Krya Colour conversation series: My Experiments with a natural hair colour

In the last year we have created and tested 50 different hair colour formulation concepts in the Krya Colour Lab. Concept # 45 really wowed us and ticked all the right boxes – satisfactory dyeing of grey hair to black, softness, coverage and of course ease of application.
 
This intensive hair color testing process called for several trips to the Chennai Wig Makers District, a narrow, smelly lane near the erstwhile film studios, where ostensibly wigs were in demand. Our team waded through several hundreds of kilos of human hair to select test samples – not gross, shoulder length hair with 30%-50% grey hair.
 
Our core hair color product concept is to help colour grey hair a natural shade of black , black-brown so that it blends beautifully with the rest of your naturally black hair. We continue to work on coloring existing black hair into fashionable, natural shades.
The important pre-processing step followed in our testing was to apply the Krya classic hair on the human hair sample and then wash it with the Krya classic hair wash. Our hair colour has been designed for application on clean, washed hair. So you should remember this before you start using the Krya Hair Colour – apply one of our oils and wash your hair with the Krya hair-wash. This should be done ideally on the day of the Hair Colour Session.
Stage 2
After achieving a successful formulation, we tested the Hair Colour internally on several Krya team members and of course, willing family members. This is a very important and sacred ritual in the Krya New Product Development process- after all if one cannot confidently recommend your product to your own sister or mother, then why bother creating a product at all? The terrific upside of testing on friends and family is that it gives rock-solid data on the safety of our formulations and this is of paramount importance. The down-side is that of course we are all extremely biased and generally don’t get too much negative feedback.
 
Tough Customer Love
The final step before the final commercial launch of the product involves testing with customer volunteers. Our customer volunteers are incredibly generous and awesome people, who agree to test our formulations and give us their considered feedback after several rounds of product usage. Unlike the friends and family round, here we get free and frank feedback – no holds barred.
Winning this round gives us the confidence to move forward with the commercial launch.

Greys ? What Greys ! Three Thumbs Up !!!
K, is a 40 year old mother of two daughters, who has been used chemical hair colour products several times in the past few years. She tells us that she started greying in her 20s , has tried most of the major brands of chemical hair colours but has not yet tried any all natural hair colour alternatives.
We sent her a 200 gm sample pack of one of our winning formulation concepts along with the special Krya Hair Colour hair-oil for trial and feedback and these are the highlights of her Krya Hair Colour Experience.
 
“It is really easy to use
The Krya Hair Colour is actually really easy to use – since it is a one-step, mix-in-water and apply product. There is no need to add tea-leaf or coffee water or wait for several hours for the colour to develop. It is also a single step process – unlike many brands which ask you to apply 2 different packs to achieve the final colour.
The Krya powder water mixes easily in water and gives a nice, thick consistency. It is quite easy to apply on the hair, section by section, even if you are applying it yourself. Some crumbs do fall off on the ground but by time I am finished with all sections of my hair, it settles neatly in place.
The entire 100 gm pack was enough for complete coverage of my shoulder length hair.”
 
Cover and Wait
It is recommended to allow the Krya Hair Colour to stay on the hair for at least 90 minutes – if you can bear to wait for 2 hours it is even better.
“Immediately upon applying the Hair Colour, the scalp felt really cool and I thought I might get a cold by the end of the waiting period. So I covered my head with a shower cap and after 15 minutes, the cooling sensation stopped and I felt quite comfortable.”
 
Rinse & Cross your fingers
“After about 2 hours I rinsed the color off with plain water and nothing else.”
This is an important point to remember. Further it is recommended that you should not wash your hair with any shampoo or hair-wash for 48 hours after the coloring session, as this natural product requires time to gently oxidize and for the colour to fully develop.
But in this 48 hour waiting period, you can apply the Krya Hair Colour Oil on your scalp and hair – this helps deepen the colour and of course manage your hair better.
 
The Results (the day after the coloring session)
“Greys? What Greys! Three Thumbs Up!!!
The results were really amazing! I am very excited by this product and have already told a bunch of people about it. I can’t wait to buy this product.
The greys have overall been colored nicely and a few white hairs have been colored a shade of blackish – purple. The day after coloring, the hair feels a little rough but it certainly has not been damaged.  (Krya Explanation: the day after colouring, the hair can feel a little rough due to the microscopic deposition of the herbs on the hair but it has not actually damaged the hair in any way)
 
Two Weeks After
“Whenever I use a chemical hair colour, my scalp really burns and it feels like it is on fire. The Krya hair colour feels really nice on my scalp and I think it has actually healed my scalp. In the past few days I have also started using the Krya Hair Colour Oil.
Since my hair grows really fast , two weeks after coloring, some greys have started becoming visible (this is usually the case when I use synthetic hair colour as well) and I tried another session of the Krya Hair Colour.
This time as well the Hair Colour was quite easy to use and since I have started using the Hair Colour oil, my hair feels much softer post the coloring session. After the second coloring session, the black shade has become much deeper and the few strands of black – purple have also become richer.
The whole process of using these safe , natural hair color products is a whole lot of fun too.”
Krya Update: We have now developed a Krya Conditioning Color mask, to be used immediately after coloring the hair, to both deepen the color and also to give soft hair.
We had given K one of our favourite shades of black-burgundy. We also have shades of natural black and black with hints of brown which will be launched soon. We are working hard to develop more shades of brown and red
 
Working with natural colours:
For too long, all of us have been consistently and constantly damaging our hair using a range of toxic synthetic hair colours. The Krya Colour conversations is a blog series meant to educate and inspire you to throw away your synthetic hair colour box and try an all natural hair colour like ours instead.
 
The Krya natural range of hair colour and care products includes safe, natural hair colours with good coverage, made from carefully selected, mindfully processed ayurvedic herbs. Our range also includes a support system to keep your hair in great shape. Our colour support system includes a colour protecting mask, hair wash and hair oil.
 
Natural hair colours work slightly differently on hair compared to synthetic hair colours – so this conversation series on the Krya blog also aims to educate you about some of the differences you should expect when using a purely natural hair colour.
 
The Krya natural hair colour range launches in just a few days on the Krya website. Keep following this page for more updates. .