I was thinkin' bout hair color....

[okiegirl1]

k, ya'll don't laugh.

Ok, SHTF senario, .... hair color?

When we first bought this place I found we have two old very large black walnut trees. I've only had pecans before so I wasn't sure when the nuts would be ready. The tree has these lime looking things, so I thought I'd crack one open and see how far along they were. (by the way they were WAY hard to open)
Well, I had no idea that the "lime" rind would stain my hands for several days. After that I had heard in "olden times", they actually used that for dye.

Ok, present day.... above mentioned senario. How could one (if one was so inclined) use that natural dye for hair? also, is there a natural reddish dye that could be used for hair? Like an herb I could grow, dry and crush?

I know hair color is not important if we would be trying to survive, but I'd like to look good doing it.

 

[smurfette79]

Red, you can use Henna http://www.renaissancehenna.com/colour-gallery-blonde-hair.htm


I only recall seeing articles about this. I am not sure how in the nature state of life where we can get items. I would be curious to try beets or berries for red.

 

[savingdogs]

Henna is wonderful but not for covering gray. If you just want to give you hair a nice reddish hue, I've used it in the past. It turns gray hair an odd shade although you can use clear Henna and it makes hair shiny. It isn't as intense as the hair dye you are used to though and it washes out slowly, no roots really. I liked using it.

 

[ORChick]

I don't think henna is something that can be grown in temperate climates, but admit that I've never actually researched it - I think it is native to Egypt or India. My hair is (was) naturally reddish gold; I found, when younger, that a henna rinse (just plain henna) brightened my natural color without changing it, and made my hair feel great. Now that I have started to show some gray I find the henna turns that part of my hair a rather nasty yellow-y color - so I am trying to accept the fact that I am getting older, and that my hair just won't look as bright as it used to. I also have long hair (past my hips), and so don't want to try a commercial color - it would be too horrible if I didn't like the result . For darker hair rosemary and sage are said to be good, and chamomile is recommended for blonds.

 

[dragonlaurel]

Marigold helps redheads.

 

[patandchickens]

I can certainly see investigating homemade hair coloring in the sense of experimentation or thrift or Depression-and-WWII-era economic constraints.

However I'm not sure that anything where you would seriously be worrying about doing something about your hair would qualify as Sh*t Hitting The Fan

Anyhow, henna comes from a plant that grows only in the tropics (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henna for detailed information, for any of you who think you might BE able to grow it and want to know more). It produces a really bizarre effect if used on salt-and-pepper hair, is really only used for slightly reddening brunette or reddish hair. It is also a SPLENDID staining agent, used for body decoration in many cultures, and tending to cause body decoration whether you want it or not unless you are REAL careful when applying it to your hair (or are using merely a henna-containing product as opposed to actual plain ol henna)

Pat, who tried it a few times back in college but it was way more work than it was worth for me