How to achieve a WARM black?

[helenec]

Hi all I'm new to this great community :)

I've been reading here for a few days and I'm afraid I'm addicted

In my recent process of going natural overall I'd like to give up chemical dyes and go Hennindigo.

So, I've ordered Yemen Henna, Indigo and Amla as per various recommendations around here and I'm waiting for them to arrive.

My natural hair is ashy-mousy-brown with orange undertones and I'm very pale with freckles and hazel green eyes. I have been dyeing my hair jet black for the last decade but because of my undertones I could never achieve dark color for prolonged period, it always faded back to ashy brown. Also I've been told by many hair stylists that I have stubborn natural hair pigment that won't hold color for some reason, i.e. there is an orange strand in the front that never took the black, no matter how long I left it on.

I would like to achieve a WARM burgundy-brown-black without blue or orange in it but more of a cooler dark burgundy. It is important that there will be no blue in it as blue undertone in my hair makes me look ill and orange washes me out.

I would really appreciate your kind advice on the correct proportions of henna/indigo/amla I should use.

I'm completely OK if I get darker than expected as long there is no blue or orange.

Thank you very much!

[Catia]

My first thought would be to do two-step for black but to henndigo for your second step instead of pure indigo.

Is there any therapeutic reason you want amla in your mix? If you only use ~ 1 T. in your henna it is a great acid but any more may push it cooler. You want your red as vibrant as possible to warm up the black.

If two step doesn't appeal to you you could try henndigo straight up, but if your hair is obstinate, two step is probably the way to go. My white hairs just spit out henndigo with a chuckle. Henna first makes them submit ;)

As far as henndigo ratios I think it depends on how warm of a black you mean. Henna will flare in the sun through pretty much any amount of indigo - but only in direct sun. Is this what you mean or do you want it to show red in less then blinding light? lol

Experiment. You can always go darker.

HTH :)

[helenec]

Is there any therapeutic reason you want amla in your mix? If you only use ~ 1 T. in your henna it is a great acid but any more may push it cooler. You want your red as vibrant as possible to warm up the black.


Thank you for your answer :)

The reason I wanted to add Amla is that I read hear somewhere that the Amla tones down the orange and makes the hair more red than orange.

Did I misunderstood?

Thanks!

[Catia]

You're welcome:)

I do think it can dial down the orange, but only in that it pushes it more brownish. My experience is that it never fully extinguishes the red tones so playing with it won't hurt. The only thing that can push henna more red is higher lawsone content and repeated applications (which are kind of the same thing). My personal experience with other add-ins like hibiscus, etc., didn't seem to make a noticeable difference in redding things up. ;)

[Lissandria]

Might I suggest you harvest hair from your hairbrush/combs and do a strand test first? Because Henna is very, very permanent.

[McFearless]

What is your current colour?

Yemeni henna goes burgundy with repeated applications. I'd just go that route. Indigo is really tricky and getting the perfect dyeing time is hard. So I wouldn't mix it with the henna just yet. I'd see how it goes first and if your colour is not dark enough then I'd start to do indigo glosses.

This of course is just my opinion. Good luck and welcome to the lhc! :)

[helenec]

What is your current colour?

Yemeni henna goes burgundy with repeated applications. I'd just go that route. Indigo is really tricky and getting the perfect dyeing time is hard. So I wouldn't mix it with the henna just yet. I'd see how it goes first and if your colour is not dark enough then I'd start to do indigo glosses.

This of course is just my opinion. Good luck and welcome to the lhc! :)

Hi

My current color is dark brown = My brown hair with black dye leftovers. :)
Since I decided to go henna, I've been washing my hair with Prell shampoo that is known for washing out chemical hair dye because I want my hair to be as natural as possible when my Henna arrives.

So you are saying just to henna it? Without Indigo at all? I don't want to go that red and my hair REALLY likes red dye... Because of my natural orange undertones it tends to hold on to anything red like crazy

[helenec]

Oh and just to add some info - I don't have grey or white hair at all

Thanks!

[McFearless]

Well henna can't lighten hair so it will still be dark but with red tones. I'd still go with a full length henna application. If its still not dark enough after oxidizing you can apply the indigo. I wouldn't mix the two together but instead do a two step process if necessary. Indigo needs henna to stick to, but I don't believe it needs to be done immediately after the henna is washed out so you can wait a few days to make a final decision. Since you're going for black this can't really go wrong so you have nothing to fear. :) I'm making this more complicated than it is! :p

[helenec]

Well henna can't lighten hair so it will still be dark but with red tones. I'd still go with a full length henna application. If its still not dark enough after oxidizing you can apply the indigo. I wouldn't mix the two together but instead do a two step process if necessary. Indigo needs henna to stick to, but I don't believe it needs to be done immediately after the henna is washed out so you can wait a few days to make a final decision. Since you're going for black this can't really go wrong so you have nothing to fear. :) I'm making this more complicated than it is! :p


Cool! Thank You!
I think I will follow you advice and if it is too light I'll indigo it.

And a last newbie, probably, stupid question:
In know that henna tends to go darker after repeated application so, lets say I like the shade and I don't want to apply the Indigo but I do want my hair to be darker - Can I apply henna again all over my hair after a week or two or that can damage my hair?

Thank you all again!

[McFearless]

Cool! Thank You!
I think I will follow you advice and if it is too light I'll indigo it.

And a last newbie, probably, stupid question:
In know that henna tends to go darker after repeated application so, lets say I like the shade and I don't want to apply the Indigo but I do want my hair to be darker - Can I apply henna again all over my hair after a week or two or that can damage my hair?

Thank you all again!Not a stupid question at all. :)

You can apply henna as many times as you want without damaging your hair. People only wait a week or so between applications because there is a chance of the colour going slightly darker so they want to wait and see.

Don't worry about the indigo being a waste. I definately think you'll find it useful in the future because your natural colour is light I think I read..so you might need it to blend your roots to your length.

[helenec]

Not a stupid question at all. :)

You can apply henna as many times as you want without damaging your hair. People only wait a week or so between applications because there is a chance of the colour going slightly darker so they want to wait and see.

Don't worry about the indigo being a waste. I definately think you'll find it useful in the future because your natural colour is light I think I read..so you might need it to blend your roots to your length.

I like your ideas :)

I used to henna my hair when I was in high school but that was almost 14 years ago and I really don't think I had access to high quality henna. So I don't really know how such henna would behave. :)

I think that I'll do just henna, full hair application, few times until my hair gets dark enough and I'll do Indigo glosses now and again.

I think that not only it may turn out to be pretty nice, it will also thicken my hair.

Thank you