Help!!!

[PorcelainGeisha]

So I am rather new to dying hair with henna, usually I damage it badly by dying it with chemicals, but recently I've been trying to take better care of it and so here I am wanting to dye my hair but I am unsure as to how to go about doing it.

I tried to go red before but when i had it dyed professionally i asked for red she gave me blond, this was the only time it looked red and it was with a flash on a very high quality camera, but this is the color i am looking to achieve when in normal light, without having to have a flash or something.

please ignore the regrowth.

this is kinda color I am hoping to achieve in bright light like the sun or a camera flash etc.


and this is my current hair color (its kind of somewhere in between these two colors, a light mousy brownish blond...and in some light has a slight hue of red...)


it has faded since this picture but this was the color and now its..blonder and has more of a tone like this...

yet with slightly more of a really faded red but it does have a lot of blond still and its over all mostly brown.

so once again, if someone could please help in directing me towards the best products to use, as well as combination and method, should I use pure henna, or should I use a combination of products, what would best help me reach my goal, I don't want a fire engine red and I don't want a dark burgundy, the first few pictures I posted in pretty much the kinda color I want. I'm really very weary of having too much copper and or too much purple/burgundy in there... I have never tried using henna before but I'm tired of overly damaging my hair... also if anyone can give me suggestions on ways I can repair my hair as well as help it grow longer...once I get it to a certain length it just stops and doesn't grow further, is there a way to help it along maybe?

[EvaSimone]

As for the henna the only way to figure out which combination will give you the color you desire you will have to strand test. Henna is so individual what gives one person a gorgeous red will give another person carrot orange. The goal color you want seems like it would be pretty doable for you, you will probably get a darker shade on your regrowth because it's a lot darker than most of your length.

As for repairing your hair their is no way to repair your hair so to speak. Once it's damaged it will always be damaged. But you can baby it and increase moisture and make it appear healthier. I personally use a no sulfate shampoo and a no silicone conditioner but this is very individualized. Your best bet is to try a few things and figure out what works for you.

I do have a treatment that always makes my hair feel moisturized and soft afterwards so I'll share that with you in case you are interested.

I use 1/4 cup light whole foods coconut milk, 1/4 cup V05 conditioner and 1/8 cup honey.

I microwave the honey for about twenty seconds and then I mix everything else in, apply it to dry hair, wrap in plastic bags and leave it alone for several hours.

[lastnite]

Welcome to the LHC.

Just remember henna is very permanent. As some people say, even after bleaching it out you can still have an orange glow in the sun. It also will be different colors of red in different lighting.

This site; http://www.mehandi.com/shop/blondebundle/index.html shows some shades you can get with different mixes. they are on white hair, so will be different on your color, but it gives you an idea. You might want something with buxus in it to tone down orange/red, like the butterscotch bundle they show.

If you want a premixed henna, people have said hennahut.com is true to the color they show. http://www.hennahut.com/hair_dye the copper shade looks like it might be the color you are after.


Always test strand with whatever product you choose.

[GRU]

I think you'd do well with pure henna, but DEFINITELY collect your shed hairs and do some strand testing! You may find that a mixture of henna and cassia works better for you.

For damaged hair, you might want to try moisture treatments (check the Very Important Threads sticky for SMT) and oiling. My damaged ends love Sweet Almond Oil and Grapeseed Oil even more than coconut oil, but everyone's hair is different, so you may have to experiment to find what works for you.