Back To Black - A Recycled Dress & An Experiment in Natural Hair Colour

 After years of avoiding it, I'm coming back around to enjoying the odd bit of black in my wardrobe. This Indian cotton dress reminds me of what the cool Sixth Formers at my all-girls' grammar school used to wear, often accompanied by a cloud of patchouli oil, when I was a first year in 1978.

WEARING: Interlinks, London Indian midi dress (eBay) with vintage Kashmiri hand embroidered waistcoat (also eBay), 1960s Gohill's exotic snakeskin boots (more about them HERE), Russian folklore belt (new with tags from a charity shop) and some Chloe-inspired sunglasses 'cos the sun's shining.

The dress is fully lined and made with light-as-a-feather Indian cotton gauze. It has an Interlinks, London label, a company that specialised in selling garments imported from India during the 1970s and 1980s. They're not around any more and their clothes can sell for £££s. At £15 with the original tags still attached, I think mine was a bit of a steal.

My Kashmiri waistcoat and tribal enamel & brass earrings bought in India

In fact, this dress is such a joy to wear that I wore it yesterday, too.

This time worn with Victorian-does-the-1960s lace up boots from a car boot sale and a vintage Tyrolean belt Helga sent me nine years ago.

Jaipuri metal earrings (India) and a bit of vintage label porn

As this dress is an unworn import I treated it as I do all my Indian clothes and hand washed it in lukewarm water with organic baby shampoo, I gently wrung it and hung it up to dry away from direct sunlight (not that there's been much around lately!) Many Indian textiles are made using natural colours which aren't fixed. Always wash your Indian textiles separately (and not too often) and don't panic if a shedload of colour comes out.

I've had raven locks since 2006 when, after months of being almost housebound after a total hip replacement, I was sick to death of looking at my natural blonde hair in the mirror and decided to dye it black. These days I retouch my roots every five weeks or so, only dyeing the rest once a year but I love how my hair colour has lifted after last year's long hot summer, the week we spent in Greece and during our trip to India and I'm keen to embrace its more natural look. 

This was taken on Thursday afternoon. Those roots are bad - it's time to dye!

After thirteen years of using Superdrug's semi-permanent Natural Black, I've finally decided to give natural hair colour a bash. Unlike your average hair colourant, Daniel Field (famous since 1981 for his organic & natural hairdressing services & products) Water Colours don't contain ammonia, hydrogen peroxide or alcohol and are free from phenylenediamine (ppd). The dye claims to penetrate the hair cuticle without disturbing the hair's structure or integrity. 

Daniel Field products are only available on-line (HERE). The packaging is minimal, there's none of that gloopy conditioner included and a reusable plastic applicator bottle is supplied with your first order thus reducing waste. To use you simply put a small quantity of hand hot water into the bottle, add the colour power and shake it for a minute. You apply the mixture to hair that has been washed (and not conditioned) 24 hours earlier, pop on the polythene cap and leave your colour to develop for up to an hour. After the development time you shampoo your hair and condition as normal. Daniel Field recommends adding a freshly squeezed lemon to your usual conditioner for added shine.

I'm impressed. Although it's not cheap, it's a lot less smelly and messy than my normal dye (no more dye-stained ears, forehead or kitchen table) and it doesn't leave my hair full of static for a week afterwards plus it's vegan and 100% cruelty-free. I use Natural Darkest Brown but there's 37 colours to chose from. 

*This isn't sponsored - I paid for my hair dye myself!* 

As you can see the lads have no need for dye, theirs is all natural.

See you soon!

Linking to Patti & the Gang for Visible Monday