Dyeing Hair with Coffee
I used to dye my hair occasionally, not with coffee but with one of the well-known brands. It was a slightly less toxic version of hair dye, which is another way to say the effects didn't last very long. When I began getting more white hairs, I noticed they were not taking up the dye. I finally gave up the habit and let my hair go natural.
However, I got my annual haircut recently and the gal cutting it mentioned that another customer keeps her gray at bay with coffee grounds and vinegar. I looked around online and found a variety of information about dyeing hair with coffee. I am still unclear on the vinegar method. I saw one site that mentioned steeping used coffee grounds in vinegar for two weeks and then straining it. I'm not sure then, though, how much to put on the hair and how long to leave it on.
Another site suggested mixing brewed and instant coffee with leave-in conditioner and using that just like a commercial hair dye. I don't have any instant coffee, though. Yet another recommendation, listed several places, was to simply work used coffee grounds (wet is okay) into the scalp after shampooing the hair. Rinse and condition.
I decided to try the coffee grounds idea this morning. This was a bad idea. I rinsed my hair with about 20 times more water than normal and still could not get all the grounds out of my hair, despite even rinsing vigorously with my head upside down, something I hate to do because it always results in tangles. It took more water to wash down the tub enclosure as there were coffee grounds splattered all over the place. After towel-drying my hair, I tried doing the hand-banging thing over the tub to shake out more grounds. Then I had to rinse the tub again. I've been picking at my hair all day to remove grounds. People are beginning to wonder if I have ticks or fleas or something!
Have any of you successfully dyed your hair with coffee (not grounds)? If so, would you please share your technique here? Thanks!
Making a Moss Basket
I have one of those large hanging fruit baskets that I never use. Well, almost never - it's got bay leaves drying in it right now. Ordinarily though, it's just a dust collector.
I was trying to come up with alternative uses for it and thought it might be interesting to make it into a set of moss baskets. Flowers would be pretty or it might be fun to make it an edible basket. As I read about how to make moss baskets yesterday, I noticed the recommendation that one select where it hangs carefully. When watered, apparently a moss basket can be quite heavy. That got me to thinking that perhaps hanging it in the bathroom from a ceiling hook was not going to work.
I could hang it outside but it would require more water due to the wind and heat. Outside placement would also make doing an edible basket difficult as all the birds in the area would treat it as a buffet.
This morning, it dawned on me that the baskets themselves might not be able to handle the weight. After all, the chain is not heavy duty and the wire is pretty thin. Maybe this is a bad idea over all.
Input from experienced moss basket makers would be appreciated. Is a moss basket a bad idea anyway in a xeric desert climate?
Weight Loss Blog
I've been tossing around the idea of starting a new blog chronicling my attempts to lose weight. It would mean revealing the extent of my weight issues with the very real possibility that I am not successful in dealing with them. It would mean risking judgement that I must be stupid, lazy, incompetent, "fill in critical word here" because I'm fat, know I'm fat, know how unhealthy it is to be fat, and still haven't lost the weight I need to lose.
It is likely that comments for it would be heavily moderated as I will welcome feedback and discussion but would not want it to become a place to debate fad diet programs, weight loss drugs, or surgery.
It would not just be a weight loss journal. It would occasionally look at weight and fitness from the angle of living lightly on the earth as well as what it means if the shit ever does hit the proverbial fan.
Would this be of interest to anyone?
16 comments:
Sorry, no feedback here but I'm anxious to hear what everyone else says about the coffee and the basket. (I still cold-brew my coffee, so I have a clump of grounds once a week that I could soak in vinegar.)
Regarding a weight journal, you're braver than I am. I will fess up to my age, but not my weight ;)
Although your blog may be able to motivate me into getting back in shape!
No thoughts on the basket.
The coffee grounds sounded like a great idea until we got to the part where you've got them ground (pun intended) into your hair.
Weight loss journal from someone into green living would totally interest me. I dabble in it here and there and find that I'm actually heavier (though healthier) when I'm cooking a lot and eating whole foods and what not. Go for it!!
Chile - I enjoy reading whatever you write. If you feel you have time, go for it. If you don't though, why not incorporate it into your regular blog?
You are always up for adventure - what's the worst that can happen? You try it and decide it's not worth the effort. Big whoop.
dogear6
The vinegar in the coffee probably has something to do with trying to replace ammonia and peroxide with something more natural.
The conditioner story...doesn't make sense. Most conditioners don't do anything but seal your cuticles down, hence the shine. You need to open up the cuticles for hair to recieve color. That is one reason that ammonia and peroxide are used in the more toxic colors.
I have read that sage works over time, which leads me to believe that if coffee works at all, it will be cumulative. You can test a small area with henna, or even Indigo if you really want natural and see if you like the results but make sure that you test first!
Coffee to color hair? I've never heard of that one although it doesn't sound like the grounds mixed in does much. I will remember your story about them and not try them!
I've seen moss buckets and I think they're very attractive. The one I saw wasn't a hanging basket but one sitting in a patio/garden.
As for a weight journal, you're braver than me. I just can't see myself trying something like that for myself much less in front of the world.
peace, shamba
Found this when I googled 'coffee hair rinse' She lists a few methods--none involving grounds. :-)
http://www.chagrinvalleysoapandcraft.com/coffeerinse.htm
I may try this.
I would also love to follow along on your weight loss journey.
You are braver than I am to journal your weight loss online. My weight has always been a strugle for me. I know it is important to my health to lose at least 20 lbs and eat a generally cleaner diet. I am a breast cancer surviver and extra weight does not help my risk of recurrence. I would be interested in your blog. I follow this one all the time. So I will thank you now for all your inspiration.
4 Bushel Farmgal - I've not decided if 'fessing up to my actual weight is gonna happen or is even a critical point...
Green Bean - funny pun, girl!
Definitely heavier and less healthy here when I stress-eat, which does not general involve eating a whole lot of whole foods. Ahem.
dogear6 - thanks! It would be enough of a different direction than this blog that I would want to keep it separate. I think people not interested in that aspect would get tired of seeing it here.
LindaM - ah, good point about the vinegar. The coffee ground fiasco this morning reminded me of when I tried powdered henna years ago. Sheesh, what a mess!
Shamba - oh, come on, you can't let me have all the fun. Go play with some coffee grounds. ;-P
There were some interesting YouTube videos of making sitting edible moss baskets that make me really want to try it, but then again, the gal lived up in Canada somewhere where it's not dry and hot!
Anon - I'll go read that. That link came up on my searches earlier but I didn't happen to read it.
Thanks for the weight loss journal feedback.
BarbCohen - well, we're assuming it would be a weight LOSS journal, but no guarantees. With breast cancer in my family, it's pretty important that I clean up my act, too.
I've never heard of coffee to dye hair (though vinegar rinses are good for itchy scalp & dandruff). I've used henna paste in the past (I went grey at 21 due to stress). here are two methods for gentle hair colouring (gradual over time, rather than instant)
Tea rinse: 1tbs rosemary, 1tbs sage, 600ml strong tea - Steep herbs in tea for 30 mins. Starin & use as final rinse after shampooing.
Rhubarb rinse: 3 tbs fresh or dried rjubarb root, 600ml water, kaolin powder - Simmer rhubarb in water for 30 minutes. Stain & mix with kaolin powder until you have a thick paste. Apply paste like you woul henna dye, and check after 15 minutes (I have stubborn hair, so I need an hour, which is the maximum amount of time). Rinse off. Apply a little conditioner if the rhubarb is a little astringent.
As for a weight loss blog, I would be very interested, though you're braver than I am! I've been working on weight loss over the last 2 years (due to health reasons), so if there is any help or support I can offer, I'll gladly do so!
As for the wire basket, would it be good for storing harvested onions/garic/shallots/etc? Or drying herbs?
All the best
Hi, I have used the coffee rinse for years now as a highlighter.. you make really strong coffee, (One heaping Tablespoon per cup of water) to make a big pot of coffee. Then I let it get cool, and then you hang your head over a dish bowl and pour the room temp coffee over your hair, letting the extra run into the bowl, rubbing it in.. repeat till all coffee used, then repeat at least once more for all the coffee.. give a wring out,the least amount of patting you can to get it to not drip to much and let it dry naturally for at least a few hours if not for the day.. Then wash like normal.. it will give add reddish brown highlights to your hair, I have brown hair, and my mom started me out with coffee highlights when I was in my teens, so that was a while ago.. never heard of using coffee grounds.. is the straining effect you want from the coffee, same as you would get to make new lace look old by putting it in cold coffee or cold tea to give it that aged look. It only lasts a about four to six weeks for me before needing to be done again.
like the idea of the weight loss, I do a post just once a week on my update and goals, I have lost a touch over 50 pds in the past year and am working on continuing to go down.
Little black fox - tea rinses sound like another option but the paste sounds too much like the messy henna exerience!
Another vote for the additional blog.
I'm kind of thinking now that I should move that hanging basket into a little cold zone and use it for storing root vegs.
Farmgal - thanks for the coffee instructions and testimonial! Congratulations on your weight loss! I've tried before to set a schedule for posting certain things (like for challenges I'm hosting) and it turns out I'm really bad about sticking to it.
Plus, I'd really like to delve into why I think I'm having so much trouble with this - emotional and pscyhology stuff that could turn off the readers who want to know how to make emergency food buckets and big horse poop gardens. :)
I would love to read a weight loss blog that attempts to accomplish this while eating a fairly normal diet that is light on the earth. I do weight watchers but have noticed I am much slower at weight loss than other participants due to the lack of packaged microwave meals and food substitutes in my life.
CJ in Nebraska
I can tell you from past experience that the moss-, coconut or otherwise-lined baskets are very heavy. We ended up having to return a very well-intended hanging basket hook and hanging basket last Mother's Day because the weight threatened to snap the hook.
CJ - got it.
Robbie - so, you're saying it would need to be industrial strength, not a flimsy little produce basket? :)
I have one of those basket sets. It holds all my cleaning rags in the laundry :)
No opinion on the coffee - I think I'll remain mostly white.
Weight isn't something I bother about much. I'd like to be thin but have figured out that that is only a pipe dream so why torture myself any more. I am a fairly stable weight where I am and that will have to do. I used to yo yo diet a bit but just added more weight each time. Now I figure if my clothes still fit I'm fine. They have now fitted for about 17 years! I should add that we do eat pretty healthy round here (mostly) and I limit shopping trips as far as possible.(too much temptation).
viv in nz
viv in nz
A comment from an inexperienced moss basket makers: I have used moss purchased from the garden center to line baskets, and I have used coco mats. I have had better luck with coco mats. As far as dyeing hair with coffee no opinion. Weight loss blog- no opinion either. I am a healthy dat boy and just accept my rotundness.
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