How To Dye Your Hair With Food Coloring (Make Your Own Hair Dye)

Me with pink highlights.
I put pink highlights in my hair using food coloring.

Are you feeling the punky hair trend? This tutorial will teach you how to make your own hair color dye using stuff you might already have at home! And it's not as messy as you might think.

What You'll Need:

  • Food Coloring (or Kool-Aid)
  • Clear Aloe Vera gel (if you don't have aloe, any clear hair gel will probably work just as well)
  • A small jar or cup
  • A paint brush or chopstick for mixing
  • Gloves
  • An old t-shirt or smock

First Things First:

    First you'll want to put on an old t-shirt and gloves so you don't get dye on yourself. (Minors, make sure your parents are cool with you doing this.)

Make Your Own Hair Dye Mixture:

    For highlights, squeeze 1-3 tablespoons of aloe gel into the jar. Use more if dyeing your entire head. Mix in 3-5 drops of food coloring per tablespoon of aloe, depending on how rich you want the color to be. You can mix food coloring to make just about any color you like. The back of your food coloring box should have a guide for mixing, but you can also experiment. What's great about this is you can easily and cheaply make a whole rainbow of hair colors without spending $8 on each one. The possibilities are endless! You can even try mixing complementaries like red and green to make brown shades, just do a strand test first and be aware it might look funky as it fades. The aloe makes the dye easier to work with (way less messy) and nourishes your hair. Keep in mind, of course, colors will show up more on bleached or blonde hair.

Dye Your Hair:

    Work the dye into sections of clean, dry hair the way you would any other hair dye. Definitely do a strand test first if you're mixing a color, because some pigments will set faster than others. Warm pink/red tones set faster than cool tones in my experience. For example, pale cotton candy pink can take as little as 30 minutes. Blue takes much longer. In most cases, you can expect to wait for several hours, as long as possible for richer colors. It's okay if you leave the mixture on for a long time. There are no harsh chemicals and this will not damage your hair. If you make too much, the extra can be stored in a jar with a lid for later use. When you're ready, rinse your hair until it runs clear and use conditioner. The dye will be semi-permanent and will eventually fade with regular shampooing.

Me with pink highlights.

.
Filed in: DIY, Hair by Annie Spandex.


46 Responses to “How To Dye Your Hair With Food Coloring (Make Your Own Hair Dye)”

  1. JordanMayTwigs, on August 17th, 2010 at 8:12 am Said:

    LOVES IT!!!!
    I wish I could dye my hair right now.
    But I recently got a job at MACYS!!!
    So I can”t have outragous hair just yet.
    Gotta wait till I OFFICALLY work there.
    Then check ot the HR rules.
    :)

    xx
    JordanMayTwigs.
    <3

  2. Susan, on August 17th, 2010 at 9:48 am Said:

    Love it. I had an ESPIRIT t-shirt just like that circa 1989.

    GLOSSING OVER IT

  3. jess, on August 17th, 2010 at 2:17 pm Said:

    i remember this trend !! fun stuff, like how yours turned out!

    jess s//

  4. Annie Spandex, on August 17th, 2010 at 8:14 pm Said:

    JordanMayTwigs – Congrats on the job! I hope it goes well. I bet your discount is pretty sweet. :)

    Susan – I found this one in a thrift shop and it was instant nostalgia. Whatever happened to ESPRIT? It was THE SHIT back in ”89. ;)

    Jess – Yeah, I did it back in the day when I was a teenager as well. The same thing–pink streaks. Haha..

  5. Stephanie, on August 17th, 2010 at 8:40 pm Said:

    looks fun! although ive always been way too scared to dye my hair :)

    lachicmenagerie.blogspot.com

  6. Kelly (Dollface), on August 17th, 2010 at 9:09 pm Said:

    you are hitting it out of the ballpark with these tutorials!! i was just showing my boyfriend pictures of cute girls with faded pink hair just like yours & saying…man, i”d like to jump on this bandwagon…

  7. grace, on August 17th, 2010 at 10:51 pm Said:

    wah i wish i had light hair so i could play around with semi-perm colors like that without having to fry the shit out of my hair first…..yours looks awwwwesome though, just as awesome as that esprit shirt!!!!!!!

  8. Annie Spandex, on August 17th, 2010 at 11:07 pm Said:

    Stephanie – It washes out eventually. :)

    Kelly – I”m so glad you like them! Thank you for the encouragement. xx

    Grace – :( You could try just bleaching a few bottom ends? It would be cute! And thanks, I”m about to go google whatever happened to ESPRIT. ;)

  9. Annie Spandex, on August 17th, 2010 at 11:13 pm Said:

    ESPRIT is still around?! Holy crap, I had no idea.. http://www.esprit.com/

  10. MJ, on August 18th, 2010 at 7:55 am Said:

    This is SO COOL. I wish I had a hair colour that pastels would go with! Alas, not happening…

  11. Jigi, on August 18th, 2010 at 11:22 am Said:

    How long do you think it takes to wash out? I”m going to try it today and I”m going to put it in a place that I can hide it if needed. Like 5 washes maybe? How long have you had yours?

  12. Aja, on August 18th, 2010 at 10:21 pm Said:

    I love the fact that you”re rockin” an old school Esprit logo tee here. I have a sweatshirt exactly like it which I pull out for nostalgia”s sake. I miss the old Esprit. Great hair, by the way. You look like Gem.

  13. The Licentiate, on August 19th, 2010 at 8:14 am Said:

    Esprit! I had one of those too…

    I love the DIY dye hair – it brings me back to being sixteen again and spending many hours bleaching my dark hair so the purple would show… ah, memories.

  14. capannina, on August 19th, 2010 at 8:38 am Said:

    do u color ur hairs too?
    Capannina Forte

  15. fashion trends, on August 19th, 2010 at 4:39 pm Said:

    Beautiful blog. Clean and trendy, congrats!

  16. Ashley, on August 19th, 2010 at 11:57 pm Said:

    Ahh!! My boyfriend has totally done this before (taking a page out of Kurt Cobain”s book I suppose!) and I had no idea it could be done. You look great and definitely have the sass to pull it off! werq gurlll!!

    xx

  17. Annie Spandex, on August 21st, 2010 at 2:30 am Said:

    Jigi – It really all depends on how long you let the coloring set, how harsh or gentle your shampoo is, and the state of your hair. I put mine in a couple weeks ago but very lightly and then went over it again.

    Gem – Haha, awesome. Gem is my name no one else is the same…

    The Licentiate – It brings me back to 16 too.

    capannina – Yes?

    fashion trends – Thanks.

    Ashley – Hehe ;) x

  18. Reena Rai, on August 22nd, 2010 at 5:05 am Said:

    Love this, wish my hair was light enough to do this, I need super intensive colours to show up on my dark locks

  19. Nickie Frye, on August 22nd, 2010 at 8:40 am Said:

    I”ve heard you can use Kool Aid as lip stain. Sort of random, but I thought it slightly related. ;)

    xoxo
    Nickie

  20. cecilia, on August 22nd, 2010 at 10:58 am Said:

    looking good, I love the color of your hair!

  21. Annie Spandex, on August 22nd, 2010 at 2:39 pm Said:

    Nickie Frye – Interesting! I bet you could just mix some in some vaseline… :)

    EVERYONE – Thanks! xx

  22. All Women Stalker, on August 24th, 2010 at 4:39 am Said:

    This sounds fun! I am not brave or un-messy enough to try but I like this idea a lot. :)

  23. Rosa, on August 29th, 2010 at 2:41 am Said:

    Uuuuuuuuuuuuh wow! Ive been trying to use to food colouring to tint my hair for months but to no avail! I shall try this little method, thanks lady!

  24. tawnee, on September 1st, 2010 at 10:07 am Said:

    thats so cool. i am tempted to cut off all my hair today. donate it. take the rest of it. dye it blonde and do that.

  25. jana, on September 2nd, 2010 at 7:26 pm Said:

    anyone have an ESPRIT sweatshirt they would sell? I soooo want another one! comment if you do :)

  26. amber, on September 3rd, 2010 at 9:21 pm Said:

    very cool, I really like the faded blue look…hmm

    btw, vaseline would”nt work well…vaseline just sits on the hair shaft rather than soaking in so it”d make the dye less effective.

  27. Annie Spandex, on September 4th, 2010 at 6:39 pm Said:

    tawnee – That”s a very brave thing to do. <3

    jana – Save a search on eBay, that”s your best bet. So when one goes up for auction they”ll email you. :)

    amber – We”re talking about lip stain regarding the vaseline, not hair. Would never put vaseline in hair! ;)

  28. F.A., on September 9th, 2010 at 7:17 am Said:

    anyone know how this does on darker hair? i would think the colours would be VERY muted as salons usually bleach your hair platinum before they take it blue, for instance.

  29. Lynne, on October 4th, 2010 at 11:09 am Said:

    Annie: how long before the pink dye washed out of your hair? just wondering, as my haircolour is similar to yours.

  30. Annie Spandex, on October 5th, 2010 at 5:01 pm Said:

    Lynne – There”s still some very light pink in my hair if you look closely, but it”s not really noticeable anymore. However, I have lightened my hair since dying the pink streaks. Hope that helps! :)

  31. Kiersten, on October 18th, 2010 at 7:01 pm Said:

    I love this, I am doing this as we speak, I should probably rinse now. see ya, thanks!

  32. Camille, on November 8th, 2010 at 5:49 am Said:

    Hi! I just stumbled on your website. Not quite sure how but I’m glad I did! I love your style and DIY posts;)

    What food coloring did you use? That’s exactly the color I’m aiming for! ;) Also, will that stain towels and pillows even after the whole dying process?

    Thanks!! :) You’re amazing!

  33. Annie Spandex, on November 8th, 2010 at 5:54 pm Said:

    Camille – Good questions! Thanks. I used McCormack “Neon” pink. As long as you rinse until the water runs clear, it shouldn’t stain your pillowcases or towels. :)

  34. Ariadna Miranda, on December 9th, 2010 at 5:28 pm Said:

    I loved this, I have my hair kool aid red at the moment, but as soon as it finishes fading out I´ll go for a blue-ish tone :D love your diy´s like you have no idea!

  35. Ariadna Miranda, on December 9th, 2010 at 5:28 pm Said:

    I loved this, I have my hair kool aid red at the moment, but as soon as it finishes fading out I´ll go for a blue-ish tone :D love your diy´s like you have no idea!

  36. Sheyanne, on March 25th, 2011 at 8:02 am Said:

    I <3 your website

  37. Tamara Obscura, on March 27th, 2011 at 8:27 am Said:

    I love this post!
    I have bright dyed candy apple red hair and I recently started using food coloring mixed with conditioner to refresh my color and it works great and saves so much money. I can go for 2 months without dying my hair instead of 3 weeks.
    As far as lip stains go I’ve tried food coloring and kool-aid, the food coloring works better. Kool-aid dried out my lips terribly and tastes awful. The food coloring is easy, just paint on with a lip brush carefully avoiding teeth ( if it gets on your teeth it rubs off with toothpaste easily) let dry and top with lipgloss or balm it lasts longer than all the commercial lip stains I’ve tried

  38. Layla, on May 11th, 2011 at 4:54 pm Said:

    I used to dye my hair with Kool-Aid in middle school. I had really really blond hair so it took pretty well. And it smelled awesome. :) I had just decided a few months ago to buy up all Esprit stuff, get out o’ my head!! :D

  39. Annie Spandex, on May 11th, 2011 at 5:24 pm Said:

    Ariadna and Sheyanne – Thanks so much!

    Tamara – Great tips, thank you!

    Layla – Kool Aid works just as well! I dyed my hair blue-green with Kool-Aid in 9th grade and it was an awful color on me, lol.. Took weeks to wash out!

  40. Lauryn, on June 21st, 2011 at 11:17 pm Said:

    Does it work on light dark hair

  41. Annie Spandex, on June 23rd, 2011 at 12:04 am Said:

    Lauryn – Dark hair would have to be lightened first. Light dark hair–you could always try! There might be a slight burgundy hint.

  42. Arielle, on June 29th, 2011 at 8:24 am Said:

    J’aime vraiment votre article. J’ai essaye de trouver de nombreux en ligne et trouver le v?tre pour être la meilleure de toutes.

    Mon francais n’est pas tres bon, je suis de l’Allemagne.

    Mon blog:
    rachat credit immobilier meilleur taux aussi Rachat De Credit simulation en ligne

  43. Jarene, on July 21st, 2011 at 11:56 am Said:

    Heyyy im doin myn as we speak.. Damm i hope myn is oky hahahahha its lyk red but i hav brown hair, soo ja but instead of usin gell im usin shampoo

  44. Jordan, on August 9th, 2011 at 3:14 am Said:

    Will this permemently dyi your hair or will ti wash out

  45. Annie Spandex, on August 12th, 2011 at 2:05 pm Said:

    Jordan – It will wash out eventually.

  46. miss floyd, on August 16th, 2011 at 1:47 pm Said:

    your hair looks horrible D:

« | »