Home hair dye from kitchen spices and leaves offered as a cheaper alternative to parlour colour

Greying hair at a young age raises many questions. It has become common among the young these days, yet ignoring the problem is not considered advisable. The reason given is that once one hair turns white, the rest gradually begin to go white too.

To hide white hair, people turn to expensive hair care products, hair dyes and colours from the market. Many go to a parlour every month to have a chemical-heavy dye applied, and a month later the hair looks white again. For this reason, making hair dye at home from kitchen ingredients, instead of chemical dyes, has been suggested. It is claimed this will help keep the hair's natural black colour.

The home-made dye needs tea leaves, bay leaves, curry leaves, leaves of the amla plant, turmeric powder, nigella seeds (kalonji), cloves and amla powder. These are items commonly found in spice racks and in almost every kitchen, so there is no need to buy an expensive dye, it has been said.

To make it, first put the tea leaves, bay leaves, curry leaves and amla leaves in an iron pan and roast until they turn reddish. Then add the turmeric, nigella seeds, cloves and amla powder, and keep roasting until the mixture turns black.

Once the roasted mixture cools, put it in a mixer jar and grind it to a fine powder. Sieve the powder and store it in an airtight container. Applying this natural hair dye powder twice a week is said to help improve the quality of the hair.

At the time of use, add a little water and curd to the prepared powder in an iron pan. Leave the mixture to rest for two hours. Then apply it from the roots to the tips of the hair, leave it on for an hour and wash the hair with clean water.

On the ingredients, the article says tea leaves contain antioxidants and tannic acid, which will help darken the natural colour of the hair. Bay leaves contain vitamins and minerals. Use of natural ingredients is suggested to ease itching or irritation of the scalp. Beta-carotene and protein in curry leaves nourish the hair, which helps new hair to grow.

The article carries a note that the information is for general purposes only and makes no claim of treating any condition. Readers are advised to consult their doctor before trying any remedy.