Henna Gloss problem!

**Fractalsofhair** · February 17th, 2010, 11:01 AM

I decided to do a very small henna gloss with henna I got at whole foods to make sure that henna doesn't make my hair break off horribly before doing a full BAQ henna. So, I figured the quality might not matter that much, since I was just checking to see if my hair wouldn't well, kill itself from the henna.

I got Light Mountain Naturals henna, in bright red, which is just straight up henna per the package. I added a table spoon of it to some hot water, froze it, and then mixed the resultant thaw with a lot of conditioner. I didn't bother do to a strand test in advance, but my hair had faded from the prior color that I had dyed it with manic panic to a light reddish blonde, so I figured the results wouldn't be too drastic, perhaps a red tint, even a strong one. I've let it oxidize on my head for a few days, and here are the resulting color pictures. I did leave the henna on my head for a couple of hours. It stained my skin, and that has since washed off. It stained my skin pretty badly when I was rinsing it off, and it has not washed out of my body hair where it stained.(This means I currently have bright red streaks on my arms.) It couldn't have been on there for more than 2 minutes.

It smelled like wet hay when I put it on my head, herbaly/plantish, and was a dull greenish shade. The mud was a mud colored brown, greenish, with no hint of red before I mixed it with the conditioner.

It's wayyy too dark for a henna gloss. The pictures make it look much lighter/orangy than it is. It's really almost a dark wine color with heavy purple tones! Not ugly, but not the look I was going for. http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos..._7294945_n.jpg
http://photos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos..._7726201_n.jpg

What the heck did I do wrong, and how can I fix it? It hasn't faded at all yet, and it's almost been a week. It confused me a bit with the directions saying not to use a metal bowl. Does that mean it contains metallic salts? I mean, I don't hate the color, it's just totally different than what I was expecting from a henna gloss, especially one with cheaper/low quality henna.

**BelleBot** · February 17th, 2010, 12:38 PM

It looks a goregous colour I must say. Quite often hair that has been coloured before seems to take henna much stronger than virgin hair. So that could have an affect. Also I thought henna glosses should only be left on for an hour or so, maybe even less. Plus I know a lot of people here saying freezing it helps dye release, and I guess if you only want to do a gloss, then don't bother preparing the henna with dye release in mind, so don't freeze it or leave it cooking for hours before using it.
Plus, are you absolutely sure the henna you used didn't have any extra added ingredients given it's described as "bright red"?

Whenever I've mixed henna, it never looks red, always greenish brownish cow pat type stuff!
As for not using a metal bowl, nearly all henna instructions I've come across say not use metal bowls and spoons etc. I always stick to a glass bowl and wooden spoon to mix it, so the mixture never comes into contact with metal.

As for lightening it, perhaps try honey lightening? Also I know sun in has been used for lightening henna, there's a thread on here somewhere.
Good luck

**Olde Soul** · February 17th, 2010, 12:49 PM

I've always used the Light Mountain Bright Red henna and have always gotten a very strong color from a very small amount. (I can get two full head applications out of 100 grams, with leftovers). It also stains very quickly; I've still got an orange forehead and it couldn't have been on there longer than 30 seconds before I washed it off. I'd blame it on the fact that the henna's so strong, not your mixing/application. However, freezing does tend to help with dye release, so that might have been part of it.

I couldn't tell you how to lighten it but I have to say the new color looks very nice.

**Fractalsofhair** · February 17th, 2010, 12:53 PM

It just said Lawsonia inermis(Henna) in the ingredient list. I do like the color a bit, and I did freeze it since I wasn't getting any dye release after a few hours in a warm place. I like the color, but I'm just curious as to why such a dilute henna gloss would have given me a color, that in person, looks like the maximum saturation of henna? XD I'm glad I did a gloss as opposed to a full henna though, who knows how dark it would have turned out otherwise!

I also thought it only reacted with dyed hair if you used peroxide/bleach on it beforehand(I have one strand in the front that I used peroxide on as a test, and there's no difference in the color there than before!)? Meh.

Ah. I wonder why that is with the directions? I did mix it in a plastic bowl, with a wooden chopstick. I'll probably give some of the henna to a friend to check with his grandmother to find out if it's actually henna, since that's what's concerning me. I know a lot of boxed hennas aren't real henna, but I figured this was since it listed indigo and cassia for other shades, and had in the directions, wait 3 hours for dye release etc.

It's probably just the amount of time I left it on for, though I didn't leave it on for 8+ hours as some do with henna. I also left it uncovered during that time.

Oh well, my hair is shiny and nice looking and not damaged! I might try honey, or I might try doing a different sort of henna mix to get a more brownish reddish shade.

**Fractalsofhair** · February 17th, 2010, 12:54 PM

Olde Soul-Ah! That explains it! I got a lot of dye release by freezing, and if the brand is known to be strong! That explains it! I figured BAQ would be much stronger though?

**Olde Soul** · February 17th, 2010, 01:02 PM

I've never tried BAQ because Light Mountain has always been strong enough for me (plus I live close to a Whole Foods). I looked on the package and online and it said it was just straight up lawsonia inermis. Maybe the way it's processed is making it so strong...? No idea about the metallic content though, I think they say not to use a metal bowl just in case. /shrug.

**shadowclaw** · February 17th, 2010, 01:28 PM

I've done henna glosses in the past on chemically lightened blonde hair with little color change. My recipe was 1 tablespoon of henna to 1 cup of conditioner. I used Mehandi's BAQ2 henna, which is supposed to give a lighter stain, but in reality it still stains quite orange when doing a full henna.

I think the big problem is that you left it on for 8 hours. Henna releases dye for quite a while, so it was staining your hair the entire time. A gloss is effective at conditioning your hair and adding a little color in 1 to 2 hours. If you go beyond that, your going to get color change. So basically, you left your gloss on 4 times as long as you should have

Additonally, as BelleBot mentioned, freezing henna increases its dying power, and some people have mentioned getting an insanely strong stain after freezing. So you don't want to freeze it if you aren't looking for a serious color change!

Also, you don't want to do a slow dye release for a henna gloss, either. Slow dye release is supposed to give a stronger stain than fast dye release with hot water. Although you said you used hot water, so I'm surprised you didn't get immediate dye release. My henna always turned brown in about 5 minutes when I used hot water and was ready to go.

**shadowclaw** · February 17th, 2010, 01:31 PM

Oh, and also, how much conditioner did you use? When I used my gloss recipe, I always had more than I needed, and my hair was a little past BSL at the time. If you only used a half cup of conditioner, then your gloss was twice as strong as mine, and you left it on six hours beyond the recommended time.

**Fractalsofhair** · February 17th, 2010, 02:15 PM

I used about 1.5 cups of conditioner, and just barely covered my hair! That makes sense about the slow dye release vs the long one. I'm still puzzled as to how I got such a deep colour, with just one henna, but then again, my hair loves protein, so that might be why.

Oh well! I've learned to be more careful in the future! XD