Using Henna as a hair colourant

Lobelia Overhill

Hi

I started getting a reaction to normal hair dye, so I tried henna. I have dark brown hair towards the red end of the spectrum so to speak, I was using the brown stuff, and it was working great, then the shop couldn't get any brown henna (only black, red, or neutral), I tried the black but it washed straight back off my hair, I didn't bother with the neutral, so I tried the red - result, head like a tomato :eek: It was a perfectly natural shade of red, it just looked a bit strange! Eventually the shop got brown henna in again and I bought several boxes

Only now it's just washing straight back out of my hair. I tried mixing the red and brown together and within days my hair was bright red again, the brown will not stay in my hair at all.

Is there anything I can do to make it stay on better? Or do I get my eyebrows tinted and go titian?

cheers

salysol

the thing with henna is ,you can never tell what colour it will come out,
you would be far better using ,totally organic hair products,some hairstylists carry this product.
as for the red henna's inclined to go that colour,so you are going to have to keep washing it out as best you can,or go to a stylist ,get an organic colour applied with a bit of ash in it.

Lobelia Overhill

when I first used the brown henna it worked perfectly, turned my hair a nice shade of brown and covered my grey - which went blond in the sun!

For some reason ever since I used the red henna the brown henna won't stay in my hair at all. I put it on, wait, rinse, and pfft there's no colour on my grey hair at all. If I use the red it colours everything.

I'm trying to understand why the brown henna won't stay in my hair any more, the red that I used last year is still visible, so what's the matter with the brown stuff?

salysol

Lobelia Overhill wrote: »

when I first used the brown henna it worked perfectly, turned my hair a nice shade of brown and covered my grey - which went blond in the sun!

For some reason ever since I used the red henna the brown henna won't stay in my hair at all. I put it on, wait, rinse, and pfft there's no colour on my grey hair at all. If I use the red it colours everything.

I'm trying to understand why the brown henna won't stay in my hair any more, the red that I used last year is still visible, so what's the matter with the brown stuff?

grey hair has no pigmentation,so if for example you applied a mahogany,to your hair ,normally the red in the colour will will show up the grey,in order to cover grey,you need to repigment the hair,
as for the red henna,its one of the hardest colours to cover,and adding the brown and red wont work.
as i said you will need to go to a hairstylist,that carries organic colours to get a correction.
is the henna you are using mixed with hot water,or is it premixed

Lobelia Overhill

It's powder that you mix yourself with hot water. And the brown henna was covering the grey when I first started using it, the grey hairs faded to blonde.

For reasons I can't understand brown henna won't go in my hair at all now. Red henna will colour my hair, but I don't want red hair it doesn't look right with my skin. I was advised by a hairdresser to mix the two colours together, so I did. It worked, my hair went a deep reddish brown, but when I next washed my hair all the brown henna washed straight out leaving the red.

I've mixed the henna up to different consistencies, left it on overnight, even wrapped my hair in tin foil, all to no avail, it washes straight back out again ...

I haven't coloured my hair for over 6 months now and there's a distinct line where the red henna is and the brown/grey roots are.

I can't afford to go to a hairdresser and I doubt there's one out here in the sticks that does anything other than a cut and dry, or a perm!

salysol

Lobelia Overhill wrote: »

It's powder that you mix yourself with hot water. And the brown henna was covering the grey when I first started using it, the grey hairs faded to blonde.
For reasons I can't understand brown henna won't go in my hair at all now. Red henna will colour my hair, but I don't want red hair it doesn't look right with my skin. I was advised by a hairdresser to mix the two colours together, so I did. It worked, my hair went a deep reddish brown, but when I next washed my hair all the brown henna washed straight out leaving the red.

I've mixed the henna up to different consistencies, left it on overnight, even wrapped my hair in tin foil, all to no avail, it washes straight back out again ...
as i said you can't mix the red and brown together,it will always favor the red ,as that is the dominant colour,there is no reason why the brown shouldn't take ,unless perhaps you are under the weather ,so to speak.
what shampoo conditioner do you use ,and how often do you wash your hair !
as an alternative to henna ,i suggest you buy a home colour,empty the activator out of the applicator and clean it ,then sqeeze the colour into the applicator and mix with some tap water and shampoo,leave it on the hair for 30 min,then shampoo out and see how you get on with that,if that works you should then be able to reaply the brown henna.
im not saying this will work, but i have used this method on clients before ,that are allergic to peroxide.but i would still advise organic products

salysol

incidently,are you allergic to the peroxide or amonia,when you say you live in the sticks ,what part of the country are you in.

Pooh-bah

First a word of warning
DO NOT MIX ANY HENNA PRODUCTS WITH PEROXIDE!
I was silly enough to make this mistake myself,my hair melted and i had to cut it off,luckily I just did the ends!I've been using a mix of auburn and mahogony henna for three years now..I use a black dye too,one without peroxide,never caused any problems..
The red is very powerfull,but the black I use dyes over it so mabey you could try getting a dye similar to your natural color,wait for it to grow out and start totally fresh?..

Lobelia Overhill

salysol wrote: »

as i said you can't mix the red and brown together,it will always favor the red ,as that is the dominant colour,there is no reason why the brown shouldn't take ,unless perhaps you are under the weather ,so to speak.

But the brown used to work, it used to work great, but now ever since I had to use the red once, the brown won't go on my hair at all.

what shampoo conditioner do you use ,and how often do you wash your hair !

I use parben free stuff. I wash my hair two or three times a week. I used to use baby shampoo after I'd put on henna, I had the same bottle of that around, and still the brown henna was washing straight out of my hair!

salysol wrote: »

incidently,are you allergic to the peroxide or amonia,when you say you live in the sticks ,what part of the country are you in.

I don't know which ingredient I was getting a reaction to, first it was my head getting hot/itchy, then it was making my eyes sore, then I couldn't breathe properly.

I'm in County Cork. Travelling to a hairdresser is not an option given my circumstances ...

Pooh-bah wrote:

mabey you could try getting a dye similar to your natural color,wait for it to grow out and start totally fresh?..

I did try that didn't help! I'll end up shaving my head at this rate!

Tirabaralla

Did u ever tried other henna with other textures?
Like not the powder one but the one in cream or the "tablets" from lush?
I am not sure but they could work a bit differently from the powder.
There's a Lush in Cork and I am quite sure u can find the cream-y one in some natural beauty products shop.

salysol

perhaps you should try a different organic colour range.

www.naturalhairproducts.co.uk

this product is available in ireland,ask your nearest health shop if they can get it,other than that,get it shipped to you ,from here.

www.evergreen.ie

certain ingredients in shampoo/condtioners form an outer layer on the hair and skin,which then prevents other products from doing what they are made for,
for example a lot of products are silicon based,to protect from the elements,that in its self could prevent a colour from penetrating the hair
stem.

Lobelia Overhill

Tirabaralla wrote: »

Did u ever tried other henna with other textures?
Like not the powder one but the one in cream or the "tablets" from lush?
I am not sure but they could work a bit differently from the powder.
There's a Lush in Cork and I am quite sure u can find the cream-y one in some natural beauty products shop.

I've only ever seen the powder type, didn't know it came in a creme! I'll ask in the shop about it

salysol wrote: »

certain ingredients in shampoo/condtioners form an outer layer on the hair and skin,which then prevents other products from doing what they are made for, for example a lot of products are silicon based,to protect from the elements,that in its self could prevent a colour from penetrating the hair stem.

Thanks for the links I use herbal hair products where possible, although even using the same shampoo I used previously (when dying with the brown henna) it still wouldn't stay in my hair...

I've managed to concoct this hideous image of my hair in it's different colourings ...



the brown henna was about 18 months ago, the red was about a year ago, the grey is what it looks like now (growing the red out), shows how good the grey coverage is! (or was)

Pooh-bah

You seem to be in quite a predicament!Just be careful with the red and going over the grey,my aunt used henna and had grey and it went very bright orange and all her other hair looked fine haha..

Lobelia Overhill

LOL I used one shade of red that turned my hair bright orange!! Had to wear a hat for a month until it toned itself down a bit

goulders

have u tried a 100% chemical free hair colour, www.bluerosewaterford.com . Be carefull with most organic and some natural products they have a chemical base.

angela