# Different use for Madder root



## Obsidian (Jan 23, 2015)

My hair started out blond this morning.


----------



## lpstephy85 (Jan 23, 2015)

Oh, nice. I wonder how many washes it will last.


----------



## Obsidian (Jan 23, 2015)

Hope it lasts at least a few weeks. I really want to use henna but its so permanent, if this fades slowly it will be such a better option for me. Its a bit darker in person and really shiny.


----------



## Seawolfe (Jan 23, 2015)

Wow that is pretty!  How did you apply it?


----------



## Obsidian (Jan 23, 2015)

I mixed it with water and a little conditioner until it was thick like cake batter then had someone carefully apply it with a hair color brush. When it was all in, I wrapped it with cling wrap then a towel to hold in the heat. Left it in for 1.5 hours.
I was a messy, gloppy process. I had orange streaks down my back from drips. I found out after that madder needs a mordant to make the color stick. I took a shower and it looks like much has washed out. I'm going to get more and try again.


----------



## newbie (Jan 23, 2015)

I assume you are originally blond? (Duh, sorry you said you were blond this morning) It makes a great color- more a natural orange/red color than about anything I've seen and definitely a more natural color than henna. I have to go look up what mordant is now.

I see urine can be used as one for dyes. THat brings up some interesting images of coloring your hair again.


----------



## doriettefarm (Jan 23, 2015)

OMG newbie you're killing me with the mordant visuals!  If I tried it I would opt for plain old table salt as a mordant and hope for the best.  Wonder if it would work on mousy brown hair?


----------



## KristaY (Jan 23, 2015)

Wow Obsidian! What a great color. Hope it sticks around for a while (in your hair, not on your skin, lol).:razz:


----------



## snappyllama (Jan 23, 2015)

That is such a fun color... too bad about it washing out.  You'll have to post back when you figure out how to make it stick!


----------



## Obsidian (Jan 24, 2015)

Its way too early for me to come up with a proper respond to using urine but I can say I won't be peeing in my hair any time soon I was thinking about using alum but if salt works, then I'll go with that.
I didn't wash out as much as I though, its still a nice red just not quite as coppery. I was thinking about adding a touch of alkenet next time so its not quite so orange. I am curious if shampoo bars would alter the color since madder is sensitive to PH. I wouldn't want my whole head turning pink.


----------



## Seawolfe (Jan 24, 2015)

Obsidian said:


> I am curious if shampoo bars would alter the color since madder is sensitive to PH. I wouldn't want my whole head turning pink.



Yeah but I would pay good money to see that!


----------



## Obsidian (Jan 24, 2015)

Seawolfe said:


> Yeah but I would pay good money to see that!



How much? I've always wanted pink hair:lolno:


----------



## SplendorSoaps (Jan 24, 2015)

The color turned out really nicely!  It looks really natural.


----------



## Rowan (Jan 24, 2015)

Great natural looking colour. My mum's a natural redhead with exactly that colour!


----------



## houseofwool (Jan 26, 2015)

I am really curious if alum will work as a mordant, and what the proportion will be. I have auburn hair that starts to look a bit dull this time of year.


----------



## Obsidian (Jan 26, 2015)

I was thinking about trying alum, it seems to work well when dying wool. I've washed my hair three times and after the initial slight fading, the color is staying the same. My natural roots faded the most but is still very coppery and natural.

I did find out that high PH will turn it pink if left on for a few minutes but its slowly turning back to copper. I did a test strand with a liquid with PH of 10, left it on for about 10 minutes, it went fairly bright pink. Also did a test strand with CP shampoo bar and left it on for 2 minutes, no noticeable color change. I've been using store bought shampoo but I'm going back to CP bars now that I feel its safe.

I bet you could do a gloss like they do with henna to brighten your natural auburn. You mix the madder with conditioner instead of water. I was thinking about doing that, maybe it would make it easier to apply.


----------



## houseofwool (Jan 26, 2015)

Gah, I haven't dyed any wool in ages, but I might have some alum left yet. 

I might try if first without the mordant to see if I like the color.


----------



## lpstephy85 (Feb 14, 2015)

Update Obsidian?


----------



## Obsidian (Feb 14, 2015)

It faded some but not much but I ended up removing it with color oops and going back to my natural blond. I really love red hair but root upkeep is just too time consuming.


----------



## lpstephy85 (Feb 14, 2015)

Understandable. I have silver and purple hair right now but my roots are coming in but it's a pain to bleach them and put more silver and purple back in.


----------



## Susie (Feb 20, 2015)

houseofwool said:


> Gah, I haven't dyed any wool in ages, but I might have some alum left yet.
> 
> I might try if first without the mordant to see if I like the color.



You can buy alum where ever there are canning supplies.  It is used in making pickles.


----------



## Irishgem29 (May 2, 2015)

Hi obsidian. I love the color and would love to try it.  You mentioned mixing with conditioner to make a gloss. Do you just mix the powder and condition as normal or like you did the color?


----------



## Obsidian (May 2, 2015)

I never did try the gloss, I decided to go back blond. I would mix just enough water with the powder to wet it and release the dye, then mix in how ever much conditioner you need to get the color/consistency you want.
If I was going to permanently go red, I would use quality henna but the madder was really nice. I still have a bit of reddish tones in my hair, even after using color remover and ash blond dye.


----------

