Henna and cool skin tone (I need your help. Again.)

[frogette]

Sorry for bothering you again, but I feel that I need expert advice.

As I related on this board, I hennaed my hair for the first time 40 days ago. I've been rambling on here about how tedious and messy I found the whole process, but at the end of the day I was very excited with the gorgeous rich warm red I obtained. I did notice at the time that something seemed slightly off, not in the color itself but in the way it looked on me, but I attributed it to the fact that the stain was fresh and needed to blend. But as my color was fading and turning more into a coppery orange, this feeling intensified until one day I realized that my nice now-coppery auburn clashed shockingly with my skin tone. And with part of my wardrobe (I wear a lot of burgundies and plums). I finally figured out that the colors clashed because I have a cool skin tone, which I was unaware of. When I wondered whether red would look good on me prior to henna-ing, I remembered how I chemically dyed my hair cherry red in the nineties when it was all the fad, and how it looked fine, so I assumed that henna would look all right too. I didn't consider the difference between cool and warm red because I didn't think that the difference mattered (I hardly ever wear make-up).
Well, at least now I know why peachy foundations and orange tops look so silly on me.

I suppose that what you hennaheads with a cool skin tone do is to henna until you get a cool red, and then renew often enough as to not let it go back to orange. But it sounds quite tricky to find the right intervall between applications, and I don't know if cool red can be achieved by everyone whatever their original hair color (after all, the lawsone mollecule is orange-brown, not red). And don't you have problems with the roots? I mean, the roots always have one layer of henna on them only, so they should be always on the warm side, including the roots that are right next to the face... how does it not clash?
I'm thinking that perhaps adding buxus to the mix would keep the color ashy enough that it doesn't clash with my complexion, what would you say? It would probably be darker than what I primarily envisionned, but if I'm sure that it won't clash I'll go for it. I would strand test, but testing didn't help me at all to foresee that full-head henna would look bad on me. All I saw was that I liked the color (I still do)

[clementine]

I can't get buxus so had to use a packet of dark brown henna which I mixed with same amount cassia and same amount red henna which gave me a gorgeous copper and covered the white, plus the lovely cinnamon scent. hope this helps.

[Nightshade]

I know that Rajastani henna gave me more of a burgundy-red and many people report a truer red with P Prime henna from H4H :) If you want to keep hennaing, perhaps you could try one of these other types of henna?

[mellie]

I'd suggest to add in some indigo (buxus washed out pretty fast on me). A little indigo will turn it more towards brown, and depending on how much you use, you can get very dark brown like I have, or even black.

[nienna42]

H4H's Punjabi Prime was noticeably cooler than other henna I've used. On virgin roots, before oxidation, it gave me a deep burnt orange color instead of the usual bright copper. On hair that had been previously hennaed, it definitely shifted things a couple of notches cooler.

Leaving henna on for longer will make it stain deeper, which usually makes it look cooler. If I leave my henna for two hours, I get warm strawberry blond. If I leave my henna on for eight hours, I get deep, cooler auburn.

If you have 1/2 inch of hair near your roots that's warmer than the rest of your hair, it probably won't make that much of a difference to your appearance, and I really doubt anyone will notice it. Natural hair color varies, after all, and henna is very good at blending with different shades of itself. And after that hair gets hennaed over when you do your next set of roots, it should be more of a cool color.

Mind, the orange will always be there in some lights, especially sunlight. :(

[Oskimosa]

Overlapping the henna with multiple applications is one option. You could also try adding manic panic, in a cool red shade.

[MeMyselfandI]

Alma cools the red in henna.

I can not see how doing more henna applications will change from a warm colour to a cool colour. I think different hennas give different colours. Some more orange some more red. Which henna did you use?

I do not know what amounts would work for you. (I need to figure it out for myself. I used it once but forgot how much I used. So now I will nedd to figure it out again.)

[frogette]

I can not see how doing more henna applications will change from a warm colour to a cool colour. I think different hennas give different colours. Some more orange some more red.

My understanding was that people who have multiple henna layers on their hair obtain a coolish, burgundy-like color, but I may have misunderstood.


Which henna did you use?
I used Jamila; I let it sit for 6-7 hours. I was wondering if using Yemeni wouldn't be appropriate if I want a cooler red.

[nienna42]

My understanding was that people who have multiple henna layers on their hair obtain a coolish, burgundy-like color, but I may have misunderstood.

Nope, no misunderstanding there. Enough layers of henna will eventually look burgundy-ish. How many you need to do that depends on how dark your hair is to begin with, how well it absorbs the henna, the henna you use, and all of the usual factors affecting henna dye uptake. On my dark blond hair, just a couple of layers of henna will start to shift my tone towards burgundy.

[A'eorryn]

Seconding that amla should give a cooler tone to the henna while not actually deterring the red, and thirding the compound-layers getting you closer to a 'purple-red' :) Mine is a pretty nice dark wet-rust-red with purply undertones (med-dark brown naturally) using admittedly-old Jamila that's still got tons of kick (I also add some beet-root powder, but can't tell you whether this actually helps or is only making me feel better ;)) - it's had about 4 applications on the length and only 1 on the 4-inch roots (I get lazy with the maintenance :p) but it's blended together wonderfully and you can only see a minor shade difference when I hold the ends up against the roots to compare :)