Here are a few homemade pastes and mixes that you can use to naturally colour your hair. Natural colouring causes less damage to the hair say experts.Skin care expert Vasundhra Ravi suggests a few oil massages and herbal mixes to darken your hair. “They will not darken your hair like a chemical mix, but they will colour your hair and help keep it healthy ,” she says.

HOMEMADE OIL

Take 50ml coconut oil, 50ml gingelly oil and 50ml olive oil. Mix all these and heat on low flame. In kadai, spurt 10gm mustard, 20gm curry leaves, 20gm dry amla and 20 henna leaves. Saute till they are almost dry . Now, add the oil and heat this mixture for another 10 minutes. Store it in an airtight bottle and keep it in direct sunlight for four days. Let the ingredients settle at the base. Now, use this oil and massage your scalp and hair every day . This oil helps darken your greying hair.

HENNA PASTE

Make a paste out of henna and apply over the hair for two hours and rinse. After a few hours, mix 100g of indigo (auri) powder with warm water and make a paste. Apply this paste all over the hair. Leave it on for 45 minutes and rinse. You will be surprised to see that your grey hair has turned black to an extent. Apply this paste once a week.

HAIR PACK

Make your own hair darkening pack by mixing the following together: henna leaves 50gm, aloe vera gel 20ml, haritaki or kadukkai skin 5gm, fresh seedless amla 20gm. Grind all the above to a smooth paste, add the juice of half a lemon to this mixture and apply on the hair. Apply 10ml olive oil on hair prior to applying this pack. Leave on for 20 minutes and rinse to get a reddish-brown tint to your hair.

OLIVE OIL MASSAGE

Olive oil is an excellent hair darkener. Slightly warm 20ml of olive oil and apply it on the scalp and give a gentle massage for eight minutes. Leave it on for one hour. Wash with homemade shikakai. Apply this twice a week to get back your beautiful dark hair.

HENNA-AMLA-KADUKAI PASTE

Take henna powder 200gm, amla powder 25gm, kadukai powder 10gm, tulsi powder 10gm, tea decoction 100ml, eucalyptus oil 2ml, curd 100ml, lemon juice 10 drops, and olive oil 2tsp. Mix all the ingredients in an iron vessel and soak overnight. Next morning, apply this mixture on the scalp and hair.Leave it on for two hours, and rinse. Do not apply shampoo while washing the hair. This paste gives a beautiful maroon tint to your hair. It also prevents further greying.

TO GET NATURAL BURGUNDY TINT

Henna leaves 100gm, beetroot one (small), aloe vera 100gm and multani mitti 2tsp. Make a hair pack by blending henna leaves, beet root and aloe vera. Mix some multani mitti to the mixture. Apply this on your hair and leave it on for one hour. This paste gives a burgundy tint to hair.

PREVENT PREMATURE GREYING

Take a handful of curry leaves, hibiscus leaves, karisalai leaves, coriander leaves and grind them together into a smooth paste. Add five drops of lemon juice to this paste. Apply on the scalp and the hair. Leave it on for an hour and then wash. Apply this paste once a week. Regular application of this pack  can darken existing grey hair and it also prevents premature greying.