Can I possibly achieve this colour?

[gnome]

This post may be a bit image heavy, so apologies in advance!

my hair currently:



is quite somewhat dark, but shows sun-lightening and a tendency towards copper in the right light.

the colour i have wanted since i was five is:


(this reflects hair aesthetics ONLY, not musical taste!)
the sort of mythical comic book heroine hair.

is it possible for me to get this sort of colour without resorting to crazy peroxide bleaching and chemical dyes? can i start out with my hair colour, henna, and not end up with burgundy hair? because as beautiful as it is on some people, it's just completely unflattering on me. i'd be fine with a duller, more natural copper if it could just be in this tonal range rather than the purple spectrum.

i would LOVE to be able to have this hair colour, and would love even more to achieve it without destroying my hair. i'm in the process of returning my hair to classical length after being shaved / boycut for 5 years, and don't want to impede the process by damaging my hair so badly!

[ademtce]

i don't think it would be achievable without a pre-lightening and even then there's no sure fire way of knowing you will get that color. henna is deposit only, and usually makes the hair appear darker, sometimes lighter but mostly darker.

you could probably get a nice red on the lengths but you roots (from the little bits i can see) look darker so they wouldn't be a light.

[wackyredtangles]

You could probably get something close to it.

Henna color largely depends upon how long you leave it on. The first time I used henna I left it in for 7 hours, and got a burgundy color. That mostly faded to my natural color, and the second time I only left it on for about 3 hours. I got a much more orangey/red color closer to your pic. My hair is red, so lighter than yours, but I think its doable.

Why not go to hennaforhair.com and look at the big charts that people submit with hair colors? Try and find someone with hair similar to yours and with the results you want.

Maybe look into vegetable dyes? I seem to remember someone around here with a similar color who used vegetable dyes.

[gnome]

i think i need to get more aggressive with honey lightening -- i've done one or two treatments, and noticed a significant difference.

i'll also look into experimenting with a turmeric / henna mix.
i'll be sure to strand test first though!
anyone have experience with that?

thank you ladies, good advice.

[plaidprincess]

I got a colour similar to the one you want but had to peroxide it first and henna twice in quick succession. I think you might struggle to get this colour without pre-lightening.

[redneckprincess]

I absoutly love that color...maybe someday

[bahannas]

I'm no help color-wise, but I just wanted to pop in and say that Hayley Williams is my hair idol. If I wasn't terrified of heat/chemical damage, I'd be all over it.

[Cherry_Sprinkle]

I'd think you would have to use pure BAQ henna and do a ton of test samples from your shed hair before trying to do the whole head... Nightshade has a beautiful copper color from her henna but she used sun-in to lighten the darkened areas on her length.. she's kept a great record of her henna progress and dye balls also.

I chemical dye for this reason.. its very difficult to get a specific color with henna and without a pale shade underneath even more so to get the color you're after. I professionally dye on a 6-8 week schedule and henna/cassia in between... but my color is all chemical not henna induced. HTH

[JamieRose]

What, you're not an obsessed Paramore fan?

I would say you could get something CLOSE, but keep in mind that those pictures are probably photo shopped like crazy. Most red hair dyes fade really quickly, so what may look like amazing vibrant red in a photo is probably not so in real life. If you're avoiding bleach and chemical dyes, you would probably get close to that color on the lighter parts of your hair, and a richer reds on the darker brunette parts... Also, henna changes color in different light, indoors it may look auburn, and in the sun more flame-like and orange.

If you're okay with all that though- and that henna is PERMANENT- forever, no going back, red head for life (or a very long time)- then I would say go for it. But that may just be because I happen to love curly red hair.

[Flynn]

If you're okay with all that though- and that henna is PERMANENT- forever, no going back, red head for life (or a very long time)- then I would say go for it. But that may just be because I happen to love curly red hair.

(Considering she's been wanting that colour since she was five, I'm not sure the permanent thing is an issue...)



Have a look around at the colours some of the hennaheads on here have achieved to give you an idea of what to expect. ^__^