Make Your Own Hair Color?

[raisin]

Sense it seems there is no semi-universally safe hair color, especially for those with multiple allergies or super sensitive celiac, shouldn't there be some kind of how-to guide?

If you know of any ways to make your own hair color, or have any ideas you think someone else may be able to refine, please post here.

My initial thought is.. Extracts. Plant extracts tend to be very good at staining your fingers and cloths, so why not your hair? Like henna, but less messy, so you could do it more often, meaning it would progressively color it stronger rather than fading out in two weeks. Is this a feasible option?

I have also heard using pomegranate juice or black coffee as a rinse will enhance the color/darkness of brown/burgundy hair. Has anyone tried this?

[maile]

Sense it seems there is no semi-universally safe hair color, especially for those with multiple allergies or super sensitive celiac, shouldn't there be some kind of how-to guide?

If you know of any ways to make your own hair color, or have any ideas you think someone else may be able to refine, please post here.

My initial thought is.. Extracts. Plant extracts tend to be very good at staining your fingers and cloths, so why not your hair? Like henna, but less messy, so you could do it more often, meaning it would progressively color it stronger rather than fading out in two weeks. Is this a feasible option?

I have also heard using pomegranate juice or black coffee as a rinse will enhance the color/darkness of brown/burgundy hair. Has anyone tried this?

If you check with the Henna forums many of them practice natural hair colour and can give you an insight into which plants give which colours. I think the biggest thing is getting the right method that will allow the colour to penetrate the hair shaft.

for dark brown or black I've heard everything from walnut, coffee and soy sauce

Aveda has a hair care line that are infused with plant extracts. my friend successfully went red from light brown using their Madder root shampoo and conditioner, you have to use both to get the full effect but it does work. As to whether they are gluten-free I don't know

[ItalianKate]

Using henna and indigo and cassia are great ways to color your hair. Go the Hennaforhair website. Use body quality henna and it works great - not store bought. It is permanent - has to grow out. You use something acidic for dye release. It works.

[caek-is-a-lie]

I use Light Mountain Henna, with honey to enhance the red. It's all natural, and permanent because I leave it on for 2 hours (I wrap my hair with saran wrap to keep it from drying out.)

They have different colors and you can add things like coffee, teas, and spices to adjust the hues. Just don't use black. It contains a toxic chemical.

[ravenwoodglass]

I have heard good things about henna but one thing that needs to be mentioned is that if you have used a regular hairdye on your hair you need to let that grow out before you use the henna.

[caek-is-a-lie]

Actually, waiting about 6 weeks is enough if you use regular hair dye. Your hair doesn't have to be virgin to start using henna; you just have to give the chemical dye a chance to wash out a lot. If you're concerned, you can test a small sample of your hair with the henna first to see if it reacts (but cut the sample off first...no need to risk doing it on your head.)

And DON'T use any metal when you're mixing it. Stick to plastic and wood. Henna reacts with metal. And avoid hair products that contain metals (like Pantene. oh it smells awful when it reacts with Henna!)

I do heat my water in a metal kettle without problems, but if you want to be super careful you can heat the water in a glass measuring cup or coffee mug in the microwave.

Also note that at first your hair will be a tad orange, (ok, sometimes a lot orange!) but this orange washes out after a week or two, leaving a really nice red that has more blue tones in it. Especially if you use the honey (the honey makes it brighter at first, but more red when the orange washes out.) The orange used to freak me out, but it's only temporary, and the remaining color never fades.

If you feel like you get too much Henna & shampoo build-up on your hair, rinse it with vinegar. 10% works fine, but full strength won't hurt your hair either. You'll just smell like vinegar all day. I try to do this a day or two before I color, on general principle so that the new proteins will have a better surface to stick to, but you can do it any time your hair feels heavy or sticky (I hate shampoos that make my hair feel sticky!) Anyone can do this...it's not a henna-only kind of thing. It does lighten the henna coloring a bit, and after I do it everyone always asks me if I just colored my hair and tells me how good it looks. lol!

[digmom1014]

Okay, caek_is_a_lie, you seem to really know your stuff!

Any blond or highlighting ideas?

Thanks

[raisin]

I use Light Mountain Henna, with honey to enhance the red. It's all natural, and permanent because I leave it on for 2 hours (I wrap my hair with saran wrap to keep it from drying out.)

They have different colors and you can add things like coffee, teas, and spices to adjust the hues. Just don't use black. It contains a toxic chemical.

Can't you make black by adding coffee, sage, or violet? Maybe I was given the wrong information.

[Gemini]

Sense it seems there is no semi-universally safe hair color, especially for those with multiple allergies or super sensitive celiac, shouldn't there be some kind of how-to guide?

If you know of any ways to make your own hair color, or have any ideas you think someone else may be able to refine, please post here.

My initial thought is.. Extracts. Plant extracts tend to be very good at staining your fingers and cloths, so why not your hair? Like henna, but less messy, so you could do it more often, meaning it would progressively color it stronger rather than fading out in two weeks. Is this a feasible option?

I have also heard using pomegranate juice or black coffee as a rinse will enhance the color/darkness of brown/burgundy hair. Has anyone tried this?

I have used Framesi hair color for years and have never had one issue with it. It's an Italian hair color product, used with peroxide, and it's the best color I have ever used. It can only be done in a salon, though, because it's professional color......you need a beautician's license to buy it.

There is a big difference between dyes used without peroxide and those with. If you have little to no gray hair, then using plant extracts will probably be just fine. The color will not penetrate the hair shaft at all......you need to use peroxide for that to happen. It will just deposit color on and it will wash out, little by little, with each shampoo.

If you have heavily to mostly gray hair, then using the "deposit only" dyes and colors are not as successful. They tend to leave your hair with a funky shade after a few shampoo's. For gray hair to color successfully, you have to use peroxide so it will penetrate the hair shaft. The better quality of color that you use, the less likely there will be a topical, allergic type reaction.

Blond or highlighting usually has to be done with permanent color because you need more peroxide to achieve a blond shade. It's a 2 step process for blond...that's why trying to be become a blond is actually a career! There may be products out there without peroxide that are available but you will never achieve a natural blond look using them unless you are young and blond to begin with. Trying to change grayer hair without the use of peroxide is almost impossible....if you are trying to achieve a natural look.

[raisin]

For me, gray hair is not an issue, being only 19 with normal hair, I just hate my natural color (as it fades between red and black depending on my health or the amount of sunlight I get) I just want it to stay one color or the other and avoid that ugly bland "brown" middle groun.

An herbal rinse to use regularly with shampoo, or anything like that, would be worth a try. No more dyes, too many allergies, chemicals, potential health risks. I have used strait up peroxide on my hair before (which turned it red) but I didn't like the texture it gave my hair.

I want to grow my hair very long, also, so I want something that will make it healthy - Not slowly cause it to become dead and brittle.

Henna sounds like it's worth a try but.. I read you have to use an egg to make it. I am sensitive (probably not allergic??) to eggs and want to avoid them. Is there another way to do it?

What about pomegranate juice? I heard using it as a rinse is very good for your hair and will effect the color.

[caek-is-a-lie]

Can't you make black by adding coffee, sage, or violet? Maybe I was given the wrong information.

You could be right. I have no idea. All I know is that if you buy "black" henna pre-made in the package, it's got a nasty chemical in it. Making your own black is a different story.

[Gemini]

For me, gray hair is not an issue, being only 19 with normal hair, I just hate my natural color (as it fades between red and black depending on my health or the amount of sunlight I get) I just want it to stay one color or the other and avoid that ugly bland "brown" middle groun.

An herbal rinse to use regularly with shampoo, or anything like that, would be worth a try. No more dyes, too many allergies, chemicals, potential health risks. I have used strait up peroxide on my hair before (which turned it red) but I didn't like the texture it gave my hair.

I want to grow my hair very long, also, so I want something that will make it healthy - Not slowly cause it to become dead and brittle.

Henna sounds like it's worth a try but.. I read you have to use an egg to make it. I am sensitive (probably not allergic??) to eggs and want to avoid them. Is there another way to do it?

What about pomegranate juice? I heard using it as a rinse is very good for your hair and will effect the color.

You will probably do just fine with henna, then, as you have no gray hair. That really is the crux of the issue because hair dyes and color do not behave the same on gray vs. non-gray hair.

Hair color today is much, much safer than it used to be. You have no need to worry about chemicals and potential health affects as the only color that was ever an issue were the black hair dyes. Once the FDA stepped in and mandated safer hair color formulas, the industry responded well. Women have been using dyes for a long time and there has been no unusual spikes in any illnesses which could be attributed to using hair dyes.....except for black hair dyes used before the early 1980's.

Trust me, when the gray starts coming in much later in life (hopefully not until then!), most women today choose to use conventional color. Gray hair ages you and if you start going gray very early, which happened to me due to undiagnosed Celiac and all the vitamin deficiencies I had, you will start using hair color. It is nice when you can get the exact color you want, too, because no one ever gets the hair color they really want!

[Takala]

Using henna and indigo and cassia are great ways to color your hair. Go the Hennaforhair website. Use body quality henna and it works great - not store bought. It is permanent - has to grow out. You use something acidic for dye release. It works.

That is a really, really cool website !

Link:

Open Original Shared Link

I was born strawberry blonde, but my hair darkened and moused up as an adult, so I've always highlighted it with a mild, peroxide based bleaching solution to bring it back up to a lighter shade. Unfortunately the item I was using for nearly 2 decades, without a problem, was discontinued, it was called Summer Sun by L'Oreal. I always got TONS of compliments on my hair color with that stuff. I scrounged up as many remaining boxes as possible about 4 years ago, and have a few left, but have been able to highlight my hair also by just mixing regular strength peroxide and a small amount of ammonia and mixing that with gluten-free mayonnaise to make the solution thicker and to add some oil for conditioning, and using that. (It doesn't take much bleach action to get my hair lighter). The last time I tried presoaking my hair in lemon juice and salt until it dried, and then it came out less brassy after the mayo peroxide/ammonia soaking session.

My hair is now coming in with a lot more white suddenly, just in the past few months, so this henna coloring stuff looks very intriguing.