Have any of you used a natural hair dye?

[Elfay]

I have been thinking about using a natural hair color instead of the very expensive, store bought ones, that don't really last. I did a Google search and found a few ones that I may try. One was with using black coffee. I have dark brown hair and would like to cover the grays or drastically change the color. Not sure if it will work but willing to give it a try. Any suggestions, advice or warnings? Anything would be most helpful. Thank you.

Holland & Barratt do a good herbal dye which covers grey and lasts well. xxx

[Topaz]

Henna or Aveda products xx http://www.aveda.co.uk/professional_hair_colour.tmpl

As an old hairdresser I can tell you it will only surface coat the hair. everytime you wash it will go out. Just like a bottle of rinse does. You also will need to add a little flour to the mixture to thicken it up a little or it will run like water off your head.

The longer you leave it on the hair and the stronger you make it the better it will work . Leave it at leat 20 minutes up to an hour. That is why you need the flour to make a little paste to hold it on.
If you were a blonde it would maybe grab it . If your hair is dry or brittle it will help as it will soak it up as well. Healthy hair will get the least results.

Thing is it will not hurt your hair. and is very temporary.

Hi i am a hairdresser although dont use natural hair dyes, if you have any questions about hair let me know and i will try and help

[Elfay]

Thanks all of you for the replies ! I tried the coffee using a stay in conditioner and left it in for about a hour, it changed the color slightly but I also read it will take several rinses with the coffee for it to work. I will try using the coffee again. Hopefuly it will work. I used henna before but it made my hair too red and I do not wish to have red hair right now lol.

You can use a mix of indigo and henna to get a brown, or black natural hair dye. There is more info about how to do this here: http://www.mehandi.com/shop/hairindigo/black.pdf

If you don't want the hassle of mixing henna and indigo, you can order from Henna Hut. My sister has ordered from them and loves their hair dye. Here's the link: http://www.hennahut.com/hair_dye

I used to use henna and it was very good, but not good at covering gray so I had to go over to chemical dyes (not ready to be gray yet). It comes in some fab redish colours.

Make it up so it's the consistance if chocolate cake before it's cooked and smear it on. Put a shower cap over the top and then a wooly hat. The warmer it gets the better the colour.

Only thing is you need to leave it on for 4 hours.

But, unlike chemical dyes it will leave your hair in a wonderful condition and smells quite nice too.

So long as you wash all the gunk out it won't run much and mine used to last for 6 weeks with me washing it every day. I did used to use dark towels because it will come off when you towel dry for the first few weeks.

Originally Posted by tilia

I used to use henna and it was very good, but not good at covering gray so I had to go over to chemical dyes (not ready to be gray yet).

I'm surprised to read that it didn't cover gray for you. I've seen the opposite. I wonder if it depends on the henna. My friends and I have always used "body art quality" henna, so maybe it's stronger. One of my friends, who has brown hair with gray, uses henna and the gray now looks like beautiful red highlights.