Written by Editorial Team | Updated : March 19, 2015 10:19 AM IST
By itself, amla does not have the ability to dye hair; however, it can help to tone down the red or brown colour of a henna-indigo hair colour. Along with this, amla also helps to give a natural shine to the hair after you have washed off the dye. When mixing in amla powder, it is important to add it last into the paste, just before you apply the paste to your hair. Alma also rids dandruff and also reduces hair fall.
For black hair that has gone grey, use henna in combination with sesame (gingelly or til) oil and curry leaves. Boil some sesame oil, add a few curry leaves and keep this liquid in a tightly closed container. Any time you want to colour your hair, add some henna into this extract and boil for a few minutes. Cool and apply to hair, wait for three to four hours and then wash your hair using shikakai. If you are looking for a burgundy shade, cut and grind a beetroot and mix this juice into henna to make a paste. Henna alone gives a copper red colour and only indigo (neel) gives a blue colour; by combining henna with indigo in different proportions, you can get varying shades of brown. If you want a redder colour, keep henna levels high and if you like more brown, include more of indigo. Apart from colouring your hair, henna has other properties to make your hair strong and beautiful.
Greying of hair is a condition that cannot be reversed, but can be effectively concealed by the use of hair colours. However, before you reach out for that synthetic hair dye, pay attention to what medical researchers have to say about its safety. Hair dyes may contain certain chemicals that go by the name of secondary amines and these can react with exhaust from vehicles as well as tobacco smoke, to form other compounds called N-nitrosamines that have been implicated in cancer. Given the high levels of pollution, and our exposure to people who smoke, this is indeed a cause of concern. Giving up the use of hair dyes means compromising on appearance and not many of us find that acceptable. What can be done? The answer – go natural. Here are a few hair colouring ideas to try at home.
Take about six to eight teaspoons (depending on hair length) of coconut oil. Mix three teaspoons of fresh lemon juice in the oil and apply it on hair. Keep it for an hour and wash your hair with a mild shampoo.
Take around five potatoes and peel them. Put the peels in a cup. Take a pan and pour two cups of cold water then add the peels. Bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer for five minutes. Place the pan away from stove and then let it cool. After it completely cools down, strain the liquid out and save it. Add a few drops of sandalwood oil for aroma and pour the cool mixture into a glass container with tight fitting lid. Use it as a hair rinse after washing your hair.
Both tea and coffee have the ability to dye hair a dark brown, but the liquid you use has to be sufficiently concentrated. Use tea powder or tea bags to brew a strong tea, strain and use the liquid when it is warm. Strong black coffee decoction obtained by mixing coffee powder with boiling water and then straining can also help to stain hair a dark brown. You need to soak your hair in the tea or coffee decoction for quite a few hours to see the results. An easier way to make the coffee dye is to mix in some instant coffee granules with some hair conditioner and mix well before applying to hair.
The outer hard shell covering of walnuts gives a very strong colour that can dye your hair a dark brown. Crush the walnut shells and immerse them in boiling water, and boil well for about half an hour. Then cool the liquid, strain it and using a cotton ball, apply the liquid over the part of hair you want to dye. Allow to stay on hair for at least one hour and then rinse out using a mild shampoo and water; avoid using hot water which may cause a loss of the dye effect. This liquid is a very strong dye and will stain everything it comes into contact with a dark brown – skin, cloth, utensils and even the tiles. Therefore, make sure you avoid contact with such surfaces during the preparation, applying and washing off.
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