Minimum amount of time/maximum henna result?

[uglypug]

Hi folks

Ok, I admit it: I'm lazy and impatient (a bad combination). Just started using henna again and have been leaving it in overnight. I'm using frozen henna so I gather I probably don't need to leave it in for so long - I just find it easier to sleep through the process. However I would like to try to cut down the time it takes (plus I'm getting a stiff neck!) and was wondering how long people leave dye-released henna on for?

I'm particularly interested in how long root-dyeing takes as I will probably need to do this pretty regularly, but all experiences welcome!

TIA

[Anje]

I usually leave it in for about 2 hours. Can't imagine trying to sleep in it.

[princesitamaria]

ye a I second that, I think after 8 hours it doesnt oxidize anymore, but 2 hours is the min. time that will provide great results. My first time I did an hour and I dont even use BAQ and it rinsed out, the second time I used grapefruit juice and left it in for 2 1/2 and it didnt fade at all

[Amber_Maiden]

I think the last amount of time I've ever left mine is is about an hr. My hair was tinted.

[ladonna]

I've only done it once, but I left it in for a few hour's. I used the wrong combo of henna/indigo so my hair wasn't the color I wanted, I talked to Kadija from henna sooq and she says 3-4 hour's, but over night is fine if you aren't prone to headaches. I have young children and thier friends were at my home and they all kept giving me wierd looks LOL so that's my reason for wanting to try over night.

[caribou55313]

4 hours is enough time for most of the available dye to be taken up by the hair. People do overnight applications mostly for convenience's sake.

[cmg]

Based on some 30 years of henna treatments of my own, and on reading about other peoples experiences, I would say that there is a duration of about 3-4 hours that gives the most results. Anything after this, up to 5 - 6 hours, gives some dye but it is not really worth the effort. And another thing: This means application time after full dye release. I have found no benefits from waiting 3 hours after dye release and then putting it on for one hour. It actually seems to take the available time to connect to the hair. So in effect, you can only optimize the effect on the hair versus the time it takes, with using a stronger henna. The difference between a 1% henna and a 2% is actually "100%" so that is not without importance.

Of course, this may differ with all sorts of factors, this is an average.

[aahavaa]

I have found that although 4 to 5 hours is enough for a decent result, the times I have had the time and patience to wait til the 7hr to 8 hrs the red/burgundy has been even more intense.

[uglypug]

Hmm, a fair bit of variation there! I think for the time being I might stick with the overnight option until I get a colour I'm happier with and then hopefully I will only need to do the roots and maybe a few glosses. Just don't want to waste it as it's quite expensive (although if it doesn't fade as much as chemical dyes it will save me a fortune!:cheese:)

Thanks people :)

[Anainwonderland]

no less than 4 hours to get max color result in my opinion.

[CopperHead]

Six hours is the time I always use to get a dark stain. I keep busy so it goes by quickly. ;)

[cmg]

I dont do dark hennas today, I'm staying in the medium or dark blonde range. But in the old days when I did, I used to keep it in very long, and this time increased over the years. At the end I kept it in for nearly 5 hours before I felt the stain was enough. But I think it had more to do with the fact that my hair got saturated and didnt accept the henna any more than anything else. It was my hair that needed this much time, regardless of henna and brand etc. Finally this was to much ado for me, so I stopped using henna for many years. It simply got to time consuming. And I also moved between different countries and I couldnt get the stuff that I wanted everywhere.

And no I'm back at it again :rolleyes: :)

If I would go back to a dark shade today, I'm sure it would not take many hours to get a decent stain in just a few hours. Perhaps 3.

[fairystar32]

I read somehwere that up too 4 hrs is best for maximum dye after that its very little.
I never leave longer than 4.
If you use a heat cap you can cut it in half. I usually add a old fashioned hairdryer/heat style cap on and off to save a few hrs :)

There is no way, I would ever consider sleeping it it..

[naturegirl321]

I've left mine in between 4 and 6 hours.

[kaned_ferret]

when I first started I was waiting 12hours for dye release before applying, then sitting for 6+ hours with it on - yawn! After experimentation, I have found that I get just as amazing vibrant results with a luke warm water mix, left on top of my vivarium for 4 hours, then 4 hours sitting on my head under cling film and a wooly hat. So I've cut the total time from 18 down to 8 hours so far... I suspect I will be able to get another couple of hours off of the dye release time to be honest. But definitely 4 hours for application time to allow good dye transfer :)

[cmg]

kaned_ferret: You will probably find that this long waiting time is only neccessary for some brands. Most of the time it wouldnt be. BAQ henna is finely sifted which enables the stuff to go out easier and if its a good brand or harvest, you will get good/great results from no release time at all. Try some new brands!

[deko]

If I use frozen henna mix I leave it on for 2-5 hours. A good movie or two :)

[Chromis]

I am getting really great results from much shorter times. I use hot water, which gives near instant dye release (with a couple bags of tea thrown in for conditioning) and then I put it on my head as soon as it has cooled enough to handle. Maybe half an hour? Then I leave it on my scalp for about 1 hr 45 min or two hours. Get a nice bright red and it has not faded over a month later. I used to leave it on longer, but the henna boxes actually don't give such insanely long times, so I decided to simply try following the directions. Hey, what do you know, they know what they are talking about! :lol:

I think sometime the long length and elaborate mixes are more about making us "feel" like we are doing more than actual results.

[oktobergoud]

I'll leave it on for 3 hours max, and most of the time it's not even dye released.. too lazy for that. :P

[cmg]

If there is sodium picramat the stay on the head-time is much shorter than normal.

[uglypug]

Thanks for your replies peeps :)

Did a full-head app last night for 4 hours and it doesn't seem much more red really, but my length is pretty damaged so I doubt it was the application time. Think I'm developing the dreaded redorexia...:(

[CrystalStar]

I usually leave mine for a good 8 hours, with a heat cap to make sure I get the maximum colour I can. :)

[cmg]

Redorexia, uff yeah I had that one myself for a long period. At least with henna its not so bad for the hair :)

[uglypug]

cmg - I know...I really had to start with henna or go colour cold turkey as I have a serious problem with hairdye addiction!

I'm checking my hair in every different light and it definitely looks fairly brown in places but hopefully with a protein treatment and a third application it might be better.

[cmg]

uglypug - when I had a bit of patchy hair that didnt take dye everywhere I did a couple of BS washes and a few washes without shampoo (chick pea or soy bean flour fex) followed by SMTs. The darker parts that had taken dye got lightened up and the overall condition of the hair improved. The following dye treatments took much better and the lighter patches are nearly gone now. I suppose the flour washes deposited some proteines as well as cleaned the hair.

[squiggyflop]

30 minutes to get the color you see in my siggy.. i do roots only.. dulhan deluxe henna powder (found in the body art/bridal section of indian grocery stores)

if i go for too long the hair ends up maroon.. i try to keep it to the length of one tv show (30 minutes, 20 for the show and ten extra while im rubbing it in before i get into the bathtub, and yes i have a little dvd player for the bathroom)

30 minutes=nice red
1 hour=deep dark red
2 hours=very deep dark red
3+ hours=maroon

after that it starts to be so maroon that its almost violet in some lights..

[cmg]

30 minutes! Yes I've heard of Dulhan having a shorter time dye release, but I'm a little suspicious about hennas stating they are 100% natural. Also something about it being on the import redlist came up in my mind. Searching... here it is:
http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/cms_ia/importalert_138.html
Seems it wasnt tested so nobody knows whats in it really. I strongly suspect it contains a few herbs because many users describe the results as if. I have a recent very bad experience with henna where it said "100% natural henna" on it. So I'm sceptic towards anything that dyes in an instant and has no ingredients listed. This one seems to be safe though. Googling results in mostly very positive reviews. I'll probably try it if I can find it where I live.

[squiggyflop]

30 minutes! Yes I've heard of Dulhan having a shorter time dye release, but I'm a little suspicious about hennas stating they are 100% natural. Also something about it being on the import redlist came up in my mind. Searching... here it is:
http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/cms_ia/importalert_138.html
Seems it wasnt tested so nobody knows whats in it really. I strongly suspect it contains a few herbs because many users describe the results as if. I have a recent very bad experience with henna where it said "100% natural henna" on it. So I'm sceptic towards anything that dyes in an instant and has no ingredients listed. This one seems to be safe though. Googling results in mostly very positive reviews. I'll probably try it if I can find it where I live.
dye release is 3 hours.. i use very hot water and i keep it in an area where it will remain very hot.. with cold water it takes 8 hours for dye release..

as for whether its 100% henna.. mine has an ingredients section on the label.. also ive looked at it under a microscope and compared it to expensive henna.. no visible difference between dulhan deluxe and the expensive henna..

i cant find it on that list, where does it say dulhan deluxe?

there is something i forgot to mention.. its very important for henna color quality.. my natural color is reddish already, so it doesnt take much to punch auburn up to red.. if my hair was regular brown it might take much longer..

[cmg]

dye release is 3 hours.. i use very hot water and i keep it in an area where it will remain very hot.. with cold water it takes 8 hours for dye release..
I didn't mean just the dye release, I meant the application time.


i cant find it on that list, where does it say dulhan deluxe?
Maybe the frames show up different on your computer, making it difficult to find. The test description on top and then look further down for the list. EDIT: Just realized the link shows up differently today. I will have to search for it again.


there is something i forgot to mention.. its very important for henna color quality.. my natural color is reddish already, so it doesnt take much to punch auburn up to red.. if my hair was regular brown it might take much longer..
Same here actually. I always did the full hennas anyhow, so I don't know what short application times would have done to my hair. Today my virgin hair is white, so I have to have a different routine all together.

[uglypug]

uglypug - when I had a bit of patchy hair that didnt take dye everywhere I did a couple of BS washes and a few washes without shampoo (chick pea or soy bean flour fex) followed by SMTs. The darker parts that had taken dye got lightened up and the overall condition of the hair improved. The following dye treatments took much better and the lighter patches are nearly gone now. I suppose the flour washes deposited some proteines as well as cleaned the hair.

Thanks cmg, funnily enough I used clarifying shampoo and a protein treatment (babyface?) from ebay last night that you mix with conditioner and leave on for about half an hour, my henna looks more red on the lengths and really faded at the roots! It's like it pulled it out of the virgin hair and intensified it on the damaged, previously coloured hair:confused: Admittedly my hair does look very different in different lights but it is definitely more red than brown on the length, unless oxidation has finally kicked in?

I am OBSESSED!!:o

[cmg]

Thats not strange at all. The roots have less henna (not treated so many times, perhaps just once) in them and any treatment will loosen it up. Those areas will fade when you treat them intensely like that. I usually advice people not to wash, condish or treat their hair in any way the first 1-3 days because of this. Conditioners also seem to make it fade worse than some shampoos do. It takes a few treatments for the henna to stick!

Actually, this happened to me a few days ago. I gave my newly hennaed hair an SMT and the henna faded from my roots. Not all of it, but there is a noticeable difference. Cassiamixes may have something to do with it also, as someone suggested.

[uglypug]

Thats not strange at all. The roots have less henna (not treated so many times, perhaps just once) in them and any treatment will loosen it up. Those areas will fade when you treat them intensely like that. I usually advice people not to wash, condish or treat their hair in any way the first 1-3 days because of this. Conditioners also seem to make it fade worse than some shampoos do. It takes a few treatments for the henna to stick!

Actually, this happened to me a few days ago. I gave my newly hennaed hair an SMT and the henna faded from my roots. Not all of it, but there is a noticeable difference. Cassiamixes may have something to do with it also, as someone suggested.

Ah, not just my imagination then! The length does look massively different in different lights but the roots are definitely faded. Good to know for future reference.

This henna business has overtaken my brain:crazyq::)