Experiment - soft, natural reds without henna

[Freija]

Hi! Just thought I'd drop in to mention something I am trying on my hair this afternoon/evening, in case anyone else is interested. I have/will have pictures! : p

I'm trying this because I can't use henna. I tried, for four years, using all kinds of mixes and dilutions, different lawsone contents... unfortunately my colouring is very, very soft and autumnal, so the orange flare was always just too bright and harsh: it killed my natural colour and made my skin look greyish-white in comparison. Even glosses looked slightly off, so in the end I just cut it and started over. My natural hair has loads of gold-tawny-caramel tones, though, and I do want to enhance them (especially at my roots where the hair hasn't caught the sun, making it darker and less golden than my ends). I tried to do this last year with very dilute Manic Panic-type dyes but they built up much faster than I wanted. On the whole, I've realised that I would much rather use herbs and plants that fade out, like cassia.

In the sun, it currently looks like this (pretty much virgin, with some very old 'temporary' dye on the ends):

http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/6066/20130312384.jpg


So!

Right now, I'm steeping a pan of marigold petals, chamomile and paprika (I only had the smoked kind... : /) on a low heat. I plan to leave it not-quite-simmering for an hour and a half in total, adding more water as needed, then to mix in about 200g of cassia auriculata and leave the whole lot somewhere warm for a few hours for dye-release. Then I'll slather it on, cover my head in clingfilm, and hope for the best! I'll post some 'after' pictures when it's done.

If this doesn't work, I'm completely open to suggestions! : ) Or I might try using orange-juice and honey to push cassia to a rusty colour...

[Freija]

Woah. Well, I got dye-release. When it had finished steeping, I poured the contents of the pan through a sieve, into a jug. Then I squeezed the remaining pulp of chamomile flowers and marigold petals as hard as I could against the mesh of the sieve to press out any remaining water. Just from doing that, my wrists have gone faintly orangey (it's more of a salmon colour than henna stains are, I think).

http://img825.imageshack.us/img825/6333/20130410429.jpg
(yep, I broke the sieve in my enthusiasm...)

http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/2184/20130410432.jpg
(this is the dye, before I added the cassia. Considering how it was staining my palms as I was straining it, I think I might actually try making it again to dye yarn with!)

[longNred]

jewelweed would be worth trying. it grows like crazy in my backyard. I usually use it for it's skin soothing properties - bug bites, poison ivy, etc.. but it can be used as a light dye as well. a slight orangy-brown. I would think the spices (paprika) would only give a very temporary stain at best. good luck!

[Naiadryade]

Aren't marigold, chamomile and cassia more yellow than they are red?

I look forward to seeing your results, anyway!

Have you thought about using hibiscus? I think it might need to be used as a leave-in in order have an effect, but it's quite red (not orange)... it would probably show up a lot more on your blonde hair than it does on my brown.

[jillosity]

This could be a fun experiment, but I'm not sure I'd have the persistence to keep at it, and I'm pretty sure you'd need to re-apply every time you wash. Good luck tho!

[kdaniels8811]

I was going to suggest hibiscus, too.

[Natalia]

Staying tuned for after pics

[MonaMayfair]

If you want something yellowy/goldish rhubarb powder works! :)

[joflakes]

I'm excited to see the result! :D

[Freija]

Sorry for the delay - it's on my head now: life intervened last night and this morning, so I just had to put the cassia mix in the bathroom (the coolest and darkest place I could find, other than the 'fridge) and hope I didn't get any sort of demise. I'll post photos tomorrow morning!


jewelweed would be worth trying. it grows like crazy in my backyard. I usually use it for it's skin soothing properties - bug bites, poison ivy, etc.. but it can be used as a light dye as well. a slight orangy-brown. I would think the spices (paprika) would only give a very temporary stain at best. good luck!

I looked it up - it sounds lovely, and it would definitely work, but I think it has the same lawsone dye molecule as henna (I've only just found that out: I'd had no idea there was anything quite like henna out there!) - so I imagine I would probably get the same colour and build-up problems? Thank you for the suggestion, though - I would definitely have tried it if I were still hennaing. I wonder if anyone else has...?



Aren't marigold, chamomile and cassia more yellow than they are red?

I look forward to seeing your results, anyway!

Have you thought about using hibiscus? I think it might need to be used as a leave-in in order have an effect, but it's quite red (not orange)... it would probably show up a lot more on your blonde hair than it does on my brown.


I was going to suggest hibiscus, too.

Thank you! : ) I don't know a lot about hibiscus, but from the way it's usually added to henna (to get deeper wine-reds), I had assumed it was probably a cooler and pinker red? I don't know, though, and I'd love advice from anyone who is more familiar with it! I chose yellowy and orange dyes this time, like the cassia, chamomile and marigold, because I'm trying to bring out the gold and rust tones rather than a true red. I think you're right, though, that I might need to look for something extra, to push the mix further towards rust than it is now. Maybe mixing the cassia with orange juice and honey first (there's a post in the cassia thread in which someone was caught by surprise with that mix!), and then adding the marigold and chamomile dye, would do it. That said, I've got a little bit of orangey staining on my hands so far, presumably from the marigold, so fingers crossed!


If you want something yellowy/goldish rhubarb powder works! :)

Thank you! Have you tried it? : )

[Neecola]

How did it turn out, Freija? :popcorn:

[Freija]

It worked well, I think! I washed it out last night, piled my hair into a soft scrunchie and went to bed. Woke up to absolutely lovely curls - that's the cassia, I think - and great volume/softness/shine, too. : )

As for the colour, I haven't seen it in direct sunlight yet (I live on the coast and it was overcast here for most of the day), so I can't say for sure just how much red is there. Irksome weather! I do definitely see lots more gold, and no yellow - it seems to look really rich and natural - and there must be at least some rust from the marigold, since my roots blend a lot better with the sun-lightened parts than they did; but I have a feeling that, as most of you have suggested, I will want to play around with ingredients a bit more for some extra red tones. I will grab some photos and put them up as soon as I get some sunshine, promise!

[Freija]

Okay, I have photos! They are under flash, so not brilliant, but they do show the colour change (I've included a photo also taken under flash and in the same house/lighting a few months ago, to compare)

Virgin (well, virgin under flash):
http://imageshack.us/a/img33/1752/37668104.jpg

After (1):
http://imageshack.us/a/img585/4418/29421312.jpg

After (2):
http://imageshack.us/a/img94/1246/13371830.jpg

Aaand the curls, loosened somewhat by having been in a half-up all day:
http://imageshack.us/a/img855/3677/62224851.jpg

[Nebulae]

That looks very nice, and natural! It doesn't seem to have a lot of red in it though, if that's what you're going for. I like your experiment, good luck if you keep going with it! :)

[Neecola]

Very nice, Freija! Thanks for sharing the pictures -- looks like it added a hint of a warm glow. Keep us posted on how long your results last. Beautiful curls, btw.

[ladyleelu]

You have absolutely beautiful hair! The shine is incredible. I've been putting off cassia, but I think I'll have to give it a go now.. along with rhubarb and marigold, and maybe maddar as well. I used to lay out with a hibiscus, lemon, honey, and camomile mixture in my youth - very yellow (hair is much darker now). But the idea of a more rust-red cast is nice :)

[earthnut]

Other ideas for red/orange: madder, woodruff roots, cleavers roots, coreopsis, bloodroot, yellow onion skins, eucalyptus leaves and bark, beetroot, red berries, rose petals, cherries, sumac fruit, red leaves, st johns wort. Look up red and orange dyes for wool.

[MonaMayfair]

Sorry Freija, I haven't been on LHC for a while and didn't see you'd asked me something (about the rhubarb powder) Yes I've tried it mixed in with cassia. It definitely gives more yellow tones, and washes out in time like the cassia does. I bought in in the UK from Hennaboy, which is where I got the cassia also. :)

[Kaelee]

I saw someone mentioned beetroot...if that means BEETS be careful. I seem to remember that stain turns black after a while. Plus they're purplish to begin with.

[earthnut]

Beets give a magenta red initially but it quickly fades to brown. Not black, I wish! Like all dyes, it stains everything easily.

[rainfortheend]

If you do apple cider vinegar rinses frequently your hair will gradually gain a slight reddish cast in the sunlight. That's what happened to me. I've been adding ACV to my tea rinses for about a month now. Sometimes, I leave the tea-diluted ACV on for an hour to fight against scalp buildup and dandruff.