Dying Hair With Potato Skins

Last Updated: 18 Nov, 2015 | By Nguyên Mật

Although you might blame kids, work, lack of sleep and long commutes, gray hair actually occurs naturally with age. You might notice a few grays along your hairline that quickly spread as the years go by. Instead of reaching for a box of permanent hair dye or visiting the salon, try a natural remedy to slowly darken your hair overtime: potato peels. The starch in potato peels acts as a natural colorant that helps slowly cover your grays over a matter of weeks or months.

Potato Peel Rinse

One old fashioned remedy to tint gray hair darker is a potato peel rinse. To make such a rinse:

Peel about five potatoes and gather one cup of peels. You won't need the potatoes themselves so feel free to use them for a meal or recipe.
Pour two cups of cold water into a saucepan and add the potato peels.
Bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for five minutes.
Take the saucepan off the stove and let it cool completely.
Strain the liquid out and save the liquid.
Add a few drops of rosemary or lavender oil to scent it and pour the cool mixture into a glass container with tight fitting lid.
Use this as a hair rinse after shampooing your hair.
Shampoo as normal, rinse out the shampoo, then massage the potato peel water into the hair. Do not rinse it out.
Dry and style as normal.

Save any unused hair rinse in the refrigerator and make more as necessary. While this recipe won't transform an entirely white head of hair, it can darken individual gray hairs that may be in darker locks.

Other Natural Remedies

Rub coconut oil and lemon juice on your scalp twice daily.
Mix a tablespoon of salt and black tea, apply it to your hair and rinse after one hour.
Boil curry leaves in coconut oil and apply to roots.
Mix two teaspoons of wheat germ and two teaspoons of yeast into buttermilk and apply to the hair.

Remove the peels for five or six medium to large potatoes. Set the flesh aside and place the peels inside a large cooking pot. Fill the pot with 1/2 gallon water. Bring the water to a rolling boil over high heat. Allow the peels to boil for 20 to 30 minutes.

Pour the potato peels through a colander over a large bowl. Save the water and toss out the potato peels. Allow the potato peel-infused water to cool completely before pouring it into an old, clean shampoo bottle.