At a time when almost everything comes from manufacturers' million dollar factories and getting everything ready-made from store shelves is as common as having no alternative but to breathe the already polluted air one would seem a sore thumb when one goes back, a little in time, and rely on good old things, good old remedies, good old practices, good old beauty treatments...not by choice but by necessity.
Having a permanent blush on the face when one is not even a Caucasian is a sign of how sensitive a skin is. That's my skin. And people like me with sensitive skin know that this sensitivity extends all over one's body and isn't just confined to the face.
Sensitive skin isn't just a skin that blushes easily, is with a permanent red color or is plainly afflicted with rosacea. Sensitive skin entails tendency to breakout almost anywhere. As much as this would limit already our choice of toiletries and even sometimes put a hamper even on our diet nothing comes closer to being enslaved by this condition than also having a sensitive sense of smell that, if assaulted with strong scents, can send me and those like me to debilitating migraine hell, that even with medication, might take two days to go away.
Much as anything and everything unimaginably bad had been accorded to anything mass-produced I still cannot downplay the ingenuity that modern times' knowledge and convenience brought about, that oftentimes comes, in a single bottle or sachet. I, for one, try out these things out of sheer curiosity and with the hope of making my life a little better and easier coupled with the chance of experiencing what most people are just taking for granted. However if one of my sensitivities is triggered then I try to go back to what works for me and sometimes do a research on how they do these things in the olden days when everything else is much simpler, much less cheaper and most importantly more natural with side effects close to none.
And now, here is the product of my disposition, curiosity and my intention to help and probably educate those who are like me and put them in a category very much different but very much into things that makes one pretty, lovely, confident and one with all the others even if it is just in the quest of taking care of one's self.
Let's start with a sensitive person's guide to coloring her hair...
I’d say go with your natural hue. Black is black. Brown is Brown, Red is red. Blond is blond and, in being natural, white is white. They might come in different shades of darkness or lightness but hair color just falls in these five categories.
Word of precaution and disappointment but there’s nothing in this article on achieving the well-placed highlights that are done in salons made by using chemicals. This is just basically going natural, as much as possible, all the way with a little help from mother nature’s gifts. Likewise, much as there are unbelievably countless natural ways of doing one’s hair coloring, I opted to share the easiest ones to do with the most accessible hair colorant source there could possibly be wherever you are in the world.
Much as one could go for another hair color with the aid of these suggested hair colorants please be reminded at once of the fact that since these are natural and the drastic intensity nor lasting effect by a mere one application of these concoctions compared to the mass-produced hair colorants wouldn’t be realized.
White Hair – Gone are the days when white hair spells wasting away due to age. At this point, with the likes of glamorous, successful and respected actresses at the prime of their lives like Helen Mirren and Judi Dench it is quite obvious that white hair is now an asset. Of course as with anything and everything white hair is downright an asset provided the hair is cut to compliment one’s face shape and built. It also pays a lot when white hair is shiny and healthy.
Naturally Darkening White Hair – Make a strong concoction of a cup of hot water with sage and a little rosemary. Let it cool and pour over hair making sure the entire head of your hair gets wet. Leave it for 5 to 10 minutes then wash hair as usual. This may have to be done every week or two until the wanted level of darkening is achieved.
Naturally Making Untouched Hair of Any Color Shine (Natural Clarifying Concotion) - Mix a hair rinse using 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar with 1 qt. of distilled water. Use as a final hair rinse. Note that there are some texts saying that plain white vinegar can’t be used because it can deprive the hair of nutrients. Personally apple cider vinegar doesn’t come cheap in my part of the world (apple trees don’t grow here) and since any type of vinegar is acidic then white vinegar is what I use. It does produce the same shiny and conditioning effect because it gets rid of chemical build-up brought about by things we use on our hair. Plus white vinegar doesn’t smell that much awful unlike when an apple cider vinger is used. You can adjust the water to vinegar ratio as experience had me having a burning sensation on my scalp when I used a different brand of white vinegar. A hair conditioner wouldn’t be needed after doing this vinegar hair rinse.Reminder When Using Vinegar as Hair Rinse – Vinegar is acidic and the use of a vinegar hair rinse is only advised once a week otherwise the hair would turn brittle. No need to worry regarding the vinegar smell for it would disappear the moment hair dries.
Black Hair / Brown Hair - Naturally brown-haired people are allowed the most freedom in the hair coloring department since a slight change from going to black or having a reddish tint is not going to take drastic contrast with their natural skin coloring.Likewise some black-haired women, especially with the naturally straight hair, are advised to have a little hint of color on their mane to add a little drama. Those with natural black curls just need to maintain the shine if they are not interested at all in adding any color to their tresses.
Naturally Darkening Brown / Black Hair - Rinse hair daily with strong black coffee or black tea. Do this 15 times with the same concoction using a container to catch the liquid and leave on until dry then rinse with water. Repeat weekly until desired shade of black is achieved then do this only monthly to maintain darkened color.
Naturally Lightening Brown / Black Hair – Mix water in turmeric to form a paste. This could be done by doubling the amount of water based on the amount of turmeric powder. For a whole head of thick, shoulder-length hair try a little medicine measuring cupful of turmeric and twice the amount of water. Though the real root of turmericcan be used this would be time consuming to prepare. Apply the turmeric paste on hair and rinse after 15 minutes then extend next time if desired hair color hadn’t been achieved yet. Expect a yellow or deep orange hint of color on hair so use turmeric sparingly.
Naturally Enghancing Red Hair - Mix equal parts of beet juice and carrot juice. Rinse hair 15 times with the same liquid using a bowl to capture the concoction for reuse for the remaining no. of rinsings needed for this one session.
Naturally Lightening Blonde Hair Ever More - Mix 1 cup of lemon juice with 3 cups of chamomile tea. Rinse with this same liquid for 15 times.Top Reminders:
- If hair is suffering from other problems like split ends these would have to be addressed first with a haircut. Though these natural hair colorants are as pure as they can the way nature intended damaged hair is already damaged hair and they would have to be addressed accordingly.
- As with any hair colorants, chemically-made or not, hair would go a little dry the moment you put color on it.
- Don’t be any wiser and insist on doing these hair coloring your way, for example dissolving turmeric and adding it to your leave-on conditioner. These are colorants and they would stain your skin, your hair accessory and your clothes. Besides nothing is more alarming as seeing one trickle with perspiration from the head in yellow, black or even red.
- The effect of the natural hair colorants depend on one’s natural hair color with white hair and blondes producing the most result with the brown / black-haired people achieving the most sublte.
- These are natural hair colorants and the same intensity and fast results by one application compared to hair colorants chemically produced wouldn’t be realized.
- Be prepared to do a little cleanup wherever you would do your natural hair coloring since they can stain the bowl, the sink, the bathroom…
- If you decide to stick to this natural hair coloring process then when to color again depends on when you think you need it.
Read more: http://beyondjane.com/beauty/hair/coloring-enhancing-hair-the-chemical-free-way/#ixzz1IRiwFKkS