change from reg hair colour to HENNA?
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free skin care · Thu Jan 03, 2008 8:34 pm

Has anyone changed from regular hair colour to a henna product?

I once had a hair dresser who told me Henna would totally dry out my hair and to never use it so it has always freaked me out.

I am 38 now and colour my hair because I have enough grey that I do not look good if I don't. (I'm a bit depressed about that, I'll admit.)

I don't want to continue using the chemical stuff although I have moved to a more natural type of hair dye.

I'm looking for good or bad stories about henna and what brands may be better than others, etc.

Thank you!

free skin care · Fri Jan 04, 2008 7:08 am

I have used henna a few times. I have fine hair and it never dried out my hair. In fact I think chemical dyes dries out your hair more since you are putting harsh crap on your hair, which in turn, fries it.

Henna does generally make your hair shiner though, though it is one of those things that the longer you leave it in, the better the color will turn out. At the very least an hour, though I heard a day is preferable. It dries to a sorta hair mud mask, so its ok, just a bit inconvinent. I would give it a go, since I remember a while back reading about hair color having a link to cancer, especially darker hues. Let us know how it goes!

free skin care · Fri Jan 04, 2008 9:10 am

I used this really gorgeous henna stuff called caca (yes... weird :S)and it made my hair nice and shiny, my roots didn't show either it just faded out gradually. I'd reccomend it and I have super fine hair which gets extremely limp and dry.

free skin care · Tue Jan 08, 2008 1:24 pm

i have been henna-ing for 4 years now and i love it. i have dark hair so the henna only shows up in the sunlight but my hair has never been healthier and my scalp is free from all problems. make sure to use a pure henna powder without additives. if you want a darker color, you can add indigo powder.

i have heard hair stylist say henna is bad for your hair, but i think it's because henna shouldn't be mixed with chemical dyes, used soon after getting hair dyed chemically or used after a perm. that can result in frying your hair.

and honestly, i don't always trust what hair stylist or cosmetic counter people say. sometimes, i don't even trust dermatologists Smile

.

don't know if you have seen this site, but it's great:
www.hennaforhair.com

Tue Jan 08, 2008 4:11 pm

I've used henna from LUSH before. Had a nice result - shiny hair, though I did think it dried out a little bit (I have *very* fine hair). The one problem with henna is that apparently you have to be very careful when switching to/from normal hair colour that has ammonia in it otherwise your hair turns out green due to the chemical reaction between the henna and the remaining chemicals. I don't use it anymore because I tend to me quite impulsive with hair colour sometimes and don't have the willpower to wait a few months (6?) to try a different colour.

free skin care · Tue Jan 08, 2008 9:21 pm

Thank you for the responses. It's a tough decision. I do not changed my hair colour really, which is why I thought of trying henna, but I don't want to look a total mess and I DO have VERY fine hair as well.

Hmmmmm.... I'm still undecided- I would go for it if I knew it wouldn't dry out my hair!

free skin care · Tue Jan 08, 2008 9:53 pm

Lily I'm also undecided about switching to Henna, but Skincareaddicted's link was very educational and I've ordered some samples.

My hair is fine and if Henna can make it look thicker, I might just take the plunge Smile

free skin care · Wed Jan 09, 2008 4:35 pm

I loved henna and used it for years. Makes my hair shiny, gives it great texture and colored the grey. The only downside is that it's messier than he@# to apply and it's difficult to rinse out. I stopped using it because I wanted to get highlights and lowlights done and I was afraid of how it would react.

It certainly won't cause any harm but like others have mentioned, it can cause salon colors to react badly; you'll want to wait at least 6 months after your last henna treatment before going back to salon color.

free skin care · Fri Jan 18, 2008 4:07 am

I've used it for years. I have fine hair and it can be a touch drying if you use it too often, but a deep conditioner takes care of that. However henna really doesn't work well on grey hair. The grey hairs will be really bright in colour and look quite different to the rest of your hair. I have quite a few friends who are beginning to go grey and have seen the effects of henna on it first hand. Really you can only get away with it if you are a redhead or strawberry blonde, in which case the brighter hair looks like a good highlight job.

Depending on how much grey you have, you may be able to get away with using semi permanents to disguise regrowth and give yourself more time in between permanent dye use. Good luck.

free skin care · Fri Jan 18, 2008 8:49 am

I think you can mix a bit of indigo colour with it to cover the grey? Is that right?

free skin care · Sat Jan 19, 2008 10:51 pm

Hi Lily.

I don't have any personal experience with henna (it wouldn't work for me since I've colored before -- my only word of caution is that my understanding is that henna is *really* permanent -- you would have to grow/cut it out if you changed your mind).

Anyway, I wanted to recommend a site to you -- longhaircomunity dot com. I haven't been on the site for a while, but there were a lot of people there who used henna and there is a lot of great haircare advice.

Best of luck to you, whatever you decide!

free skin care · Mon Jan 28, 2008 8:44 pm

I use henna for almost 2 years now and love it. Henna can be messy, also takes longer to color the hair with it, but I cannot think of going back to chemical use. Henna is good for the hair and lately I just do the roots and apply henna to dry hair, this way is not that messy and takes less application time.

http://www.hennaforhair.com/ is a great site to start with, there are suppliers, and recipes also.
Good luck.

free skin care · Mon Jan 28, 2008 10:24 pm

edithsz:

That is the site that I ordered my henna product from and am just waiting for it to arrive.

Do you have any grey and what colour does your hair turn out to be after you use the henna?

free skin care · Wed Jan 30, 2008 3:33 pm

my mom's hair is more than 50% grey and she uses henna.

if you want 100% coverage of grey hair and have dark brown/black hair, you can achieve it with henna but you will need to do a second application of of 50% henna/50% indigo AFTER doing the 100% henna application. Indigo over henna results in black/brown hair. Indigo by itself on hair turns it blue/green. It's weird but it does work, but i have to admit henna is much more work than chemical dyes.

if you have just a few greys, one application of henna/indigo should cover it well.

and i don't think henna is all that permanent that you wouldn't be able to chemically dye over it--my aunts oscillate between chemical dyes and henna (but usually wait 2-3 months) and their hair is fine. i mean, aren't chemical dyes permanent too, unless you're using the semi-perm ones? just be careful because there is a potential that mixing henna and chemical dyes can cause the hair to break off.

but once you henna, i don't see the point of going back. henna coats the hair and doesn't change its chemical structures like nonnatural dyes. you really do get lustrous hair and a clean scalp too.

Wed Jan 30, 2008 4:28 pm

I have dark hair..almost black. I havent dyed it in the past 2 years...so its very healthy. I am interested in changing the color to a medium brown..but I'm scared of chemicals in hair dye that damaged my hair years ago! Would henna be a good alternative to get medium brown hair..or is that just for people looking to get that specific reddish-tinted look that henna has. I guess i was wondering if henna can be used to get other colors than just the red one.

free skin care · Thu Jan 31, 2008 5:09 pm

henna almost always pushes hair towards red. henna adds color to your hair, so it doesn't lighten it really. you can add other natural ingredients into henna to push it towards brown such as indigo or walnut powder. i urge you to check the hennaforhair site. it has tons of real before and after pictures. my pic is up there and i have really dark hair too and it pushes it to a lighter shade of dark brown with reddish highlights in the sun.

free skin care · Fri Feb 01, 2008 10:46 pm

I do have grey hair and that turns a bit more reddish, it is like reddish highlights, and I really like it that way, the rest is a dark copper color ( I am light brown originally). Henna oxidizes in couple of days, and it darkens actually over time.

Mon Feb 25, 2008 2:27 pm

Lily,

I had been dyeing my hair for years to cover the gray, and noticed it started to shed horribly after every color- I think it's possible to damage the follicles after years of dyeing, just my theory.

Anyway, I was really nervous about doing a henna and read the hennaforhair website and forums and came across something called a "henna gloss". Basically, your not doing a full blown henna- you're mixing henna (before it has released dye) and conditioner, leaving it on for 30-45 minutes. My gray hair turned a golden color, looked like highlights, and the condition of my hair was terrific. I also have baby-fine hair, and have spent years now repairing the damage coloring did to my hair (along with sls-shampoo and blow-drying).

My favorite gloss was a mix of indigo, henna, and amla (amla for added wave) in Kiss My face conditioner. Less brassy than the henna alone. You have to experiment with times to see how long to leave it on gray hair- and the great thing about this is you can do it over right away if it needs more color.

Warning- I loved my henna glosses so much, I decided to go for it and do a straight henna/indigo treatment. What a mistake. It went way, way too dark, and the grays were bozo orange. There were tears. And this stuff DOES NOT wash out. Henna removal is notoriously difficult- I only succeded in lightening it a bit, but orange is still there. I'm going to experiment with some glosses, with lots of indigo and amla to try to tone it down. Henna is permanent, more so than any dye you've ever used, so I would try glosses first. Read on the hennaforhair site for how to do a gloss.
Also important- I bought body art quality henna for this- there have been complaints about the premixed box stuff reacting with chemical dye on the hair, turning it green.

So, read, read before you start out.
HTH
nette

free skin care · Mon Feb 25, 2008 8:42 pm

hi Nette.

I think you post on the hennforhair forum and I've been reading as much as I can on there. I ordered the indigo/henna/amla from there and did the henna this weekend.

I start out by doing a mix that I think it is Diane had on there. Equal parts henna/indigo/amla and lots of honey so sort of a gloss as the honey must have not made it as strong. My hair looked great except gross bright orange roots (on the white hair there and temples). (Left that on for 2 hours.) I ended up doing the whole thing again but this time no honey, only on the roots and only for 1 hour. Still orange roots and but slightly darker. (Yes, I was panicking.)

Then from reading that amla can make hair go a cooler brown color, I took a risk and make a strictly amla mixture with hot water and stuck that on for 2 hours. Voila! My roots went brown- the same colour as the rest of my hair with a little bit of red highlights.

The only thing I'm concerned about is not having the colour last on the roots and having to do it too often but we'll see. Also, most people seem to like the way their hair feels after but I have very fine hair and it feels more weighed down now (but I'll take that over using chemicals.)

Fri Feb 29, 2008 11:31 am

Lily,

I'm so glad the amla worked for you- I'm trying it now, hoping I can tone down some orange.

After my henna/indigo fiasco, my hair was dry and straw like, but I conditioned it like crazy and it bounced back pretty quickly. I so wish there was a true brown natural dye. Just way too many orange disasters with henna. If anyone knows how to cover greys naturally, without henna, I'd love to hear about it.

BTW, there is a nette- or netta- posting on hennaforhair, but it's not me.
Let us know how the amla is working after a few shampoos.

nette

free skin care · Sat Mar 01, 2008 12:07 pm

Hi Nette:

So a week after doing the henna and then the amla, my roots area has faded- not so that I can see the white hairs but that I can see more of the orange there. Not to the point where it is a big deal but because I am going out tonight I decided to just do the roots with amla again and only a sprinkle of indigo. The colour right now after doing that is perfect.

I can see though that having the colour last longer on the roots area may be a problem. After reading some posts on the henna site, I decided to order some neutral protein filler and put that on my roots before putting on the amla mix. When I get it and use it I'll let you know if it helps. It seems like the protein filler is a natural conditioning type of thing and might help the colour adhere to the hair better there.

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