"brownest" (least red) henna besides Moroccan? AH?

[earthymamawitch]

On Henna Sooq's blog about different types of henna http://hennablogspot.com/20/ it says this about their Moroccan henna: "We usually recommend this henna powder for achieving brown to black tones along with indigo, when used in hair dyeing because the least amount of red tones will show through on your hair." I've used it, with a little amla, and it's really true, it did deposit a much less red/orange shade than most henna, it was more of a goldish brown with a little copper. however the one issue i had with it was the sift - since I have dreads, i need a fine, creamy texture and this was sooooo gritty that application was a HUGE pain, it kept trying to crumble and fall off the dreads. So I was looking at Mehandi's hennas, and noticed that their Henna for African Hair says it's great for locks because of the super fine sift. quote: " It dyes dreadlocks beautifully, and washes out easily. It has an amber undertone that harmonizes with brunette hair." and it has a decent lawsone content of 2.2%, not as high as the new rajasthani Twilight or the old Celebration, but those 2 pulled very very burgundy/red so I'm not too keen on that since I'm going for 2 step black here - do NOT want the red undertone if i can prevent it. Has anyone used this henna and noticed how red it pulls? especially compared to Henna Sooq's Moroccan henna? thanks!

Jenn

[caribou55313]

Having used the Moroccan, my guess is the thing that makes it show less red in a brunette mix is that it has a lower dye content than some other BAQ hennas. It came out very bright orange in my testing. Very nice henna, just not as red/auburn red as many others.

So I would choose a lower dye content henna - around 2% or less. There is a batch of Jamila 2009 that tested out with a really low dye content, 1.19%. It is advertised as not being the best for gray coverage, in case that is an issue for you.

Twilight and Celebration are both very high in dye content; I think a lower dye content with a very fine sift ought to do what you want.