Experiment! It's the Juice of Life!

It's waiting for you to discover it!  There are many ways to do a particular task:  the ways it has always been done, the hottest techniques raved on by social media, and the way that only you can discover--by experimenting.

Life situations (some folks call them problems) come up just so we can have a laboratory for our plarking and experimenting.  Here's one of my latest situations.  My hairdresser has done a fabulous job of keeping my hair its natural color.  I usually have her help me out in this way about three times a year.  Out on the ends, that which has been with me the longest, the hair has had enough color work done on it that it is no longer fresh and happy.

Damp and faded with an inch plus of grow-out

My experiment?  How can I color my hair for maximum good looks while it grows out a bit more and can be cut off?  On line sources suggested one could dye hair with tea.  A light shade of brewed black tea is exactly my hair color.

Experiment #1.  Brewed strong black tea and daubed solution on my clean damp hair after shampooing. Suggestions said leave it on for an hour or so. Tea is good for the hair. I did the daubing and just left it on. Results:  Very little change. Suggestions said this was a gradual change and could take awhile.

Experiment #2.  Added strong brewed tea to diluted hair gel. Sprayed it on and left it. Better coverage. Wore out the little 2 oz. sprayer I was using. Poured it into a pistol-grip sprayer. Knew this could be messier so leaned over the bathtub and misted downward. Hair looked pretty good. Found there were little droplets all over the white tub, and aqua walls and the window and sill. 

Experiment #3.  Same as above except sprayed my hair while was still in the shower. Forgot I was tall. Spray went over the shower door and on the adjacent wall, on the floor and, of course, on the upper walls of the shower. Time to rethink the spray idea.

Instant tea crystals with water

Experiment #4.  Used stronger tea and no sprayer.  How? Bought instant ice tea--no lemon or sugar. Poured a scant teaspoon into my palm, added two or three drops of water and a tiny bit of mouse. Daubed this directly on to my grey stripe, working it well into the hair. Poured a second teaspoon into my palm, added water, then added usual amount of styling mouse. Mixed it and applied to the rest of my faded hair. Styled my hair as usual.

Freshly colored with instant tea and tea/mouse.

Most recent notes from the "laboratory of life" on this one: 1) If I were caught in a rainstorm with this in my hair, the most important Things I get to do today would relate to heading for cover or I would be a total mess!  2) The color is gradually being taken into the hair itself--the white area is no longer really white.  3) If your hands are rough from working in the garden, wearing a protective glove can keep the stain off your daubing fingers. 4) The tea powder/crystals are much easier to travel with than a sprayer of strong tea, less messy over all and much more effective to get deep, rich color.  5) Experimenting is the juiciest of fun!

Get out there, folks, and find your way of doing things!