Did you know there are thousands of chemicals in traditional store-bought or salon-applied hair dye, and some of them may even be carcinogenic? Yikes! Use this natural hair dye recipe to avoid those potentially harmful ingredients. Choose from 3 shades of DIY hair dye—brown-black, blonde, and red.

Raise your hand if you’ve ever dyed your hair. My hand is in the air, and I know I’m not alone! Most women have colored their hair at some point—whether it’s because they wanted to experiment with a fun new color, tweak their natural color, or cover grays.

But then I read about the possible link between the chemicals in hair dye and cancer. That study found that women who used permanent hair dye or chemical straighteners had a somewhat higher risk of developing breast cancer than women who didn’t dye their hair.

If you want a healthier approach to coloring your hair, give this all-natural hair dye recipe a try. Here I tell you how to alter it to fit your needs.

Yep, I’m talking about DIY hair dye!

Learning how to make homemade hair dye will allow you to get the gorgeous brunette, blonde, or red shade you’ve been dreaming of without exposing yourself to harsh and potentially dangerous chemicals. Not only is it safe, but DIY natural hair dye is easy and affordable, especially compared to going to a salon!

Another benefit of learning how to make homemade hair dye is that you can easily do touch-ups on your schedule. No more scrambling to get an appointment and trying to jam it into your already packed schedule!

So, let’s see—safe, easy to make and use, affordable, and convenient? What’s not to love about DIY natural hair dye?

The recipes below will teach you how to make homemade hair dye for 3 different shades. These are the best DIY hair recipes I’ve found.

DIY Natural Hair Dye: Brown-Black

This recipe will produce DIY black hair dye or DIY brown hair dye, depending on how you use it. Using this homemade brown hair dye (or homemade black hair dye) will darken your hair to produce a rich shade using just 5 ingredients!

DIY Black Hair Dye / DIY Brown Hair Dye: Ingredients

½ cup finely ground coffee*
1 cup of water (hot)
1 T. Apple Cider Vinegar
2 cups of your favorite hair conditioner
5 drops Rosemary Essential Oil

*Note: Want a recipe for lighter homemade brown hair dye or all-natural hair dye with brown-blonde shades? Replace the ground coffee in this recipe with cocoa powder. Not only will cocoa powder give you a lighter shade of brown, it also smells amazing!

DIY Black Hair Dye / DIY Brown Hair Dye: Directions

1. Add ground coffee to hot water and allow to soak for 10 minutes or until the water cools.

2. Stir in apple cider vinegar, conditioner, and rosemary essential oil until well combined.

Tip: To keep this homemade brown hair dye free of chemicals, opt for this homemade conditioner for natural hair.

3. Apply homemade black hair dye (or brown hair dye) to hair.

Tip: Just trying to cover your roots? Use a hair dye brush and just apply the dye to the areas that need a touch up!

4. Allow homemade black hair dye to sit on hair for 1 hour.

5. Rinse hair thoroughly.

Tip: Rinse hair with additional apple cider vinegar to lock in color and add extra shine.

6. Store any leftover DIY hair dye in the refrigerator.

Tip: For future uses, let it sit and come up to room temperature or at least warm slightly before applying to hair.

Note: You may need to repeat steps 3 and 4 several times in the first week to get the desired shade, especially if you’re going for DIY black hair dye!

DIY Natural Hair Dye: Blonde

You can use this homemade hair dye blonde recipe to lighten your hair. Honestly, learning how to dye your hair naturally doesn’t get much easier than this homemade hair dye blonde recipe. It only requires 4 ingredients and 1 step!

Homemade Hair Dye Blonde: Ingredients

1 cup Lemon Juice
½ tsp. Jojoba Oil
5 drops Citrus Essential Oil (lemon, orange, lime, grapefruit)
3 drops Rosemary Essential Oil

Homemade Hair Dye Blonde: Directions

1. Add all of the ingredients to a spray bottle and swirl to combine.

2. Spritz your hair with the all-natural hair dye, especially before going outside (into the sun). Keep using the spray until you achieve your desired shade.

Note: You do not have to rinse this out of your hair. Spritz, comb through your hair to get an even distribution, and then go about your business. 🙂

Bonus: Going for a strawberry blonde shade? Head back up to the first recipe on how to dye your hair naturally brown and swap the ground coffee for beet root powder!

DIY Natural Hair Dye: Red

If you wanted to be Ariel from the The Little Mermaid when you were growing up, try this DIY red hair dye! This recipe for homemade red hair dye will result in a beautiful vibrant shade of red.

Reminder: If you’re after strawberry blonde coloring and not red-red, don’t use this DIY red hair dye recipe. Use the all-natural hair dye recipe for brown dye but replace the coffee grounds with beet root powder.

Homemade Red Hair Dye: Ingredients

1 cup Henna Powder
½ cup your favorite hair conditioner
1 cup Lemon Juice
1 T. Apple Cider Vinegar
5 drops Rosemary Essential Oil
5 drops Lavender Essential Oil

Homemade Red Hair Dye: Directions

1. Add all of the ingredients for this DIY red hair dye to a bowl and stir to combine.

2. Brush onto hair or use a dye brush to apply to your roots.

3. Allow the DIY natural hair dye to sit on your hair for 3-4 hours for best results.

4. Rinse hair well.

Tip: When rinsing your hair use additional apple cider vinegar to lock in the color and add extra shine!

Guess what? You now know how to dye your hair naturally! 🙂

Need More DIY hair care?

Hair dye isn’t the only hair product that’s better when you DIY. Be sure to check out the recipes below for DIY hair products that are natural, safe, and effective.

Using coconut oil on hair such as in homemade hair shampoo and homemade hair mask

DIY sea salt spray for hair

I’d love to hear how these natural hair dye recipes worked out for you! Let me know in the comments below 🙂