How to Color Hair with Food Coloring on All Hair Types

Nowadays, you can change hair color with a large amount of hair color products. Most hair dyeing products in the market are chemical-full. You need to wait several months to change new hair color. If you like changing hair colors, or you just don’t know which color matches you most, you can dye hair with food coloring. Instead of searching before and after pictures of hair dyeing, you can use food coloring on your hair to have a test. The dyed hair color will fade out after washing naturally. So your hair will be in the original color again.

To increase the success rate, you had better use food coloring on light hair. No matter your hair is naturally hued or chemically lightened, you can dye your hair at home with food coloring successfully. As for darker hair, the food coloring hair dyeing result is not as good as the light ones. But you can still add highlights to your hair. Just read and see how to try out a new look with food coloring.

• Part 1: Why You Color Hair Using Food Coloring
• Part 2: Food Coloring Hair Dye Alternatives (Safe & Better)
• Cheap Organic Hair Dye Products
• Homemade Hair Dye Recipes
• Part 3: What You Need to Prepare to Make Your Hair Dye
• Part 4: How to Dye Your Hair with Food Coloring

Part 1: Why You Color Hair Using Food Coloring

Is it worth dyeing hair with food coloring instead of permanent hair color products? Well, the answer is Yes. Here're 3 main reasons explaining why it is a good idea to dye hair with food coloring.

1. Cheap

The average price of hair coloring and highlights ranges between $60 to $150. Though you can go to a salon to dye and bleach your hair blue, blonde and more, it is quite expensive. If you dry hair with food coloring, you can change hair color with Wilton food coloring for about $4 or so. Well, you can buy any color of food coloring you like from Walmart, Amazon, Whole Foods, local health food stores, and more. Why not try a new hair color at such a low price? This also works when you do keratin treatment at home by yourself. You can save a lot of money on hair care.  

2. Safe

Is it safe to use food coloring to dye your hair? Of course, the answer is Yes. Food coloring hair dye is harmless than chemical-full hair dye and color products. Just don’t put it into your blood, eyes, or other ways. It’s okay if you eat a little bit of food coloring. By the way, you need to check whether you are allergic to food coloring before dyeing your hair. If not, you can feel free to dye hair with food coloring into red, blue, green, orange, purple and any other color you like.

3. Healthy

Even though you try to dye your hair with food coloring permanently, it can last no more than 2 to 4 weeks. Every time you wash the dyed hair with shampoo, the hair color will fade out gradually. Or you can use color-protecting shampoo/conditioner to slow down hair color fading fast process. For normal hair, food coloring can last on your hair for about 3 to 5 days only. As for blond and other light hair, you can keep the hair color a bit longer. Actually, how long do you leave food coloring in your hair depends on your hair and color type. Without a few washing, you can get your normal hair color again. No harsh chemical damages. To some degree, you can stop hair thinning after coloring. 

Part 2: Food Coloring Hair Dye Alternatives

Not all hair colors can be achieved with food coloring liquid or gel. It is hard to dye black or dark hair with natural food coloring sets. The inconvenient food coloring hair dye process and 2-weeks hair dye last are troublesome. To get rid of those dye hair food coloring cons, you can get some alternatives.

The followings are safe hair dye products that can make the color stay on your hair longer. Moreover, you can get more color to dye hair at home at a low cost. Let’s see what those organic hair color dye products and recipes you can choose.

1. Organic Hair Dye Products – Chemical Less & Last Longer

1. Naturcolor – No ammonia/resorcinol/parabens

You can get 31 hair dye colors from the Naturcolor hair dye brand. What’s more, you can blend several hair colors to lighten or darken your hair with more custom colors. Both color treated and permed hair are supported. Compared with food color hair dying, you can get natural color variation. The entire hair dye process lasts about 1 hour or so. Here are some permanent hair color dye gel products you can choose from.

2. Onc Naturalcolors – No Ammonia/Parabens/Resorinol/Sulfate/Gluten

If you want to dye hair with food coloring to cover gray hair, you can choose Onc Naturalcolors to get a better choice. The 100% gray coverage can make you look younger. With the organic ingredients of argan oil, aloe vera, orange extracts, coconut oil, and more, you can get soft and smooth hair texture after hair dye as well. It is not only your permanent hair dye bottle but also a hair care product.

3. Herbatint – No Ammonia/Resorcinol/Parabens/Alcohol Fragrance

It is a natural permanent hair color gel with 8 highly pure organic herbal extracts. As a result, it can protect your scalp and hair while coloring hair. Moreover, the hair color can fade slower than other competitors. The food coloring organic alternative is designed to protect and enhance hair color as well. Thus, you can get a natural and long-lasting color. By the way, you can cover the resistant gray hair with Herbatint natural hair dye product.

2. Natural Hair Dye to Color Hair – Chemical Free & Fade Faster

Are there any other natural hair dye recipes that can make homemade hair dye? Of course, there are many natural hair color dye ways without harsh chemicals. You can make natural food coloring from your kitchen or pantry directly.

Beet Juice/Henna – Dye Hair Red

Color Hair with Deeper Red with Beet Juice

1. Mix beet juice with carrier oil you like.
2. Apply the mixture to your dry hair. Then wrap it up.
3. Wait at least one hour before washing it out.

Dye Hair Red with Henna (The red hair color can last for about 6 weeks)

1. Completely mix ¼ cup of water and ½ cup of henna.
2. Make sure the henna mixture feels like the consistency of mashed potatoes. You can add a little more water or henna according to your need.
3. Use plastic wrap to cover the mixture for 12 hours or so.
4. Wash hair as usual. Remember not to use a hair conditioner.
5. To protect your hairline and skin from henna stain, you can apply coconut oil and wear a headband.
6. Apply the henna paste to your hair carefully. Wrap your hair and let it sit for 2 to 6 hours before washing.

Carrot Juice – Dye Hair Orange

2. Use a carrier oil to mix carrot juice, such as coconut oil or olive oil.
3. Apply the carrot mixture to your hair liberally.
4. Wrap your hair and let the hair dye mixture set for 1 hour or longer.
5. Use apple cider vinegar to rinse your hair.
6. If the red hair tint is not strong, you can repeat it the next day.

Lemon Juice/Chamomile Tea – Lighten Hair

Dye Hair with Sun-kissed Highlights Using Lemon Juice (Permanently lighten hair)

Check lighten hair naturally with lemon juice to get more details.

Lighten Blonde Hair with Chamomile Tea (Temporary lighten up blonde hair)

1. Use boiling water to steep ½ cup of chamomile flowers.
2. Put aside the chamomile hair dye mixture for half an hour or so.
3. Cool down the mixture. Then strain the flowers out.
4. Wash hair with your regular shampoo.
5. Pour the brewed chamomile tea through your damp hair no less than 10 times.
6. Don’t wash your hair after 16 minutes.

Coffee/Sage – Darken Hair

Dye Hair a Shade Darker with Coffee

1. Prepare a strong cup of dark-roast coffee.
2. Mix ½ cup of coffee with 2 tablespoons of coffee grounds and 1 cup of leave-in hair conditioner.
3. Apply the coffee mixture to your clean damp hair for at least 1 hour.
4. Wash it out to see the result. If you are not satisfied with the hair color, you can dye your hair with coffee again.

Darken Dark Brown/Black Hair with Sage (Cover up gray hair)

1. Prepare 1 quart of boiling water. Steep ½ to 1 cup of dried sage for 30 minutes or so. You can wait a longer time to get a darker tint.
2. Cool down the water and strain out the sage.
3. Wash and towel dry your hair as usual.
4. Pour the sage water over your hair for a while.
5. Let the sage dark color develop for 15 minutes.
6. Wash it out and let your hair dry to see the hair color.

Be aware that you cannot get permanent hair color from most of those natural ingredients. You need to perform natural hair dye for gray and other hair repeatedly to get the desired effect. The hair dye result will not be as perfect as commercial hair color dye products. Though those DIY coloring ingredients are 100% safe, your scalp may still be allergic by applying for a long time.

Part 3: What You Need to Prepare to DIY Food Coloring Hair Dye at Home

Before dyeing hair with food coloring, there are some preparations you need to do. Moreover, you should also prepare the following mentioned tools.

1. Lighten or bleach your hair

If you have dark hair, the final result of dyeing hair with food coloring may not show up clearly. For light brown or brown hair people, the dyed hair color will be darker. You need to consider the color combination. For example, if you have blond hair, and dye hair blue with food coloring, your hair will turn out greenish or brownish. Therefore, if you want to get the correct hair color, you had better tone your hair to a neutral color. Well, if it doesn’t bother you, it’s okay to dye your hair with food coloring without bleach.

2. Protect your workspace and body

• Spread some newspapers or a large plastic sheet over your bathroom, kitchen, or wherever you want to dye your hair. Because the food coloring is not easy to be cleaned in some places.
• Vaseline, baby oil, olive oil, coconut oil, or other kinds of natural oils. Choose one to rub oil all over your hairline, neck, shoulder, and other skin that your hair may touch. Otherwise, food coloring may stain your skin for a while.
• Old T-shirt & plastic/vinyl gloves. Wear an old T-shirt or other clothing you don’t want to wear anymore. Because food coloring will dye your clothes and skin as well, especially for long hair. Or you can use an old towel, nylon cape, or hair dyeing smock around your shoulders to protect clothes too.

3. Other necessary tools for hair dyeing with food coloring

• Liquid or gel food coloring bottles (Don’t use vegetable-based food dyes. The color can’t adhere to your hair.)
• A mixing bowl
• A hair dyeing brush
• A shower cap
• White conditioner (If you have bleached hair, you can dye hair with food coloring and water to permanently dye hair. No white hair conditioner.)
• Hairdryer 

Part 4: How to Dye Your Hair with Food Coloring

This section talks about how to dye hair with food coloring temporarily. You can DIY hair dye as the following steps show. Moreover, you can go to the Note section below to make permanent hair dye with food coloring as well.

Now, let’s see how to dye your hair with food coloring and hair conditioner first.

Step 1: Put on your old T-shirt. Protect your carpet or floor with newspaper and plastic sheets. Then wear on your gloves.

Step 2: Squeeze some white conditioner into your bowel. You need to squeeze at least 2 tablespoons of white conditioner. Add some food coloring into this bowel. The color turns out lighter on your hair than what you see in the mixture. So you need to add a bit more food coloring. The more food coloring you add, the deeper hair color it will be.

Step 3: If you lightened your hair before, your hair has yellow or brassy tones. In case of dyeing the wrong color, you can add purple or blue food coloring to neutralize and remove unwanted color.

Section 2: Apply Food Coloring to Dye Your Hair

Step 1: To make hair dyeing easier, divide your hair into 4 or more parts. Then use your hand or applicator hair dye brush to apply the dye. You should start from the roots.

By the way, if you want to dye highlights to hair with food coloring, you can apply the dye mixture into thin sections of hair. Use plastic wrap or aluminum foil to separate hair highlight dyes.

Step 2: Twist your hair into a bun. Use a shower cap to tuck your dyed hair. Or you can use plastic wrap or a plastic bag instead.

Step 3: Leave the food coloring hair dyeing mixture on your hair for about 30 minutes to 3 hours. The longer time you wait, the deeper your hair color will be. Thus, if you want to dye a lighter color on your hair, you can shorten the time a little bit.

Section 3: Rinse and Dry Hair after Dyeing

Step 1: If you are not sure, you can take a strand of your hair and rinse it with cold water. If the color is light, you can leave the hair dye longer. Or you can wash the dye out using cold water completely.

Step 2: Remember not to use any shampoo or conditioner while washing the dye out. Because it will remove color quickly. If you dye several colors on your hair, you need to wash the dyed sections separately.

Step 3: Use your old T-shirt or towel to dry your hair gently. Don’t rub your hair. If you want to dry your hair quickly, you can use a hairdryer to blow dry your hair with low settings. (Check the difference between air drying and blow drying.)

Step 4: To set the color on your dyed hair, you should not wash your hair for 3 to 5 days. If possible, you had better sleep on a dark or colored pillow. Because the dyed food coloring may stain your pillow as well.

Well, you can dye hair with food coloring on the ends of your hair or the entire head freely. The low cost and no harsh chemical makes food coloring dye popular. Compared with the traditional hair dye methods, you will not suffer from hair drying, hair falling out, hairline receding, and other problems. It is a kinder way to give your hair a new color. What’s more, some people complain that food coloring doesn’t work. It is true. The food coloring may not work on black or dark down hair.

The dye won’t stay on your hair for a long time. You can wash out food coloring with any shampoo with ease. Every time you wash your hair, the dyed hair color will start to fade obviously. Though you dye hair with food coloring, the temporary or permanent hair dye jobs will fade out within a month. The healthier your hair is, the faster color fading out speed it is.

What’s more, some people complain that food coloring doesn’t work. It is true. The food coloring may not work on black or dark down hair. So it is hard to dye hair with food coloring without bleach.

In a word, if you are not sure which color matches you, you can use food coloring to dye your hair and have a test. It is a fun, safe, and cheap hair coloring and dying way. You can even DIY unique hair colors after several tries.