My naturally blonde hair had become considerably darker by the end of middle school, and I was not having any of it. First, I had my mom give me highlights with one of the L’Oreal do-it-yourself boxes. Big mistake. The dye turned my hair a bright orange just in time for my eighth grade graduation. The next step in my quest to return to my childhood hair color was to start getting highlights at a salon. Throughout high school and college I went roughly once or twice a year to get blonde highlights. However, even though the highlights were subtle, the never-ending task of covering roots was expensive. Recently, I have been reading about the chemicals in hair dye and decided to look into safer (and cheaper) . The method I decided to try out is wonderfully simple: rinsing your hair with chamomile tea.
iThe chamomile plant originates from Europe, Asia, and North Africa. There are many species, but humans only cultivate the Roman and German species. Chamomile has a long history of medicinal uses. The plant was used in the mummification process in ancient Egypt. It has been used to induce labor because it stimulates the contraction of the uterus. It has anti-inflammatory properties as well as those that relieve pain and disinfect. And, as I discovered recently, chamomile can be used to lighten hair.1 Chamomile tea rinses are temporary dyes that enhance a person’s natural highlights. This tea rinse is most effective when you air-dry your hair in the sun after the rinse.
BENEFITS FOR YOUR HEALTH:
While studies have been conducted with humans, the results are still currently inconclusive as to whether conventional hair dye use causes increased cancer rates.2 However, potential cancers aside, there are other negative health side effects of using conventional hair dye. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) lists potential health impacts of paraphenylenediamine, a chemical in conventional hair dye, as mild dermatitis at the contact location; if in contact with eyes, pain, swelling, and possible loss of eyesight; and if inhaled, headache and dizziness. Severe reactions to this chemical include hives and anaphylaxis.3 Another ingredient found in hair dye is lead. Lead has been found to have negative health impacts on almost every organ in the body. High exposure levels have been associated with a higher rate of miscarriages and reproductive toxicity. Children exposed to lead are at a higher risk for neurodevelopment delays.4
Temporary hair dyes, like the chamomile tea rinse, are not oxidative. Instead of actually changing the pigment molecules in your hair, they contain colored compounds that temporarily stain your hair.5
BENEFITS FOR THE ENVIRONMENT:
Whether you are dying your hair yourself or having a hairdresser dye it, there is always hair dye leftover. Leftover hair dye ends up in landfills where the same chemicals that are toxic to your body leech into the soil and into . Thus, hair dye in landfills negatively impacts terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems alike, and because those chemicals end up in groundwater sources, they will eventually end up negatively impacting you again.6
BENEFITS FOR ANIMALS:
By dying your hair with chamomile tea, you avoid accidentally supporting animal testing. For more information on animal testing:
Cost: Low. A box of organic chamomile tea costs around $5 and will last many weeks since you only use one tea bag per rinse.
Time and Effort: Medium. While brewing the tea and rinsing it through your hair will only take 15 minutes, the chamomile is most effective if you let your hair air-dry in the sun, which can take upwards of a couple hours for long and thick hair. My advice is to do this rinse when you have a large chunk of time, so that you can sit in the sun, relax, and read a book while your hair naturally lightens.
iiIngredients:
4 cups boiled water
1 organic chamomile tea bag
Additional materials required:
2 large plastic bowls
Instructions:
- Boil 4 cups of water.
- Pour the boiled water into a large plastic bowl. Place one bag of organic chamomile tea in the bowl and let steep for at least five minutes.
- While the tea rinse is cooling, take a shower and shampoo your hair.
- Once the tea rinse is room temperature, place a large, empty plastic bowl in the sink. Lean your head over the empty bowl while you pour the bowl with the tea rinse over your hair. The empty bowl will catch the extra tea rinse.
- Now switch the bowls, and repeat this process until the tea rinse is gone.
- Sit in the sun until your hair is dry. Your hair will feel smooth and silky!
- Repeat once a week.
