Apricot Blonde, “Old Money Blonde”, and Strawberry Blonde hair are everywhere now - with good reason; blonde is back in trend.
In this blog, we’re giving you a quick, easy how-to for attaining the gorgeous Apricot Blonde shade - without the need to use harsh chemicals.
Apricot Blonde is a sweet, lighter blonde hue with copper tones throughout. Subtler and less red than strawberry blonde; it has a gentle golden glow, keeping the warm tones without being too brassy.
So, How Can You Achieve Apricot Blonde Hair?
While it can seem daunting to try and get a trendy shade with Henna based dyes, luckily this trend couldn’t be easier to achieve by using our pre-mixed Golden Blonde boxed dye.
If your hair is grey, white or light in colour; the Golden Blonde is the perfect dye for a bold, bright blonde with a beautiful golden hue.
The additions of organic turmeric and rhubarb root powder soften the redness of the henna to a brighter golden shade, adding to the overall warmth of the colour.
Can You Achieve Apricot Blonde On My Brunette Hair?
If you have brown hair, unfortunately this won’t work for you; henna dyes won’t lighten your hair and so we can’t suggest anything for a much lighter shade overall.
If you have strands of grey throughout and want to achieve a highlights effect though, you can do this! Just apply the dye to the grey or white strands throughout, and wrap in clingfilm (never foil, as this leeches the dye from henna).
If you find this too tricky, you can dye your whole hair; but on the darker strands and lengths it’s likely to darken the brown hair as well.
Using this method, you’ll get a beautiful outcome of blonde tints through your brown hair.
If you have lighter roots, but darker hair; you might find you get a “stripe” of lighter colour on the roots rather than a uniform colour.
If you’re hoping to achieve the colour blocking trend, this might be ideal for you - and you can read more on this here:
Make sure to strand test!
If you want to go ahead and try, make sure you follow the golden rule of henna dying: always strand test first!
Henna dyes work differently on different people, and blondes can be tricky to get exactly right.
Typically, the longer you leave the colour for, the darker it will be - so when you strand test, make sure to time it well; and if you get the desired outcome on your strand, follow the same process when you use the dye over your whole hair.
If it’s your first time box dying, and you aren’t exactly sure how to strand test, don’t worry; we have a really helpful blog with a video guide on strand testing, here:
What To Do If: The Outcome Is Too Red?
All henna based dyes are red to some degree; the lightest shades and darkest shades are typically the least red, but there will always be warm undertones to the dye.
If Apricot Blonde is what you’re aiming to achieve, this will work perfectly for you - Apricot Blonde has a gorgeous, subtle orange hue running through it, so warm tones are exactly what you need.
However, everyone is different - you might find that for you, the Golden Blonde as is, is a little too warm! So what then?
The best thing to add to your mix is Amla.
An organic, ayurvedic powder made of ground up amalaki berries; on its own it’s a fantastic source of vitamin C, strengthening damaged or flat hair.
So when added to a Henna mix amongst other ingredients, it’s not also a conditioning boost, it also can really help to tone down the red of the henna.
Start by adding a small amount to your mix (typically a tablespoon per 110g); and then strand test to see if this works well for you.
What To Do If: The Outcome Is Too Dark?
If you’re finding the blonde a little too dark for you overall and you’re hoping for a lighter blonde shade, there’s a few things you can try.
If the colour is overall good, but it’s too dark on your strand, you can reduce the overall application time - usually a minimum of 90 minutes works well to get a good colour, but if you find this is too dark a colour for you, it’s fine to leave it on for a shorter length of time!
90 minutes is best practice with regards to the Indigo in the dye; Indigo is the ingredient in Its Pure dyes that darkens the Henna. Its natural blue hue counteracts the red of the Henna, helping it to be a little less orange in tone.
To lighten the colour overall and dilute the red tones, you can add in Cassia instead. Cassia is colourless Henna, and has a similar volumising effect on the hair; leaving hair soft and shiny.
As with the Amla, typically a tablespoon is enough to add to 110g of powder - strand test with your new mix to see if this works for you, and add more if desired!
You can also add less if you only want to lighten the dye slightly; with Its Pure ayurvedic powders there’s no harm in the amount you add in, the only difference with the ratio is the colour outcome.
If you’re finding the Golden Blonde too dark overall, and you have very light or white hair, you can try just a Cassia mix instead.
Pure Cassia steeped in lemon juice overnight and then applied on its own will leave a soft, golden tint on very light blonde or white hair.
For more colour inspiration and hair dye tips, read our blog here >>>
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