Henna,Bleaching & Dying

[Opheliac Zú]

Well,don't know where to start.
I have naturally dark brown hair and I hennaed my hair for 9 months and last time I did it was in May,I think.I don't know if my henna was all natural,because I got it from France and there wasn't any text in English or any other normal language,just some Arabic signs. I wanted to bleach my hair a bit so I could dye it chemically. I made some tests like putting some dye on a hair strand,on my fringe and I put hydrogen on a hair strand. I wanted to see if there would be any damage,like hair falling out. I heard that it would fall out if henna contained metal salts. The test did nothing to my hair.
Is it possible that metal salts wash away after a long time? And did anyone of you get good results with bleaching over henna and then dying it chemically red? I just want it to be visible at any time,season and place. Thanks in advance :)

[Opheliac Zú]

wash out* Sorry for the double post.

[Dolly]

There have been several people who have bleached their henna to a lighter shade. Some have gotten it from a dark red to copper or even to strawberry blonde. Once it is to a lighter shade, I suppose you could dye it red.

However, depending on how light you need to take it, you may incur considerable damage in the bleaching process, and if you use a permanent chemical color, you could incur even more damage. This is what you really need to consider before you take such steps.

Good luck with whatever you decide!

[LadyCelestina]

Henna from France? Hennécolor by any chance?

EDIT: You want to dye it red with chem.colour - why not just use red henna again? :)

[Opheliac Zú]

I have no idea. One package was blue with a belly dancer who has red hair. Says fiery red. And I don't want henna,because I can't do anything over her. I wanted to use Special Effects or Manic Panic in green,blue or something like that,and I heard it can't be dyed over henna.

@Dolly I know that there will be some damage,but I'll use some coconut oil before I do it. I read it should reduce the damage.

[cmg]

I heard that it would fall out if henna contained metal salts. The test did nothing to my hair.
Is it possible that metal salts wash away after a long time? And did anyone of you get good results with bleaching over henna and then dying it chemically red? I just want it to be visible at any time,season and place. Thanks in advance :)
The metal salts are intended to penetrate the hair and act as a bridge for the pigments to stick to the hair instead of staying in solution in the dye. The metal blocks places on the dye molecule, where it could bind to the water. The idea is to make it stick to your hair instead.

In effect, the metal salts have a potential to remain in the hair shaft in the lengths for a considerable amount of time. On the other hand, in some cases, they can be considered to have been washed out after about two months. This depends on the brand and the condition of your hair. There are no guarantees.

And therefore the recommendation is to do strand tests. I dont think it will make your hair fall out, unless you manage somehow to combine it with bleach or peroxides. There is none in natural henna.

[julierockhead]

I just read a thread here about manic panic over henna (it was successful) but I can't find it. Grrrr!

Anyway, if the dye you used before was pure henna, you should be able to use another dye over it without any problems. Take a bit of the manic panic and dye some hair from your hairbrush and see if it works.

I'd skip the bleaching. Henna does not bleach out well, but some people have had success with lightening using repeated honey applications.

[cmg]

Here is one thread about this:
http://www.longhaircommunity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=62619

[Opheliac Zú]

I see.But,she had very light hair.Mine is too dark.That's why I want to bleach it.And I've read that you need more time for honey lightening,and I just don't have any patience left.
Also,I did strand tests with the chem.dye and like I said,nothing happened and something should if there were metal salts in it.

[LadyCelestina]

I have no idea. One package was blue with a belly dancer who has red hair. Says fiery red. And I don't want henna,because I can't do anything over her. I wanted to use Special Effects or Manic Panic in green,blue or something like that,and I heard it can't be dyed over henna.


@Dolly I know that there will be some damage,but I'll use some coconut oil before I do it. I read it should reduce the damage.


Aha...So it seems it wasn't hennécolour.This is the closest I could find.

http://www.google.sk/imgres?q=henn%C3%A9+masria+rapide&um=1&hl=sk&safe=active&tbm=isch&tbnid=V_ymzsxveMJEnM:&imgrefurl=http://lemarocavotreporte.com/100232-henne-masria-rapide-auburn-90g.html&docid=i2kuAs8yZx4MRM&w=300&h=300&ei=05iETsCZB5HG-Qaamrkg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=200&vpy=130&dur=131&hovh=225&hovw=225&tx=109&ty=108&page=1&tbnh=130&tbnw=130&start=0&ndsp=28&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:0&biw=1152&bih=747


and here

http://hennatribe.org/hennabrands.htm

It seems that it shouldn't contain any metallic salts.

I'm sorry for not giving you any useful information about bleaching out dye with metallic salts.I don't have a clue about it.
The best thing I can do is try to help you identify what brand of henna it was so you can see whether it's pure or not.Sorry if I'm not helping the situation :)

[Opheliac Zú]

^ That's the brand I used :D Thank you for finding it. Now I'm a bit more sure about whether to bleach and dye or not. I'm fully aware about damaging the hair,but it shouldn't be a big damage,I guess.
Thank you all so much.

[Rosetta]

Opheliac, if the brand you used was that Masria henna (in the first link), it does contain metallic salt (sodium picramate)..!

[Opheliac Zú]

Yes,the one in the first link.But,I used it only once last December.What now?

[cmg]

Ok, this long ago is not much of a problem. You have dark brown hair, how much color do you need to remove in order to get the results you want from Manic panic? Down to blonde or is light brown sufficient?

[Opheliac Zú]

A light brown would definitely do it or even a step lighter,but I just want the red to be visible.I know it can't be as bright as I want to.

[cmg]

A light brown would definitely do it or even a step lighter,but I just want the red to be visible.I know it can't be as bright as I want to.
Do a strand test and follow the instructions and you will be fine. There is more risk involved, if you were F or i. Be careful mixing the proportions right for the strand test. It is easy to do this wrong because of the smaller amount.

Personally I would do a stronger mix for a shorter time, instead of a mild mix and leaving it in for a long time. But this is entirely up to you and your scalp.

[Opheliac Zú]

Thank you for your advice. :)

[cmg]

You are very welcome :)

[Of the Fae]

I have no idea. One package was blue with a belly dancer who has red hair. Says fiery red. And I don't want henna,because I can't do anything over her. I wanted to use Special Effects or Manic Panic in green,blue or something like that,and I heard it can't be dyed over henna.

@Dolly I know that there will be some damage,but I'll use some coconut oil before I do it. I read it should reduce the damage.

Masria? Souad? something like that? It contains sodium picramate

[Opheliac Zú]

Masria,but I used it in December only once. A friend of mine decided to help me with my hair.He knows a lot about dying and such. I decided to do a 'bleach bath' if it's called so. It's normal bleach but mixed with regenerator,and they said there shouldn't be as much damage as with the normal bleach.

[Opheliac Zú]

I did strand tests and here are the results:

http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/7958/dsc01408y.jpg

http://img535.imageshack.us/img535/7346/dsc01391yk.jpg

I know I didn't do it very neat,but it did work. Nothing fell off,nothing burned and so on. I'm wondering if I could do full hair bleaching now? What do you guys think?

[Breaca]

I would go for the whole head. If you're doing a bleach bath it will be a lot less damaging - as you probably realise.

Considering your results I don't think it will cause your hair to fall out or turn a funny colour...I would personally leave it a few days just to see how the hair copes, then do an all over bleach bath.

I didn't use henne color myself, but did bleach over henna. It just went orange, and very damaged. I wish now I had just bleach bathed!
Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[Opheliac Zú]

I think I'll go for the 'normal' bleaching because my mother won't let me do the bleach bath by myself at home.She already freaked out when she saw I had done a strand test :rolleyes: And I don't think my hairdresser would do the b.b. - she didn't even warned my mother that dying over henna,if it contains metal salts,can ruin my hair.So, bleaching it will be this Saturday.

I'm so excited.^^ If it all goes well,I'll post pictures.

[Opheliac Zú]

So, I dyed my hair. Only dyed. Of course,my mother is the reason for not bleaching. -.-
It went well,considering that dying over henna isn't the best move,but it turned out good. It's some sort of red with violet on light.And indoors it's a dark violet/brown-ish colour,but my roots are red (my natural hair without henna).Here are some pictures:

http://img851.imageshack.us/img851/6092/dsc01456qg.jpg

http://img687.imageshack.us/img687/9743/dsc01467at.jpg


http://img546.imageshack.us/img546/2129/dsc01462l.jpg

[Breaca]

Wow it's lovely, and you didn't have to bleach either - bonus!

[Breaca]

Got to add that apart from bleach being very damaging, I find hair has trouble holding colour after being bleached...so if you had bleached then coloured, you may have found the colour washed out faster.

[Opheliac Zú]

That's what everyone told me - it would wash out faster if I had bleached.