henna with hilites=too much damage?

[feb26]

I have waist length wavy 2a hair -v v dark, almost black. As I'm getting grays (mostly round the hairline area) am playing with color a little bit.
Most in the box colors don't show up on my hair at all-& of course, I love red. I did try gray coverage in the box & it was a complete waste of $$$, the stuff DID NOT want to adhere to my silvers & rinsed out pretty quick too. I'm thinking of trying Lush's Henna as have heard good things about it.

Q's: how much did you Waist Lengthers use who have tried it? It looks like you get a good amount of the stuff, but they're not too specific about how much you need to use. Obviously,I'm gonna go for the 6hrs & cling wrap it (maybe throw a shower cap on it too).
How long did the Henna color last before you had to reapply/redo? Am also playing with idea of throwing some red hilites on top for a little extra punch. Would this be too damaging??

pls let me know, tx

[Iolanthe13]

If you use body art quality henna (i.e. NOT Lush), the colour will not fade. In fact, you will have great difficulty removing it, if you ever want to, even with bleach. If you try to dye over it with chemical dyes (or add highlights) you should definitely strand test first. Also, if your hair is that dark, body art quality henna won't lighten it. It will turn your gray hairs bright orange though. You'll probably end up with sort of a red cast to your darker hairs, with some seriously bright highlights. Afraid I don't have any experience with Lush henna.

[Pierre]

I use 12-15 grams of henna powder and the same amount of amla and cloves (total 24-30 g half of which is henna). I do roots and spread the bit that's left in the bowl on my length, which is braided. And I love the red sparklies that result. It doesn't fade; I reapply maybe every two months (depending on when I have time) to color the roots.

[Roscata]

I would NOT recommend Lush henna for sliver hair coverage, it is notorious for fading. I would recommend mehandi's hennas (http://www.mehandi.com/shop/hairhenna.html), just make sure you don't mix it with lemon juice (because it's super drying, go with chamomile tea if you're looking for something acidic or just warm water if you don't really care about acidity) and don't panic if you see orange at first, give it a week for the color to oxidase before seeing the true color and go for a henna with higher lawsone content or meant for silver hair (http://www.mehandi.com/shop/graybundles/index.html).

I do not have waist length hair (sadly) but for almost BSL length hair I used about 200 grams, of course if you get the color you want initially, after that you only have to do roots (less henna would be needed).

Good luck! And henna rules, I'm sure you'll love it. :D

[feb26]

tx for the info, i def don't want my silvers turning bright orange. i might just talk to my stylist about going fashion red again. i figure, if with the color depositing shampoo & condish, i only have to go in 2x/yr for roots, this might be my best bet...