I love jet black hair, but I am allergic to black dye. I've been searching and researching ways to get black hair and I stumbled across a recipe in one of my favorite books, The Herbal Home Spa.

The recipe consists of combining equal parts dried indigo, dried lavender, dried black malva flowers and boiling water. Basically you'd grind all the dry ingredients into a powder and then add the boiling water until the consistency is a thick paste. You want to make sure to use a glass or porcelin bowl because metal will affect the color. Next, cleanse and rinse your hair, apply the mix with gloves. This will stain the skin so you'll want to avoid your scalp and skin. You might consider using a noncomedogenic oil or butter to line the perimeter of your hair and ears. Make sure the paste is in from roots to tips, apply plastic bag, leave on 30 minutes to an hour and rinse until the water runs clear. Cleanse and condition once more being sure to rinse with cool water.

I'll get around to trying this one day. It's just so hard trying to find all the ingredients. I know about all the henna sites that sell indigo, but I'm very intrigued by this recipe because it doesn't require the use of henna.

I'm actually on the fence about hair color. Some days I miss the ash blonde highlights I had in college or the blue-black hair I had when I moved to Miami. Lately I've been wanting to try a red because I've never been red (despite the red cast you've seen in my pictures), but I won't make any rash decisions.