Tea Tree oil lifted the henna from my nails?

[Hala]

Long story short, I have some fungal issues (ew, TMI, I know) with my nails, due to being on IV steroids. I keep it at bay with tea tree oil, a few drops on each nail, during flares. It works, for the record.

I also henna my nails (which is good for that problem as well). I've found that the henna stain does not stay when I'm treating with tea tree oil. This makes me wonder if a good strong diluted tea tree oil--in a carrier oil but with plenty of essential oil--would remove some henna from the hair as well?

This seems counter-intuitive, since tea tree's a terp (isn't it? I don't terp hair henna). Anyone know?

(I don't want to remove my henna; I love it. But I know there are people who do.)

[kwaniesiam]

Save some shed hair and soak it in your tea tree oil to find out then let us know!

[Hala]

Save some shed hair and soak it in your tea tree oil to find out then let us know!

Ooh, that's an idea. I may not be the best candidate, though--I have really dark hair that's been henna'ed over (redder on the ends where it was once dyed medium brown.) Would a natural blonde want to try this trick?

[Karen Marie Shelton]

Very interesting observation. A good friend of mine who has been using henna for years actually used some TT EO neat on her scalp because of problems with dandruff. The treatment left little white spots on the roots in the area where she applied the TT. Of course she stopped doing it but always wondered if the TT did that or something else.

Since it happened on your fingernails it would be interesting to see what happens when you do test it on shed hair. Thanks so much for sharing. I will tell my friend what you discovered on your nails.

[Phexlyn]

This could be a good method to remove henna stain from your forehead, ears, nape, or whatever you've accidentally coloured during application

[TheMechaGinger]

I know this thread has been pretty dead for a while now but I saw a thread pop up about tea tree oil mixed in shampoo and how it removed henna pretty well. I just wanted to make a note of it over here too! I'm going to try it on my next wash and see what happens

[Scarlet_Heart]

I know this thread has been pretty dead for a while now but I saw a thread pop up about tea tree oil mixed in shampoo and how it removed henna pretty well. I just wanted to make a note of it over here too! I'm going to try it on my next wash and see what happens

Thanks for the tip! I might give it a try!

[mz_butterfly]

Tea Tree Oil is so pretty strong stuff. The amount used to lift from the nails would be a lot less than the amount needed to lift it from a whole head of hair.

[JLeighs]

Tea Tree Oil is so pretty strong stuff. The amount used to lift from the nails would be a lot less than the amount needed to lift it from a whole head of hair.

I mixed 1/4 - 1/2 tsp of TTO with shampoo and let it sit on my hair for a few minutes (2-4 minutes). I did that three times over the course of a week. My henna is two shades lighter. If I wasn't so thrilled with the color right now, I'd be tempted to do it again and leave it in much longer just to see what happens.

[Kaelee]

Oh wow. The conditioner I just got to do my CO washes has tea tree oil in it as part of the conditioner (Trader Joe's Tea Tree Tingle). Do you think it will lighten my henna? There's not enough in there to smell the tea tree, even though it's the second ingredient on the list! I really don't want it to. Though I have so many layers of henna on my length that I'm not sure it would be noticeable if it did (I henna once a month or so.)

ETA: It never even OCCURRED to me that it would possibly lighten my henna! nothing budges henna! I thought...