In the last three weeks have you:

Thought about cutting your own bangs?

Helped someone you know and love resist the temptation to cut their bangs?

Noticed your roots showing?

Felt the compulsion to dye your own hair?

Spent at least five minutes distracted by your split ends?

Looked up DIY hair dyes or haircuts on the internet?

The Problem with Coloring or Cutting Your Own Hair

If you said yes to any of the following questions, you’re not the only one. Homemade hair coloring and cutting trends are currently dominating social media. I’ll even be the first to admit that I’ve already attempted to give myself a few face framing layers (thank goodness curly hair is forgiving). 

I’m sure you’ve got enough tough decisions on your plate, which is why I’ve written this blog as a guide to help you determine if you should color or cut your own hair and to offer an easy and alternative solution to damaging box dye and messy natural, DIY dye.

Messing with your haircut or hair color is risky business, especially if you’re planning on cutting or dyeing it yourself. Cutting and dyeing your hair are long term changes that can’t always be fixed and although box dye seems like a simple solution, chemical dyes and bleach may result in extreme hair damage that can last for years.

Should you Color or Cut Your Own Hair?

Ideally you’d hightail any problem hair straight to a salon, but the unique circumstances of our world right now make this difficult so the questions you have to ask are not how to cut or color your hair, when to cut and color your hair, or where to cut or color your hair…the questions you need to ask yourself are:

What do I want to do to my hair…and why?

Yes. If you want to dye your hair fire engine red or cut off ten inches then you need to determine why. 

Here’s my advice: if you want to dye or cut your own hair because you are bored, restless, or stressed you should allow yourself to take a moment to reflect on the non-hair-related root of your feelings because changing your hair may not be the answer you are looking for. 

The Root of the Problem 

Humans are motivated by visible progress and right now that kind of progress may be more difficult to achieve. If we feel like we aren’t making progress, we turn to other areas of our lives in hopes of fulfillment. Taking our stress out on our hair is tempting because it’s right there on our heads. According to The Harvard Business Review, “Of all the things that can boost emotions, motivation, and perceptions during a workday, the single most important thing is making progress in meaningful work.”

I would not considering drastically changing my hair to be meaningful work and here’s why: 

I love my hair, but at the end of the day my hair does not take care of me, I take care of my hair.

Giving myself face framing layers or highlights with hydrogen peroxide and baking soda won’t nourish my body. A healthy scalp will.

Which is why if the changes you want to make are less about drastic change and more about keeping your hair healthy and beautiful there is something you can do.

Dyeing Your Hair Naturally

Your search to maintain your hair’s vibrancy has probably led you to a box dye alternative: coloring your hair naturally. Natural methods of hair coloring include plants with a strong, natural pigment to darken and tint hair or oxidizing properties to lighten hair.

The prospect of dyeing your hair with natural ingredients may seem exciting, but I can tell you from experience that the tedious process to find and prepare a recipe is not worth the results unless you are using a natural dye like henna.

I have seen so many videos of young women with brown streaks running down their faces and necks as they try to massage coffee grounds into their scalps after simmering said coffee mixture for four hours straight only to come out with hair the exact same shade as it was before. 

Natural, DIY hair dyes are messy, confusing, and time consuming…if only it was as simple as hopping into your shower with a shampoo bar…

Well, guess what. It is!

We’d eventually love to offer a more permanent hair dye product, which is why we’re currently looking at henna as a potential ingredient for future Shampoo Bars and possibly dyes, but until that time comes (and trust me, I’ll make sure you’ll be the first to know when that is) we’ve got some fantastic shampoo bars that may be just what your hair needs right now.

While our shampoo bars are not meant to replace hair dye treatments, we’ve crafted several of our bars with natural ingredients that are shown to boost and maintain color.

With our shampoo bars you won’t have to go out of your way by prepping your hair, keeping track of a schedule, or waiting for a leave-in to work. It’s as simple as washing your hair!

Coloring your hair requires you to start with clean hair, which means you waste time and water. Our shampoo bars are already made to clean! Safely coloring your hair requires you to not over-use bleach or chemicals, but our shampoo bars’ natural ingredients are gentle enough for daily use! Coloring your hair can take hours, but our shampoo bars can be added to your routine without taking up any extra time. 

Our Color-Friendly Shampoo Bars Prioritize the Health of Your Hair and Scalp

Dark Hair — Coffee

Coffee is a pigmented ingredient that is shown to provide a rich, deep hue in dark hair so we brewed up a Latte Brunette Shampoo Bar with organic coffee!

Blonde Hair — Lemon Essential Oil

Lemon is the perfect natural lightening agent for hair because it contains citric acid (lightener) and vitamin C (for hair strengthening) and we’ve packed our Coconut Milk and Citrus Bar full of citrus essential oils for this purpose!

Red Hair — Rose Hips

Rose Hips are those tiny, tomato like fruits you see on your rose bush. Like the flowers they produce, rose hips have a vibrant red pigment and we’ve put them in our Bella Rose Bar so you can literally shower yourself with roses (this is a personal favorite of mine.)

Now, don’t get me wrong…if you’ve been “dyeing” to dye your hair fire engine red for the past year then I don’t want to stop you from achieving your dreams, but if the next family photo is coming up sooner than you thought then you might want to play it safe (I know I was thanking my lucky stars that I decided to wait on the DIY bangs as I took my graduation photos today).

Much Love,

Nora