DIY-Coffee Hair Dye

Thursday, February 28, 2013

Hi readers,

I get asked A LOT what my natural hair color is and honestly I have no idea. I personally think that is kind of a boring question to ask someone because who has natural colored hair anymore? If I had to be totally honest and think back REALLY REALLY far I think my "natural" hair color is mousy blond. I have been every color in-between and luckily because of my pale skin I look alright in most hair colors. I have been in love with pretending to be more Russian than I actually am and enjoy sporting really dark brunette hair. My hairdresser would be made at me but I am a lover of dying my own hair. I've noticed that if you are going dark for hair color it's really hard to screw it up. I buy professional products from Sally Beauty Supply so I'm not just purchasing the over-the-counter Walgreens hair dye.

I came across an interesting article for DIY coffee hair dying and really wanted to try it out last night. I looked insane to my husband brewing fresh/really strong coffee at 10:00 pm at night and then proceeding to combine that with A TON of conditioner. Coffee has been used for centuries as a hair dye and, in some cultures, is still used more often than over-the-counter chemical hair colorants, as it's cheaper and not damaging to your hair. So, here is the mixture that I used to dye my hair with my DIY coffee hair dye recipe.

What You Need-DIY Coffee Dye
A large bottle of cheap conditioner
1 tablespoon of instant coffee granules
1/4 cup of instant or brewed hot coffee
a plastic bag
an old towel

How to Color Your Hair with Coffee -

1. Pour half a cup of conditioner into a cup and add a tablespoon of instant coffee granules. Mix together with a spoon until the coffee is completely mixed in.

2. Put either 1 tablespoon of instant coffee in a cup and add 1/4 cup of hot water to it, or make a pot of strong brewed coffee. Now pour the 1/4 cup of instant hot coffee or 1/4 cup of brewed coffee into the conditioner/coffee mix and stir around till everything is mixed. Let sit for five minutes.

3. Now it's time to head to the bathroom.

4. Drape an old towel around your shoulders to catch any coffee drips. Scoop up a little bit of the coffee mix and carefully apply it to your dry hair, being careful not to let it dribble too much down your face or arms or onto the floor.

5. Keep applying all the mixture until your entire head of hair is covered. Massage into your hair and scalp for two minutes.

6. Wrap the plastic bag around your head and tie up in a small knot.. The heat from the plastic bag and the trapped heat coming from your head makes the coffee 'develop' faster. Leave it on your hair for 15-30 minutes, then hop in the shower and rinse off. Shampoo it to get rid of the excess coffee, rinse again and rub dry with the old towel.

7. Blow dry as usual and, voila, coffee colored hair.

Here are a few pictures from my first try at coffee dye hair and my hair feels amazingly shiny too.





XOXO

JADATO

31 comments:

  1. I thought of trying this on my hair. It turned out darker than I thought it would, but it looks good.

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    1. The good thing is fades after a bit and my hair looks and feels way healthier.

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  2. YOO..... i want to try this but does it turn up too dark?? im doing this in the summer too

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    1. Hello there. My hair is already pretty dark so it is hard to tell if it turns too dark. I have seen other bloggers on the internet dye their hair (their original hair being blondish) and it seems to be fine. Remember this isn't a permanent dye so if the color isn't your favorite it washes out fairly fast.

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    2. thanks i tryed it and i still have my natural purplish hair i love it it didnt turn to dark thanks ssooooo much but how long does it take to go away ?

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  3. I did this, i followed all the instructions, I have blonde hair, and my color did not change at all. wtf? Waste of coffee and conditioner.

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    1. I am so sorry it didn't work with your hair. It is only a temporary thing and my hair color is already quite dark. I'm not a hair dresser so it isn't guaranteed on everyone's hair. Just something fun to try. I hope for better luck next time.

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  4. Lol it made my hair shiny and smell amazing ^.^ and its looks so healthy!

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  5. I'm going to try this in a minute, I have really dark brown hair anyway but want to go darker. Will this damage my hair?

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  6. i have ginger hair and i want to just try this on the ends. will my hair go back to its original colour after it comes out? and also is it true that if you add less coffee granules it goes less dark?

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  7. Hi Caitlin. Your hair should go back to the original color b/c this is a very basic way to non-chemical change your hair color. I think the less coffee granules + less time you let the coffee brew will be the less dark the color should come out. Again, I am not a hair care professional but this method is something I do for my hair often and it comes out very healthy and washes out about 5 washes in.

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  8. Hi! I trained in cosmetology and love natural alternatives. So to the blonde girl who tried to darken her hair with coffee, "I did this, i followed all the instructions, I have blonde hair, and my color did not change at all. wtf? Waste of coffee and conditioner." The coffee doesn't dye your hair. Its stains it. Like using berries to stain your lips. The stain is subtle, and it can appear to be really dark on people with reddish under tones or hair that is really porous because it absorbs more of the stain. Its a stain not a dye because the pigment is deposit only, unlike permanent hair color which enter the hair and "changes places" with the natural pigment. So because it is a stain, not a dye- it will not alter dramatically your hair color. People with lighter hair colors are not going to see a dramatic result. The dye only lasts so long, and as soon as you wash your hair the pigment is decreased. So when you washed it out, you essentially washed all the color out with it. Thats why you didnt see a dramatic change. Brunettes see a change because the stain evens out the already dark color. If you have a question about this just ask. If you are looking for a natural alternative that works for dramatic changes try henna.

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    1. I've seen a video where henna (natural without any additives ) turned African American hair redish.
      Is this the normal result for African American hair ? I want a black result.

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    2. Henna always deposits reddish tones on any hair type.....You have to henna your hair first and then use indigo on top of that to get black hair

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    3. hi. i have blond hair and i want to have brown(ish) hair. i have tried coloring my hair with coffee but it didn't work. i will try this way, but i am looking for more dramatic results. i don't want to damage my hair. does henna have chemicals?

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  9. Hi. I haven't tried it on African American hair so I can't say how it would turn out. Sorry about that.

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  10. Hi my hair is a light brown with blond in it if I try this will it turn my hair black?

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    1. Hi Maria! It shouldn't dye your hair too dark b/c it's only temporary hair color. I would do a test strip on the lightest portion to see how it turns out. Since you have different colors of strands I'm sure this will only deposit a little bit of color. GOOD LUCK!

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  11. How long does the coffee hair dye usually last?

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    1. Hi there! It really depends on different facts such as how much do you wash your hair, what color is your original hair, etc. I would say it lasts a few days.

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  12. Hi, thanks for taking the time to write this article :)
    I turned 50 this year and was going to have a new hair style but ive noticed quite a few grey hairs hiding lol
    Im mixed race (afro/european)my natural hair is dark brown, do you know if this coffee method will work for me? I'm not a fan of dying my hair with chemicals :)

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  13. Hi there,

    Well, I'm not sure it will cover grey hairs b/c it is simply not permanent enough. HOWEVER, it will make your hair so shiny, add a bit of color, and condition it so not a bad fix. I need to do this again to my hair, and mix it into my weekly beauty routine, I would say go ahead and try it because it's such a cheap DIY thing to do at home. GOOD LUCK!

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  14. Could I use something like coconut oil instead of conditioner???

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    1. Hi Amina,

      I haven't tried using coconut oil instead of conditioner. I think it would work ok but conditioner seemed to work well. I didn't use really expensive conditioner and it seemed to work well. Let me know if you try Coconut Oil and you think it works well.

      -Kat

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  15. Replace yogurt with cocoa butter lotion makes your hair bouncy and smell good too!!

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  16. What would happen if you left the coffee in your hair?

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  17. Love the coffee color! Will be routine for me from now on.

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  18. That hair shade looks really interesting! It wouldn't work on me, but I always admire the people who can pull certain looks off. For more details discover this info here

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