I love the way you describe your hair color -- dark as brown can be before it's called black-- and before I started hennaing, I'd have described my hair the same same way.
I use smelly Aphogee protein every couple of months, and I also occasionally use conditioner with protein. I've henna'ed about once a month since September. I'm planning to step up the henna now.
There's really no way to compare the 2 treatments. The protein treatment strengthens my hair, and that's about it. I've done it for so long that I don't even remember what my hair was like without it. I assume whatever protein you use, you see benefits from it? I'm hoping I understand your question.
The henna is a horse of a completely different color. It's given me a whole new head of hair, and I don't remember feeling that way about the protein. It's done nothing but good for me. I caught myself in a store mirror the other day and the beauty of my hair color nearly floored me. I get non-stop compliments on it.
You need worry about a color change, IMO, only if you have significant gray close to your face.
When I first started hennaing, I thought of myself as a very dark brown-haired person with premature gray streaks It turned out I was wrong about that. In addition to the gray strands, I have 2 clusters of solid gray right at my temples. But they weren't part of my self-concept. So I picked a henna based on how it would look on brown hair, and went for it.
The henna I chose looked fantabulous on my brown-- and ridiculous on those gray clusters. I mean Bozo the clown ridiculous. I ended up doing a lot of work (fun work) to get the color on my grays where I wanted it, and I started by re-thinking of myself as a gray-haired person. That was a bit traumatic. (I don't have the makings of a Renegray.)
So I say, go ahead, but think about your grays, if any. You can mix henna with cassia or indigo to play with the color, and you can use cassia if you really want no color change. Henna's conditioning benefits have been beyond anything I could have imagined, and the color is magnificent. The only thing you might want to watch out for is if you don't want to go into the burgundy range. Other than that, I think henna can only make your hair color more beautiful. With hair as dark as yours, you really can't go wrong.
Bookmarks