Blog Update!
For those of you not following me on Facebook, as of the Summer of 2019 I've moved to Central WA, to a tiny mountain town of less than 1,000 people.

I will be covering my exploits here in the Cascades, as I try to further reduce my impact on the environment. With the same attitude, just at a higher altitude!

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Homemade hair coloring

I got the most recent copy of our natural food market's newsletter in the mail yesterday, and it contained some recipes for natural skin and hair care. I thought I'd share the natural hair coloring recipes in case you would like to try them yourself!

If you want lighter hair:
Skip the uber expensive (and toxic!) highlights at a salon and give this homemade lightener for light hair a whirl by mixing equal parts rhubarb stalks and honey steeped in three parts of white wine. After steeping for a few hours, strain and apply it to your hair. That is, if you haven't sipped it all away while you are waiting. Leave it in until your hair is dry and then rinse out.

If you want darker hair:
If you are looking for a harmless hair darkener, look no further than your root cellar. Pare a dozen potatoes, cover them with cold water in a pot and let them boil until soft and strain. When the liquid is cool, apply it to your hair. Leave it in until your hair is dry and then rinse out. Watch out for husbands trying to apply sour cream and chives to your head during the drying time.

If you want reddish highlights:
To add reddish highlights to your luscious locks, mix 1/2 cup beet juice with 1/2 cup carrot juice and pour over damp hair. Be careful where you do this as you don't want your house to look like a crime scene. Or a DivaCup explosion. Leave the mixture in your hair for an hour before rinsing out.

Caveat: I haven't tried any of these, so if you do (or already have), please report back here and let us know how it goes!

Photo credit: Pocket Farmer

11 comments:

Lisa said...

I have been using lemon juice to lighten my hair but if this method is quicker I would try it for sure! I miss my light blonde hair!

Surviving and thriving on pennies said...

You had me at Diva Cup...LMAO

Farmer's Daughter said...

Are you sure rhubarb won't stain my hair red? I have all these ingredients and might try it this weekend... I was going to do my chamomile tea/lemon juice highlights, but this might be easier and faster!

Anna @ Blue Dirt said...

Wow I have beet juice and carrot juice at the store. I even have purple carrot juice at the store. Haven't colored my hair in at least 3 years, but this I am tempted to try!

Anonymous said...

Seems like a bit of a crime to pour carrot/beet juice on my head inside of in my body - but I have been feeling pretty drab lately longing for hair dye that was safe for even little ole me - figure if I can drink the stuff it should be safe to put on my head ....

Thanks for sharing!

Unknown said...

Does anyone have tips for dying hair black (covering up the ol' gray hairs) with out using toxic stuff?

eladnarra said...

rfs: Some people use henna, indigo, or a combination of both. Check out http://www.hennaforhair.com/indigo/index.html which has a handy PDF guide.

The site also has specific recipes submitted by people, complete with pictures. One for dying gray hair black is: http://www.hennaforhair.com/mixes/ravyn/

Robj98168 said...

Back when I had hair, I used to use lemon juice and sunlight to turn my hair golden. Nordic bloodlines help as well,

Ash said...

OMG Diva Cup explosion! Hilarious!

Tracy said...

Diva Cup explosion! Hahahaha!

Hannah said...

I am totally trying the lightener! Sounds fabulous. But I'm pouring it in my wine glass, not over my head.