A few questions about Henna

[bmcfarland]

Hello!
I just have a few questions (mainly out of curiosity, to see if henna may be an option in the future).

1. Does henna suit all skin types? I think I may have a spring skin tone...Blue-looking veins, but my eyes/skin/hair are low contrast, as my natural hair color is ashy dark blonde hair and I have hazel eyes. My skin is pretty pale, I'd say, and I burn easily. I am void of freckles - except for maybe two or three on each arm.

2. How does henna act on previously bleached hair? I haven't touched bleach or dye for 6 months. I'd rather not kill my hair by trying to improve it with the henna's moisturizing and strengthening properties.

3. Will my roots take to the henna more or less than the bleached/dyed sections? (Will the roots be more saturated in color, darker, lighter, etc?)

4. How does one do a henna gloss? Does the gloss affect your hair color?

I've seen so many lovely ladies with hennaed hair, and hope that some of you can share your wisdom! :)

[bmcfarland]

Also, I'm not sure how to edit my last post to make an addition.

So,

5. Is it true that henna does not fade, and is 100% permanent? Can it be bleached out or removed?

[desuvsdeath]

1. You can get a variety of colors from different types of henna and different combinations of henna/cassia/indigo... so if you're willing to save up shed hair and do a variety of strand tests... you can almost certainly come up with a shade that goes well with your skin type.

4. Henna gloss DOES effect hair color, but since it's diluted, not as much as a regular henna application.
This is a good read to learn more, including a few recipes: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=1629

5. Henna GENERALLY doesn't fade, although there are always exceptions.
Can it be removed? I'm going to say "sort of" because people always have varying levels of success in that. It's agreed upon that it's difficult to remove. Useful threads on henna removal:
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=85463
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=93890
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=79734

[Islandgrrl]

5. I think it's best to consider henna permanent. It is notoriously difficult to get rid of without damaging your hair in the process.

[Lyv]

1. Does henna suit all skin types? I think I may have a spring skin tone...Blue-looking veins, but my eyes/skin/hair are low contrast, as my natural hair color is ashy dark blonde hair and I have hazel eyes. My skin is pretty pale, I'd say, and I burn easily. I am void of freckles - except for maybe two or three on each arm.

Henna by itself doesn't suit everyone but you can mix to get different shades. I'm fairly pale with natural dark blonde hair and hazel eyes too and I think henna looks pretty good on me.

2. How does henna act on previously bleached hair? I haven't touched bleach or dye for 6 months. I'd rather not kill my hair by trying to improve it with the henna's moisturizing and strengthening properties.

It strengthened and moisturized mine the same way it does the virgin hair.

3. Will my roots take to the henna more or less than the bleached/dyed sections? (Will the roots be more saturated in color, darker, lighter, etc?)

It is a different color on me. If you look at my signature you can see that the roots are darker than the length that was bleached.

4. How does one do a henna gloss? Does the gloss affect your hair color?
People do henna glosses differently I think. I do a 1/2 cup conditioner with a tablespoon of henna and it does affect my color a tiny bit but it mainly just moisturizes and tends to fade out after a little while.

as for 5. If you do it just assume it will be permanent though some have been able to remove it. You can bleach it but it will still probably have a reddish orange tint and if you mix with indigo bleach can turn it green.

[biogirl87]

Hello!
I just have a few questions (mainly out of curiosity, to see if henna may be an option in the future).

1. Does henna suit all skin types? I think I may have a spring skin tone...Blue-looking veins, but my eyes/skin/hair are low contrast, as my natural hair color is ashy dark blonde hair and I have hazel eyes. My skin is pretty pale, I'd say, and I burn easily. I am void of freckles - except for maybe two or three on each arm. bmcfarland, to be honest, your description of cool toned (ashy dark blonde hair), pale skin that burns easily sounds like you have a cool skin undertone. This combined with the low contrast between your eye color, skin tone, and hair color points toward you being more of a summer, which in color analysis is considered a cool season. Generally, henna does not play well with cool skin tones since henna is known to be more of a warmer red (might depend on different brands though but I do not have experience with the different brands since I have not hennaed my hair). From the warm/cool tone descriptions of henna and your skin tone, it would seem that the only way you would be able to get henna to look natural on your is if you were to combine it with indigo and amla (amla is what gives a cooler tone but you would need the indigo to make more of a brownish tone for this to work). I can sympathisize with your possible disappointment here since I think I have a cool undertone to my skin and am starting to think of how I would be able to cover my grays (when the time comes) in such a way that the dye would not clash with my skin. Hugs to you.

[HylianGirl]

1. If you feel the color of pure henna doesn't suit you, you may combine it with other diferent herbs to achieve something else, like someone mentioned previously, amla or indigo can make it more brownish/cool toned, whereas cassia may make it more golden.

2. i think henna can help bleach damage, i haven't tried it personally, but since it works as a protein treatment and bleached hair looses protein, it can help.

3. Henna looks brighter on lighter hair, mine isn't bleached chemically, but I have hair that bleaches from the sun, and those natural highlights look brighter than the rest of the hair. your roots won't become saturated in color though, henna saturation occurs with many applications, and it can happen in any hair color (the final result depends on te color your hair was before, henna saturated blonde hair mmay look very bright, whereas dark brown may look burgundy)

4. Diluting henna with conditioner, you can make it as weak or strong as you want. A very diluted henna gloss may not affect the color (I didi it once, and did not notice any diference) but a stronger one may cause a slight colour change, but much more subtle than a full application.

5. Henna can be quite permanent, some people managed to remove it, but I wouldn't count on it. Bleaching it may cause your hair to go neon orange, and you may have to bleach a lot to get it out, I heard the damage you'll get is probaly not worth it. I think you may get better chances through other methods, but as I said, don't count on it.

[bmcfarland]

Thank you for all of the informative responses! I'm sorry it has taken me so long to reply. My work schedule is all wonky. I think I may end up trying a very diluted henna gloss (Is that correct?). I recently went to the salon to have my hair color "fixed," but the ends turned out significantly darker than my roots because of my ends being previously bleached. They really sucked up that dye. :( My stylist said she will fix it for free if the ends do not lighten in a few weeks, though...But I really don't want to have my hair processed again. I don't know what to do! She also thinned my hair. -dies- I've been wanting it to grow and thicken. :( I told her about the plan, yet she still thinned it! Gah!

[Isilme]

Oh, I'm sorry about the thinning. With hairdressers you have to be very firm about certain things. Like the amount they are allowed to take off, and thinning. Next time write down exactly what you want. Anyway, I think a very light henna gloss will be a good idea. And I'm sure the ends will fade, processed hair always faded for me. If you want to speed it up your can do a deep treatment.

[Nightshade]

Thank you for all of the informative responses! I'm sorry it has taken me so long to reply. My work schedule is all wonky. I think I may end up trying a very diluted henna gloss (Is that correct?). I recently went to the salon to have my hair color "fixed," but the ends turned out significantly darker than my roots because of my ends being previously bleached. They really sucked up that dye. :( My stylist said she will fix it for free if the ends do not lighten in a few weeks, though...But I really don't want to have my hair processed again. I don't know what to do! She also thinned my hair. -dies- I've been wanting it to grow and thicken. :( I told her about the plan, yet she still thinned it! Gah!


Take a strong sulfate shampoo, and mix it one part shampoo to one part honey (so, for example 1/4 cup shampoo, 1/4 cup honey), and work that into damp hair, focusing on the dark ends. Wrap it up with saran wrap toss on a warm hat and let it sit for 30-60 mins. Wash it out with hot water. Then condition. That should pull a bunch of that extra color out :)

[bmcfarland]

Isilme, I really should have been more stern with what I wanted. The problem is that I think my stylist is so used to me wanting cute, edgy bob-style haircuts with lots of layers. I haven't seen her for a while, and since the last time, I decided to start growing out. I'd loooove to be able to braid my hair. I do deep treatments weekly, so hopefully that will help! Thank you :)

Nightshade, is there a specific type of honey that I should look for? Is regular off-the-grocery honey safe to use? Or should I be looking for pure honey? I didn't think about honey lightening my hair! Great idea! :)
Edit: I guess I'm not sure what all is in grocery store honey, if it has any weird additives.

[Nightshade]

Nightshade, is there a specific type of honey that I should look for? Is regular off-the-grocery honey safe to use? Or should I be looking for pure honey? I didn't think about honey lightening my hair! Great idea! :)
Edit: I guess I'm not sure what all is in grocery store honey, if it has any weird additives.

Any sort of pure honey should be fine. You don't need the super-expensive stuff in the hippie section, just make sure it's 100% honey and not some honey-flavored HFCS. :)

[swearnsue]

Since you just had another coloring that you didn't like and your hair thinned that you didn't want....maybe now would be a good time to experiment with henna?

Henna can be a real positive change especially if you want a bolder look!

[bmcfarland]

Nightshade, I'm going to take a whack at the honey lightening tonight (I just got off work)! I hope it will go well. I am feeling good about it, after having read a couple of other articles here on LHC.

Swearnsue, I think I might try a very light henna gloss. I am afraid to do a super henna since I have a cool skin tone. Do you have any recommendations for a henna brand? I love to experiment!

[Nightshade]

Good luck! Let us know how it goes :)

[bmcfarland]

I think that the honey lightening took out a tiny bit, but my ends still look too dark. I may just have to try a couple more times to get it to where I want it. Overall, I'm really pleased with the lightening!
Also, I noticed that after I rinsed the shampoo/honey mix out and left my hair to air dry, my hair was much curlier and NOT frizzy. I wonder why that was. I usually condition twice and let it air dry. After the honey lightening, I did leave my hair in a turbie towel for the majority of my drying time. I wonder if that was why.