Do you want to change your hair color – but without damaging your hair?
Well, in case you want to go for a darker shade – I have the best solution. Let me show you how to darken hair with coffee – in a natural way, without any hair dye or chemicals.
Besides, the procedure is really simple – so are you ready? Let’s give it a shot.
5 Things To Keep In Mind
Before I start with the “how to” guide – here are 5 things you should know about this method:
- Coffee has better results than any other natural substance
- It works best for dark brown hair
- For lighter hair, you may have to repeat the procedure several times
- It doesn’t work too well for hair dyed in strong shades (red, silver, etc)
- It might not work from the first time
Now – there are several methods to darken your hair with coffee. I tried some of them – but the results aren’t the same.
For this reason, I will show you the most effective methods – so that you don’t waste valuable time trying.
1. Coffee Mask
This may not be the easiest method – but it’s surely the most effective one.
So here’s how to prepare the mask:
- Get a pack of organic coffee (because it has no artificial ingredients)
- Make a strong coffee – something like 2-3 times stronger than usual
- Add one small cup in a bowl
- Next, add 2-3 spoonfuls conditioner in it – to nourish your hair
- Mix until the paste becomes thick enough to be applied
- If it’s too liquid – add some more conditioner
That’s how the mask should be like. Now that you have it done, it’s time to apply it on your hair.
Basically – it’s like applying a hair mask. But here’s the tricky part:
- Apply it from the roots to the ends
- Make sure the color is smooth everywhere
- Let it sit for at least an hour
Obviously, you can let it sit for more than 1 hour – the longer, the better.
In the end, make sure you rinse your hair completely. You shouldn’t have a hard time, since the mask rinses easily.
Up next – you can either blow dry your hair or let it dry naturally, it doesn’t really matter in this case.
Once it’s dry, take a close look in the mirror and see if you can notice any changes:
- you will probably not get the color you wanted from the start
- so you can repeat this procedure several times
- in case you don’t notice any change after 3-4 times, add more coffee and less conditioner
- be patient and repeat it once a week, for several months
- in the end, you should notice at least one small change
2. Coffee Rinse
This method is really easy, comfortable and it can darken your hair considerably – but it’s going to take longer:
- it’s not as strong as the previous one
- you only need a few minutes to do it
Now – this isn’t my favorite method ever, mostly because you need more time to see the results. But I’ve used it several times and it does work.
Besides, it has 2 major advantages over the coffee mask:
- Colors all the hair strands equally
- Changes the color from the roots to the ends
So here’s what you need to do in this method:
- Prepare the same strong coffee as in method #1
- This time, don’t add any conditioner or anything else
- You’re going to use the coffee alone
- Let it cool down
- Wash your hair as usual
- Rinse your hair and make sure it’s clean (but still wet)
- Use the coffee to rinse your hair about 5 times
Now – you will probably not see any change after the first time.
But try to repeat the procedure every time you wash your hair – or at least 2 times per week.
After several tries, you should be able to spot a small change in your color.
My Verdict – Can Coffee Darken Hair?
Short answer: It surely can. It’s strong enough to change the color of your hair – but it might take a while.
So you basically need only 3 things:
- a strong, organic coffee
- conditioner
- patience
As I said, you will probably not going to see any change from the first try – unless you have a very dark hair color.
The key is to keep using this method several times a week.
As it’s a natural ingredient, coffee doesn’t have the power of hair dye or chemicals. But it will also not harm your hair.
So on the long term – I think it’s really worth the time and work, isn’t it?
Now I would like to hear from you:
- How dark is your natural hair color?
- Have you ever used coffee on your hair?
- Which of these 2 methods would you use?
I’m waiting for your answers, comments or suggestions in the lines below.
Hi, I am wondering if it really works.. I don’t like using hair colours because they are very toxic and not good for our hair and health so I use it only if I really need it and I always use hair colour without ammonium.
I probably will try this method with coffee because I am really curious and it would be so good if it would really work.
Hi Iveta, it depends a lot on your hair color – if you have dark hair, it’s surely going to work better (and faster).
On the other hand, if you’re blond or you have a light shade, you’re going to need to repeat it a couple of times. But after 3-4 you should see a small difference.
But on the long term, it’s surely better than classic hair dye.
If you decide to try it, let me know how it goes.
Hi Olly
I had no idea that you could darken your hair with coffee. It’s not surprising though, coffee’s used to stain anything from fabrics, to yarns and even as a wood stain.
A little trick that my mother taught me – and I’m sure you’ve probably heard of – is putting lemon juice in my hair and going in the sun to get that sun kissed look.
I was planning to get a hair makeover in the next months, and going for a darker color. So I will definitely keep this method in mind, hair dyes have so many chemicals in them.
Thanks again and all the best.
Hey Katia, I’m pretty familiar with using lemon juice for hair. I don’t know if you knew it – but it kind of has the opposite effect of coffee. You can use it to lighten your hair naturally.
Obviously, just like coffee – it’s not going to work from the first try. But if you repeat it a few times, you’re going to see a lighter hair shade.
Wow what a neat idea. I have not dyed my hair for years because I don’t want to use commercial here dyes. I’ll have to give this a try the next time I want to change the color of my hair. We are not coffee drinkers but I’ll have to go out and get some give this a try. Are there any considerations about not staining your clothes or towels?
Yes, you definitely should try 🙂
In case you don’t want to stain any clean towel you could use some shower cap, the thing is that you have to cover your hair using anything, not necessarily a towel. It never happened to me to stain my clothes because I always paid a lot of attention, but as far as I know if this happens and you wash your clothes the stains will go away.
Olly: Reading the recipe for the Coffee Mask, it states to:
3.Add 2 small cups in a bowl
4.Next, add 2 spoonfuls conditioner in it – to nourish your hair
5.Mix until the paste becomes thick enough to be applied
6.If it’s too liquid – add some more conditioner
My question is if you add two cups of coffee and two tablespoons of conditioner, does it thicken up? Are these actual full cups (8 ounces) of liquid coffee? It seems that this would be very runny and nothing like the picture that you show.
Thank you.
Hi Lisa, you’re right, following this recipe the mixture would be too liquid. I’m going to change it into 1 cup of coffee and 2-3 spoonfuls of conditioner (or more, if necessary). But to answer your question – yes, adding conditioner/hair mask or another type of hair nourishing product would thicken the mixture up and make it easier to apply.
Thanks for letting me know about this mistake, I will make sure to correct it!
will it cover gray at all or a little?
Hi Stacey, it really should. If it doesn’t work from the first try, repeat the procedure 2-3 times and it should get much better.