Since starting this thread we have had many people ask how to get cherry cola/ burgundy with natural herbs like henna and hibiscus without needing to read 150 pages.
Using natural herbs to colour hair has a lot of pros to it as well as cons.
A great thing is that colouring with herbs is much healthier for hair than chemical treatments. In fact they can leave your hair gleaming.
Colouring with henna is like using water colours to paint your hair. The darker the pigment the darker the colour but it also has to do with what colour you are starting off with. if you are blonde or grey then jamilla will turn out very orange unless you use many coats of it but then you have to do that many coats to maintain(do your roots , which is something to think about before you start any henna journey because henna is permanent.
Also although henna is not a protein , it acts like a protein, so if your hair hates protein using henna might be a problem. A way to combat this is to use a good protein free moisturizing lotion and then a pea sized amount of shea butter , coconut oil ( or other quality oil ( or a good leave in)
Also if you apply full strength henna your first few times to get the colour that you want then you might only wish to do your roots from then on orherwise you may end up with a darker colour than you intended. You can always go darker but reversing it is much more difficult.
Henna Glosses- you might want to choose to do a henna gloss.
Some people use fresh henna paste after waiting for dye release while others just add some henna powder ( 1 to 2 tbsps. per 1/2 to 1 cup) of conditioner or coconut milk. This way is faster , more economical, easier and lighter in colour.
You can use henna before or after a commercial box dye treatment as long as it is pure henna or BAQ (Body Art Quality) henna meaning that it has been grown with no pesticides. Pesticides leave metallic salts in the henna which often interferes with other substances which can cause unpredictable results in colour and texture.
Henna compounds are not considered pure henna either and are also just as temperamental.
You are best knowing exactly what's in your henna, where it's from and what strain it is. This way you know how long to wait for dye release and how long to leave it on for.
Moroccan henna is 1 to 2 hours.
Red raj and yemeni is 3 to 4 hours.
Rajasthani and Yemeni is 3 to 4 hours.
Knowing your strain is very important because some hennas can't be frozen. Moroccan henna is one of them. Freezing henna in ice cube trays gives you a way to store prepared henna as well as measure it. Maybe you'll only need 2 ice cubes
to do either a gloss or root touch up.
Henna freezes well with other substances including oils and conditioners
Terpes?
Some people use essential oils to help bring out the henna stain. In my personal opinion these work great.
Some examples are : tea tree oil, Rosemary, lavender, peppermint , geranium,
I've also found these can be quite drying also so you might be best using on roots only or resistant areas.
However you choose to colour your hair it's good to take notes for future reference.
Cherry Cola/ Burgundy ????
To get these colours you need to start with a good solid henna that's already on the redder side and the best three are Red Raj Rajasthani and Yemeni. All of these have dye release times between 3 to 4 hours and have high lawson content so stain well.
Mixing 50/50 or a 1:1 ratio works great for maintaining this colour.
Mix 50% henna with 50% hibiscus powder.
Note: you can use powdered henna from a supplier like henna sooq who also carries the henna.
Nightshade carries Yemeni henna by itself or mixed with hibiscus.
I used some Yemeni mixed with hibiscus the other day and here are my results on silver roots. The picture is from 3 months ago when I had enough roots to really notice the colour difference.
http://s50.photobucket.com/user/poll...959-1.jpg.html
Use 3 to 4 tbsps. of dry henna.
Mix 6 tbsps. hot water, 5 to 7 drops terpe ( essential oil of choice)
1 tbsp. liquid honey or 1 tap. Sugar ( optional- creates a smoother paste)
1 tbsp. ACV ( apple-cider vinegar )
( optional)
Mix well and cover with plastic for 10 minutes.
http://s50.photobucket.com/user/poll...2nnf9.jpg.html
Add the same amount of ground hibiscus - 3 to 4 tbsp. with enough warm water (2 tbsps. ) mix, cover and allow to sit in warm spot ( do not place in full sun.)
Dried hibiscus flowers :
http://s50.photobucket.com/user/poll...oeebz.jpg.html
Ground hibiscus powder :
http://s50.photobucket.com/user/poll...cgilf.jpg.html
Mixed together with added water( liquid)
http://s50.photobucket.com/user/poll...4lcr4.jpg.html
Let sit for 3 to 4 hours. Apply to wet pre-washed Hair- cover with plastic and wait for 2 to 8 hours.
Henna needs to be moist in order for it to work therefore hair needs to be well covered. (No coverage will lead to dryness and possibly no staining ability )
Optional: cover with towel or turban for desired length.
Rinse! Rinse! Rinse! And rinse!
Add conditioner but refrain from washing with shampoo for 48 hours to allow for colour to oxidize.
This is 12 hours later
http://s50.photobucket.com/user/poll...nnhhd.jpg.html
http://s50.photobucket.com/user/poll...8chda.jpg.html
Note: I've had great results adding the hibiscus 'AFTER' dye release also and believe that adding too many ingredients before dye release can dilute the henna and interfere with the colour you are wishing to achieve.
Here are the products and where to purchase them.
It's very important to get a good BAQ RED staining henna to start with and here is a list of some of them.
Here is a list of the very red strains of henna and where to get them or what supplier to get them from. I will update this occasionally when more resources become available .
Red Raj - Henna Sooq ( ships worldwide from either canada or the US.
Yemeni - Nightshade / Nightblooming
Ships worldwide
Courtesy of Nightshade OR
Rehab Henna Malaki
Courtesy of Poli
Rajasthani - Hennacat - UK region
Courtesy of Flickm
Rajasthani can be found in various places throughout the world and is a very red stain
http://hennacat.com/
Another UK supplier courtesy of Anje
Sojat - Rajasthani strain henna
http://www.henna-boy.co.uk/
Red henna mix with added herbs courtesy of Minako and Poli
Poland Region
NOTE: this is NOT pure henna. It has added herbs
http://www.indien-produkte.de/produc...nna---Amla.htm
For the Netherland regions
http://www.henna-und-mehr.de
Courtesy of PirateJenny
From European Regions
http://www.aroma-zone.com
http://www.mademoisellebiologique.it...oor-p-544.html
Courtesy of Jackie_Brown
Important notice about a supplier called "The Henna Guys."
This henna has instant dye release regardless of liquid temperature etc.
The powder and prepared paste smells like cigarette paste and while I thought this was the nicest coloured henna I'd ever used, it gave me massive sheds. I think it has added ingredients that aren't disclosed. Plus the changed their ingredients in their burgundy henna with written warning or site info changes. They added indigo. While indigo is also a herb used for colouring hair and fabrics, it's also very temperamental and using it with other chemicals can have unpredictable results like swamp water green hair. People NEED to know these things.
Hibiscus Powder- you can purchase it or make your own by purchasing dried hibiscus and putting it through a coffee grinder or a vita mix dry container or a magic bullet but here is a place that sells organic hibiscus flower petal powder
http://www.hennasooq.ca/organic-hibiscus-petal-powder/
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