Natural Hair Dye Recipes!

I (mistakingly) went to a salon to get my hair dye a beautiful auburn and I got boring brown . My hair is still recovering from the permanent dye. It really felt "crispy" at first but I have restored most moisture.

I still want color but I'm staying away permanent color.

Does anyone have any natural dye recipe (not henna) that works?

I heard about using honey, cinnamon, and lemon juice. Any other suggestions?

I tried the lemon & all I really got was stripped feeling hair.

Outside of henna, you aren't going to get very good color results, especially if your hair is already black/really dark.

I used a henna/hibiscus mixture & got the most vibrant auburn ever. Maybe you could try a semi-permanent color instead of permanent dye?

First, remember that natural hair coloring takes a lot of time to get results. Most folks dont have the patience to wait weeks for color changes to show. Also, the key for natural color-lifting seems to be lots of time in the sun and to apply it without pproduct so it can penetrate. So butters and heavy oils are out until you're done with laying in the sun that day.

I know for a fact that Argan Oil works to lift color. My DD ends up with almost blond streaks in summer when I make our spritzes containing argan. It does similar for me too but I get more dark copper. Her hair is regular brown naturally and she gets almost blond. Mine is jet black naturally and I get reddish brown.

I tried lemon too and it made my hair dry as hayle.

There's that product Sun-In (if its still around). You spray it on and lay out in the sun. I think it has a little peroxide, though.

Aint kool-aid supposed to color the hair but not life color? I remember this is middle school

My hair is medium brown and I want red. Im thinking about mixing conditioner, honey, cinnamon and red food coloring. I can dc with the mixture for 30 minutes and see what happens

I used to add raw honey to my DCs regularly and it never lifted my hair color, neither did argan oil. The only thing that lifts my color naturally is excessive sunlight. My natural hair color is dark brown (number 2) and sunlight adds dark blonde highlights.
I also got a really pretty reddish tint when I used Manic Panic Amplified Semi-Permanent in Vampire Red. It's a vegetable dye and it didn't damage/dry out my hair at all.

curlycrocheter said:

I tried the lemon & all I really got was stripped feeling hair.

Outside of henna, you aren't going to get very good color results, especially if your hair is already black/really dark.

I used a henna/hibiscus mixture & got the most vibrant auburn ever. Maybe you could try a semi-permanent color instead of permanent dye?

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Now you got me curious - I have to look up this henna/hibiscus mixture!!!

leigh.hill said:

Now you got me curious - I have to look up this henna/hibiscus mixture!!!

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I used a mixture of henna & hibiscus powder. I didn't really measure anything. But it was probably pretty close to 2 parts henna & 1 part hibiscus.

It gave me a really deep red....almost brick red, that settled into a really nice bright auburn.

I did that about a year ago.

curlycrocheter said:

I used a mixture of henna & hibiscus powder. I didn't really measure anything. But it was probably pretty close to 2 parts henna & 1 part hibiscus.

It gave me a really deep red....almost brick red, that settled into a really nice bright auburn.

I did that about a year ago.

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I have a few boxes of henna. I am going to give it a try this weekend! I assume you did the usually henna preparations. Mix and let it sit to release the dye, etc.

i mix henna with cocoa and it turns out a beautiful brown

i think hisbiscus might make my grays purply.

i would love to create a very vibrant chestnut brown with henna but have not been able to accomplish it . . . yet!

Honey has helped to lighten my hair over time. I was adding it regularly to my weekly deep conditioner. I have dark brown hair. I never got blonde highlights, but I do have streaks of lighter brown.

sunnieb posted pictures of her hair showing how honey had lightened it.

I'm planning to add some hibiscus powder to my deep conditioner next week, (just a small amount). If I see any changes, I will post. I'm planning on using cassia rather than henna.

Pennefeather said:

Honey has helped to lighten my hair over time. I was adding it regularly to my weekly deep conditioner. I have dark brown hair. I never got blonde highlights, but I do have streaks of lighter brown.

@sunnieb posted pictures of her hair showing how honey had lightened it.

I'm planning to add some hibiscus powder to my deep conditioner next week, (just a small amount). If I see any changes, I will post. I'm planning on using cassia rather than henna.

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Honey definitely works for my hair!

My avi pic is from when I was doing a honey dc weekly. My siggy pic is the result of me not being consistent. My natural color has pretty much returned. I plan to get back into honeying weekly though. I really liked the brown.

gn1g said:

i mix henna with cocoa and it turns out a beautiful brown i think hisbiscus might make my grays purply. i would love to create a very vibrant chestnut brown with henna but have not been able to accomplish it . . . yet!

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Coffee? Use the coffee water and use that to mix with henna

leigh.hill,

You might want to research using kalpi-tone and adding hibiscus. I have read that Kalpi-tone makes the hair darker - it's a combination of several Indian herbs including amla, brahmi, and mandoor. Mandoor is what darkens the hair. It actually has some hibiscus in it, but I am guessing that adding additional hibiscus will give you more of a dark reddish hue or auburn.