Henna
Mix enough powder with 200 ml cooking water to a not to thick paste. Add a teaspoon of lemon juice and let paste cool down to a pleasant temperature. If your hair is very dry you may add an egg. Apply paste on your hair and let it work as long as you want (from half an our to a night).
To make your hair darker
Mix juice of one lemon with a cup of strong coffee and rinse your hair without washing out.
For brown hair
Walnut oil applied with cotton-wool swab is helpful to get your hair darker. But attention it may cause spots.
To make blond hair brighter
Make a tea from 2 teaspoons dryed camomille blossoms and 600 ml cooking water and rinse your hair. You may dry it at the sun.

E.

If you like, you can use your favorite conditioner when mixing up henna too!

When I was using henna on my hair, I used to mix it up with a little red wine vinegar for the acid (to help intensify, like the lemon juice does) and for its scent. It really helped draw out the color, and cut down on that 'fresh dirt' aroma. ;)

And remember to clean up the room you're applying the henna in immediately and /thoroughly/ after you've got the henna in your hair! My bathroom has a few stains in the wallpaper from where I missed tiny splotches of the henna the first time I went over the room, and didn't find them until they had dried thoroughly. :/

do you wash out the henna with shampoo? or conditioner? or just water?!

Rinse with water until the water runs clear. It takes -forever- to get it all out. ;) If your hair is dry, I'd condition afterwards, but not shampoo.

I'm thinking about dyeing my medium-brown hair, but I have a gray streak (birthmark) in the back.  I'm worried the gray will come out some ghastly color! :o

Any tips on dyeing the grey?

You could try dyeing the gray to your natural color first, and then dyeing the whole of your head. Beware though, dye makes your hair very dry, are you sure you want to do it? Also, you could just leave the gray streak in and dye the rest if you're worried about the color.

wrote on Feb 24^th, 2003 at 8:01pm:

I'm thinking about dyeing my medium-brown hair, but I have a gray streak (birthmark) in the back.  I'm worried the gray will come out some ghastly color! :o Any tips on dyeing the grey?

Try collecting some of the strands of the grey then do a strand test on them to see how it would turn out.  Be sure to include some of your regular hair as well.  Good luck.

One natural method for blonde hair I have been using is a rinse/leave-on treatment with rhubarb root.I mix pulverized rhubarb root with boiling water,let it cool off a bit and then apply it to the hair for about 45 mins.This has always given nice golden highlights to my dark blonde hair,but it is VERY messy(stains!)and I never liked the smell.So I hanven´t been doing this for a while.
Anne-Marie ::)

Interesting...I've not heard of the rhubarb root being used before.  How much root is used?

I used only about a handful,in Germany you can buy it in pharmacies/healthstores,it comes in small pieces(not as a whole root).I put them in a coffee grinder to get a fine powder.
Anne-Marie

I may just have to check out a healthfood store around here to see if they carry it.  Do you think it could be done with fresh root?  We have a huge plant in the yard that we plan on moving and reducing in size.  I could dig up that root. (After the ground thaws of course  ;D )

Hm,I´m not sure.Maybe you could leave the root to dry for a few days after digging it out?It might be hard to pulverize it otherwise!I never thought about digging out the root :Dactually we´ve got one  plant in our garden too.I hope you like the colour effect,it has always given me very golden highlights.

Some of my blonde friends wash their hair in shampoo that is meant to be for highligthed hair and it brings out their natural blonde highlights.

Well - one thing I would definitely make sure not to do for enhancing blonde hair is to use lemon juice (whether squeezed fresh or from extract) it will dry out your hair, and leave it susceptible to damage - especially if you use either heat instruments on your hair or in the summertime when out in the sun or in chlorine - it's awful!  I've seen what it's done to other friends of mine hair, and it's not worth it!  In winter time (when my hair sometimes looks darker since it gets a lot lighter in the summertime) I just use a spray of sun-in (not natural I know, but it's gentle on my hair, and has leave-in conditioners) whenever I need to blow-dry my hair a bit so that it doesn't freeze when leaving the house!

I used to use lemon juice when I was younger and also experienced drying.  I have used the lemon juice as a rinse (like vinegar), but I don't leave it in my hair.  The rinse helps make my hair shinier and removes build up.

Hi!  
Delighted to find this forum.  I have waist length slightly wavy, thick hair.  I've been coloring out the grey for a few months now with over the counter products, but I would like to try Henna instead, as my hair has become so dry and brittle.  Does anyone know a good source for purchasing it online?  I know there are different types and I'm not sure which to look for, or if it would even work on hair that's been dyed with stubborn grey roots bleh. lol

I'm also interested the recipe I saw for sage to eliminate grey, has anyone ever actually done this and does it work?  I'd love to see before and after pics if any brave soul has any.  

I'll be reading this site for hours, very helpful stuff!:)

Res;

What color is your hair naturally?

One warning about henna. After putting henna on your hair, dye will not take, so you actually have to want your hair to go red  :P first. I would suggest you try a little patch on your hair ... maybe at the roots, and if you don't like it you can trim it off.

It's better to buy henna locally rather than over the net, because you never really know if it's going to be good or not till you get it. Some beauty salons offer putting henna in for you, and you can usually get it quite easily. Henna gives more volume to fine hair but tends to be drying, so if your hair is already dry and brittle you should deep condition it first.  :)

You should also be careful about using henna when you have been coloring your hair.  A chemical reaction can occur which can either damage your hair ro cause the color to be unpredictable.

wrote on Dec 22^nd, 2002 at 11:07pm:

Henna Mix enough powder with 200 ml cooking water to a not to thick paste. Add a teaspoon of lemon juice and let paste cool down to a pleasant temperature. If your hair is very dry you may add an egg. Apply paste on your hair and let it work as long as you want (from half an our to a night). To make your hair darker Mix juice of one lemon with a cup of strong coffee and rinse your hair without washing out. For brown hair Walnut oil applied with cotton-wool swab is helpful to get your hair darker. But attention it may cause spots. To make blond hair brighter Make a tea from 2 teaspoons dryed camomille blossoms and 600 ml cooking water and rinse your hair. You may dry it at the sun. E.

How long does the strong coffee rinse last?  Do you have to put the lemon in?

Hi, I have just cut off all my hair :-/ But I had saturated it in sun-in, and before that untold tortures of regular bleach, then color to tone it down then bleach to lighten it back and then tons of sun-in, luckily for me I have exceptionally healthy hair! But I decided to cut off all that mess and now its short mostly my natural dark brown with a bit of the sun-in left in it. Yesterday I put a demi-permanent mix of dark brown and sand dune on it to get it to my own natural color, but I got scared and washed it off after only a few minutes because I was afraid it was changing a weird color, its ok though just kind of a dull brown. I want now to completely forego chemical products and treat my hair with the respect it deserves. I have been thinking about using henna as a hair color mainly because I like the volumizing effects and I have read how good it is for the hair. I know it says not to use it on highlighted hair, but since there isnt really much sun-in left in my hair about 1/3 on top, is it safe to try it? I plan to wait until oct. to give this demi-perm stuff I used yesterday a chance to wash out even though I had only left it on for a few minues. I realize once I start using henna, I have made a commitment, that you cant use chemicals over it. Can anyone advise me on the use of henna? Thanks in advance Nicco_ :)

If you can keep your hair virgin, that's definitely the best advice.  However, I know how hard that is so that being said, I've used henna over chemically treated hair before (with many, many months between the two) but you have to be extraordinarily careful.  Do a strand test on a lock of your hair that has the chemicals still in it (I don't cut locks for strand tests, I grab a piece from behind my ear so I can see the results of regular wear and tear) and then wait a week or two and see how your hair reacts.  Only if your hair is still in perfect condition would I proceed from that point.

I suggest using a large amount of conditioner in the henna mix instead of all water.  Henna can be very drying.

Good luck, let us know how it turns out!

Hi there!! It's been a while since I logged in...my hair's about shoulder length right now...still debating about growing it longer...

Anyhow...I've been using Avalon Organics Rosemary Conditioner and find if I leave it in for 1/2 hour every other day it helps darken my brown hair.  I know there's sage extracts as well as rosemary in it so I don't know which one is doing the darkening.   ???

I was wondering...I've seen a few recipes for using sage leaves to darken....can you use sage OIL instead?  I'm thinking if I add a few drops of the oil in the conditioner.....?  Anyone used sage before?

Welcome back!  Glad you stopped by.  I've not heard that rosemary or sage would darken hair.  I know coffee rinses will darken hair.  

I'm afraid I can't really answer your question, but if I run across an answer, I'll post it here.

Í remember reading somewhere that the green outer layer (not the brown shells!) of freshly picked walnuts will darken hair.( I think they have to be boiled and then used as a rinse)

Hello, everybody!

While we're on this topic: does anyone have any good ideas on what to do about light red hair that's starting to go gray?  :-/

Its natural color is a light-medium red that gets gold streaks in the summer. However, over the past several years, a) some of the red has started to devolve towards a brownish non-color and b) I've begun getting some bright silver hairs to boot.

It's still pretty nice-looking hair, and I don't color it. The way I've maintained it so far is to a) pull out the grays by hand (not that many of them) and b) use madder root shampoo/conditioner.

However, I swore off practice a) several months ago (if you want long hair, you can't keep pulling out the new ones!). And, the madder root products don't leave my hair in that great of condition.

So, I'm looking for some other ideas.

Has anybody tried any of the hibiscus, carrot-juice or beet-juice rinses/treatments?

I guess with red hair, I ought to want to try henna, but truthfully speaking, I'm a little afraid to put one kind of red on top of another - I'm afraid I'll end up with a murky color rather than better red.

(That's why I've stuck with the madder root products for so long. They might dry out my hair, but they keep the color looking decent!)

Thanks!
Christine

I've heard many wonderful things about using henna to enhance the red in your hair.  I understand your reluctance, however.  I would think that a strand test would most certainly be a good idea if you do try the henna.

I know I've run across a site that had lots of info on henna.  I will see if I can find it again and pass it along to you.

wrote on Feb 21^st, 2004 at 3:11pm:

Í remember reading somewhere that the green outer layer (not the brown shells!) of freshly picked walnuts will darken hair.( I think they have to be boiled and then used as a rinse)

I used to have walnut trees in my yard.  When the nuts would fall and we'd have to clean them up, our hands would turn brown from the shells.  

Here's a receipe I ran across for using walnuts to darken hair:

Walnut shells- Walnut shells make another harmless dye which progressively adds color to the hair. Before the nuts are ripe, crush the green outer shells in a mortar and cover with water. Add a touch of table salt. Let stand 3 days. Now add 3 cups of boiling water and simmer 5 hours, always making sure the evaporated water is replaced. Express the dark liquid from the shells by means of a press or by twisting the shells in a cloth. Replace separated liquid in pot again and now reduce to a quarter of it's volume. Use on clean shampooed hair. At first it will produce a somewhat yellowish effect, but it will finally give the hair a good deep black color.

Hi Bikerbraid,

Thanks for the help. I agree: a strand test is definitely a good idea.

Do you (or does anyone) know how permanent henna coloring is? For example, if I do it and I hate it, will the color added by the henna be there forever? Or, does it eventually fade out?

Also: how sensitive is henna-colored hair to sun exposure?

Thanks much!
Christine

I've not used henna myself, but of the people that I know that have used it, henna does eventually fade out.  If you don't like it, they recommend doing a baking soda wash to remove it more quickly.  Henna is a coating on the hair.  It does not penetrate the hair shaft as permanent coloring does.

As for sun-fading, I don't really have an answer.  I'll see if I can find one for you.

wrote on Dec 22^nd, 2002 at 11:07pm:

To make your hair darker Mix juice of one lemon with a cup of strong coffee and rinse your hair without washing out.

I've been wanting to try a coffee rinse to darken my blah-brown hair. I'm hesitant about the lemon, though; the length of my hair's already pretty dry. I've also heard of mixing the coffee with conditioner, but my scalp tends to be oilier. Could I mix all three? I also use a vinegar rinse; what if I used that instead of the lemon? Also, how long does the color stay in for?

Any other suggestions or ideas?
-Cairn-

Well, I just tried using coffee to darken my hair. I kinda made up my own procedure based on a couple other I've read; 2 teaspoons coffee in 1 teaspoon of boiling water, mixed with 1 teaspoon of conditioner. I massaged it through my hair and left it in for a few minutes, then rinsed out with my normal vinegar rinse.

My hair's still damp so I can't tell completely how it worked, but it does look a little darker. Not too radical, thankfully. I didn't do a very good job of getting the ends, though, so it kinda fades out at the bottom. I'm quite pleased, though, and my hair is super-soft as well.  :)

Is there any way to do this without splashing the coffee all over the shower? I slopped it all over the place.  ::) Also, how long should the color stay in for?

Smelling like coffee :P
-Cairn-

You could put the coffee mixture in a bowl and put the length of your hair in the bowl.  This would ensure the ends get plenty of the mixture on them.  Then work the mixture up to the roots.

I use this bowl method to do my vinegar rinses as well.  

I guess that would be the obvious solution, wouldn't it?  ::) I'll try that next time.

The only other thing is the smell...I thought the vinegar would get rid of it, but it lingered all day, and the 90-degree weather didn't help much. Ah well, it worked.

I mix a couple of tablespoons espresso with some boiling water to create a thick paste. Then I mix it with conditioner and put it in a bowl. Just as bikerbraid suggested, I dump the length in a bowl and then let the coffee/conditioner mix sit for a while.  ;)

Leia, how long does the color stay in for you?  

I have naturally dark brown hair, and I use the coffee to make my length darker (it's got some lighter brown tones in it). I'd say it lasts about a couple of weeks, depending on how long you leave the mixture in for. If you use a heat cap it stays in longer  ;). What color is your hair?

My hair's a pretty mediocre dirt-brown. It tends to go a little lighter in the summer, though, so I thought the coffee would keep it darker.

You could do it every 2 weeks I think. Experiment and see  ;)

Thanks for the tip.  :)