How to Color Hair Naturally

Standard hair dyes contain chemical ingredients, such as ammonia and peroxide, which can damage your hair and scalp. Some people prefer to dye their hair naturally. Henna and other natural hair dyes protect and strengthen your hair while coloring it. Whether you are looking for a color change or just want to cover some gray hair, it is fairly easy to color your hair naturally.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Henna powder
• Shower cap
• Squeeze bottle

1. Purchase henna to color your hair. Henna is a natural plant product. It is normally sold in a dry powder form for coloring hair. You can find henna online and at beauty supply stores.

2. Mix henna powder with boiling water. Follow the directions on the powder package. Normally you mix 1 cup of water with 1 cup of henna powder.

3. Test hair from your hairbrush. In order to see how long you need to leave the henna paste on your hair, you can harvest hair from your brush and leave it in henna for 2 to 3 hours. Rinse the hair and access the level of hair color. If it's too dark, then you will need to shorten the time you color your hair. If it's too light, then obviously you will need to lengthen the time.

4. Apply the henna paste to your head using a squeeze bottle. Wear gloves when handling henna because it will stain your hands. Make sure your hair is covered from roots to ends. Cover with a plastic wrap or a shower cap. After 1 hour, check a small patch of hair and see how the color is progressing. It may take 6 to 8 hours to color hard-to-dye hair with henna.

5. Rinse your hair with cool water until the water runs clear. Continue rinsing for 5 additional minutes in very cold water. Dry and style as usual.

Tips & Warnings

• Add coffee, tea, cinnamon or fruit juices to the henna to achieve different colors naturally.
• If you have more than 20 percent gray hair, do not use henna to color your hair.

[kfreasstudio]

on 3/19/2009 You warn: "If you have more than 20 percent gray hair, do not use henna to color your hair." Why is that? What would happen if you use henna on more than 20 gray hair?

[cheapchic]

on 3/22/2008 Warning! Henna can and has turned blond hair GREEN. Plus it is permanent and can only be cut out of hair not corrected by other dyes.

[DiscountTickets]

on 2/26/2008 Wow, you sure know a lot about hair color.