davines. They are praised by professionals for their vibrant colors, selective approach to ingredients, and environmentally responsible attitude (they are cruelty-free and/or eco-friendly).
All in all, now you have plenty of natural hair dye ideas that can be implemented with 100 percent natural ingredients. You can achieve nice results with less harm to your hair, isn’t that great?
Featured Image: Arturs Budkevics from Pixabay
