I've been coloring my hair for over 15 years. I started lightening my naturally mousy brown hair in high school, and lived as a blond for nearly 10 years, until one evening my husband asked what would I think about going red...well, nearly 1/2 the women in my family are red-heads, and somehow I missed that genetic gifting station, so I was actually very intrigued by the idea.
In those days, I grabbed a cheap drugstore box of hair color off the shelf and did my hair myself. It's not such big deal with blond & brunette shades, but red is a different animal. There are metals in the formulas and the drugstore brands can strip your hair until it looks like straw in only 2-3 colorings. It also fades way too fast and you're left with something that vaguely looks strawberry blonde-ish, but not really.
There was that one time, I bought a new brand of color when they were out of my regular shade and brand, and didn't read the directions about applying it to wet hair instead of dry. Yeah....I looked like Cyndi Lauper in the 80s...the front of my hair was literally in stripes of red, orange and yellow. That was scary. That was also when I started getting my hair colored professionally. I called my salon, choking back tears, only days before a big event to get an emergency color correction. She did an amazing job (I don't remember her name, because when I went back 8 weeks later, "she" was gone -- moved on to another job), and even managed to mitigate all the damage my hair was starting to show.
I've never had much luck with salons and stylists. Just when I find one I like, and feel comfortable with, they are gone! Poof! Something always happens: the woman who moved to Maine and was replaced by someone who had 80s hair and didn't speak English; the one-night-stand colorist mentioned above; the girl who was so good that she became impossible to book an appointment with, etc. I do have two hair heroes, though, in my life: my sister-in-law (A) and a family friend (N) have been there for me whenever I really needed them and can always be counted on for a great free hair cut, though there is only so long a woman can go without feeling guilty about that situation.
A decade at home with my kids, with only sporadic work forays, has given me a very lax attitude about hair appointments...except when I really need a cut and color for those important days in the grown up world...then I'm all business and expect service. Now, my life is changing and I'm actually going to be in the grown up world, working on a regular basis and I feel the need to look the part. I'm in my 30s, even if I don't look it, and I want to be able to walk down the hall of a high school and be recognized as the teacher I'm going to be, not the student I was.
"Blah, blah, blah, Soylesse," you're saying right now, "get to the point!"
My point is that after many years of coloring my hair, I recently began to realize that most of those color products contained soy in some form, and may have been causing minor reactions on my scalp. We all hate the smell and fumes from hair dye, and it used to give me a little wheeze, but there is that old adage about a little pain being worth it for beauty.
Maybe not -- well at least, I'm not willing to accelerate my allergy responses and jeopardize myself for it.
So I've started using henna to dye my hair red, and the results are really good -- once the initial color calms down after the first 3 days/washes. It's a very natural color and smells a lot like brewing herbal tea. It's the first time for me, so I'll have to update you on how long it lasts before I have to color again, though reportedly I shouldn't have a lot of fade -- just roots to touch up. You have to get body art quality henna for safety reasons, and there is a lot of crappy henna out there on the internet, but check out my list below of natural hair color options. Oh, and it "develops" when you add lemon juice. How much more natural can you get?
Here's a list of all-natural, chemical-free ways to dye your hair:
***Test all of these ideas first on combings of your hair from your hair brush to see the results before applying to your head. Also, anything can be an allergen. Please test on an inconspicuous spot of skin before applying to your whole head.
- Lemon Juice - Blonder/slightly reddish hair, depending on your starting color: dilute this with water and spray in your hair until saturated, or apply just to small sections if highlights are wanted. Comb thru for complete & even coverage. Sit out in the sun to lighten, periodically exposing different sections to the sun. You can just lighten the top layer of your hair for that sun-kissed look. **Best results - use a blow dryer on high heat to blast thru your hair until it's dry.** I recommend you use a leave-in conditioner with this, as the lemon juice and heat can leave your hair a bit dry over time.
- Henna - Strawberry Blonde to Dk Brown/Black: well it would take too long to go into all the variables. Check out the Henna for Hair website. Here's a link to a chart of possible kitchen-mixed hair-dyes. Pics are on another page of the results. http://www.hennaforhair.com/mixes/hairtable/ There are a lot of henna hair kits on the market -- not all of them are safe or contain good quality henna. Buy only from a reputable dealer and preferably one who can back up the safety claims of their products.
Be aware, though, that powdered red henna is khaki green, and when you mix it up it will look like you're putting baby's poop on your head after he ate strained peas and beans. You may think it smells like that, too. But the color will really come out natural red...I promise. I mean the most famous henna red head in the world was Lucille Ball!
Cool things about henna -- applying henna to your head can cure dandruff, head lice, and even ringworm! (No kidding - it has anti-fungal qualities! I guess you could even cure athlete's foot with it if you don't mind going around looking like a Donii woman [EC/Jean Auel reference]). If you don't like the smell, you can add aromatic ground herbs or essential oils to the mix to give your hair a smell you do like. Cinnamon, cloves, ginger, lavender, etc. are all commonly used for this, and they won't affect the color. It will also leave your hair feeling much healthier and softer than before you apply.
Be wary of "black" henna - it's not real henna, and it's known for causing bad reactions in people -- like those burns in henna tattoo horror stories. Reputable dealers won't sell you "black" henna, but there is something called harquus and also indigo for darker hair dyes to cover greys or get more oomph from your raven-like color.
I won't go into details on everything -- that 's what the internet is for, but other options include:
Coffee
Tea
Indigo
Carrots & Beets (boiled to extract their coloring) - used during WWII in England
Harquus
Amla
Cassia obovata
Buxus dioica, aka Katam
Well, basically, go check out the entire website Henna for Hair and its links. It's really cool, and there are plenty of how-to tips and step-by-step instructions. Then look up other natural hair color solutions and see what you can find. Share it here if you come across something really interesting.
Best part: it's Soy-Free! No chemicals, either. Just an old-fashioned mad-science lab in your kitchen. Grab the sliced cucumbers, honey, yogurt and salt and make up some facials while you're at it!
Sincerely,
Soylesse Greenapple
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