It's no secret that I'm a big fan of coloring my hair. I've reached a point, though, where I'd like to give my tresses a bit of a break, and turn to more natural means of color. Fortunately, there are plenty of them to choose from, many of which work surprisingly well. If you're interest in coloring your hair without all the chemicals, maybe you'll be inspired by some of these ways to naturally add color to your hair!
Snapshot Survey
Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Please subscribe for your personalized newsletter:
1. Lemon Juice
Lemon juice is probably the most well known way to naturally add color to your hair, not to mention one of the safest. It's incredibly easy, and there are a number of ways to do it. You can simply put lemon juice in your hair and leave it be, which will lighten it over time. If you want it to go faster, you can sit out in the sun or apply the juice – always diluted with water – and then dry it with a hair dryer. You can also try a mix of lemon juice, water, and the #2 choice.
2. Peroxide
Peroxide isn't wholly natural, I'll grant you that, but it will lighten your hair. You need to dilute it with water as well, but speaking from firsthand experience, it's actually better to use just a little bit of peroxide, lemon juice, and water. That will save you from getting the brassy, rather orange shade that straight up peroxide has been known to cause.
Frequently asked questions
3. Chamomile
Another way to naturally add color to your hair is to use chamomile. This, too, is a lightening agent. If your hair is blond but fading, particularly, you can use a chamomile rinse to brighten it. All you need to do is boil a quart of water and then add three quarters of a cup worth of chamomile flowers. The whole mix needs to boil for about forty minutes, then you can strain it and rinse your hair with it, after trying it with a towel. Let it soak into your hair for about twenty minutes. You can do it two times a week for really great results.
4. Henna
Don't worry, this isn't all about the blondies! Henna is a great option for introducing red highlights into your hair. Because the results can be dramatic, this is one time where you'll definitely want to do a strand test. With henna, you just boil water, add the appropriate amount of powder to make a past, then put it on your hair and cover it with plastic. The paste needs to stay on for an hour or so before you rinse it. You can even mix chamomile and henna for a subtler red.
5. Sage
If you want to go really dark, you can use sage. This time, you boil water and add in half a cup worth of dried sage, and let it boil for half an hour. After that, you strain it and pour the part of the resulting liquid through your hair when it's damp. Don't use it all, because you're going to repeat the process a few times, with the final rinse staying on your hair about forty minutes. You have to do this every week for a few weeks to really see the results, though.
6. Black Coffee or Tea
Using a rinse is, as you can see, a great way to naturally add color to your hair. One possible brunette rinse involves brewing either black tea or coffee. You just follow the same procedure with the other rinses mentioned here, and you can dramatically darken your hair.
7. The Sun
Finally, the sun is probably the most natural way to color your hair. Whether you put anything on it or not, just being in the sun is likely to lighten your hair. If you add lemon juice or other lightening agents, you'll get even brighter results. Just remember to protect your skin while you're out there!
I can't believe there are so many great ways to naturally add color to your hair! From what I've read online, they're pretty successful, too. I have to admit, I've only really tried the lemon juice and peroxide before (and only a little bit of the latter – I repeat: be careful with that stuff!). When I was much younger, I also went through a phase of using Kool-Aid rinses – tasty, but messy! If you've tried some of the other options, how about sharing to let everyone know how they worked?
Top Photo Credit: tubbertha
Comments
editor: @Sarah -- for real? That's awesome! I second Lisa's question -- I've always heard beer washes were great for your hair, but I didn't know it could add color!
Lyndsie: Really? That's awesome! I always heard beer was great for washing your hair, but I didn't know about coloring it -- I second Lisa's question, how did it look?
Anonymous: All that destroys your hair and it looks terrible. Lemon = citric acid... :O
Randi: I recently accidentally bought instant coffee (ew!) and I used it in my natural shampoo that I have been using a couple months now and it gave me lovely low lights and took all the brassiness out of my previously lightened hair that I have been trying to grow out. Plus I had a light coffee scent in my hair. Loved it.
Anonymous: hi! i'm a natural blond and i tried out the brown henna. it's turned an amazing reddish/brown and i'm totally in love with it!! :) however, for a couple of days (week probably) i had a HORRIBLE henna smell (combination of tea, soil, grass....) and no matter how many times i washed and conditions it wouldn't go away... I'd love to re-henna my hair to keep the color up but i'm afraid the smell won't go away again. Any good suggestions about how to either prevent the smell or deal with it successfully afterwards? i've tried: 1) deep shampoo 2) conditioner 3) leave in conditioner and spray 4) lavender oil (this removed the henna smell but left an even stronger lavender smell which again took a week to go away) thanks!! :)
Sarah: Beer is great for adding color to your hair too :) I didn't personally try, but a friend of mine did and her hair looked fabulous!
Brenda: What if your a brunet like me? Will this work if I want to make the hombré look?
:
Feedback Junction
Where Thoughts and Opinions Converge