DIY Natural Hair Dyes

 As mentioned in our recent Hair Care blog, hair dyes are some of the most toxic beauty applications there are.

Many of us love having a new hair colour, especially if we have a few grey hairs.  There are very few of us today who choose to age naturally and never dye our hair.  The statistics on how many women have dyed their hair at least once during their life time is quite high.

We are advised to always do a test patch 48 hours before applying the hair dye which I would strongly recommend.  However, this doesn't guarantee you won't have an allergic reaction.

As was the case for Lois Queen who applied the allergy test patch 48 hours prior to dying her hair and still had a severe allergic reaction.
 
You may have dyed your hair a couple of months ago, or even a year ago and you may be thinking this means you are not allergic to ingredients in hair dye - since all was fine back then.  This doesn't mean you won't ever have an allergic reaction.  Who's to say the ingredients in hair dyes haven't changed since you last dyed your hair.

One way to avoid the potential for allergic reaction is to opt for natural hair dyes and rinses.  They may not give as good a coverage as commercial hair dyes, however, they will be kinder to your hair, skin and body as well as the environment.  Keep in mind too that ALL hair dyes are washed down the drain!

Brunettes and dark redheads:
Coffee hair rinse - 8 cups of warm brewed coffee.  Either instant or filtered peculated coffee (though peculated gives a stronger result).  Wash hair as normal, condition hair if necessary, then rinse your hair with the brewed coffee.  Do not wash the coffee out.  Leave in hair and style as normal.  Hair should be left with a rich deep shine.
You can also try 8 cups of strong brewed black tea.

Blond Highlights:
1 cup lemon juice
3 cups chamomile tea (brewed, cooled, filtered)
Mix juice and tea together and pour over damp hair.  Leave in hair for one hour before rinsing.

Red Highlights:
1/2 cup beetroot juice
1/2 cup carrot juice
Mix juices together and pour over damp hair.  Leave in hair for one hour before rinsing.

Covering Grey:
1/2 cup dried sage
2 cups water.
Simmer sage in water for 30mins (do not boil).  Remove from heat and allow to cool.  Leave to sit for several hours before filtering the liquid.  Apply sage rinse to hair and leave to dry naturally.  Rinse hair with warm water and allow to dry.  Repeat weekly until desired shade is reached, then repeat monthly to maintain colour.

Disclaimer: Not all recipes have been tested by JOLI and results may vary from person to person.  Do a test patch before applying to hair fully, to test if the results will be suitable for your hair.
Of course if you apply these natural hair dyes and would love to share your results please leave us a COMMENT.

DIY Christmas Baubles

Hand Made Christmas Baubles

You will need:
polystyrene or cardboard balls
PVA glue
bits of coloured paper
sequins
coloured ribbon
pins
paint brushes
a couple of beer bottle caps

other ideas:
glitter
glitter glue
coloured sand
paint

To begin, paint a section of the ball with PVA and apply your desired decoration (sequins, starts, bits of paper etc.)  Sit the ball on an up-side-down beer bottle cap and allow to dry.
Continue until the bauble is decorated to your or your children's desires.
When complete and dry, cut a piece of ribbon, dollop a small amount of glue onto the top of the bauble and secure the ribbon to the bauble by stabbing the pin through the ribbon and firmly into the ball.  Leave to dry.

Keep baubles for many years to come and children get to see their decorations hanging from the family Christmas tree.

By JOLI

  

Chocolate Slice Recipe

* This recipe is a family favourite which I have been making for over 27 years *

You will need:
1 cup crushed Weetbix / Vitabrits (great for using the crumbs in the bottom of the bag)
1 cup desicated coconut
1 cup SR flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbl spn cocoa powder
125gms butter, margarine or vegan alternative

Icing:
1 1/2 cups icing sugar - sifted
1 tbl spn cocoa powder - sifted
water

OR

100g butter
100g chocolate

Place weetbix, coconut, SR flour, sugar and cocoa powder in a bowl and mix thoroughly.  Melt butter or margarine and pour into dry ingredients and mix really well until all dry ingredients are coated and sticking together.
Pour mix into a flat lamington tray, pressing down mixture firmly.  Bake in an over at 180c for 15 minutes.  Remove from over and cut into bite size pieces while still in the tray.  Do not remove slice from tray.  Leave to cool.

To make the icing, mix the icing sugar and cocoa powder together, gradually adding water and mixing into a paste.  The perfect consistency is when you can make a figure 8 on the surface and it holds for a little while.  Pour icing onto cooled slice, sprinkle with extra coconut (optional) and chill until icing is set.

Alternatively.  Melt butter and chocolate together in a small saucepan placed over a larger saucepan filled with hot water.  When thoroughly melted and combined pour over cooled slice, sprinkle with extra coconut (optional) and chill in the fridge until icing is set.

Remove from fridge and break slice along previous cuts - re slice if necessary.  Remove slices from tray and place them on a pretty serving dish ready to eat.

By JOLI 

  

DIY Multi Purpose Green Clean

You will need:

500ml spritz bottle

450ml water

35ml vinegar

1 ½ teaspoons bicarb soda (optional – gives the cleaner a gentle scrubbing action and leaves a matte finish to surfaces)

¼ teaspoon essential oil(s)*

Add vinegar and bicarb to water and mix well.  Add essential oil(s) and mix again.  Pour solution into 500ml bottle.  Shake gently before each use.

Use on many surfaces, bench tops, splash backs, cupboards, basins, toilet, bath and shower, floors [tiles, laminate, floor boards etc.], appliances [toaster, kettle, washing machine – be careful not to rub away writing off the appliance].

Note: recommend - do a test patch before doing full clean just in case cleaner is not suitable to your particular surface.

* peppermint essential oil is good for keeping mice at bay

* tea tree essential oil is good for keeping cockroaches away

* orange essential oil and tea tree oil are natural disinfectants

* eucalyptus cuts through grease and grim

* lemon essential oil smells clean and fresh