Nightshade, can you help me?

[dagny]

(I hope this was ok to make a post to you like this. I don't know how else to do it!)

I know I have written this before, but I used to use henna several years ago and have grown it out. I was debating on restarting it again, but I am 40 yrs old and am starting to grow a few silvers.

After much consideration and searching many posts, I have decided to start henna again. But I am not sure if I should do a henna/cassia mix or just do the straight henna like I used to.

I have been reading about your "copper mix", but I can never seem to find any pictures that actually show your hair, as they have all been removed. I am not sure what color hair your mix results in, so could you please repost a pic so I can see? (Or at least direct me to a photo of someone else who has an identical color?)

My starting color is a coppery/golden brown (more copper in the sunlight) and I am really trying to emphasize the copper more. Since my hair is my greatest asset, I figure I had better show it off as best as I can with length, shine, health, and color and since my hair always went more copper, this will look the most natural on me and less obviously dyed -- not to mention copper hair color is just stunning even when it IS obviously dyed!

Could you also tell me which henna you use? I have read that different types of henna have different color results, and I really can't remember which henna I purchased years ago. But I do remember that i used to mix it straight and leave it on overnight...but the resulting color was a deeper auburn/Irish Setter Red in the sun and I am not looking for this result.

Thanks!

Dagny

[angelthadiva]

Here is a link to her profile page Nightshade You may have better luck contacting her directly by writing on her profile page or sending her a PM. She may or may not see this post, but she will certainly see a personal message sent directly to her.

[Cherry_Sprinkle]

I'm not nightshade but I can tell you that if you want to bring out the copper you will need to use a cassia blend with your henna, and I know that she mixes. I use half the henna that Nightshade uses herself and she mixes my blend I also know that you will need to strand test to get the mix color you like.. she will likely be able to give you a better starting point with the mix than I can... she's guided me to the color and health my hair has today

[Gothic Lolita]

Obviously I'm not Nightshade, but I think when your starting color is already coppery, you'll be able to achieve a very natural looking copper tone with a henna/cassia blend. I'd us more cassia than henna, otherwise it might become too red.

This nice lady here has hair that might be the color you're after.
http://paulretherford.net/wp-content...le-do-0006.jpg

Since you have a few grays it miht be possible that they turn out pretty orange at first, compared to your other hairs.... but a few applications just fix that.

[dagny]

Originally Posted by angelthadiva

Here is a link to her profile page Nightshade You may have better luck contacting her directly by writing on her profile page or sending her a PM. She may or may not see this post, but she will certainly see a personal message sent directly to her.

Thank you! I just posted to her there. :-)

Originally Posted by Cherry_Sprinkle

I'm not nightshade but I can tell you that if you want to bring out the copper you will need to use a cassia blend with your henna, and I know that she mixes. I use half the henna that Nightshade uses herself and she mixes my blend I also know that you will need to strand test to get the mix color you like.. she will likely be able to give you a better starting point with the mix than I can... she's guided me to the color and health my hair has today

Well, your hair looks great!

Yea, I knew that much about the strand test. But I was just wanting to save time and have a good starting point. Also, I have a hard time gauging what a whole head of hair looks like from a tiny swatch. I have swatch-tested henna before and when I get a whole head of it I am always shocked because I just couldn't envision what 25+ inches of that much color looked like.... :-)

Originally Posted by Gothic Lolita

Obviously I'm not Nightshade, but I think when your starting color is already coppery, you'll be able to achieve a very natural looking copper tone with a henna/cassia blend. I'd us more cassia than henna, otherwise it might become too red.

This nice lady here has hair that might be the color you're after.
http://paulretherford.net/wp-content...le-do-0006.jpg

Since you have a few grays it miht be possible that they turn out pretty orange at first, compared to your other hairs.... but a few applications just fix that.

Thank you for your help (and link!)
You know, it is funny but when I looked at that link I was like "Um, that is SO orange!!!" And then when I compared that photo to a pic of hair that I WANT mine to look like, it is almost identical!. See what I mean about blindness with a swatch test??!? hahahah.

I will put the pic that i like in a siggy (if I can figure out how to do it) so you can see what I like.

To be truthful, YOUR haircolor is pretty similar to what my hair was like as a child. It appears to be the same level of darkness but my red has faded out some. I will also try and get a photo of my hair. Not sure how to do this, though, as I don't have anyone who can take the pic of me (maybe one of my 4 yr olds could.... hahahahha).

Originally Posted by Gothic Lolita

Obviously I'm not Nightshade, but I think when your starting color is already coppery, you'll be able to achieve a very natural looking copper tone with a henna/cassia blend. I'd us more cassia than henna, otherwise it might become too red.

This nice lady here has hair that might be the color you're after.
http://paulretherford.net/wp-content...le-do-0006.jpg

Since you have a few grays it miht be possible that they turn out pretty orange at first, compared to your other hairs.... but a few applications just fix that.

I just looked at your page and saw a convo where you said you normally had red hair but just "pushed" the color with henna gloss. Maybe this is really all that I need?

OK. I will try to get a photo of my hair today and post it later to this post. I really don't want to do more work than I really need. When I said before that I had a "few" silvers, I really meant a FEW as I can only count about 1-3 at any given time on the top of my hair (canopy) and maybe 10 or so in the underlayers. So I am just preparing WAY in advance as to how I want to handle my greys.

My mom is 65+ yrs old and she is salt-n-pepper (black and grey) hair -- maybe 50% grey? So I don't think we grey much in my family. But my mom and I really LIKE grey hair so she is doing rinses to make her silvers pop out more. I figured I would henna (or whatever) to push my red hair until I have about 50% silver (or am in my 50's whichever comes first) and then start to remove/lighten the henna to blend the silvers in more.

Since I plan on having long hair for a while, I didn't want to get into the commitment of henna without considering what I am going to do when I don't want henna any more. Always good to plan ahead!

Cheers!
Dagny

Just thought I'd test my signature photo here...

[redtea]

Originally Posted by dagny

My mom is 65+ yrs old and she is salt-n-pepper (black and grey) hair -- maybe 50% grey? So I don't think we grey much in my family. But my mom and I really LIKE grey hair so she is doing rinses to make her silvers pop out more. I figured I would henna (or whatever) to push my red hair until I have about 50% silver (or am in my 50's whichever comes first) and then start to remove/lighten the henna to blend the silvers in more.

Since I plan on having long hair for a while, I didn't want to get into the commitment of henna without considering what I am going to do when I don't want henna any more. Always good to plan ahead!

Cheers!
Dagny

I'm sure others will tell you the same thing and you'll read it on here many times, but henna can be almost impossible to remove. I never had much luck with any of the lightening methods, except for lemon, which trashed my hair. I eventually went to a stylist who managed to bleach most of it out with all over highlights and I had to cut my hair to shoulder length and keep it there for months. There is no easy way to remove or lighten henna, so plan for drastic measures when the time comes.

[Gothic Lolita]

dagny: You probably could just henna gloss and achieve all you need. On me, henna glosses fade extremly, though and the only way I've found to prevent this is washing sulphate-free.

Henna is a pain to remove and although it can be done (peroxide, bleach) it will also damage your hair sooner or later if you decide you dislike henna. However, you like your hair coppery and also had henna before so you know what you're doing.

[Nightshade]

dagny, I see you've been well taken care of in my absence My apologies, I'm not around much on the weekends!

I think, based on your starting color and what you're doing for I'd go one of two paths.

Henna Gloss
This was a great suggestion and you may want to start here. As your starting color is so light, you don't need a lot of henna. To do this try:
- 1 TB of dye released henna mixed into
- 1 cup of cheap cone-free conditioner
Multiply this for as many cups as you'd need. Apply it to clean, towel-dry hair, wrap and let it sit for two hours. This approach is going to be much easier to rinse, and will let you slowly build up the amount of henna you're using so you don't overshoot and go too intense or too dark right away.

Henna/Cassia Blend:
This one is going to be a bit more labor intensive than the other, but to do this you'd take:
- 75% cassia
- 25% henna
Blend the two with warm chamomile tea brewed in distilled water (or just warm distilled water), do not allow it to dye release in the bowl (it will do so on your head), and apply it to clean, damp hair. Wrap it up, cover for 2 hours and rinse with lots of cheap conditioner. This mix should be diluted enough that it won't be too intense


No matter which route you go, always, always strand test! If you don't have enough shed hairs, take a lock behind your ear to give it a trial run on. That way if you don't like it, it's easily hidden.


For which type of henna to use, I think in such dilute quantities it shouldn't matter, but since you don't want a lot of stain, you could always look for the 2008 crops, which should be on sale for a very low price. Their dye quantity should be a bit lower than the 2009 crops, which is what you want anyway. My personal preference is Moroccan, which I acquire from HennaSooq.

Let me know if you have more questions!

ETA: And if you think you even MIGHT want to change your mind about henna in the future, pleas please don't do it There's been a long litany of sad stories where people have tried and lost their hair in the process.

[dagny]

Hmm...can't seem to do the insert photo thing. Not sure what I am doing wrong.

Here's the link:
http://s959.photobucket.com/albums/a...t=Feb82010.jpg

Originally Posted by Nightshade

dagny, I see you've been well taken care of in my absence My apologies, I'm not around much on the weekends!

I think, based on your starting color and what you're doing for I'd go one of two paths.

Henna Gloss
This was a great suggestion and you may want to start here. As your starting color is so light, you don't need a lot of henna. To do this try:
- 1 TB of dye released henna mixed into
- 1 cup of cheap cone-free conditioner
Multiply this for as many cups as you'd need. Apply it to clean, towel-dry hair, wrap and let it sit for two hours. This approach is going to be much easier to rinse, and will let you slowly build up the amount of henna you're using so you don't overshoot and go too intense or too dark right away.

Henna/Cassia Blend:
This one is going to be a bit more labor intensive than the other, but to do this you'd take:
- 75% cassia
- 25% henna
Blend the two with warm chamomile tea brewed in distilled water (or just warm distilled water), do not allow it to dye release in the bowl (it will do so on your head), and apply it to clean, damp hair. Wrap it up, cover for 2 hours and rinse with lots of cheap conditioner. This mix should be diluted enough that it won't be too intense


No matter which route you go, always, always strand test! If you don't have enough shed hairs, take a lock behind your ear to give it a trial run on. That way if you don't like it, it's easily hidden.


For which type of henna to use, I think in such dilute quantities it shouldn't matter, but since you don't want a lot of stain, you could always look for the 2008 crops, which should be on sale for a very low price. Their dye quantity should be a bit lower than the 2009 crops, which is what you want anyway. My personal preference is Moroccan, which I acquire from HennaSooq.

Let me know if you have more questions!

ETA: And if you think you even MIGHT want to change your mind about henna in the future, pleas please don't do it There's been a long litany of sad stories where people have tried and lost their hair in the process.

Nightshade,

Thank you so much!!

I couldn't figure out how to post my photo, so I just put a post with the link. What do you think looking at my "starting" photo? I will say that there is a smidge of Aveda's Madder Root cond. on my hair enhancing the red a touch -- but probably not by much (at least not something significant in an indoor photo)

[Nightshade]

Well, I think your hair's shade (the darkness/lightness) is a bit lighter than mine, so copper is quite doable.

Normally I do the mud mix with 35% henna and 65% henna, but since your hair is a bit lighter, I scaled it back another 10%.

I think it's a perfectly achievable goal, though you should keep in mind that henna isn't as bright indoors as it is in sunlight.