Dying hair with Henna.

[chase_mommy]

Has anyone tried this?  I use to color my hair when I was younger but once I started having kids I stopped.  Lately I have been thinking about coloring again.  I am naturally a brunette and want to be red.  Not red highlights, red red hair.  I am not sure if I can achieve that with the henna and my natural hair color.  Anyone have any advice or tips?  I really would like to stay away from the chemicals.

[Chamomile Girl]

Check out hennaforhair.com. THe site is awesome for seeing what people with different starting colors end up with. It also has recipes for mixes.

Generally if you have dark brown hair you will likely end up with auburn, but it also depends on the quality of the henna you use. I totally recommend getting some from that site because its great stuff. The stuff you can usually find at the store is crap (ir. light mountain and the like. If you can find Logona, thats good stuff but its hard to get anymore).

This is the page showing different haircolors based on different mixes.

[dairy2dogs]

Henna for hair is where I learned about henna and I order mine though them.  Do a strand test first to make sure you like the color (after its oxidized) because its permanent.  Also know it will look different depending on the light your in. 

[chase_mommy]

I have poked around on that site some over the past few days.

I have read that the longer you leave the henna on the redder the hair, whats the max time you can leave it on?  Also, how often can you henna?  I am also confused with the different types they are selling, I thought henna was basically henna.  I am sure I am making this more complicated than need be, I do that to myself a lot.

[dairy2dogs]

I wouldn't consider myself an expert but I'll try to answer.  They do have a forum on that site where you could get expert answers to your questions.  I believe there is no maxium amount of time you can leave it on your hair but I do remember reading after X number of hours the henna has done all its going to.  I can't remember what that x amount of time is.  I know people put it on and sleep all night with it.  The max I've left it on is 3 1/2 hours.  That's all I could stand.  I think the shortest I left it on was 2 hours.  I've gotten great color every time.  You can henna as often as you want.  The color will build up or deepen each time you do a full applicatioin untill your hair is saturated.  Henna really is pretty easy (for me at least), much easier than chemical hair color. 

[QueenOfTheMeadow]

I just henna'd my hair yesterday! I used this brand. http://www.suryabodycare.com.au/henna_powder.html I used the mahogony. It was a bit messy, and I left it on for 40 minutes. I love it! My hair sounds like it's a similar color to yours. I think you may be looking for a brighter shade than the mahogony. This made my hair more copper, which is the color that it was before I had children!

[chase_mommy]

I read that brand isn't pure henna it has henna extract in it.  That is the brand we have locally though.  Let me know how it holds up over then next month or so.  And you are right I am going for brighter!
 

Originally Posted by QueenOfTheMeadow 

I just henna'd my hair yesterday! I used this brand. http://www.suryabodycare.com.au/henna_powder.html I used the mahogony. It was a bit messy, and I left it on for 40 minutes. I love it! My hair sounds like it's a similar color to yours. I think you may be looking for a brighter shade than the mahogony. This made my hair more copper, which is the color that it was before I had children!

[QueenOfTheMeadow]

Originally Posted by chase_mommy 

I read that brand isn't pure henna it has henna extract in it.  That is the brand we have locally though.  Let me know how it holds up over then next month or so.  And you are right I am going for brighter!
 

Yes, the powder has a combination of herbs.

Henna (Lawsonia inermis) -
Amla (Phylanthus emblica) --Very rich in vitamin C, this fruit has tannins that help compose the colour of the powder and is traditionally used as treatment for hair and scalp problems.

Shikakai (Acacia conccina) - Very rich in tannins and low pH, Shikakai, the Indian "fruit for the hair", allows for the closing of the hair layers. It is rich in soft saponins that clean the hair without opening the layers. Helps prevent dandruff

Indigo (Indigofera tinctoria) - Known for its colouring properties in India, Indigo gives the hair bluish tonalities.

Aritha (Terminalia bellerica) - This fruit is rich in saponins that softly wash the hair. Also functions as an astringent and bactericide.

I wouldn't use their creme though, because it has some of the ingredients that are in normal hair dye that open up the hair follicle. I figure if I want to do Henna, I am trying to an all natural dye. Maybe it's the other herbs in the powder that make the color not as bright or maybe leaving it on longer would have brightened it.

[bonjourmama]

I am so curious about this too! But I am trying to get away from bleaching my hair 

So I have underlying chems on my hair. Has anyone tried the "natural" colors from whole foods or other health food store pre mixes?

[Fnord]

I henna my hair! After months of bleaching and doing manic panic style colors i decided I wanted something natural but I hate my natural hair color.

I had hennaed once before when I had dreads.I just used whatever brand they had at the local Middle Eastern import store.

This is what it looked like before (random patches bleached, random patches hennaed, random patches with long long ago faded out black dye,and random bits of my natural hair color too) :

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3212/3082016213_03c4947c97_o.jpg

and after:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3192/3081982323_0376e6825a_b.jpg

see that super red strand in the front? that was henna over bleach. which gives you a really great vibrant color.

that was like 3 years ago though. now i no longer have dreads.

here's an example of the super duper red i got using some henna i bought on ebay over bleached hair:

http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/154246_679826121413_57210430_36903985_6380144_n.jpg

i need a root touch up ASAP, i'm actually planning on mixing a batch tonight. i just buy the raw henna powder off ebay a pound at a time. i take about half of that and mix with lemon juice until it's like the consistency of mashed potatoes, let it sit covered in plastic on top of my fridge for about 24 hours and then add a more lemon juice for easier application when i put it on.