Henna over bleach?

[Rosalaun]

I googled it but couldn't seem to find much - Everyone says not to use henna/indigo over hair dye, but I can't find anything about over bleach, or even just over light blonde hair.

And if it is ok over bleach, how well does it take? I'm slightly worried about trying it and ending up with bright orange hair, or a strange orange-washed look. I have pretty pale/cool toned skin so strong reds tend not to suit me. I would really like to try to get a mahogany/auburn type colour, so I'd definately need to include some Indigo. I was thinking a 50/50 blend? If anyone can find any before/after pictues of the bleach-henna transition that would be awesome! Thanks in advance.

[jesis]

I think this lady had some luck with Lush:

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showpost.php?p=1408107&postcount=160

Here is the entire thread:
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=21272

[Rosalaun]

Awesome, thank you! If the black takes fine I'm guessing that the red would too.

[Roscata]

From what I understand as long as you get body art quality henna all you have to do is leave it on for longer (like overnight) and do repeated applications (but I'd suggest waiting at least two weeks in between applications of henna and make sure you clarify before doing it again). I believe after 3 applications you should get a deep red. And since you want more of a brown I'd suggest doing just henna first, overnight and then do the half henna half indigo and leave it on for less time like an hour or two, some ladies with white hair do this two step hendigo for better coverage. Also henna tip: use conditioner to help you wash out the henna better.

I'd look into coconut oil (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=53786&highlight=coconut+oil) treatments, maybe even movie star (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=191) shampoo if I had damaged hair.

I hope it works out for you! :D

[missfortune9335]

Strand test, strand test, strand test! Seriously, if you're going to henna start collecting shed hairs from your brush or comb, stick the ends to some double side tape and when you have a decent chunk of a hair strand (about a pencil width, I think is what is reccomended) test out what you intend to do to your hair. It's kind of a pain, but much better to find out that the shed hairs turned nuclear orange than the hair on your head.

[missfortune9335]

Oops, I hit 'enter' before I could add: and best of luck to you! I hope it works for you, I keep toying with the idea of figuring out herbal coloring instead of all the chemical dye I've been using for years. I have my fingers crossed for you!

[Nymph]

*raises hand* I did henna over bleach and I turned out bright orange. It didn't look green or weird, just orange, but that was more or less what I was going for. If you want to give it a go, make sure it's been a while since you bleached, have real good quality henna, use distilled water to do your mixture and rinse and do a strand test before you try anything.

[Rosalaun]

Ohh, thanks for all the advice! I kind-of expected it would need longer to give the dyes time to soak through properly (a bit like staining paper with paprika or tea lol) so that isn't a problem. The multiple-coatings or ones that need a few weeks between I'd want to do during school holidays, so I'd have to wait.
I would have done a strand test, but I would have probably ended up using a few strands of the hair on my head not collected shedding, so good idea :D

Hmm... I'll admit, I really do want to avoid going a bright orange, it looks awesome on some people, but I can only really pull of blues, purples and pinks. Thankfully I haven't bleached my hair for a good two or three months, but my roots do look quite terrible! I suppose because yours was only henna (no indigo) it went more orange. Kind of like when I put pink in mine, because the bleach left a pale colour, anything over the top becomes very vibrant.

Thanks again, I really hope it works out too. My mum's really against it, and offered to pay for the hairdressers to dye my hair the same colour as my roots, but it's already full of split ends and feels really dry for the first day after washing, so I really don't want to do anything else chemically to it.

[lascuba]

I used henna over bleach without a problem (Lush's Caca Noir, which is henna+indigo). But, yeah, definitely strand test. I think that rule about not using henna over chemical dyes applies to those fake "henna" dyes sold in stores.

[prosperina]

I used henna over bleach and also got bright orange BUT I then used Lush's caca brun and marron and I got burgundy, which wasn't the color I wanted, but it was a huge improvment on orange. I'd start right off with one of the Lush henna/indigo mixes. Strand test first though.

[Rosalaun]

I've had a quick hunt through Lush's website, and I'm really tempted to try the Caca Brun, and from all the comments I'm thinking I'd need two coats at least to get the deeper shade. Any idea of how much would be needed for hair not far from APL? I see each chunk comes with 6 smaller blocks, and one review on natural strawberry-blonde hair I read said she needed 2 blocks for the same length hair, and it came out a light brownish red shade, which sounds ideal.

[Rosalaun]

Actually scratch that about Lush, read a lot more and realised that the cocoa butter would probably dilute the effects of the henna so the colour wouldn't come through as strongly as it could from using smaller amounts of henna.
Are there any trust-worthy UK websites to get henna & indigo from? Preferably ones that have been used before. And again any ideas of how much might be ideal for my hair length? Thanks :p

[Roscata]

I have about your hair length and I use 200 grams of henna each time I do a full application and get a bit left over (like a handful). My ponytail circumference is 3 inches though so if yours is more than that you might need a bit more henna.

[fairystar32]

henna is perfectly safe to use over hair dye as long as its 100% BAQ quality henna with no metallic salts.
- Everyone says not to use henna/indigo over hair dye,

[Rosalaun]

Thank you :D

And thanks Roscata, just measured mine a few times and keep getting about 2.5 inches, so I'll go for the 200grams as well. Just need to find somewhere to get it from now.

[caribou55313]

Agree with others it's perfectly fine to use pure plant dyes over bleached or chemically dyed hair, and strand testing is a must.

If your hair is heavily bleached and therefore quite porous from the damage, your loss of keratin can make it hard for henna to bond permanently. A clear protein filler from a beauty supply store, used right before you henna, has helped at least one person who's posted about using it for that problem. If henna doesn't bond well to your hair you'll get bright orange or generally wimpy color. If henna won't bond well, indigo won't either.

[redheadlynn]

It just makes a lighter, brighter henna. You might have to do a few applications to get your ends to match your roots once the roots start growing in. On a positive note, you'll get the shine that bleach takes away! Yay! :D

[Rosalaun]

Thanks for the replies!
Well, my hair doesn't feel anywhere near as bad as some of my friends who have bleached their hair in the past, so hopefully it will be able to take the colour pretty well. When I can find somewhere to get henna from pretty cheaply (I haven't really got a spare £20 to spend on it unfortunately) I'll definately be doing so. Strand tests will definately be used. And definately yay for shiny hair! Lighter colours just don't shine as nicely.

I'm still stuck between going for henna or something from Lush, I've seen a few pictures of the 'caca brun' that have taken an average blonde to a light brown, so I'm wondering if it would send me ginger or dark blonde. If it would go dark blonde, that would be just about perfect - I think my natural hair might be somewhere around there! I haven't seen it for a while so I can't be sure unfortunately.