Black Tea Dye For Graying Hair - Clean Swap or Total Flop?!
I don’t know about you but my Pinterest is PERFECTLY curated to my wants/needs and it never fails to provide me with some unbelievable natural beauty swaps to try. Some of them seem feasible and some downright ridiculous! That was the inspiration for this blog - separating fact from fiction in your natural beauty story.
The latest claim hits upon one of my deepest insecurities - my graying hair - so obviously I had to give it a go. My hair doesn’t gray in a cool way (think Rogue from X-Men) but instead is reminiscent of my wiry-haired terrier, Albie.
Will black tea be the all-natural dye I have been searching for to rid myself of these wiry, witchy grays or will it fizzle like a burning cauldron? Read on to find out if black tea is a Clean Swap or Total Flop!
The Test:
I haven’t box-dyed my hair in about 5 weeks.. meaning my grays are in full effect. In this beauty test, I’m going to saturate my hair with strong black tea and let it sit for 45 minutes to see if it will dye my grays brown. Let’s do this!
My grays cluster around my hairline, behind my ears (at least they’re not coming OUT of my ears, amirite?), and are sprinkled along the top.
See those stinkers?
Let’s see if we can say sayonara to these stubborn grays!.
The Necessities:
5 Black tea bags
8 cups of water
Pot for boiling water
Old t-shirt (black tea WILL stain so avoid wearing your Academy Awards dress during this one)
Old towel
Shower cap (the epitome of cool!)
Large cup with handle for pouring tea over your head
Possibly a partner, if you don’t feel comfortable doing this process alone
The How-To:
Bring 8 cups of water to a rolling boil, then turn off the heat.
Soak 5 black tea bags in the pot of water for at least 1 hour - the stronger the tea, the better!
After this amount of time, your water should be luke warm and ready to be used. Please check it, however, to see if it needs a quick jaunt in the fridge to cool it down!
Think through your space and how you can best set yourself up to pour the tea over your hair. I chose to set a chair up right next to my kitchen sink and have my partner (the most wonderful Mama in the world, I might add!) pour the water over my hair until it was fully saturated. The tea fell into a bowl in the sink, which we kept reusing for the pour-over. If you don’t have a partner and don’t feel comfortable using the pour-over method, you can also choose to use a spray bottle to spritz your head in the shower!
Are we taking bets on whether or not this clean swap will work?
Even if it ends up not working, I’m feeling pretty pampered in this moment. Thanks mom! BUTALSOPLEASELETTHISWORK.
Pour the tea over your hair, focusing on saturating it fully from root to tip.
Squeeze any excess tea out of your hair and cover it with your shower cap.
Have a shower cap photo shoot for all of your social media avenues, as you will feel ultra glamorous (not needed but absolutely recommended!).
Let the tea sit for at least 45 minutes, then rinse and condition in the shower.
The Verdict:
Well, my friends, I am sorry to report that this black tea did next-to-nothing to help my wiry grays. Not only did it completely fail to cover my silver stragglers but it was also super drying. I will definitely be needing a deep conditioning mask after this treatment. Cue your favorite crying meme! Check out the results below to see for yourself. I am afraid I will have to label this natural beauty hack as a Total Flop!
