USING TEA TO DYE DARK HAIR

I was reading how you could use tea or coffee to dye dark hair. Its supposed to be a natural replacement for commercial hair dye. I have naturally dark brown hair that I dye black. Every 4-6 weeks I need a root touch up. I don't want to have to dye my hair that often (even if its only the roots with a 2-3 times a year full head dye job) as it is damaging so I decided to give this a go.

The recipe is simple. Basically the stronger the brew of the tea the stronger the dye. You need to use plain old tea bags- not green tea, as green tea is to light. Look for tea that contains orange pekoe and/or black. Orange pekoe is a black tea. I use a no-name brand I get at my local grocery. Its .99 cent for 100 bags and its the same tea I make iced tea with.

I boiled 2 cups of water and added 6 tea bags. I put it (including the tea bags) in a glass jar and let it sit overnight.


The next morning I poured it over my brushed yet unwashed hair.  I worked it into my scalp, wrapped my hair up in a plastic bag and then a towel and let it sit for one hour.

I squeezed out the leftover teabags into a small cup with a squirt or two of my shampoo. Use whatever amount of shampoo you would normally use.

After the hour I shampooed, with the teabag/shampoo mix and conditioned my hair ( I use my semi-homemade coconut milk shampoo, which I previously posted on, and my coconout milk honey conditioning rinse, which I will post on later.)


I was shocked that it actually worked. Now there is not a major difference in color like you would get with commercial hair dye but my roots were noticably darker.  If you are going from, lets say blond to dark hair, this isn't going to cut it. However, to freshen up already dark natural or dyed hair this is great. I need to see how long this will last but I am thinking this may really help me stretch some serious time between colorings.  If I have to to this every week  ( or even twice a week) it will be worth it to me. I wont do it daily a it is way to time consuming so I am hoping it will hold up through at least a few shampoos. I shampoo daily.

I am also planning on making a stronger "dye" next time. I will use 1 cup water to the 6 tea bags. I felt like the 2 cups was way to much to just do my roots. It drips everywhere and I felt I wasted half the mix and made a mess. You will make a mess anyway since this is only "tea water" and has no thickness whatsoever. It drips everywhere. That is why I wrapped my head in a plastic bag and then a towel, it really helped.

 Im impresed, really, who wuld have thought little old tea bags could dye your hair!