Henna Help

[melomane]

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My friend is planning on dying her her hair red like this:
http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRDQyIq63q7dzYs3AGB5Sgi_5eVqCJY2 zPmd8ngAPZ1sFtd6CdU
And since I've considered doing the same thing before, I pointed her towards henna instead. So just curious for some advice.
So henna users everywhere, where do you get your henna? Mixed with lemon juice or camomile? Does paprika really help? Does metal affect it? The brighter the red, the better -but since she has brown hair will her hair dye the red or just auburn? For reference, she's somewhere between brown mocha and brown cocoa on this chart:

http://www.indiana.edu/~oso/lessons/Genetics/figs/HairColor/browns.jpg
Any advice is appreciated:D

[robin000]

Mmm... I guess my natural color is closest to the brown-toast? And henna makes my hair auburn, not bright red.

[Dreams_in_Pink]

Depending on the darkness of her brown color, she might need to bleach her hair a bit before/after hennaing. I have brown hair too, when i applied henna it looked like that photo above before oxidation; after 3 days it went red-black :( A strand test is definitely required IMO.

You should also get body art quality henna (green powder) and not one of those boxed hair dyes, they might contain mettalic salts that can destroy your hair :(

Also, henna has an orange-ish color, you might need to use different herbs to get a pink-red like that in the picture.

ETA: About the lemon juice, I prepared my mixture with lemon juice only and regretted it greatly. I got good color but my hair and scalp freaked out and dried a lot, it's not worth it. I would prepare it with mostly water and a mildly acidic liquid like orange juice or apple cider vinegar. I also read an article somewhere here that lemon juice has very little to do with dye release after all.

[browneyedsusan]

My natural color is close to brown-hazelnut, but I have lots of gray.
She needs to strand test.
To answer your questions:
--hennasooq.com
--water or cooled tea. It doesn't make any difference, it comes out the same. Lemon juice irritates my scalp, and doesn't make any difference in the color.
--herbs don't affect the color much. If she wants darker, stronger color; she needs to leave it on longer.
--Mixing in a metal bowl with a metal spoon is fine.

Henna is orange-red, and it's going to be like that no matter what she puts in the mix. If she leaves it on a little, it will only stain a little; if she leaves it on a long time, it will stain darker. Henna won't lighten her hair, but will "coat" her natural color with orange-red. It's also rock-solid permanent. Once henna is in, it won't fade or be bleached out. Ever.
Friend may need to bleach first, but keeping up those roots as they grow out is going to be a lot of work. She'll have keep up the bleach and henna on those roots.

Strand test behind her ear. Wait a week and see if she likes it after it oxidizes down. Then make a decision.

[Hairitic]

Ditto on browneyedsusansusan's post. For the deepest red, Henna Sooq offers their high Lawsone content "Red Raj". My naturally dark ash brown with greys hair has about 3-4 treatments at 4 hours each. I do roots only but of course there is some overlap each time. My avatar pic is in sun light and my sig pic is in incandescent light. If this color isn't "bright red" enough, some use something like Manic Panic over Henna to get the color they want without the damage that box dyes give. They still get the benefits of Henna as well.

[AmyBeth]

Echoing what others have said, henna can't make brown hair a bright red. I have natural hair color similar to your friend's and henna only will give me a more auburn color. I prefer an ashier brown so I do a green Manic Panic on top of henna and can attest that Manic Panic on henna does work, but it also washes out promptly! I deep condition every week mixing MP with my conditioner and leave it on for 10 minutes or so. I recommend a test strand with henna because while it will not yield anything like the color you posted, it might satisfy her yearning for red, without the damage of bleaching/dying, and give an amazing lit-from-within glow like nothing I've ever seen! Although very, very permanent.

[Rosa Harris]

My hair with 'red raj' brand henns - started from about the same color but note I only get this red-flare in sunlight or bright light
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7317/13990452172_2842a87503_t.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/njhJ1C)damflintriver 015 copy (https://flic.kr/p/njhJ1C) by rosarl13 (https://www.flickr.com/people/121893704@N04/), on Flickr

[eva888]

The inspiration picture you posted looks like a cooler tone of red so "Henna Maiden Vibrant Wine Red" (http://www.amazon.com/Henna-Maiden-VIBRANT-Eyebrow-Color/product-reviews/B004L81VXW) gets close to that color and has gotten good reviews online. It contains more than just pure henna so be careful, of course strand test and consider that it is permanent etc etc.

The color of henna is orange so it is very hard to get a cool color from it.