I remember dying my hair for the first time when I was 16 years old. I got blond highlights.

From there on, I continued to dye my hair various colours until I had my son and started reducing my chemical exposure. I’ll provide more detail on my transition out of commercial hair-dying in a separate blog post but I wanted to share this henna-tinted hair mask I am doing today.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHN2gi6u0RM]

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Please note this is for natural brunettes – if your hair is dyed blond, I don’t recommend trying it. Also, if you plan on dying your hair with commercial dyes in the near future, do not try this. It is a commitment.

Now that the cold weather is upon us, I noticed my scalp is getting very dry. Plus, since I do not use commercial shampoos, it’s important for me to moisturize regularly. And, since those pesky grey hairs keep showing through increasingly with each passing birthday, I find myself needing to dye my hair more often. So sometimes I combine the two!

Ingredients

1. Aloe vera gel
2. 2 – 3 tbsp of henna
3. 2 – 3 tbsp of indigo*
4. Essential oil of your choice** (lavender, peppermint, rosemary, clary sage and geranium are good ones for hair)
5. A dash of salt
6. A squeeze of lemon
7. A non-metal stirring utensil
8. Glass bowl
9. Water

*I add equal parts indigo to get a medium brown hair colour.

**optional

Instructions

Mix henna and indigo each with water to make a paste with a ratio of about 1:1 (adjust as necessary). Add a squeeze of lemon to the henna mix and a dash of salt to the indigo mix. Let henna and indigo sit for about an hour to release dye. (You would normally let henna sit much longer if using for the main purpose of dying your hair. I find even letting it sit for a bit gives colour back to my greys.) After an hour, mix all ingredients together in a glass bowl using a non-metal stirring utensil. It is important not to use metals to mix the ingredients as they will interact!

In the picture above, I had just mixed the henna and indigo so you will notice they are green. The henna will eventually turn brown and the henna will turn a metallic purple/blue colour.

I normally use lavender in my mixture but today I am trying geranium. You can also adjust all quantities based on your hair length. Mine is very long – more than halfway down my back – so I tend to use a lot.

Enjoy!

M.

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