Lightened too-dark henna with 30vol

[Oskimosa]

I was going to post this in response to Nightshade's thread, but then I didn't use Sun-In and anyway I didn't want to hijack :p

So, about a month ago I used PP henna from H4H. I always do full-head hennas because I'm really bad at doing the roots. Here's how it looked a few days after application. It took a long time to lose that fire-cracker red.

http://www.geocities.com/kornroses/1_pp.jpg

So, it started to darken a little, and anyway it was already too dark with Raj henna, so I tried my hand at honey lightening. I did the 4-1 dilution, accidentally by volume and not weight because I forgot :rolleyes: And I used bottled not distilled water, and added a teaspoon of cardamom. Left it on for 2 hours under saran wrap on my head, and it looked like this:

http://www.geocities.com/kornroses/2_1st_honey.jpg

I really thought I saw a subtle difference, and if I had any patience (or if I had spent 7 years growing the hair of my dreams) I think I'd stick to the honey treatments every week or so to get my target color. Instead, I tried just one more, this time 4-1 by weight, but with TAP water (forgot something else this time) and still with the cardamom. (NOTE: DON'T PUT CARDAMOM IN YOUR MIX IF YOU WANT TO MIST IT ON WITH A SQUIRT BOTTLE! I not so much in the smartness area. Almost killed mine.) Left it on overnight.

http://www.geocities.com/kornroses/3_2nd_honey.jpg

Uhh, is it just me, or is my hair DARKER? I didn't think it was in real life, but... same camera, same lighting... anyhow, I got frustrated. Then Nightshade came along and inspired me (and others!)



Last year sometime, I got all excited about trying highlights and had tried 30vol on hairballs at various times and heats. I did end up with some extremely subtle streaks that have since disappeared under henna, with no known damage. So, I:
Slathered my hair in coconut oil
Diluted 30vol 1-1 with tap water
Sprayed it and got my hair sopping wet
Blowdried it with temps from cool to hot until it was slightly damp
Diluted 30vol in 10 parts water, re-sprayed hair
Blowdried again the same way
Shampooed once, conditioned once, oiled lightly with more coconut oil.Result:

http://www.geocities.com/kornroses/4_30vol1.jpg

Couple of days later I did my roots only (AND look a nice job at it! Maybe I've finally learned! :D) and everything is blending well with no visable re-oxidization.

http://www.geocities.com/kornroses/5_30vol2.jpg

http://www.geocities.com/kornroses/6_30vol3.jpg

The color suits me better already. I know it isn't super drastic, but it's brighter and feels more "me." I don't know if I will do another treatment or not because I'm not sure I need one. I like it alot, and I feel no damage to my hair. Right after I finished, I could tell the shaft was opened but I think alot of that had to do with the heat of the blowfryer. I should've done an ACV rinse but I didn't have any handy and my hair feels normal now anyhow.

STILL: I need to point out that I have pretty thick, coarse, hardy hair. I've dyed and stripped the same length 2 or 3 times in the past. (All that hair is long gone now, but I wanted to point out that with all my dyeing escapades I never had it break off and fall out from mistreatment.) So I don't want to say it will work for anyone else, but, that it could. STRAND TEST STRAND TEST STRAND TEST!

Ok done sharing ;)

[manderly]

God your hair is like, blindingly shiny :bigeyes:

Sorry, I wasn't paying attention to the color (though there is a clear change), I couldn't see past all that glare!

[Jeni]

God your hair is like, blindingly shiny :bigeyes:

Sorry, I wasn't paying attention to the color (though there is a clear change), I couldn't see past all that glare!

I was thinking the same thing. The sun bouncing off your hair could cause an accident! I think I might hate you....ok not really but I am jealous.

I do see a difference, your hair looks lighter and more orange, its pretty.

[Unofficial_Rose]

It looks absolutely gorgeous! Add me to the :thudpile:
Thanks for posting how you did it. I am so tempted to do a slight overall lightening for summer and this peroxide plus water looks like such a good method.

[Nightshade]

Beautiful! I'm glad you're happy with the result!

And I have to agree, that's some serious shine you have going on! :cool:

[ljkforu]

Highjack number 2, wow do I like the Punjabi Prime. I just ordered some and am going to mix it with Katam and Indigo. What a gorgeous group of red shades. Oh it just arrived today, so I'm going to honeylighten the ends and then go for an even balance.

[ktani]

I was going to post this in response to Nightshade's thread, but then I didn't use Sun-In and anyway I didn't want to hijack :p

So, about a month ago I used PP henna from H4H. I always do full-head hennas because I'm really bad at doing the roots. Here's how it looked a few days after application. It took a long time to lose that fire-cracker red.

http://www.geocities.com/kornroses/1_pp.jpg

So, it started to darken a little, and anyway it was already too dark with Raj henna, so I tried my hand at honey lightening. I did the 4-1 dilution, accidentally by volume and not weight because I forgot :rolleyes: And I used bottled not distilled water, and added a teaspoon of cardamom. Left it on for 2 hours under saran wrap on my head, and it looked like this:

http://www.geocities.com/kornroses/2_1st_honey.jpg

I really thought I saw a subtle difference, and if I had any patience (or if I had spent 7 years growing the hair of my dreams) I think I'd stick to the honey treatments every week or so to get my target color. Instead, I tried just one more, this time 4-1 by weight, but with TAP water (forgot something else this time) and still with the cardamom. (NOTE: DON'T PUT CARDAMOM IN YOUR MIX IF YOU WANT TO MIST IT ON WITH A SQUIRT BOTTLE! I not so much in the smartness area. Almost killed mine.) Left it on overnight.

http://www.geocities.com/kornroses/3_2nd_honey.jpg

Uhh, is it just me, or is my hair DARKER? I didn't think it was in real life, but... same camera, same lighting... anyhow, I got frustrated. Then Nightshade came along and inspired me (and others!)




Last year sometime, I got all excited about trying highlights and had tried 30vol on hairballs at various times and heats. I did end up with some extremely subtle streaks that have since disappeared under henna, with no known damage. So, I:
Slathered my hair in coconut oil
Diluted 30vol 1-1 with tap water
Sprayed it and got my hair sopping wet
Blowdried it with temps from cool to hot until it was slightly damp
Diluted 30vol in 10 parts water, re-sprayed hair
Blowdried again the same way
Shampooed once, conditioned once, oiled lightly with more coconut oil.Result:

http://www.geocities.com/kornroses/4_30vol1.jpg

Couple of days later I did my roots only (AND look a nice job at it! Maybe I've finally learned! :D) and everything is blending well with no visable re-oxidization.

http://www.geocities.com/kornroses/5_30vol2.jpg

http://www.geocities.com/kornroses/6_30vol3.jpg

The color suits me better already. I know it isn't super drastic, but it's brighter and feels more "me." I don't know if I will do another treatment or not because I'm not sure I need one. I like it alot, and I feel no damage to my hair. Right after I finished, I could tell the shaft was opened but I think alot of that had to do with the heat of the blowfryer. I should've done an ACV rinse but I didn't have any handy and my hair feels normal now anyhow.

STILL: I need to point out that I have pretty thick, coarse, hardy hair. I've dyed and stripped the same length 2 or 3 times in the past. (All that hair is long gone now, but I wanted to point out that with all my dyeing escapades I never had it break off and fall out from mistreatment.) So I don't want to say it will work for anyone else, but, that it could. STRAND TEST STRAND TEST STRAND TEST!

Ok done sharing ;)

LOL, what you forgot with honey lightening was the distilled water (both bottled and tap water contain minerals that can deplete honey lightening peroxide), but your results with the 30 vol, over the coconut oil looks amazing and very beautiful!

Well Done! I added your results to the others here, http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showpost.php?p=430055&postcount=248 and posted it in the peroxide thread, http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=10495.

Peroxide lightening does not result in redarkening henna, or any other hair colour, from any report that I have read.

Redox, which can happen with lemon juice, which contains ascorbic acid, can cause that to happen with henna but not hydrogen peroxide both from the reports I have read and the information I have read.

".... most famous hair bleach is hydrogen peroxide of peroxide blonde fame. Unlike sunlight and lemon juice, peroxide is an oxidizing bleach, and its effects are less easily undone."
http://sci-toys.com/ingredients/bleach.html

[bttrfly857]

Looking good!

I took the suggestion of someone on here (sorry I forget who) and section my hair and the make small braids, about 8 with my fine hair, gives good access to the roots and keeps most of the length out of the way.

You may know that already, but I find it the easiest way so far.

[Isilme]

wow, that's really some difference! I'm so glad people are finding ways to lighten and/or remove henna now:)

[Delilah]

A question- did you buy the 30 volume that comes in the small bottles for use in mixing with bleach powder and dilute that?
I've used that before but was not aware it worked without the powder.

[Oskimosa]

:o Thanks for all the compliments! :o Henna does give me super shine, as well as Dairy Whip and avacado oil.


LOL, what you forgot with honey lightening was the distilled water (both bottled and tap water contain minerals that can deplete honey lightening peroxide), but your results with the 30 vol, over the coconut oil looks amazing and very beautiful!

Well Done! I added your results to the others here, http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showpost.php?p=430055&postcount=248 and posted it in the peroxide thread, http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=10495.

Peroxide lightening does not result in redarkening henna, or any other hair colour, from any report that I have read.

Redox, which can happen with lemon juice, which contains ascorbic acid, can cause that to happen with henna but not hydrogen peroxide both from the reports I have read and the information I have read.

".... most famous hair bleach is hydrogen peroxide of peroxide blonde fame. Unlike sunlight and lemon juice, peroxide is an oxidizing bleach, and its effects are less easily undone."
http://sci-toys.com/ingredients/bleach.html

Aaahh, so lemon juice, not peroxide, may make henna re-oxidize. Well, that's good to know now. My hair hasn't darkened up any from what I can tell anyhow. Still looks like the pic from last night.


Looking good!

I took the suggestion of someone on here (sorry I forget who) and section my hair and the make small braids, about 8 with my fine hair, gives good access to the roots and keeps most of the length out of the way.

You may know that already, but I find it the easiest way so far.

I did try that, but my hair is too layered to braid at all. I ended up just making like 7 ponytails. I ended up with the worst patchy root-job ever, and had to break open another bag of henna and redo the whole darn thing. Luckily it releases dye fast for me with my tap water! Thanks for the suggestion though! I'm sure it doesn't work because my hair is too darn thick. :)



A question- did you buy the 30 volume that comes in the small bottles for use in mixing with bleach powder and dilute that?
I've used that before but was not aware it worked without the powder.

Well, um.. I think there were small bottles available, but I bought a big one, at Sally's. Here's a link to the exact bottle I have: http://www.sallybeauty.com/30V-Creme-Developer/SLNCAR62,default,pd.html And no, I didn't add any powder developer to it... That's what really kills your hair from what I understand.

[Delilah]

Thanks, that is what i was wondering. I have used that kind of peroxide mixed with the bleach powder in the past when I had pink hair. I wasn't aware you can use it on it's own.

[wintersun99]

Thanks, that is what i was wondering. I have used that kind of peroxide mixed with the bleach powder in the past when I had pink hair. I wasn't aware you can use it on it's own.

Yep, presuming you don't have Indigo on your hair, peroxide alone will lighten virgin, chem dye and henna. I've lightened henna multiple levels using 20vol (pre-Indigo) with no noticeable damage (although I'm sure there was a bit). Granted, I was not trying to remove henna, nor was I trying to lighten more than my original color level, which is approx. a light brown. I never tried to, nor ever reached the level Iris did...

[NurseMama]

Wow! I can really see those results! That was just one application session (and applying it twice that session) right? I love the idea of mixing the 30V 1:1 with water. I have in the past mixed 30v with condish, but spraying it on with water almost gives a similar coverage to the SunIn application that Nightshade had so much success with.

I am just collecting my hairballs getting ready to strand test. All of this success is giving me hope!

[Oskimosa]

Wow! I can really see those results! That was just one application session (and applying it twice that session) right? I love the idea of mixing the 30V 1:1 with water. I have in the past mixed 30v with condish, but spraying it on with water almost gives a similar coverage to the SunIn application that Nightshade had so much success with.

I am just collecting my hairballs getting ready to strand test. All of this success is giving me hope!

Yea, one session! Although the second time, it was 1 part 30vol and 10 parts water. I thought it might be overkill to spray more peroxide on... It just felt a tiny bit stringy afterwards from the heavy coconut oiling I did.

Glad I gave you some hope! :D

[jojo]

Excellent result your hair is just so shiny and I love the colour.

[MeMyselfandI]

Oskimosa,

Thank you for sharing your experience.

As a note of intrest: Hydrogen Peroxide 3% = 10 volume

You and Nightshade may just tempt me to use hydrogen Peroxide. I am still trying gentler methods, which I think I have exhausted or close to it.

[scalawaggirl]

Ah hah! Excellent that you tried this. :) I have that exact same developer because it's what I used to use when chemically coloring my hair. Not sure how things will develop (no pun intended) but in the future, I imagine that I might need to lighten up (or not) to blend my previous highlights that are a light red now from henna/cassia. I had considered lightening up my old hair color that is fairly dark (was a dark red chemically) underneath so, if I decide to do it, I'll give your process a whirl after strand testing. :eyebrows:

Oh, and your shine is nuts! I'm waiting for Dairy Whip but my hair's wavy so I doubt I'd ever get that much glare. :)

[Sunshine69]

it does look a lot lighter. I don't know if it's actually the henna that is lightening, though. It could be your underlying natural hair pigments. with lightening hair, the cooler darker pigments lighten more than the warmer orange pigments. That's why bleaching tends to make brunettes very brassy. If you're looking for a warmer color from henna that has gone sort of purpley on you, this would be a good way to go, as long as you know that you're removing your natural hair pigments as much or more as removing the henna.

I've thought about doing something like what you've done, but I have about 3 inches of brownish roots that have grown out since I stopped doing henna. I'm afraid those would turn too blonde and the henna parts would look orange.

[Nightshade]

Oskimosa,

Thank you for sharing your experience.

As a note of intrest: Hydrogen Peroxide 3% = 10 volume

You and Nightshade may just tempt me to use hydrogen Peroxide. I am still trying gentler methods, which I think I have exhausted or close to it.

Heidi_234 (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/member.php?u=16931)'s been doing some interesting experiments with different volumes of peroxide and will be comparing Sun In to them soon to see how the hair compares damage-wise :) I can't wait to see the results!

[SimplyLonghair]

Yes thanks for sharing all of you're experiments and pics. It helps to see what works for others to decide what you want to try next time you have a spare hairball! LOL:D

[Heidi_234]

Who said Heidi and didn't get any? :D
A quick little correction - I didn't test different volumes of hydrogen peroxide, as Iris told me from her experience that higher volumes didn't lighten much faster, but caused much more damage. As 3% hydrogen peroxide was the most (and only) available to me, I used only it.
In any case, I tested different methods to see how they lighten, how long and what is the damage. So far I tested straight 3% hydrogen peroxide, developer cream alone, bleach in various time spans and my own bright idea of hydrogen peroxide + baking soda. I'm going to test the Sun-In tomorrow, I'm very interested in the results too.
For now I wrote down all my testings in my blog under this category (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/blog.php?u=16931&blogcategoryid=1742), it's for everyone to see. There is an idea going on to start a thread for henna lightening methods, and place under it all the knowledge we gathered so far for the benefit of everybody. We'll see how it plays out, right now I want to finish with the tests, decide something and henna already!

[Nightshade]

Oh cool! Who's writing the article? I'd be happy to compose it if no one else has volunteered :)

[SimplyLonghair]

Oh cool! Who's writing the article? I'd be happy to compose it if no one else has volunteered :)
Oh yes, please do! That is something that a number of people could really use.:D

[Oskimosa]

Yea! I'd read it :)

[Oskimosa]

Just wanted to update.

I did another treatment tonight, with exactly the same recipe as last time. I may have used more coconut oil, my hair was really soaking it up tonight. I also used higher heat. I wanted to see if it would accelorate and maximize the level of lightening. I'll take pictures once it's dry; no sense in blowfrying my hair again!

When I shampooed it, I skipped the sulfates since now I know the peroxide isn't lifting any henna, so there's nothing to strip out, it would just be brutalizing my hair. After shampooing, I used my own conditioner, rinsed, then did a 1:2 vinegar/water rinse followed by an ICE COLD water rinse. My hair feels great. Better than last time, because both times I could feel the hair shaft was lifted. This seems to close it.

I do see a difference, it looks great to me, but it is of course subtle. AND I've got a new camera, so I took before pics with it! My hair will be in Hi-Definition here on LHC! :p

[Oskimosa]

Ok my hair is dry so I'm taking pictures. Here's the night before:
http://www.geocities.com/kornroses/b42nd.jpg Sorry, I had not brushed my hair at all. Not that I typically do...

And here's this morning, after the abovementioned 30vol treatment:

http://www.geocities.com/kornroses/2ndtreat.jpg

Hair looks a little stringy, but I think it's due in part to: heavy oiling, too much vinegar in rinse, and that particular brush always makes my hair look weird like that. Still, I wanted to use alot of oil and vinegar (not to make a salad of my hair :p) to protect it. Anyhow, enjoy the pictures :)

[Heidi_234]

Nicely done Oskimosa! There is indeed lightening going on.
I'm glad it works for you!
I'm still not sure if I want to lighten my hair! I know exactly how should I lighten now, but I'm not sure if I want to (will it even look good on my curly hair?), or should I just let it go and henna already. :justy:

[Oskimosa]

Well, if you're going to lighten, I reccommend doing your roots and then waiting a few days first. Otherwise your natural hair will go quite light in comparison to the hennaed length. :o I made sure to do that last time, but this time I just plowed on with the lightening without doing my roots first. The roots are now kindof light... but oh well, it's not too bad.

Good news is the contrast with my eyebrows isn't too bad now. The color I have now is getting close to a reddish version of my natural color. (I don't do my eyebrows.)

[Heidi_234]

Well, if you're going to lighten, I reccommend doing your roots and then waiting a few days first. Otherwise your natural hair will go quite light in comparison to the hennaed length. :o I made sure to do that last time, but this time I just plowed on with the lightening without doing my roots first. The roots are now kindof light... but oh well, it's not too bad.

Good news is the contrast with my eyebrows isn't too bad now. The color I have now is getting close to a reddish version of my natural color. (I don't do my eyebrows.)

Well, since my hair is naturally very dark, I would never go into the trouble of lightening my roots every month. I thought of doing it sort of gradual, from say APL down, mostly the canopy layer, going from my dark lighter lighter and the most light (and hopefully really red) ends. That's why I'm not sure it would look good, especially since I have very curly hair, that reveals the layers underneath fairly easily.
:justy:
I really just CAN'T DECIDE. It drives me nuts!

Anyway, I finally posted my second part (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/blog.php?b=36134) of henna lightening methods I tried, with pictures and all. I wrote there about bleach and 3% hydrogen peroxide with baking soda added.

[MeMyselfandI]

... So, I:

Slathered my hair in coconut oil
Diluted 30vol 1-1 with tap water
Sprayed it and got my hair sopping wet
Blowdried it with temps from cool to hot until it was slightly damp
Diluted 30vol in 10 parts water, re-sprayed hair
Blowdried again the same way
Shampooed once, conditioned once, oiled lightly with more coconut oil.
...


Couple of days later I did my roots only (AND look a nice job at it! Maybe I've finally learned! :D) and everything is blending well with no visable re-oxidization.
The color suits me better already. I know it isn't super drastic, but it's brighter and feels more "me." I don't know if I will do another treatment or not because I'm not sure I need one. I like it alot, and I feel no damage to my hair. Right after I finished, I could tell the shaft was opened but I think alot of that had to do with the heat of the blowfryer. I should've done an ACV rinse but I didn't have any handy and my hair feels normal now anyhow.

STILL: I need to point out that I have pretty thick, coarse, hardy hair. I've dyed and stripped the same length 2 or 3 times in the past. (All that hair is long gone now, but I wanted to point out that with all my dyeing escapades I never had it break off and fall out from mistreatment.) So I don't want to say it will work for anyone else, but, that it could. STRAND TEST STRAND TEST STRAND TEST!

Ok done sharing ;)

Once again thank you for sharing your results.

I took the plung last night. Almost nothing happened. So I will post questions and what I did so others do not make the same mistakes.

1. Should hair be damp or completyly dry when adding the coconut oil?

My hair was completely dry. I added coconut oil all over. I added so much that two hours after applying the oil, I was able to squeeze it out of my hair.

I used 3 % (10vol) hydrogen peroxide (for wound cleaning). I sprayed it on until it was drippping.

Mistake: I tryed to come it through my hair. Since the peroxide was cool, the coconut oil solidified. I combed some of it off as a solid on the comb.

Mistake: I used a kid's hairdry that only went to 400 watts. My hair was not drying. After 40 minutes of trying to dry my hair. I gave up. I used shampoo and washed the peroxide and coconut oil out of my hair.

I should have worn gloves from the beginning. My hands itched like crazy. I ended up putting on a top, since the wet hair/peroxide on my skin was not a good feeling. I also put on gloves.

I noticed this morning that a bit of lightening happened one temple. The lightening was not even. There was some lightening on the top of my head.

I do not think the texture where the lightening happened is different. My ends which were a bit dry do not feel any dryer.

I do not know if the fact that the dryer was not warm and/or the fact that my hair did not dry prevented my hair from lightening.

I have not given up. I was able to obtain a hairdryer. It goes up to 1875 Watts and has two settings (cool and hot). I think the cool is warmer then the the only setting of the hairdyer I used yesterday.

Even though I originally did not want to use Sun-In case the conditioners in it cover up damage, I decide to use Sun-In. Unfortunately, out of the three pharmacies near me I only found the Sun-In in one of them. It is the super with Lemon. (Yellow cap). I have no idea it if it from this year or left over from last year's stock since this pharmacy told me it is a seasonal item.

I will be at it again. I will post what I do, in the Sun-In post.

[NiAosSi]

Whoa - :scared:All that shine! Beautiful. And, your blue glasses look so cool. :D Oh, and it does look lighter.

[ktani]

Once again thank you for sharing your results.

I took the plung last night. Almost nothing happened. So I will post questions and what I did so others do not make the same mistakes.

1. Should hair be damp or completyly dry when adding the coconut oil?

My hair was completely dry. I added coconut oil all over. I added so much that two hours after applying the oil, I was able to squeeze it out of my hair.

I used 3 % (10vol) hydrogen peroxide (for wound cleaning). I sprayed it on until it was drippping.

Mistake: I tryed to come it through my hair. Since the peroxide was cool, the coconut oil solidified. I combed some of it off as a solid on the comb.

Mistake: I used a kid's hairdry that only went to 400 watts. My hair was not drying. After 40 minutes of trying to dry my hair. I gave up. I used shampoo and washed the peroxide and coconut oil out of my hair.

I should have worn gloves from the beginning. My hands itched like crazy. I ended up putting on a top, since the wet hair/peroxide on my skin was not a good feeling. I also put on gloves.

I noticed this morning that a bit of lightening happened one temple. The lightening was not even. There was some lightening on the top of my head.

I do not think the texture where the lightening happened is different. My ends which were a bit dry do not feel any dryer.

I do not know if the fact that the dryer was not warm and/or the fact that my hair did not dry prevented my hair from lightening.

I have not given up. I was able to obtain a hairdryer. It goes up to 1875 Watts and has two settings (cool and hot). I think the cool is warmer then the the only setting of the hairdyer I used yesterday.

Even though I originally did not want to use Sun-In case the conditioners in it cover up damage, I decide to use Sun-In. Unfortunately, out of the three pharmacies near me I only found the Sun-In in one of them. It is the super with Lemon. (Yellow cap). I have no idea it if it from this year or left over from last year's stock since this pharmacy told me it is a seasonal item.

I will be at it again. I will post what I do, in the Sun-In post.

From the reports here, http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showpost.php?p=460528&postcount=383, no one used as heavy an oiling as you did.

I suggest applying the coconut oil and let it absorb overnight but do not use as much as you did.

Go through the reports and compare details. I am glad to read that at least your ends do not feel dryer.

[MeMyselfandI]

From the reports here, http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showpost.php?p=460528&postcount=383, no one used as heavy an oiling as you did.

I suggest applying the coconut oil and let it absorb overnight but do not use as much as you did.

Go through the reports and compare details. I am glad to read that at least your ends do not feel dryer.


ktani,

Thanks for the links.

I have a hard time judging the oil. When I applied the oil, it did not feel like a lot. 2 hours later, I realized way to much.

[ktani]

ktani,

Thanks for the links.

I have a hard time juding the oil. When I applied the oil, it did not feel like a lot. 2 hours later, I realized say to much.

You are most welcome!

[Oskimosa]

Whoa - :scared:All that shine! Beautiful. And, your blue glasses look so cool. :D Oh, and it does look lighter.
Thanks! :D

Once again thank you for sharing your results.

I took the plung last night. Almost nothing happened. So I will post questions and what I did so others do not make the same mistakes.

1. Should hair be damp or completyly dry when adding the coconut oil?

My hair was completely dry. I added coconut oil all over. I added so much that two hours after applying the oil, I was able to squeeze it out of my hair.

I used 3 % (10vol) hydrogen peroxide (for wound cleaning). I sprayed it on until it was drippping.

Mistake: I tryed to come it through my hair. Since the peroxide was cool, the coconut oil solidified. I combed some of it off as a solid on the comb.

Mistake: I used a kid's hairdry that only went to 400 watts. My hair was not drying. After 40 minutes of trying to dry my hair. I gave up. I used shampoo and washed the peroxide and coconut oil out of my hair.

I should have worn gloves from the beginning. My hands itched like crazy. I ended up putting on a top, since the wet hair/peroxide on my skin was not a good feeling. I also put on gloves.

I noticed this morning that a bit of lightening happened one temple. The lightening was not even. There was some lightening on the top of my head.

I do not think the texture where the lightening happened is different. My ends which were a bit dry do not feel any dryer.

I do not know if the fact that the dryer was not warm and/or the fact that my hair did not dry prevented my hair from lightening.

I have not given up. I was able to obtain a hairdryer. It goes up to 1875 Watts and has two settings (cool and hot). I think the cool is warmer then the the only setting of the hairdyer I used yesterday.

Even though I originally did not want to use Sun-In case the conditioners in it cover up damage, I decide to use Sun-In. Unfortunately, out of the three pharmacies near me I only found the Sun-In in one of them. It is the super with Lemon. (Yellow cap). I have no idea it if it from this year or left over from last year's stock since this pharmacy told me it is a seasonal item.

I will be at it again. I will post what I do, in the Sun-In post.

Personally, I apply it to dry hair... And, yea, I think you used too much oil... And while 10vol probably wont do much, I (guess) technically used 15vol since I cut the 30vol in half with water. Also, heat is key, so even if it did dry it, the heat wasn't enough to do much. You probably had too little of a change to notice. Fix those issues, and you'll probably be lightening in no time! :)

[JessTheMess]

I envy that shine!!!! Oh my! 8)

[tabitie]

Thank you for your tips, O. Your sig photo looks great and you're definitely making progress.

Sorry if my previous post was a little behind the eightball!

[Oskimosa]

Thanks for the compliments! :D I'm still debating another treatment, but I think I'll just wait on it for a while.

[Shermie Girl]

Peroxide does lighten henna. And, the first few treatments should give you a lot of lightening without much, if any damage. And, the henna doesn't re oxidize.

However, I must caution those of you using peroxide. Please, for the love of your hair proceed with caution! Strand test with new hair balls that have had all the treatments before you do the next one. As I learned from bitter personal experience, hair can be doing just fine with one treatment and the very next one can push it over the edge, resulting in gummy, sticky, damaged beyond all hope of help can't do anything but chop it off hair.

I pushed my hair, attempting to remove henna (not, I repeat not possible) and ended up destroying and having to chop my tailbone length hair to an above the jaw bob. And I am still growing out henna and gummy, sticky damage. :cry:

[shayly-fyanna]

Very beautiful color and such shine you've got.
thanks for the recipe of how to lighten too dark henna.
sometimes mine comes out quite dark, so great
idea.
but question? did your hair not feel damaged or dry?
I fear to do it because my hair is so fine.

[Oskimosa]

Very beautiful color and such shine you've got.
thanks for the recipe of how to lighten too dark henna.
sometimes mine comes out quite dark, so great
idea.
but question? did your hair not feel damaged or dry?
I fear to do it because my hair is so fine.

No; it doesn't feel damaged or dry HOWEVER I have very very coarse, thick hair. It takes alot of effort to mess it up. I suggest you strand test first, and maybe use lower heat. You will get more subtle results, but after a few treatments you'll probably end up with the same thing, without damage. :) But, again, test test test!