Miss Dying Hair at Salon? Try These Natural Food Colouring Hair Dyes at Home

Those diminutive little bottles of food colouring could come handy when you feel bored. Natural food coloring works as an easy-to-apply, super-affordable temporary hair color that goes gentle on the tresses.

You can go from chestnut brown to autumnal auburn or from sandy blond to raven black in just minutes. A food coloring dye only stays temporarily on light hair — whether naturally hued or artificially lightened. Before you begin, try a test run by cutting off a lock of hair from an inconspicuous place, applying and setting the dye, and then giving the lock a rinse.

If in the past, you have struggled with unwanted tones popping up over time, turn to a drop of food coloring and your regular shampoo. Here is a plethora of options which you can try:

• Carrot juice

If you love a reddish-orange tint, carrot can help you do that. Depending on the color of your hair, the tint can last for a few weeks to a few days.

Method:

• With carrier oil like coconut or olive oil, mix carrot juice.
• Apply the mixture evenly to your hair or to the parts you wish to color.
• Wrap your hair in plastic or foil, and let the mixture sit at least an hour.
• Rinse with apple cider vinegar. If the color isn’t strong enough, you can repeat this the next day

Lemon juice

Unlike the other methods described here, the results of using lemon juice are permanent. The pigment on the portion of hair you apply lemon juice is forever. You can get rid of this lightened hair only by cutting it off.

Lemon juice can help strip your hair of its pigment slowly, lightening it over time. It’s best used to achieve sun-kissed highlights naturally.

Method:

• In a spray bottle, pour lemon juice.
• Gently spray the juice onto your hair.
• You can use a comb to spread and separate the juice evenly through your hair
• Sit outside in the sun for the best results.
• Let the lemon juice set in for at least an hour, and then wash it out.

This can be done several times to get the desired effect, if necessary. It works slightly slow and may require a few repeat sessions.

Beet juice

If you love tints of red, this is definitely worth trying. Beetroot gives deeper red tint with cooler undertones.

Method:

• Add beet juice to carrier oil.
• Apply the mixture gently to your hair, and then wrap or cover your hair.
• Keep the mixture for at least an hour before washing it out.

Coffee

You thought coffee was just for a caffeine boost? Well, a cup of brewed coffee can do wonders! It can also help dye your hair a shade or two darker, and may even cover up some grey hair.

Method:

• Brew a strong cup of dark-roast coffee.
• Add about 1/2 cup of coffee with 2 tablespoons of coffee grounds and mix with 1 cup of leave-in hair conditioner.
• Damp the hair a bit and apply the mixture.
• Let the mixture sit for at least an hour and cover it with a clean foil wrap, and wash it out when you’re done.
• Repeat if necessary.

Over to you

The color can last for a few weeks, depending on how often you wash your hair. You don’t need to do anything special to remove the color; simply wash as you normally would, and it fades on its own.