Dilute henna glosses?

[Sjirsten]

Hi everyone!
I have been hennaglossing my hair since feb.2010 and it has done great things for my hair`s general condition. I initially glossed over previously chemically dyed hair and as it`s been growing out I have a bit of a two tone look going on. My hair is a noticably lighter shade of copper from my ears down.

My recipe is simple, 3-4 TBS henna powder mixed with water. Let it sit until dye release and mix with 3/4 cup conditioner. I do this every 4 weeks, roots only.

Am I maybe making my glosses to powerful? Too much henna for only a gloss? My natural color is ash blonde and there is a noticable difference between natural colour and henna after 2-3 weeks.

Could I maybe start using less henna in my gloss and have it blend in with my natural colour more? I`m a bit confused as to what to do and I almost never gloss my full length, worried that henna will build up and leave me with a "too red" hair colour.

[caribou55313]

It's only too powerful if you think so. Using 3 or 4 Tb of henna powder for roots only ... that's how much I would use to henna my roots full-strength, so yes, it is a really powerful gloss.

Lots of people use just 1 Tb henna per cup of conditioner but if you like it strong, go for it.

[Sjirsten]

Hmm and here I was, thinking that I`d done my research about henna... Do you think cutting down to 1-2 TB to one cup of conditioner would leave me with a demarcation line? Or would it just blend in?

[whitestiletto]

caribou, your hair seems very copper red... are you using a henna gloss or something else? i thought henna turned hair more burgundy than copper.

[caribou55313]

My hair in the picture had at least a couple of full strength hennas on it and it did turn burgundy after 1 or 2 more You can see more pics of different colors and how I got them in the flickr album in my siggie.

Henna is coppery on light hair (blonde or gray/white) until you accumulate enough of it in your hair that it deepens to red, auburn and eventually burgundy. On someone with darker hair it won't look coppery though, except for the coppery orange sparkles you get in bright sunlight.

[caribou55313]

@Sjirsten, I think it would blend in. If you want, you can cut back gradually, a little more each time you do your roots. Then you definitely won't see a line.

[Sjirsten]

Thank you, I think I`ll do just that. Think I got a little carried away with the henna... The original thought was just to pimp up my dull ash blonde colour with a red glow.

My natural ash blonde does unfortunately make me look very... grey and washed out, it also makes my roots look greasy faster... Going for 1-2 TB next time and then I`ll reduce it to 1 TB in a few months. Thanks for all the help

[Roscata]

Have you considered Cassia? Some people use Cassia in stead of henna for the glosses because it has all the benefits of henna and none of the redness. (link to some info about cassia and pics)
Good luck!

[Sjirsten]

Have you considered Cassia? Some people use Cassia in stead of henna for the glosses because it has all the benefits of henna and none of the redness. (link to some info about cassia and pics)
Good luck!

I know about cassia, but wouldn`t that leave me with a very obvious demarcation line?

[Roscata]

I know about cassia, but wouldn`t that leave me with a very obvious demarcation line?

Yes it definitely could, you could also try combining Cassia and henna to get a lighter shade of red. But considering that henna is truly permanent and you want less red on your roots from now on, chances are you'll see a demarcation line anyway. I'm not sure how that could be helped other than maintaining the amount of red you have on your hair now with root touch up. *shrug*
Sorry I wish I was more help, but I can't think of anything else.