Plant-Based Beauty |Thoughtfully Chosen | Natural Care for Hair & Skin
Just as leaves and seeds can be used to dye natural fibres, some plants can be used to colour hair naturally. The natural dyes in these plants adhere to the hair and develop their colour through oxidation.
Henna, Indigo and Senna (Cassia) are dried powdered leaves containing naturally occurring dye molecules that interact with the keratin, the protein that makes up the hair.
Henna, Indigo and Senna each produce different natural colours:
Henna binds particularly well with keratin, which is why its colour tends to be long-lasting. Indigo and Senna do not bind in the same way as Henna and may need to be refreshed more often.
Henna, Indigo and Senna can be combined in different proportions to create a wide range of natural hair colours, particularly on grey or lighter hair.
Some general colour possibilities include:
| Natural Hair Dye | Possible Colour Result |
|---|---|
| Henna | Orange-red to auburn |
| Henna + Indigo | Light brown to brown-black |
| Senna (Cassia) | Light blonde on greying blonde hair |
| Henna + Senna (Cassia) | Strawberry blonde to copper red |
| Henna + Senna (Cassia) + Indigo | Dark blonde through to neutral and cooler blonde shades |
| Indigo | Blue to green-blue |
The final colour will depend on your starting hair colour and the proportions of each botanical dye used.
If you use the same natural hair dye mix on different people, you may find that the results are slightly different. This is completely normal.
Plant dyes do not change the natural melanin in your hair. Instead, their colour develops through their interaction with the hair's keratin. Hair can vary considerably in its structure and porosity, so some hair absorbs botanical dyes more readily than others.
For some people, one application may be enough to achieve the desired colour. Others may need to repeat the process a couple of times to build up the colour.
Once you achieve the colour you want, it can be long-lasting. You may then only need to colour the new growth, although you can apply the colour to the whole head whenever you want to refresh or deepen the shade.
There are general guidelines for creating different shades, but the best way to work out how a particular colour will look on your hair is to do a strand test first.
You can use some hair collected from your hairbrush for your test. This allows you to experiment with different Henna, Indigo and Senna proportions before applying the colour to your hair.
Natural plant dyes can sometimes look quite bright immediately after the first rinse. Don't be too quick to re-colour if the colour initially looks lighter or brighter than expected.
Allow around one to two weeks for the colour to oxidise and develop further before deciding whether you need another application.
When in doubt, start with a lighter shade. It is easier to apply another colour treatment to deepen the colour than it is to lighten hair that has become too dark.
Some fruit juices, fruit powders and other botanical ingredients can be added to Henna, Indigo and Senna mixtures to create additional colour tones. However, many of these additives are not as long-lasting or shelf-stable as the botanical hair dyes themselves and may wash out after a few washes.
Amla Powder, also known as Indian Gooseberry, is a dried powdered berry.
Amla does not contain a hair dye of its own, but when used with Henna it can help mute the brightness of Henna. Amla contains natural acids that can lend cooler, ashier tones to Henna, Indigo and Senna colour mixes.
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