feeling colorful....

i reeeeally would like to dye my locks a dark auburn...what are the best dyes to use? i don't think i need to bleach it and i'd really rather not. my hair is light brown now and blonde on the tips. if you have any natural dye mixes that would be wonderful!just would like some tips on dying the locks, tell me your experiences?!mine are almost 6 months so they're stilly babies but pretty sturdy for the most part c:help is appreciated!!blissings ~
updated by @kristie: 02/14/15 08:51:17AM

Henna is recommended as the least damaging to dreads. But be forewarned, baking soda will strip the color out, any type of dyes, so you won't be able to use the BS anymore. What ever you choose to use, rinse, rinse, rinse, even squeeze to make sure all the dye is out. Have fun.

i dye mine red with henna but theres a brown dye i think called alma. go to hennaforhair.com and its mostly about henna but has a ton of info on other natural dyes. i trust them like i trust this site...

BS can strip henna. some people more than others due to hairsporousness. you can do avinegar rinse to close the cuticle of the hair to prevent some run off. i still use BS/acvevery couple of dreadlock shampoo-ings. its best not to do it right after dying it though.found that out lol. it still didntstrip it like it would have a chemical dye. you can mix henna and indigo for black or brown... mine went from dark dark brown to slighty burgundy with henna. i have adiscussion on how i did mine if you go for it.

the Barrellady said:

Henna is recommended as the least damaging to dreads. But be forewarned baking soda will strip the color out, any type of dyes, so you won't be able to use the BS anymore. What ever you choose to use, rinse, rinse, rinse, even squeeze to make sure all the dye is out. Have fun.

I heard u can make them darker with applying black tea, SE posted a thread about it

Henna is best for red Mine are 3 month old free form and I bleached the bottom half of my hair, easily came out with normal washing and wasnt even that difficult to do. It's like dying normal hair, just make sure not to get it too far into your locks otherwise it will be a bother to get out.. mine are all luckily very thin

*I use a shampoo bar, that's what I meant with normal washing

to get browns you mix the henna & indigo. I also used it & have my mix ratios & photos of the changes in my timeline. Mine has faded a lot, but I used baking soda mostly to wash. The indigo seemed to fade first leaving the red behind. I overdyed a single dread with just indigo at my 1 year & that one has faded some but is still dark compared to the others right now. When I used henna before with undreaded hair & normal shampoos the color did seem to stick a lot more, I never got it to fade & ended up cutting it off eventually lol.

I totally agree with the hennaforhair site it has a great wealth of information & photos for mixes. On alma it says " The paste enhances waves and curl, and leaves a clean, healthy scalp. If you add amla to a henna and indigo mix, you will get a slightly cooler brown dye color. If you add amla to henna itself, you won't see any color change. You can mix amla with henna as the acid for dye release." I used alma in one of my mixes, you don't tend to use very much of it in comparison to the henna/indigo.

KnotLady said:

i dye mine red with henna but theres a brown dye i think called alma. go to hennaforhair.com and its mostly about henna but has a ton of info on other natural dyes. i trust them like i trust this site...

When I used henna a few years ago I loved adding Good Earth chai tea(organic variety) to the henna powder. The best henna I ever found was Jamilla. It's the most consistent and smooth. And it's perfect for body art, too.

When using herbs and teas with henna, make sure the liquids you're using are super strong and concentrated. In other words, put two or three bags of tea or herb in your cup of water instead of just one.

i use jamilla too! very bright stain

Angel Frye said:

When I used henna a few years ago I loved adding Good Earth chai tea(organic variety) to the henna powder. The best henna I ever found was Jamilla. It's the most consistent and smooth. And it's perfect for body art, too.

When using herbs and teas with henna, make sure the liquids you're using are super strong and concentrated. In other words, put two or three bags of tea or herb in your cup of water instead of just one.