Black English Walnuts for hair dye?

[suicides_eve]

I used this a while back to color my hair and was curious if anyone else has done this?
We have the stinking things all over our yard, and i originally started using them to dye paper and read something about it could be used for a semi permeant dye. It did in fact last about 1-2 weeks
but noticed after a while to me, there was a wax like build up so i stop using it. Has anyone used this method regularly? i love the the curl it brought out in my hair and the color was amazing.

[Nightshade]

The toxicity of walnut aside (which should be something you look into), yes you can do it. :)

You can get some over at henna for hair (http://www.mehandi.com/shop/walnut/), and I've run a few strand test on mohiar (plain white goat's hair). I got the best color results when it was simmered with amla for awhile and then left to soak on the mohair.

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f80/SaliceMalkin/WalnutTests.jpg

In the tests above the walnut was just walnut and warm water made into a paste, the walnut amla mix was the same (and I can't find the damn ratio anywhere yet).

The two simmered samples were mixed with water and simmered, with distilled water added to keep it from burning. After an hour or so I let it evaporate down to a more concentrated thick sludge and then applied it to the mohair.

[mellie]

I am interested! We have walnut trees everywhere here. What part of the walnut do you use?

[suicides_eve]

Fish Fish a wonderful dish

[mellie]

Sounds kinda messy! Does it stain your face/ears? If so, how do you prevent that?

Thank you!

[Accolady]

While I cannot contribute with regard to hair dye processes, I
can attest to the staining power of black walnuts.

I made the mistake years ago of trying to process black walnuts
with my bare hands. As a result, my hands were stained terribly.
Try explaining what appear to be filthy hands with grimy nails
to your son's grade school teacher during a PTA meeting.

:eek:

Moral of the story. No matter what you are staining, wear gloves.
Good gloves.

Karen Marie :)

[suicides_eve]

Fish Fish a wonderful dish

[ycelong]

Black Walnut shell powder works well mixed with henna. I just hennaed my hair yesterday with black walnut shell powder, indigo, henna and strong hot coffee/tea.
3 tbsp of black walnut shell powder
1 cup henna
1 cup strong coffee/tea
1 tbsp lemon juice
Mix that together in iron pan and let it sit over night.
Ten minutes before ready to henna:
1 cup indigo
1 cup water
Mix well, then add to henna mixture.
Left on for 3 hours and I have VERY dark almost black hair.
Looks great - no pictures yet :(

[Mahars]

I've also heard that black walnuts work well to dye hair, but I've also heard that a lot of people are allergic to them. You should probably do a patch test first before putting it on your whole head.

[Nightshade]

I've also heard that black walnuts work well to dye hair, but I've also heard that a lot of people are allergic to them. You should probably do a patch test first before putting it on your whole head.

Yep, it's important to do that with any type of natural dye that you use :)