Katam and Cassia over henna mix (Sante Terra)

[Melisande]

Maybe this will be helpful to some? I'm in my late Forties, and my much beloved natural color is gone forever.


That's in 2003, with my natural color. A year later, it faded into a really not very attractive pale grey. I colored with a chemical dye which was very close to my natural color but also very stressful for my hair. Garnier I think was the name of the color.

http://imageshack.us/thumbnmail.png (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/514/offen03qy2.jpg/)

That's in 2007 - when I switched from Garnier to Sante Terra, a natural color based on henna. It was after I discovered LHC and its German equivalent, the LHN, and I'm forever grateful to the knowledgeable women who understood that I was scared of experiments but had to save my hair.

the results with Sante Terra were very good from a hairy point of view - less than optimal as far as my face was concerned. It was just a tad too warm, too orangey for my neutral to cool coloring.

http://i983.photobucket.com/albums/ae311/MataPics_2009/th_20090901lengthcropped.jpg (http://s983.photobucket.com/albums/ae311/MataPics_2009/?action=view&current=20090901lengthcropped.jpg)

that's in 2009...

http://i983.photobucket.com/albums/ae311/MataPics_2009/th_201001blitzlichtI.jpg (http://s983.photobucket.com/albums/ae311/MataPics_2009/?action=view&current=201001blitzlichtI.jpg)

and in 2010. You can see that my hair grew a lot and was in very good shape - no split ends, no problems. I'm certain that many factors contributed to it - LHC style care, diluting shampoo, handling with care etc, but I'm also sure that the henna components in Sante Terra strengthened my hair.

Still, I was unhappy about the reddish tinge, especially in sunlight.

So I decided to buy katam and cassia and darken my hair.

In early October, I applied the Sante Terra as always - mixed with very hot water, then applied when warm, covered well, left on for four hours.

http://i983.photobucket.com/albums/ae311/MataPics_2009/th_DSCF0002-2.jpg (http://s983.photobucket.com/albums/ae311/MataPics_2009/?action=view&current=DSCF0002-2.jpg)


A week later, I mixed 100 gr Cassia and 50 gr Katam with luke warm water, and left the mixture in my hair for four hours.

That was the result, just after I washed it out:

http://i983.photobucket.com/albums/ae311/MataPics_2009/th_DSCF0009600x800.jpg (http://s983.photobucket.com/albums/ae311/MataPics_2009/?action=view&current=DSCF0009600x800.jpg)


http://i983.photobucket.com/albums/ae311/MataPics_2009/th_DSCF0012800x600.jpg (http://s983.photobucket.com/albums/ae311/MataPics_2009/?action=view&current=DSCF0012800x600.jpg)

The pictures are not very good, taken by my daughter, but they show that my hair had a definite greenish-greyish-blueish tinge. I was not upset because I knew that after a wash or two, this tinge would disappear - and that's what happened. I was afraid that the whole mixture would wash itself out over a short time, at least that's what I had read. But no - my hair seems to hold on very well to katam, and after the color evened out, it just stayed darker, in a color very close to my original color.

A month later, I did a roots application. This time, I mixed the Sante Terra with very hot water and let it cool. Then, I added the Katam and Cassia - this time without measuring, but a bit more Cassia and a bit less Katam than before. I added lukewarm water and applied the goo to my roots. I let it sit for three hours.

I had a bit more goo than I needed for my roots, so I applied it ca. until ear length. But not to the whole length.

This is the result:

http://i983.photobucket.com/albums/ae311/MataPics_2009/th_DSCF0001600x800.jpg (http://s983.photobucket.com/albums/ae311/MataPics_2009/?action=view&current=DSCF0001600x800.jpg)

http://i983.photobucket.com/albums/ae311/MataPics_2009/th_DSCF0003600x800.jpg (http://s983.photobucket.com/albums/ae311/MataPics_2009/?action=view&current=DSCF0003600x800.jpg)

http://i983.photobucket.com/albums/ae311/MataPics_2009/th_DSCF0004600x800.jpg (http://s983.photobucket.com/albums/ae311/MataPics_2009/?action=view&current=DSCF0004600x800.jpg)

Pictures taken tonight, with flash, which adds reddishness and more shine than actually noticeable in daylight.

I must say that I'm very very content and happy with the results. Much as I loved the head-turning effect of my red, the more discreet charme of the darker color is easier to carry off for me. My husband says the color gives a nice frame for my face and doesn't compete with it. I have problems with rosacea and the darker, less orange color doesn't emphasize or clash with redness in the face.

From my limited and personal experience, if you want to tone down a henna red, you may wish to try a cassia-katam mixture of c. three quarters (or two thirds) of cassia, and one quarter (or one third) of katam. The yellowish cassia and the blueish katam together form a green that dampens the henna red. Red and green are colors that sit on opposite sides of the color wheel, i.e., they neutralize each other.

Since they are all natural ingredients, the effect is gentle and individual. Every strand of hair will turn out a bit different, just like uncolored hair grows in different bright or dark variations of the same natural color. the shine is an additional boost. Greying hair is covered perfectly.

I added nothing except for water to the mix. When I dyed only with Sante Terra, I mixed it with hot water, honey and yogurt. But I don't want to disturb the cassia and katam, so for the new mix, I use only water (of different temperatures).

[laura85]

Great post!

I'm trying to get near to my natural colour as well, I'm using katam, amla and cassia :)

[Yosha]

Thank you for posting your experiences! The pictures and timeline make it very clear how it works and you certainly got a pretty shade from the henna and katam/cassia mix :applauseI've tried henna and indigo to go dark brown, but the indigo won't stick (even after trying with salt, and in a two-step, it keeps leaking blue even when my hair is dry, I got blue hands after braiding until it completely faded out). I just ordered a big pile of a different brand of indigo, but if this won't stick either I'm definitely gonna try with katam/cassia if I can get my hands on some :D

[GlennaGirl]

Melisande, your color result is absolutely, full-on gorgeous. Lovely. Thanks for the tips.

[Rosetta]

This is really interesting, thank you so much for posting this, Melisande! Ahh, I wish I had seen this before I did a cassia treatment just this morning (I even have some katam in the house!) :wink:

I'm trying to grow my natural colour (just to give it a chance, as I've dyed my hair one way or another for most of my life), and your result in this photo looks so much like my natural colour:




http://i983.photobucket.com/albums/ae311/MataPics_2009/th_DSCF0009600x800.jpg (http://s983.photobucket.com/albums/ae311/MataPics_2009/?action=view&current=DSCF0009600x800.jpg)


Even though you said it evened out later, but still; I think that would quite closely match my roots. On the other hand, I kind of like the colour my (hennaed) hair is now, after 3 honey lightenings, in some lights it's like dark honey... Decisions, decisions! :wink:

[SunnySunshine]

The result is beautiful! You have such beautiful long hair, I love final result!

[GlennaGirl]

Melisande, your hair is just beautiful.

[GlennaGirl]

Since they are all natural ingredients, the effect is gentle and individual. Every strand of hair will turn out a bit different, just like uncolored hair grows in different bright or dark variations of the same natural color.

This is one of the things I love most about henna, cassia and other natural ingredients.

[Avital88]

thanks for posting. your hair looks wonderful, i wished i knew this before, i had issues with redtones in my hair last year before i colored blue black..also due to henna,its mostly gone now though,your hair is very shiny btw!
xx

[dragaica]

Good to know - I had a similar experience with amla oil- it tone down my hair. But I want more - I'll try your recipe next time.

[pixiestar]

I have a question. I last did a henna gloss 4 weeks ago. I would like to try to get back to a more brown tone and am considering a katam or katam/cassia gloss over the old henna gloss. Do you think this would tone down the red? I am hoping then to do just the roots with cassia in future to tone the grey golden. Would this work? Does the katam make your hair very green? This is the only thing putting me off.

[AmyBeth]

Love this!;) I just wanted to cover greys but commercial boxed dyes always turned my hair reddish brown instead of my natural ash brown. I went from hairdresser to hairdresser trying to find someone who could re-create my natural color, even "master colorists". I finally decided that if you can't beat 'em, join 'em- use henna, do it myself, save money, save time, do something healthy instead of harmful and end up with really, really red hair. When I found this thread, I was so excited to try it. I do a two step henndigo process on my roots and finish with this over my whole head. I still do have the red flashes from the henna, but it is considerably toned down with the buxus and cassia. Thanks, Melisande!