Frequently Asked Questions
Updated 23 September 2026. Every answer here matches what we say on the rest of the site. Tap a question to open it. If yours is not here, write to customer-service@radicousa.com or use the contact form — and if you want to know whether a shade will work on your hair, send a photo. We will tell you honestly, including when the answer is no.
- Will it work on my hair?
- Is it safe?
- What to expect
- Using it
- If it did not work
- Ordering, shipping and returns
- The hair care products
Will it work on my hair?
The honest answer to most of these is "it depends on the hair you already have". Here is how.
Will it cover my grey?
Yes. Plant pigment lands on grey hair the way it lands on any pale base, so grey takes the colour — but it reads a shade lighter and warmer than the rest of your hair, more like fine highlights than a flat block. That evens out with repeat applications, because each one builds on the last. Most people find grey looks fully blended by the second or third round.
What colour will I actually get?
The colour on the pouch, added to the colour you already have. Radico only adds pigment; it never removes any. So the same shade reads differently on grey, on light brown and on dark brown, and always lands darker than your base, never lighter. Every shade page shows the result on real hair of different starting colours, and a strand test on your own hair tells you in an hour what a description cannot.
Can it lighten my hair?
No. There is no peroxide, no bleach and no ammonia in any of our 24 shades, so nothing in them can remove melanin. A shade lighter than your hair will add warmth to it, but it will not make it lighter. If lightening is what you need, we are not the product for it, and we would rather say so before you buy.
Does it work on every hair texture?
Yes, on straight, wavy, curly and coily hair alike. What changes the result is not texture but condition. Porous or bleached hair takes colour strongly and can release it sooner; hair with a very smooth, tight surface may need a second application before the colour builds. In both cases the fix is the same: a clean, film-free surface before you apply, and a strand test first.
My hair is already dyed or bleached. Can I use it?
Yes. On bleached or previously dyed hair the colour tends to take strongly and can come out deeper than expected, so strand test first. Going the other way — using a chemical dye or bleach after Radico — is also possible: our shades contain no metallic salts, so the reaction between metallic-salt dyes and peroxide does not apply. But colour applied over plant pigment is hard to predict, so tell your colourist what is on your hair.
Is there a version for men, and for beards?
Yes. Our men’s shades use the same herbs as the women’s, blended in slightly different proportions. The Soft Black beard colour is the one exception in method: beard hair is the hardest to colour, so it is applied in two steps, a henna-based paste first and an indigo-based paste after, rather than one blended paste.
What if it does not work for me the first time?
If you buy from us for the first time and the colour does not come out as you hoped, we send a different shade free of charge or refund you — your choice, no conditions. Because the result depends on the hair you already have, we would rather carry that risk than have you carry it.
Is it safe?
Plant does not mean risk-free. Here is what is in the pouch, what is not, and where the real cautions are.
What is in it?
Twelve certified organic plant powders and nothing else: henna, indigo, manjistha, hibiscus and turmeric for colour, amla, colourless henna, methi, bhringraj, brahmi, reetha and shikakai around them. Each shade uses between four and seven of the twelve, and every product page lists exactly which, in order of quantity. You add water.
Does it contain PPD, ammonia or peroxide?
No. None of the three is in any Radico shade. PPD (para-phenylenediamine) is the most common cause of hair-dye allergy and is found in most permanent colour, including some products sold as natural or ammonia-free. If you have reacted to hair dye before, PPD is the most likely reason, and it is not here. That does not make a reaction impossible — see the patch test below.
Do I need a patch test?
Yes, every time you try a new shade. Plants can cause reactions too. Bhringraj is in the daisy family, and people sensitive to ragweed or chrysanthemum occasionally react to it; some people are sensitive to indigo. Mix a little powder with water, apply a dime-sized patch to the inner forearm, cover it and leave it 48 hours. If it itches or reddens, wash it off and do not use the product.
I have G6PD deficiency. Can I use it?
Please ask your physician first. Henna is a known concern for people with G6PD deficiency, and 18 of our 24 shades contain henna. We say this on every product page because it matters more than a sale.
Can I use it while pregnant or breastfeeding?
We are not physicians, so the honest answer is to ask yours. What we can tell you is what is and is not in the pouch: twelve plant powders, and no PPD, ammonia, peroxide or synthetic fragrance — the ingredients that usually raise the question. We know of no component of ours that is known to be a concern, and a patch test still applies.
Do you test for heavy metals?
Yes, every batch, before it is packaged. A batch that reads above the limits is rejected. Our reports have come in well under the limits Health Canada publishes for cosmetics, and the reports are on our certifications page.
Is it vegan and cruelty-free?
Yes. Every shade carries the Vegan Trademark from The Vegan Society: no animal ingredients, no animal testing at any stage. It is also certified organic by ECOCERT under the COSMOS standard, and you can look every one of the 24 shades up in the COSMOS product directory yourself.
What to expect
Plant colour behaves differently from a box dye in ways that surprise people the first time. None of these is a problem; all of them are worth knowing in advance.
How long does the paste stay on?
At least one hour; many people leave it ninety minutes. The pigment is released and taken up by the hair over that time, so shorter is weaker. We have not tested past two hours.
Why do you say to wait 72 hours? When is the colour final?
Because indigo is still developing after you rinse. It turns blue by reacting with air over two to three days, and the reaction needs the hair to hold some moisture. Air-dry, do not shampoo, and do not judge the shade until day three. Shades with no indigo settle within a day.
My hair looks green right after rinsing. Is that normal?
Yes, on any shade with indigo in it. Green is the halfway point of indigo turning blue. It clears over one to three days as the reaction finishes — as long as you air-dry and leave it alone.
Does it smell?
Fresh henna smells of hay or cut grass — that is the plant, and a mild version of it stays in the hair for three to five days. A sealed pouch should never smell sharp or sour; if yours does, tell us. We have written up what the smell is and what we changed about our packaging to keep it faint.
Will it stain my skin or nails?
Yes, temporarily. Henna stains skin — it is what body art uses — so it will tint your hairline, hands and nails if they touch the paste. Wear gloves, wipe the hairline as you go, and any tint on skin fades within a few days and washes off the scalp over a few shampoos. It does not stain permanently.
How long does the colour last?
It depends which pigment leads the shade. Henna bonds to the hair and does not wash out; it leaves as the hair wears, which is slow. Indigo is held in the outer layers rather than bonded, so indigo-led and ash shades soften over a few weeks. Grey builds with each application. Most people colour roots every four to six weeks and refresh lengths every second or third time.
Is this a henna product?
Partly. Henna is one of twelve herbs, and it is in 18 of the 24 shades. Six shades contain no henna at all, and four of those carry no red pigment of any kind — which is what to look for if you want to avoid warmth.
Using it
The preparation is a powder and warm water. These are the details that decide whether it takes.
What do I mix it with?
Warm water only. Tap water is fine for most people, but very hard or iron-rich water can shift a result — iron in particular dulls reds — so if your water is hard, filtered water is worth trying. Water temperature does not matter within reason: we mixed three shades at cold, warm and boiling and could not tell the swatches apart.
Should my hair be clean? Can I condition first?
Clean, and completely dry, and no conditioner. Conditioner leaves a film that blocks the pigment. The best preparation is a clarifying wash the same day, then nothing. Oils and leave-ins are for after the 72 hours, not before.
Why no silicone products beforehand?
Because silicone is a film, and the film is exactly what plant pigment cannot get past. It is the single most common reason a plant colour lands patchy or does not take. If you have used a silicone conditioner for months, the film can take more than one clarifying wash to clear.
Can I blow-dry afterwards?
No. Blow-drying stops indigo mid-reaction, and it does not restart when the hair is re-wetted — we tested that. Towel off gently and let it air-dry. Once the 72 hours are up, dry it however you like.
How much do I need? Is the blend the same if I use part of a pouch?
Long hair uses a full pouch. Shoulder length gets about two applications from one; short hair, about three. The blend is the same in any fraction — the herbs are milled together, not layered — so a third of a pouch is the same colour as the whole one. The pouch zips shut for this reason.
The pouch arrived hard as a rock. Is it old?
No — it is vacuum sealed, and the vacuum compresses the powder. Each pouch is sealed by hand at the mill, so firmness varies. Open it and crumble the block with your fingers; it returns to a fine powder. If it will not, tell us and we will replace it.
If it did not work
Almost every failure comes down to something on the hair or something done to it afterwards. In order of how often we see them.
The colour barely took. What went wrong?
In order of likelihood: a film on the hair (conditioner, silicone, oil, leave-in); hair that was not fully dry; paste left on for less than an hour; blow-drying afterwards; shampooing before 72 hours. Fix the cause, strand test, and apply again — a second application on clean hair usually lands where the first should have.
It coloured the lengths but not the grey at my roots.
Roots carry sebum, and sebum is a film like any other. Wash with a soap-based, non-conditioning cleanser immediately before you apply, dry, and apply the paste to the roots first while it is freshest. Grey at the roots also builds over two or three rounds like grey anywhere else.
It washed out after a week.
Porous or bleached hair takes colour fast and can release it fast. Give it the full 72 hours before any shampoo, rinse with water only in that window, and let each application build on the last. If the hair is very porous, a second application a week later holds far better than the first.
It came out orange or red.
That is henna on a pale or grey base with nothing to cool it. Either the shade was lighter than your hair needed, or an indigo-containing shade was blow-dried before the indigo could develop. A darker shade, or a shade with more indigo, brings it down.
I have tried and it still is not right.
Then it is on us. First-time customers get a replacement shade or a refund, and for anyone, send us a photo of your hair and what you were hoping for and we will tell you honestly whether we have it — including when the answer is no.
Ordering, shipping and returns
How much is shipping?
Orders of $25.00 or more ship free to any address in the continental United States. Orders under $25.00 ship for a flat $4.99. Everything ships from our warehouse in Torrance, California.
Do you ship outside the USA?
This store ships within the United States only. Radico sells worldwide from its head office in India, and the quickest route for any other country is to contact them directly — their form asks for your country and puts you through to the right distributor.
Can I buy Radico on Amazon?
Not from us. We do not sell through Amazon US, and listings there are not ours. We sell through this store and a small number of authorised retailers, because the first-time support only works if we know who bought what. Daily Health & Beauty is an authorised retailer.
Are you in retail stores?
Not yet. We are in discussions with retail chains and will list stores here as soon as one carries us.
Do you have a promo code?
No, and there is no promo box at checkout. The subscription discount is the only standing reduction. What we offer instead is the first-time guarantee: if the first shade is wrong, a replacement or a refund, your choice.
How do subscriptions work?
A subscription delivers your shade on the interval you choose at a discount, and you can skip, delay or cancel online.
What is your return and refund policy?
Unopened pouches returned within 30 days are refunded in full. If you are a first-time customer and the colour did not work, you do not need to return anything: tell us, and we replace it or refund it. If a pouch arrives damaged or wrong, email customer-service@radicousa.com with your order number and we will put it right.
How long does a pouch keep?
Sealed, close to five years; both the milling date and the expiry are printed on every pouch. Once opened, close it tightly, keep it dry, and use it within a few months.
The hair care products
My hair feels dry after the Shampoo Bar. Is something wrong?
No. The bar is a true soap and reads pH 9.35, and an alkaline wash lifts the cuticle slightly, which feels rough until it lies flat again. Follow it with an acidic rinse — our Hair Treatment Powder reads 3.2 to 3.5 — and the cuticle lies flat again. A raised cuticle is a temporary change in how the surface sits, not the lasting chemical change a peroxide dye makes to keratin — but while it is raised, hair feels rougher and looks less shiny, which is why the rinse matters. Because a true soap leaves no conditioning film behind, we also suggest the bar as the clarifying wash before colouring.
How do I use the Hair Treatment Powder?
Two ways. As a wash: one part powder to four parts water, poured through the hair at the scalp, two to three minutes, rinse. As a treatment: one part to two parts water, a thick paste worked through the lengths and left fifteen to thirty minutes under a cap. The powder is acidic at either dilution; the water mainly changes the consistency, not what the powder does.
What are the oils in the Shampoo Bar for?
They are the bar. Organic sunflower and lavender oils are turned into soap by saponification, so what remains is mostly soap with a small fraction of unconverted oil, which is what keeps a true soap from being harsh. There are no synthetic detergents, silicones or fragrances added.
Radico Colour Me Organic is a cosmetic product for external use on hair. Patch test 48 hours before every new shade. Nothing on this page is medical advice.