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Dye Hair Naturally with Henna Hair Color

Dyeing hair with henna hair color is a good alternative to chemical dyes. So that you can use the henna color correctly, we have collected the most important information on the subject and clarified the most frequently asked questions, such as: What exactly is henna? How is the color mix made? How do achieve different nuances?

What actually is henna?

Henna is a healthy, caring, and environmentally friendly alternative to conventional hair dyes. The application is a bit more cumbersome, but the result is worth the extra time. Especially if you love red hair, henna is a good choice. Usually, unlike chemical paints, the color may fade. Still, the dye has to grow out.

Henna is a herbal powder that you can buy at health food stores or online. Since there are differences in quality here, make sure that it is pure henna. Because henna can contain many additives (such as metal salts) that negatively affect the quality and color result. The term “Body Art Quality” stands for the highest quality and should definitely be stated.

Is henna hair dye dangerous?

Studies by the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment initially gave rise to concerns that the pigment Lawson held a risk of mutagenic damage. But it has now been confirmed that henna hair dyes are harmless. The henna color is also safe for use in children, adolescents, and pregnant women.

This applies above all to the traditionally manufactured products. However, some manufacturers add the artificial coloring para-phenylenediamine (PPD). Because this accelerates the dyeing process and the intensity. Caution is therefore required here, as this can cause allergic reactions. Substances added to henna tattoos are also often a cause for concern.

What color result can I achieve with henna?

The nice thing about henna color is that you can achieve a very individual result depending on the initial hair color and hair structure. Of course, the intensity also depends on the exposure time. The longer the exposure time, the more intense the red tone. If you already have colored or toned hair, the results can be unpredictable. If, on the other hand, you already have red hair, you can use henna hair color without hesitation. Otherwise, you should wait a few months before applying traditional hair dye to chemically colored hair. And be careful with bleached hair: this can lead to a green tint. In this case, follow our tips for dyeing blonde hair darker.

1) Preparation for coloring hair with henna

If you want to dye your hair with henna hair color, you should always prepare a test strand first. Preparation is everything when you want to dye your own hair. And the care afterward is also important, read about the possibilities of hair care with coconut oil. And the best way to prepare is as follows:

  1. Prepare the test strand: Mix a small amount of henna (approx. 1 tablespoon) with approx. 1 tablespoon of water and let the mixture sit overnight. Then put a strand (e.g. from your hairbrush) in the cup and leave it on for at least 2 hours. Of course, you can also use a strand of hair at the nape of the neck or the tips.
  2. Trying out the effect of different ingredients to determine different color results is possible. For this, you have to prepare several mixtures.
  3. Wash your hair with a clarifying shampoo the day before to remove built-up silicone. If you’ve been using silicone-free shampoos and conditioners for a long time, you can skip this step.
  4. Then mix the henna according to the package directions. Traditionally, the powder is mixed with boiling water until it has a thick consistency. You can add more water if you like.
  5. Then let the henna color rest overnight (6-8 hours) before you apply it.
  6. Prepare the bathroom: Line your bathroom with old towels or newspaper. Because the henna color has a strong color strength. It should be removed immediately if something goes wrong. You can protect your hairline with coconut oil or petroleum jelly.

2) How to dye hair with henna

If you have prepared everything for coloring your hair with henna, you can start. It is best to wear old clothes and put on plastic gloves before you start. Because, as I said, the dye is intense and difficult to remove afterward. Also, read our home remedies for beautiful hair.

  1. Put on plastic gloves and apply the finished henna hair color. This is best done with a hair coloring brush. It is also beneficial if someone helps you with the application.
  2. Exposure time: A plastic cap and a towel wrapped around it prevent the mixture from drying out during the exposure time. In addition, the heat that develops increases the coloring effect of the henna.
  3. Leave the henna on for at least 2 hours, 6 to 8 hours is better. This is easiest if you use the henna color overnight.
  4. The best way to wash out is to first dip the hair in a bucket of water in the bathtub. This will allow most of the henna to come off before you rinse it out. The process can take a long time, so be careful with your hair here to avoid damaging it.
  5. Never use shampoo to rinse off. Because henna usually works for a few days, as the color oxidizes in the hair. Accordingly, shampoo would hinder this process. However, after rinsing, you can apply a conditioner. This is especially recommended if you have very dry hair.

3) How long does the color last?

Henna is permanent and will not wash out. It may fade a bit over time (after 4-8 weeks), but the red tone will remain. The color is very nourishing, but the mechanical irritation when washing it out can put a strain on dry hair. That’s why you can leave the hair ends untreated when re-dyeing. Because usually, the color stays here the longest anyway.

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Lifestyle

Home Remedies to Dye Your Hair Yourself

Practical home remedies for coloring hair and tips for coloring hair at home. We show you what you have to pay attention to so that your hair gets a nice color and how you can refresh your hair color.

Dye your own hair and refresh your color

Normally you go to the hairdresser to color your hair. But in some cases, women and men decide against a visit to the hairdresser. And that can have very different reasons: some have had bad experiences, others want to save costs and some of us want to get a new look with natural home remedies. Because you don’t always need chemical hair dyes for new hair color. Therefore, we will tell you a few tricks for coloring your hair yourself, so that there are no nasty hair accidents.

1) Refresh blonde hair color with chamomile

Real chamomile blossoms help you bring the shine back to your blond hair. According to this, add four tablespoons of chamomile flowers to half a liter of boiling water. Then lower the temperature and let the brew steep for 25 minutes. Then let the whole thing run through a sieve and press the flowers out well in the sieve again. You can use the remaining, cooled liquid as a conditioner after washing your hair. Also read how you can dye blonde hair darker, for example with natural cocoa.

2) Naturally increase the vibrancy of brown hair

If you have brown hair and would like to freshen up your tone, then this is best done with brown onions. You should boil them in water for about a quarter of an hour and let the brew cool down. Then wash your hair as usual. You pour the treatment over your soft shiny hair during the last rinse. In order for your hair to get a warm tone and gain luminosity, you should repeat this a few times,

3) Auburn shine for brown hair

If your brown hair seems colorless to you and you want to refresh your hair color, no problem. You can use black tea to conjure up a reddish-brown shimmer. Accordingly, brew half a liter of black tea and let it cool down until it is only lukewarm. Then you can use the liquid as a conditioner after washing your hair. About this also note valuable tips for hair treatment do it yourself.

4) Dye your hair red yourself

Henna is an effective and natural way to dye hair red. Because with this herbal powder you can refresh pretty much any hair color and get a new look. However, the final result is very individual, as hair color and hair structure affect the color result.

5) Remove slight discoloration of the hair

If your hair is slightly discolored, there is a simple trick: Dissolve two aspirin tablets in 500 ml of water and rinse your hair thoroughly with the solution several times. The acid in the aspirin tablet attacks the hair color directly and you can easily and quickly get your old hair color back. Also, learn how to make your own shampoo for beautiful hair.

6) Dye hair at the hairdresser’s

In most cases, people like to go there to relax. Because there you can relax and be pampered a little. Especially for hair coloring and highlighting, the hairdresser often gives better results. If you love your hairdresser friends, you should try not to show up with clean washed hair before the coloring appointment. The last hair wash can be 2 to 3 days old. Because that way there is a better grip when coloring the highlights. Even when coloring the whole hair, the accumulated own hair oils serve as a protective film on your scalp. Also, note useful home remedies for dandruff on the scalp.

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Lifestyle

Dye Blonde Hair Darker with Home Remedies

With these tips, you can dye blonde hair darker. If your hair is too blonde, gently and gently dying it darker will help. We will also show you how you can undo fresh bleaching.

Undo bleaching?

Blonde is friendly, blonde is sexy, and blonde makes people likable. And blondes were already popular in the Stone Age. Therefore, many resorts to bleaching. Boldly go ahead and read the package insert, put on gloves, and start coloring your hair yourself. Yes, and then about an hour later, looking in the mirror is a shock. Maybe platinum wasn’t quite the right color after all and the light blonde doesn’t suit everyone. One quickly asks oneself how to properly and gently dye this blonde dilemma darker on his head.

1) Dye freshly bleached hair darker

It’s not that easy to reverse the fresh bleaching. Because especially with bleached hair, shortly after coloring, the hair structure is severely attacked by the bleaching. Then the hair is porous and takes on a new color poorly or not at all. Therefore, you should now under no circumstances use a dye in the direction of ash blonde, light brown, or even darker brown. Otherwise, the result is definitely a green tint that cannot be overlooked. If you already have that green cast, use an exfoliating shampoo or golden-colored shampoo. You can also try a pigmented conditioner, which you can find at any hair supply store. This is to pull the color out of the hair.

2) Dye hair darker

There are ways of achieving an acceptable, darker result yourself if you do not immediately apply a new intensive coloring. In any case, use an intensive tint, although in both cases you must add gold or red tone to avoid the green tint. However, the new color quickly falls out and fades, so that the porous hair has to be tinted again several times. You can also dye the hair red first and then put the darker tone over it again. However, this is not gentle on the hair. Therefore, also note other home remedies for beautiful hair.

3) Have patience for a good result

You mustn’t despair. Because it will get darker and more beautiful if you bring a little patience. You can slowly move towards the dark blonde, gold, or beige to café latte or brown tones without risking split ends and completely damaged hair. It’s also clear that in all of these rescues you’re using really good color-treated hair care products. For this, take a look at our home remedies for making your own hair treatment.

4) Dye hair darker with cocoa

Cocoa is a natural hair coloring agent. Consequently, you can dye your hair darker by mixing cocoa and water into a paste. Then massage the porridge into your hair. After an exposure time of approx. In 20 minutes you can rinse the mass out with clear water. If it hasn’t become intense enough, repeat the process several times.

5) Coffee darkens your hair

Likewise, you can try to dye your hair darker with the help of coffee. Accordingly, you need to mix the brew of coffee with your conditioner and apply it to your soft and shiny hair. Then leave it on for an hour before rinsing it off thoroughly with clear water.

6) Black Tea for Darker Hair

The home remedy black tea is also known to give hair a darker tone. Due to the tanning agent, it contains, your hair gets a darker shade. To do this, you have to grind the contents of the black tea bag and pour hot water over it to create a paste. Then leave it on your hair for an hour. Finally, rinse everything well. In addition, note tips for gentle hair care in winter.

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Food

Carmine: Why The Dye is Not Vegetarian

Carmine red is in lipsticks, candy or lemonade. However, the red dye is not suitable for vegetarians. We’ll explain why.

What is carmine and where is it used?

Carmine is a dye widely used in the cosmetics and food industries. It gives a rich red color to numerous products. You can find it on the list of ingredients under the designation E120. Carmine is often also listed as “true carmine”, carminic acid, carmine, cochineal or cochineal.

Many of the following products are often colored with crimson:
lipsticks
eyeshadow
shampoo
Toothpaste with red content
Sweets
lemonades and soft drinks
milkshakes
fruit yoghurt
Ready-to-eat desserts
Canned cherries and red fruit jelly
Cake frosting and cake decoration
cured meats
The problem: Real carmine is made from dead lice. Countless small animals die for the dye. This is not only cruel, but can also lead to health problems for us humans.

Why carmine is not vegetarian

Carmine red is obtained from the dye of female scale insects. Depending on the process, the subspecies cochineal scale or nopal scale, the Indian lacquer scale or the Polish and Armenian cochineal are used. The tiny insects naturally produce the red acid to protect themselves from predators.

More problems from Carmine

In addition to the fact that carmine red is not vegetarian, the dye can also become dangerous for humans.

The consumption of carmine can lead to serious allergic reactions: skin rashes, breathing difficulties, headaches and nausea up to a life-threatening anaphylactic shock can be the result. Asthmatics should also avoid products with crimson as much as possible.

Alternatives to Carmine

Killing countless animals for purely visual reasons is senseless and cruel. In order not to further support the production of crimson, you can take a closer look at the list of ingredients for red-colored products.

Many manufacturers are now using plant-based or synthetic alternatives to carmine. The number E124 indicates synthetic carmine. Red dye can also be obtained naturally from alkenna roots or from beetroot juice.

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Food

Ei like: Dye Easter Eggs Naturally!

What would Easter be without brightly colored Easter eggs? For hundreds of years, we have had the custom of dyeing Easter eggs, often during Holy Week around Maundy Thursday. But chemicals don’t always have to be used for dyeing. Rather, the typical egg colors should even be dispensed with, as can be seen from a current Greenpeace market check. More than half of all Easter egg dyes tested in March 2021 contained substances that were harmful to health, such as azo dyes. These are suspected of triggering allergies and promoting asthma.

Dye Easter eggs naturally

But don’t worry: you can also use natural products from local kitchens to make beautiful eggs for Easter baskets, and the colors are guaranteed to be harmless. A classic from the range of natural Easter egg colors is red onion skins. But even if the eggs are colored with turmeric, beetroot, or tea, for example, the results are impressive. And another big plus of natural colors: You don’t have to worry about the color seeping through the shell, because the eggs can be enjoyed by children and adults without hesitation.

How it works

Make dye broth

Depending on the number of eggs you want to dye, first, make a dye stock. To do this, boil 500 ml to 1 l of water and add the coloring products, let the brew steep for at least 15 minutes. Basically, the brew becomes stronger the longer you let it steep. Pay attention to your starting material: turmeric powder, for example, is already very fine and releases its color relatively quickly into the water. Whole sprigs of nettle will take longer to do this, of course, but you can cut them into small pieces to speed up the color extraction.

Boil eggs

You can boil the eggs while the dye brew is brewing. First, clean the eggs well, rub with vinegar, and hard boil as normal. In this way, the subsequent dyeing time can be controlled independently of the hard boil. Also, hard-boiled eggs are easier to decorate. It is best to dye the Easter eggs immediately after hard-boiling because they take on the color better when they are still warm.

Dye Easter eggs naturally

As already mentioned, the still-warm eggs are placed in the warm dye broth. They stay there for at least 15 minutes. The exact duration depends on the egg color, but also on what natural materials you are coloring with. Some stain much faster and more intensely than others. Since the eggs are already cooked any way, you can leave them in the broth until the desired result is achieved. It is best to rub the finished eggs with a drop of oil to give them a nice shine.

Decorate Easter eggs

Just brightly colored is not enough for you? Then you can provide the Easter eggs with different patterns. One option is to draw patterns on the boiled eggs with beeswax before coloring them. In these places, they do not take on any color. You can also put leaves and grass or a piece of decorative ribbon or lace on top of the eggs and tie a piece of pantyhose tightly over them. This is how the pattern is transferred to the eggs. When choosing the grass, you should note that thicker leaves and stems leave stronger light spots than very delicate leaves such as yarrow.

Natural coloring agents

What now colors how? Red eggs produce beetroot (divide a beetroot into pieces and let it soak in the broth) or red onion skins (at least a handful, the shells can also be soaked in the broth overnight – depending on the color of the eggs you get rich, dark red-brown eggs this way). Blueberries or elderberries (frozen) or red cabbage produces purple to bluish eggs. Turmeric, carrots, or chamomile flowers dye eggs yellow – but these dyes only work on white eggs, brown ones are too dark. You can get green eggs by using crushed nettles, spinach, or mate tea. Black tea, coffee, or regular brown onion peel will turn eggs brown.

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Betanin: All About the Dye E162

Betanin is characterized as a dye by its bright red color. In this article you will learn what there is to know about the substance, what it is contained in and how you can use it.

Betanin is one of the natural food colorings and is also known as beet red or betanoin. Betanin is approved as a harmless E number in the EU via the number E162, which you can use to identify it on lists of ingredients. Betanin is obtained from beetroot because it contains a particularly large amount of betanin. The dye is very soluble in water and is sensitive to light and heat.

Betanin is one of the betalains, one of the nitrogenous plant pigments. They are often associated with health benefits in food: the dye has antioxidant properties that are said to have a protective effect against arteriosclerosis and cancer.

If you eat a lot of betanin or beetroot, your urine or stool can turn red. You don’t need to worry about this discoloration as it is harmless.

What foods contain betanine?

As already mentioned, betanin is found in beets, but also in yellow beets and prickly pears. As a coloring agent, it is often used in the following products:

sauces
soups
yogurt
chewing gum
Ice
Sweets
reddish noodles or pasta
Herring salad
pickled vegetables

How can you use betanine?

To take advantage of betanin’s intense red color, you can use either ready-made or homemade beetroot juice, juice concentrate, or even beetroot powder. Depending on how much of the dye of your choice you use, you can achieve a color spectrum from light pink to pink to deep red. Note that the beetroot juice has a certain taste of its own. Basically, however, you don’t need much for coloring, so the taste can quickly disappear – especially if you use other spice components. Beetroot powder offers a tasteless alternative. It is hardly noticeable in the taste and can at most bring a slightly sweet to earthy note.

You can use betanine as a dye in the following ways:

for food, for example homemade pasta, pastries, dips or pickled vegetables
for cosmetic products, for example homemade lipstick, lip gloss, hair color or rouge
for objects and textiles, for example for wood, cloths or T-shirts or to dye Easter eggs naturally
Note: If you work with beetroot, there may well be unwanted spills. When dyeing, it is best to wear clothes that can get dirty and work with a little caution overall. If you still need to remove stains, you can find more information here: Removing beetroot stains: tips and home remedies.

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