Best henna for cool red/wine tones?

[Beloved]

I'm doing a henna for my friend. She has medium brown hair and would like wine-colored tones in her hair (not auburn). Which henna would you guys recommend?

I put the rest of my 2/3 cassia 1/3henna mix in her hair and next time we're going to do a straight henna. I have jamila2007, but that's probably too orange for her.

What about Lush Caca Rouge or punjabi prime?

Thanks!

[RedWolf]

I obtained that color..quite unintentionally..with Yemeni henna. I'd highly recommend it! It goes that color FAST

[Beloved]

RedWolf, thanks for that tip!

It's funny, because I had your avatar in my mind as a color she would look good in (and one she likes, because she tried to dye it that color with chemical dy but it faded fast), but I couldn't remember your name! So I'm glad you showed up on the scene.

[akurah]

Yemeni, Rahjastani Monsoon henna (2007 crop, have a stash of it in my fridge haha), both are good at cool tones. If you can, instead of using straight water, use hibiscus tea. I find it pushes it more purple.

Jamila works in a pinch, but with Jamila for best results leave the henna on as long as humanly tolerable to soak up as much dye as the hair can. You may also need multiple hennas to achieve the desired purple-y cool wine shade. I have probably seven to ten layers of henna on my hair and my starting color is ash brown.

[morningstar]

Hi Beloved, I have been using henna now for almost two years and I agree with akurah that it takes many applications to build up the color. Think of it as transparent colors layered on top of each other to make a new color. The base color is something to consider also. My base color is dark brown. It was damaged with chemical reds that fade and strip your hair making it brassy. I started using Rajasthani henna for most of this journey but recently bought Pujabi Prime and love it. I am not one of the people that believe that certain henna's will give you a redder red or cool reds etc. I believe it has to be considered the base hair color first and then the amount of applications. For example I could never have a bright color all over or a copper color due to my dark base. I would have to lift my base color with something first and then I would be damaging my hair. I would do it if I didn't want to grow to hip but that is my goal so I don't strip color to do some cool strips.
Here is my hair from last night's Pujuabi Prime henna.

[akurah]

Hair in sunlight:




Hair in indoor lighting:


Hair partially grown out, you can see natural color, one layer thick henna, and then about five layers thick of henna:

[Taedareth]

Yemeni, Rahjastani Monsoon henna (2007 crop, have a stash of it in my fridge haha), both are good at cool tones. If you can, instead of using straight water, use hibiscus tea. I find it pushes it more purple.

Jamila works in a pinch, but with Jamila for best results leave the henna on as long as humanly tolerable to soak up as much dye as the hair can. You may also need multiple hennas to achieve the desired purple-y cool wine shade. I have probably seven to ten layers of henna on my hair and my starting color is ash brown.

Akurah, do you mean using hibiscus tea instead of lemon/orange juice? Also what kind of tea are we talking about - black tea with hibiscus flowers in it? Or just a handfull of dried hibiscus flowers steeped in hot water?

And a novice question, if you don't mind... how often do you have to re-henna to touch up the roots? When you do that, do you re-henna the entire length of your hair or just the scalp?

[Girltron]

I only re-henna every few months or so, and I use a mostly cassia mix to prevent the lengths from getting more burgundy. I do have greys though, and I find they stay visible because I don't henna often. I don't get a color "line" though, because greys lose the henna until they've been done several times so I kind of have a fade from silver at the roots to auburn several inches down. I suppose if I had all-white hair I'd have to henna every month, because that'd be weird.

I've used hibiscus tea for the liquid, and it is indeed purple-forming. It was just hibiscus flowers, no black tea. It's also quite acidic and I found it drying. I don't see any need for added acid in my henna mixes. The chamomile tea I use is quite enough. However, if I was trying to maximize the burgundy color I suppose I'd use hibiscus.

[Girltron]

Oh-second to the Yemeni for burgundy tones. It builds up very quickly. The early stages are a really beautiful tawny rufus color, though, which is why I like Yemeni but I don't want burgundy...always a struggle for me.

[akurah]

Akurah, do you mean using hibiscus tea instead of lemon/orange juice? Also what kind of tea are we talking about - black tea with hibiscus flowers in it? Or just a handfull of dried hibiscus flowers steeped in hot water?

And a novice question, if you don't mind... how often do you have to re-henna to touch up the roots? When you do that, do you re-henna the entire length of your hair or just the scalp?

Hibiscus flowers steeped in water. I never use lemon or orange juice. If I can't use hibiscus tea I will either use red wine (this is VERY drying and I do not reccommend it unless you know your hair can handle it, mine is pretty thick and can handle the abuse) or plain purified water.

I have also used purple or dark red manic panic (or manic panic type dyes) in lieu of other liquids with decent results. I don't do that frequently because it's an even greater hassle than tea, water, or wine, and because I suspect it inhibits the henna dye release.

I typically henna once every three months depending on my moods. Mostly I focus on the roots, as my length seems to not get any darker (fully saturated it seems) and because it is heavy with my length if I were to do a full head of henna. I do get visible grow-out as a result and if I were to put my ends against my roots you can see major contrast, but when I wear my hair down the graduation of color is so gradual (ie, there is no "line") that most people don't notice it much.