How to dye white hair using and knowing how to best dose the so-called dyeing herbs based on the color of your hair.
Dyeing white hair in a homogeneous and satisfying way with completely natural methods is possible and within everyone’s reach, provided you have will and patience. In nature, in fact, there are plants with intrinsic dyeing power, a characteristic that makes them particularly suitable for use in the coloring of textiles or wood.
The powders obtained from the crushing of some of the dyeing plants can also be safely used to color our hair, including whites. Compared to chemical shades, natural shades have the advantage of nourishing, softening, strengthening and polishing the hair, giving our hair a healthy and luminous appearance. It takes only a little patience and some knowledge on how best to operate.
The dyeing herbs for covering white hair
Before going into detail, it is important to clarify that not all dyeing herbs are the same in the sense that not all of them have the same coloring power. The one that colors the most is undoubtedly the henna, obtained from the shattering of the lawsonia inermis leaves.
Henna has a very high coloring power and it is also the only permanent dyeing herb, that is the only one that definitively binds to the keratin of the hair, stratifying on it.
Then there are herbs that color very much, such as turmeric or katam, and others that instead have a bland dyeing power, such as hibiscus, or simply equipped with a reflective effect, such as walnut husk and nagar motha.
Without these prerequisites, we come to the advice on how to concretely cover white hair.
Cover the whites starting from a blonde base
If you have a blonde base, white hair can be colored using a mix of herbs, which can be found in the special packaging in which the individual powders are already dosed and mixed. The effect will not be permanent, but will certainly last longer than some shampoo, until the new application.
Alternatively, we can provide ourselves with the mixture of yellowing herbs. In this case, it is good to bear in mind the specific characteristics of each individual powder. Turmeric, for example, has a very high dyeing power, so it will be used sparingly. In addition, on light hair determines a very cold blond.
Rhubarb, instead, gives hottest shades of blond, in some cases even tending to copper and orange.
To this mixture we can add chamomile, which has a power mostly reflective, and oxidized cassia. By oxidizing the cassia for 12 hours in vinegar or lemon juice, this herb will be able to give golden shades to our foliage, as well as exerting an extraordinary power and strengthening. restructuring.
Cover the whites starting from a red base
People who have an initial coloration with red or coppery shades, can cover white hair through the use of henna or madder.
As mentioned, henna is the only permanent dyeing herb. It is great for dyeing hair and able to cover the whites perfectly. Releases a copper shade, more or less accentuated according to how dark the initial color is.
So, if the coppery or even orange effect is not to our liking, we can use the madder to cover the whites. This powder in fact gives darker and colder colors, tending to mahogany and cherry.
If we want to accentuate the cold tone of madder, we can macerate the powder in a basic environment, adding a pinch of bicarbonate to the batter preparation water.
Cover the whites starting from a brown base
If instead we start from a brown base, the ideal procedure is longer but equally simple. In fact, in this case, in order to obtain a complete and satisfactory coverage of the whites, the ideal would be to resort to the double passage.
What is it about? It consists in uniformly covering the white hair first with a henna only pass, then tonalizing them with a darkening herb (katam or indigo), used inside a dyeing mixture.
In case of light brown hair, once the first pass has been done with only henna, it is necessary to dilute the dyeing compound a lot if you do not want to darken the hair too much. In any case, it is preferable to use the katam with respect to the indigo, since the latter gives darker and deeper tones.
A good dyeing compound, able to cover white hair while still giving a brown color, should consist of a good percentage of cassia and a small percentage of katam and henna.
In this case, the cassia has the function of diluting the final color, the katam gives the brown tone, while the henna acts as a mordant, helping to better fix the color.
There are no fixed rules or percentages valid for everyone. We must try and experience in the first person, because each hair is different, has its own specific porosity and therefore a different receptivity to dyeing herbs.
In any case, a suitable mixture to obtain a light brown, covering the white hair at the same time could be the following: 60% of cassia, 25% of katam and 15% of henna.
If we have little time or anyway we do not want to submit to the double pass, we can opt for a single pass, always using a dye mix of cassia, henna and katam. In this case, however, the coverage of the whites will not be equally guaranteed.
If our starting point is a medium brown, the same goes for the same thing. In this case, however, it is necessary to increase the percentage of darkening herb inside the dyeing compound. A rough indication could be the following: 30% of Cassia, 30% of henna and 40% of katam.
For a very dark brown, tending to brown, we can use a mixture composed of 50% of katam or indigo and 50% of cassia.
Cover the whites starting from a black base
On black hair, instead, after having made the first pass based on henna only, a batter can be distributed, preferably made only by indigo or, eventually, by katam alone.
The indigo dyes the hair of a deep black, with blue reflections.
The katam instead releases a very dark brown color, but less strong than the indigo. In the light of the sun, the reflections appear violet.
Procedure to cover white hair
Regarding the procedure to be followed, applying herbs dyeing on the hair is quite simple:
- The powder or powders are dissolved in hot but not boiling water and it is expected about 15-20 minutes for the dyeing pigment to be completely released.
- The obtained mixture should therefore be evenly distributed on the hair, dry or wet, it does not matter, provided they are clean or in any case free from oils or other products that would exert a filming effect preventing the penetration of color.
- The batter must be kept moist, otherwise it will cease to dye. For this reason, the hair should be covered with transparent film, taking care to apply it everywhere.
Cover white hair: shutter speed
Regarding the shutter speed, it should be said that the longer the residence time of the hair dye, the more homogeneous and lasting the result will be.
For blonde hair, the minimum pose is one hour, but it is recommended to keep the hair dye for about 2 hours.
Also to cover the red hair, henna or madder should be kept in place for at least 2 hours.
In the case of brown hair, the first henna-based passage takes 2-3 hours to provide optimal coverage on the whites. For the second pass, the one that includes the darkening herb, 1 hour and a half or 2 hours at most will be more than enough. If you decide to make a single pass, it is preferable to keep the dyeing compound in place for about 3 hours.
At the end of the application, it is advisable to wash your hair well to remove all dust residues. You can only use water or make a light cleansing with a mild shampoo.
Recommended acid rinsing, necessary to close the scales of the hair and fix the color in the best way. It is done by adding to the water of the last rinse an acidic substance such as vinegar or lemon juice.
Cover white hair with other natural methods
There are other natural substances often recommended for hair dyeing. Black tea, coffee, sage, rosemary, carrot, beetroot, cocoa: you’ll be spoiled for choice.
Personally I have never tried these products on my hair, while I have a long direct experience with dyeing herbs. I do not want to discourage its use, also because, being completely natural substances, the maximum damage they can cause is not to paint at all. But I can not express myself on their effectiveness.
Personally I prefer the use of substances that have the specific power to color the hair, or the dyeing herbs. The results in this case are truly extraordinary and always guaranteed.
And for this I strongly recommend the use to those who want to take care of their hair in a completely natural but at the same time extremely effective.
In fact, with the dyeing herbs it is possible to cover white hair very well, obtaining full-bodied and deep colors, beautifully modulated on our starting shade. Furthermore, application after application, the hair will appear more voluminous, soft, strong and luminous.
Read Also:
How to Dye Hair at Home: Tips and Rules to Follow
