Blonde to Burgundy with Henna?

[mashy]

Hi all,

After 6 months of trying to go blonde and recently becoming allergic to hair dye, I'm giving up!
I'm not a big fan of my natural hair colour and as a teenager I remember loving the colour that henna gave me.

So.. I wondering if it is at all possible to go from blonde to nice deep red/ burgundy with henna?

This is my colour at the mo

http://i.imgur.com/Ui8Bojil.jpg

Any help very much welcome!

[VanillaTresses]

I guess I am just going to jump in since there are no replies yet, even though I am sure there are lots out there who could give better advice than myself. But to answer your question in short form, 'yes,' I think you can do it. It may not get there in one application and it may take more than just henna alone but I think you could get quite a beautiful color over time. With that in mind, henna is extremely permanent and the commitment is great. (Standard disclaimer.) Also, especially with the first applications, because your hair is so light now (this, I do have experience with) your hair may turn out pretty orangey looking at first. Especially before things oxidize. It can be a shock. But if you really feel like you wanna go with it, why not? It definitely will improve the condition of your hair, and be a lot better for it (and probably for your poor allergy stricken scalp, as you say you have become allergic to conventional hair dyes), especially in the long run. Just my 2 cents. Whatever you decide, good luck and have fun on your journey! :flowers:

[Magalo]

I don't think you can get burdundy. Even with 10+ applications. Your color is very light and henna will reach its saturation point before turning burgundy, IMO. I would darken your hair first: either chemical or by mixing your henna with indigo.

[Anje]

I agree with Magalo. Your color is so light that I doubt that you could get burgundy from henna alone. More likely it'd stay a bright coppery-red. You might be able to achieve it if you mix some indigo in with the henna.

All the standard henna and indigo warnings apply. Henna is permanent stuff and doesn't like to come out for the majority of people. (Some have achieved removal. Many do not.) Indigo may or may not appear to stick, but it'll probably turn your hair green if you try to remove it chemically, even if it seems to have faded away. These are colors that are removed mainly by scissors. Think long and hard about whether you want to turn your hair that much darker for a long time and whether you're willing to put up with the upkeep of having blond hair (is it blond naturally?) that appears to cause a widening part when you get roots.

Strand test, strand test, strand test!

[Isilme]

You might not get burgundy on your blonde hair but I assume your natural colour is darker? If you are really set on leaving blonde and going darker I see no harm in trying multiple applications and if that doesn't work mix in some Manic Panic or a similar product.

[cranberrymoonz]

If you'd do many over-night applications with yemen henna or henna with sodium picramate, it might just work. It'll be pretty orange at first though, and it may take about half a year to a year to turn saturate and turn the deep burgundy you're looking for. I worry about your demarcation line though, if your natural colour is much darker than the blonde, it'll be visible through the henna. Also, remember that henna, once saturated, is the most permanent hair dye ever! Make a wise decision;)

Best of luck!

[mashy]

Ok thanks peeps! Well my natural hair is dark brown, using a chemical dye is not an option anymore. I seem to have suddenly become allergic to a few of them ie blisters after an 8 hour patch test. Could it possibly work if i used a henna/indigo mixture to get my hair back to brown then go bavk over with a stronger henna such as yemeni or rajashtan to make it red? Im so annoyed with myself for even trying to go blonde, its wrecked my hair, maskes me look pale and now im allergic :(.

Ii know its permanent, although as a teen i did easily dye over henna. Im not too worried about the permanancy, its a colour that i know suits me (unlike blonde) as i spent years as a deep red before going black. i have been wanting to acheive a proper red again before going blonde, but as i use to dye my hair black it only dyed the roots.

[McFearless]

I wouldn't touch the indigo just yet and instead do full strength henna applications with red raj first. You might want to enjoy the bright red as it gets darker, since you won't be able to achieve that in the future without dye, which you are allergic to.

[KittyBird]

I think it could be possible to achieve burgundy or at least a shade close to it with red raj. It'll likely require many applications, but who knows, maybe you'll enjoy having bright orange hair too. I personally love having orange roots! If you don't like it, a veggie dye like Manic Panic could make the transition easier (assuming of course that you're not allergic to those as well).
Also, if you have problems getting the henna to stick to your hair, doing a protein treatment could help. Just throwing it out here, because I'm pretty sure I can remember a few other members having trouble getting henna to stick to very processed hair. I could be wrong though.
Best of luck, and I hope you'll keep us updated! :)

[Shatam1]

May I suggest that u dye your hair one last time and make it all the same color as your roots then use henna a few weeks after. This way u will avoid the demarcation line. Good luck

[Natalia]

Also generally uninformed about henna but wanted to chime int hat beet juice, bluberry juice, and hibiscus can all help achieve burgandy hair. My SIL dyed her hair with developer and beet juice when she was pregnant to maintain her purple hair worked great over her natural medium brown.

[mashy]

May I suggest that u dye your hair one last time and make it all the same color as your roots then use henna a few weeks after. This way u will avoid the demarcation line. Good luck

Do you think it would be possible to use a mix of 1/2 henna and 1/2 indigo or even try something like caca marron or caca brun to bring my hair back to a brownish colour then apply henna over it? I thought about the demarcation line and I'm also considering applying a brown mix just to the top of my head to get a bit of an ombre effect and then pure red onto the lengths if you see what I mean. Even if the the brown mix didnt exactly match my roots I thought it might make a subtle regrowth.
Chemical dye is really not an option for me any more, the past couple of times I did a patch test I got blisters, so even if I found a dye that came out OK in a patch test I don't think I'd risk putting it on my head. Even last time I tried doing my roots with plain old bleach and 10% peroxide my scalp got all dry and itchy.

[mashy]

Also generally uninformed about henna but wanted to chime int hat beet juice, bluberry juice, and hibiscus can all help achieve burgandy hair. My SIL dyed her hair with developer and beet juice when she was pregnant to maintain her purple hair worked great over her natural medium brown.

Ooh I saw a recipe with hibiscus tea somewhere! That could be a good idea! I also like the beet juice idea, if it's acidic maybe I can mix it into the henna? I loooove purple :)

[mashy]

Also does anyone know a decent (and not too expensive place) to buy henna in the UK? I'm finding lots of US websites but not all that many UK ones...

Also how many grams would I need for hair between bra strap and waist (just beneath boob)? When I was a teen I used the henne color boxes which seemed to do fine for that length but obviously I guess it might be different if I'm mixing myself.

[SleepyTangles]

I returned to my brown with caca Brun and then a "brown" mix of henna and indigo, before starting with henna: it worked well! Be prepared, on the dyed part it may fade a bit though... this gave me a sort of ombre effect, so I guess you won't dislike it.

I live in Italy, so I don't know any brand sold in UK but Sheabutter Cottage: they sell it on http://akuawood.co.uk//.
Also, If you look on http://www.spicesofindia.co.uk/ and insert "henna" in the search bar, you'll find a lot. Just do researches because not every indian brand is pure henna, many have nasty chemicals. Plus, laws on labels are somewhat different...
I know that many italian longhairs from Capelli di Fata use Zarqa henna, wich is famous for its burgundy, pigmented tone. Also, Fairtrade store often have (not BAQ) henna.
Hope this will be helpful!

Ps: its ok to link shops? If not, sorry moderators.

[Elleyena]

I'm going to say trust the opinions of these lovely ladies, because they are going to be more experienced! However I want to see what it is you do, and would love to see pictures :) Also, I now have a desire to check out the beet juice/hibiscus methods. I love purple.

For my hair I mixed up 200 grams, and used 3/4 of it. I'm just now hitting BSL, so 200-250 grams might work for you Mashy.

[mashy]

I'm going to say trust the opinions of these lovely ladies, because they are going to be more experienced! However I want to see what it is you do, and would love to see pictures :) Also, I now have a desire to check out the beet juice/hibiscus methods. I love purple.

For my hair I mixed up 200 grams, and used 3/4 of it. I'm just now hitting BSL, so 200-250 grams might work for you Mashy.

Ah thanks for that - Once it's done I will defo put pics up I only last bleached my roots on my blonde a week ago so I'm going to give it a few weeks for some roots to come through so I can hopefully match those a bit with some brown mix then go over with some red.

[Anje]

Henna-boy (http://www.henna-boy.co.uk/) is generally THE henna supplier in the UK that people get referred to. That said, I've come up with some awesome henna from my local Indian grocer. It's worth checking to see what you can find, if you have such a shop locally, but it's good to familiarize yourself with what high-quality henna looks, feels, and smells like first.

I find 100g of henna is almost enough for me at tailbone. I've also tried to dye a friend who barely got enough coverage with 200g in her shoulder-length (thick!) hair. It'll go farther if you start with damp hair, but whether you have normal thickness or thick hair determines a lot.


May I suggest that u dye your hair one last time and make it all the same color as your roots then use henna a few weeks after. This way u will avoid the demarcation line. Good luck
I'm sorry, but you're joking, right? You really think she should risk anaphylaxis for a color match?

[Isilme]

Just go with henna as a start. From there you can experiment with indigo if you want. Don't use dyes if you know you are allergic.

[Natalia]

Ooh I saw a recipe with hibiscus tea somewhere! That could be a good idea! I also like the beet juice idea, if it's acidic maybe I can mix it into the henna? I loooove purple :)

Hibscsu tea is yummya nd fun for hair so if you dnt like it you can drink it :). My SIL used canned beet juice with conventional developer i have no idea how the PH would effect henna. Youc an get beet juice powder in smaller quantities on Etsy.

[Magalo]

I can still use just 100g for my waist length hair. It's pretty tight though, I might take 150g next time. My hair is medium thickness but I have old layers.

[mashy]

I can still use just 100g for my waist length hair. It's pretty tight though, I might take 150g next time. My hair is medium thickness but I have old layers.

That's good to know - the proper henna is rather pricey, unlike the cheap henne color I bought in my teens , but this time round - because of new allergy- I want to be as pure as possible :). I'm still planning on stocking up from the Henna Boy website, I'm thinking I might do a mix of jamila as it has been reccomended but I also have my eye on their organic rajastani henna that has 3.2% lawsone. From what I understand the higher the lawsone, the deeper and redder right?

Also as I would like to skip the bight orange stage as much quickly as possible, would Amla mix into henna well to make it a bit darker? or Katha and henna? Is the reason for not adding Indigo at first that henna doesnt attach to the hair so well after indigo?

Apologies for all the questions, I'm such a newbie at this, and i really want to get this right as my options will be seriously reduced with not being able to dye my hair anymore.

[Isilme]

It might be hard to skip the orange step. Even when you have your burgundy it will be orange in bright sunlight, it's very hard to avoid. Indigo might push your hair more towards brown than deep red, sure, try amla, I think it washes away with time right?

[cranberrymoonz]

I have neder tried these things, just some idea's:

-You can make yourself a purple toner by adding some manic panic or such to a conditioner. It may take away some of the yellow and make orange appear more red. You will need to experiment a little. And test for allergies!
-Indigo is not just black, it has some green in it. Therefore it'll make your henna not just darker but also more brown/less red. Indigo behaves different than henna, so check it out before using:)

[McFearless]

You can do back to back applications to pass the orange stage as quickly as possible. Hold off on the indigo until you have henna on your hair for it it stick to. Indigo will not block henna from dyeing your hair in the future. Make sure to do a protein treatment beforehand to get an even stain.

[Shatam1]

Do you think it would be possible to use a mix of 1/2 henna and 1/2 indigo or even try something like caca marron or caca brun to bring my hair back to a brownish colour then apply henna over it? I thought about the demarcation line and I'm also considering applying a brown mix just to the top of my head to get a bit of an ombre effect and then pure red onto the lengths if you see what I mean. Even if the the brown mix didnt exactly match my roots I thought it might make a subtle regrowth.
Chemical dye is really not an option for me any more, the past couple of times I did a patch test I got blisters, so even if I found a dye that came out OK in a patch test I don't think I'd risk putting it on my head. Even last time I tried doing my roots with plain old bleach and 10% peroxide my scalp got all dry and itchy.
I honestly don't know.. I never really used indigo because I like the red on me.. I mixed it with henna for a friend of mine once and she said it dried her hair a lot more than henna does. That is all I know about it. I also know that u cannot use it on bleached hair and u cannot bleach it as it will turn green, so avoid putting it on your length ... Hope u are able to achieve what u want:)

[red-again]

I bleach bathed my previously lovely henna and indigoed hair two years ago. I wanted bright red hair. I nearly ruined it.
I hated it so went back to my beloved henna and indigo.
It does work, indigo does work on bleached hair, you just can't bleach it out ( tho initially I did and it didn't go green but my hair was pretty damaged as a result)
I will say one very important thing, indigo sticks like mad to bleached hair. I wanted dark brown tho so no worries but I would advise 80% henna to 20% indigo. I would even be tempted to fully henna overnight, then henna and indigo after rinsing the overnight henna out. Maybe only leave it on your head for an hour? You can always go back and darken more / add more indigo next time but it'd be hard or impossible to lighten if ou go in too heavy on the indigo proportion now.
All in tho, yes I recommend hendigo, ESP as you will get very bright orange with just henna.
eta, my profile pic is henna and indigo (2step) on my hair that was at that time, only about 25% virgin hair.
The lengths are all bleached. Now I use a two step so my indigo result will be darker than a hendigo one but just to give you a clue as to what is possible!

[mashy]

You can do back to back applications to pass the orange stage as quickly as possible. Hold off on the indigo until you have henna on your hair for it it stick to. Indigo will not block henna from dyeing your hair in the future. Make sure to do a protein treatment beforehand to get an even stain.

Good to know about the back to back applications :) Do you know of any good protein treatment brands? Does this stuff count?http://www.superdrug.com/palmers/palmers-coconut-oil-formula-protein-pack-60g/invt/335250

[mashy]

I bleach bathed my previously lovely henna and indigoed hair two years ago. I wanted bright red hair. I nearly ruined it.
I hated it so went back to my beloved henna and indigo.
It does work, indigo does work on bleached hair, you just can't bleach it out ( tho initially I did and it didn't go green but my hair was pretty damaged as a result)
I will say one very important thing, indigo sticks like mad to bleached hair. I wanted dark brown tho so no worries but I would advise 80% henna to 20% indigo. I would even be tempted to fully henna overnight, then henna and indigo after rinsing the overnight henna out. Maybe only leave it on your head for an hour? You can always go back and darken more / add more indigo next time but it'd be hard or impossible to lighten if ou go in too heavy on the indigo proportion now.
All in tho, yes I recommend hendigo, ESP as you will get very bright orange with just henna.
eta, my profile pic is henna and indigo (2step) on my hair that was at that time, only about 25% virgin hair.
The lengths are all bleached. Now I use a two step so my indigo result will be darker than a hendigo one but just to give you a clue as to what is possible!

Thanks, I will strand test a very weak henndigo to see what it gives me :)

[McFearless]

Good to know about the back to back applications :) Do you know of any good protein treatment brands? Does this stuff count?http://www.superdrug.com/palmers/palmers-coconut-oil-formula-protein-pack-60g/invt/335250
Yup, that is a good one.

[mashy]

Henna arrived today so mixed a little up, waiting for dye release so I can strand test.

So far I've mixed two batches of henna:

One with hot water
One with strawberry and mango tea (it's mostly hibiscus which I read somewhere helps the red), there is some strawberry extracts in there which to be quite honest mixed with the henna smell is making me feel a little nauseous. I've bought some hibiscus powder aswell so I think in the future I will simply use that.

I will then mix the one with hot water with:

30%indigo mix

and then another with 50% katam to see what the results are like.

In the end I should have:

1 strand pure henna with s&m tea (hibiscus)
1 strand weak indigo mix
1 strand 50/50 henna katam

I will then try putting a pure henna over the henna/indigo and the henna/katam dyed strands to see what the results are.

I'm also doing a little skin test to be sure I'm not allergic (I dyed my hair with henna 13 years and was fine but better be safe than sorry :)) - I just smeared a little on my wrist - I'll also do the same once I've mixed in the katam and the indigo.

[mashy]

Oh yeh I've also done 5 protein treatments this week to prepare! My hair feels ridiculously soft now, why haven't I done this before?

[mashy]

Results:

After 1 application of 70/30 henna to indigo - left on for 4 hours

Before:

http://i.imgur.com/eYaQhuGl.jpg

After:

http://i.imgur.com/oqU2sGEl.jpg

It's not perfect, I can notice a bit of patchyness aswell, but it still went a lot better than I was expecting, it a lot closer to my natural colour so the roots should blend in a lot better when I go over it with Henna alone, which is on my head right now.

[StephanieP3]

I don't see patches. I think it looks great!

[Anje]

Oh, that turned out awesomely nice! Very nice shade — I feared you might end up with too much orange for your taste, but it looks like a very respectable warm light brown. Congrats!

[mashy]

Thanks! I have since gone over it with henna again as I wanted a deep red rather than a brown, it has come out very bright! at lest the roots somewaht match the rest of my hair which is why I did the brown. I'm still hoping though that it will down down a bit over the next 24 hrs as I have work tommorow :(

http://i.imgur.com/AtzWnXp.jpg

[mashy]

I guess I do like it, and although I thought orange wouldn't suit me much as my skin can be quite dark in the summer, it looks fine and I know I will need to go over quite a few times before I get the burgundy colour, I've still got enough henna for a couple more applications and a gloss but wont get enough time now for another couple of weeks to do a full application.

[kellinaturalmom]

mashy, your hair looks great and I'm sure it will darken up in no time. Plus, all those henna applications are going to make your hair so awesomely smooth and conditioned.

[red-again]

Love it, your hair looks to be in much better condition too

[mashy]

Thanks girls, it doesnt seem to have oxidised at all even though its been 6 days, I'm going to do a gloss tommorow with the leftover henna I stuck in the freezer (about 2 tbsp) and I might add in a teaspoon of indigo just to tone down the day glow. I still want the lengths to go quite a bit darker so will alternate henndigos and hennas over the next couple of months and see how it goes.

[deb1211]

That color looks lovely..good luck with your continuing journey!

[cmg]

That looks great! I liked the first result picture too.

Not everyone experiences the "oxidizing" effect afterwards. I never have.

I have naturally white hair and I was burgundy last winter, using mostly crap henna from the foreign grocer. Going abit lighter now in summer. No problems with orange roots, they manage to blend in. Dont ask me how, they just do somehow. Got to love henna :-)

/ CMG