Homemade Hair Dye
There are thousands of different hair dye brands on the market. Some produce a permanent effect, while others are temporary or semi-permanent and will wash out over a short or slightly longer period of time. But there are also many homemade hair dyes that you can use at home with natural and organic ingredients that will lighten, brighten and/or color your hair without harmful chemicals or irreversible dyes.
While it is true that homemade hair dye may not produce the bold and sometimes outrageous colors that many commercial hair dye products offer, you can achieve a variety of interesting effects, some of which will also help to condition your hair. If you enjoy growing herbs and vegetables, you might even like the idea of growing the ingredients in your own backyard.
If you have blonde hair, a rinse made with fresh chamomile leaves and flowers steeped in boiling water and then strained will help to keep it fair and, it is believed, will also help to stimulate hair growth. If you want to lighten and brighten your hair, you should add calendula petals to the mixture (three tablespoons of dried calendula petals and the same quantity of chamomile flowers in two cups of water), together with the peel of a nice juicy lemon, chopped. Bring to the boil, remove from the heat and steep for two to three hours. Strain the herbs out of the liquid, add two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar and pour into a bottle. Use this as a rinse after washing and conditioning your hair. Massage it into your scalp and then rinse with fresh water.
Both lemon juice and cider vinegar are reasonably effective natural lighteners, particularly when used in conjunction with the light and UV rays of the sun. Another homemade recipe for hair dye involves mixing the juice of one lemon with a couple of tablespoons of strong chamomile tea. You can use this to naturally bleach your hair, or to create streaks. An easy way to streak it is to use an old (or cheap new) straw hat, and pull strands of hair through the holes. Apply the lemon and chamomile mixture to the exposed strands and then go and sit in the sun for a couple of hours… or go and dig in your herb garden and plant your own chamomile!
If you've got naturally yellow-blonde hair, and you want to touch up grey roots, saffron is a brilliant homemade option. Although expensive, it's a natural dye that can be used to color anything, including food, and you only need the smallest amount to get an amazing effect. Boil a few threads of saffron in two cups of water and then let it soak for 15 minutes. Strain and add about a tablespoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice. The trick with this homemade hair dye is that you need to pour the liquid through your hair multiple times (up to 20). So put your head over a basin and then keep re-scooping up the colored liquid. Leave the last rinse on your hair for a good 15 minutes before you rinse it off with clean water.
Yellow calendula petals mixed with crushed orange marigold flowers simmered in water and then added to a small amount of red wine will make a great rinse that will add reddish-gold highlights to brown hair. Like the previous recipe, the petals should be strained from the liquid before you pour it over your hair multiple times. Ideally you should then let your hair dry naturally in sunlight.
For centuries, people have been using walnut shells to darken hair. Today you can buy black walnut shell powder, which simplifies the task. Add a third of a cup of this to wild cherry bark (which is also commercially available) and some whole cloves to two or three cups of water. Boil for about 20 minutes and strain once the mixture has cooled. Apply as described previously. If your hair is light brown it will probably go darker, but if it is already dark, it will bring out rich brown tones.
This is just a taste of a few of many homemade hair dye recipes you might like to try. There are many, many more.