DIY Balayage (Balyage, Ballyage, Ballayage) over hennaed hair?

[henné]

I found this guide+video (http://imabeautygeek.com/2013/07/08/baby-ombre-how-to-diy-ballyage-highlights-at-home/) for what looks like a super easy DIY balayage technique and I'm literally dying to try it, however ...

... I have hennaed hair. I haven't coloured it in over a year, so it's very much grown out (all virgin down to my ears), but the difference between my original hair colour and the hennaed part are clearly discernible.

Have any of you done any blonde highlighting over old-ish henna? Did it work? What did you do?

Any ideas, suggestions, advice and/or opinion?

PS: I'll try to upload a pic of my hair so you know what my original haircolor vs. my hennaed hair looks like ... (I just need to hunt down my husband to take the photo, haha).

[PixieP]

I have done bleached ombre and highlights on my rather freshly hennaed hair. I didn't do anything differently, although I was skimpy on the amount of time the bleach was in since I didn't want anything resembling blonde, I just wanted a brigther copper. I don't really have any good photos of it, it didn't photograph well sadly, but it looked awesome in RL! This is the best picture I have: https://scontent-ams2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpt1/v/t1.0-9/10269425_10152366534951830_579096460046959683_n.jp g?oh=02b1eda53c081de35a59f3db528098d4&oe=56578F7D but the ends wasn't as blonde as it looks there, and the gradient went higher up on my hair. On the ends where I ombre'd it there pas old chemical red hairdye underneath the henna too.

My advice would be do a test on hairs from your brush to see how light it ends up, and then adjust the time you have it on your hair from there.


Note: I used bleach, not hair dye.

[henné]

I have done bleached ombre and highlights on my rather freshly hennaed hair. I didn't do anything differently, although I was skimpy on the amount of time the bleach was in since I didn't want anything resembling blonde, I just wanted a brigther copper. I don't really have any good photos of it, it didn't photograph well sadly, but it looked awesome in RL! This is the best picture I have: https://scontent-ams2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpt1/v/t1.0-9/10269425_10152366534951830_579096460046959683_n.jp g?oh=02b1eda53c081de35a59f3db528098d4&oe=56578F7D but the ends wasn't as blonde as it looks there, and the gradient went higher up on my hair. On the ends where I ombre'd it there pas old chemical red hairdye underneath the henna too.

My advice would be do a test on hairs from your brush to see how light it ends up, and then adjust the time you have it on your hair from there.


Note: I used bleach, not hair dye.

Ooh, that is very nice!

I'd be a little scared to use bleach as I've never even coloured my hair before - besides henna - I'd be so scared to totally fry my hair :( ... So I'm thinking about getting some boxed colour, which will *hopefully* be safer, but then again - I have no idea which one I'd go for, which is another issue, haha. I really have to take a pic of my hair (DH turned me down, so I'm going to have to take the pics myself, ugh) so that y'all can perhaps advise me *blush*.

But if I may enquire - how did you use the bleach and where did you buy it? Total noob here.

[lapushka]

This I would not mess with. I'd perhaps consider having it professionally done. :flower:

[divinedobbie]

Boy do I have a story for you. I'll try and type the short version since I'm on my phone.

Basically I decided I wanted to do some bayalage myself but since I am very cautious, I did test strands first on the underside of my hair. I used three different strengths and brands of bleach, each for 10, 20, 40, and 60 minutes. I then tried to tone with various ashy hair dyes, professional toners, silver shampoo, manic panic. Nothing will budge the persistence of the most vibrant orange I have ever seen that bleach lifts henna to.

Decided to go to a very high end salon to see what they could do, profusely warning them about the henna that was hiding underneath (although much faded) and he tried two different mixtures of bleaches and they lifted to an even brighter orange than I had managed.

Don't do it! Unless your looking to have a very very orange bayalage, you won't get any kind of blonde shade. I doubt you will even be able to get as "cool" as strawberry blonde. Test lots before and if you decide to do it!!

[henné]

Very thankful for your replies!

divinedobbie - I wish you took pics!!! :) I wonder what those flaming insanely orange highlights would look like actually ... I've been on a *crazy hair* streak lately and did a small 'side shave' myself :D Maybe I'd really like some super orange streaks, haha.

[henné]

Here's my hair (sorry for the bad quality photo):

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/494/19907368280_be44971d01.jpg

[lapushka]

henné, you can barely see the demarcation line and the difference. I'd leave it alone! :) It looks *great*!!!

[KittyBird]

PixieP, that looks so cool! I'd love to do something like that when all the black chemical dye has grown out. I hope you'll go for it, henné, because I think firey neon orange tips would look awesome! :D

[DancingGirl]

I wouldn't try it, but it may be possible. I had 4 or 5 layers of henna in my hair and managed to go light blonde. It took about a year and I lost a few inches of hair to terrible gummy damage and it still shows strawberry blonde in the sun. I bleached it 3 times twice with 20 vol developer and once with 30 vol developer. I was still very orangy so I put a dark ash blonde dye over it and then didn't touch it for a few months other than to refresh the ash color. About two weeks ago I use Garnier Nutrisse Extra Light Ash Blonde on it twice. From about my chin down it's more of a light strawberry blonde. Just be prepared to lose some length.

[Upside Down]

I would LOVE to see the results of this method! Seems so simple, too good to be true :lol:

[PixieP]

Ooh, that is very nice!

I'd be a little scared to use bleach as I've never even coloured my hair before - besides henna - I'd be so scared to totally fry my hair :( ... So I'm thinking about getting some boxed colour, which will *hopefully* be safer, but then again - I have no idea which one I'd go for, which is another issue, haha. I really have to take a pic of my hair (DH turned me down, so I'm going to have to take the pics myself, ugh) so that y'all can perhaps advise me *blush*.

But if I may enquire - how did you use the bleach and where did you buy it? Total noob here.

First of all, it seems like you have very little henna in your head, it can't be more than 1-2 applications a very long time ago?

I used a bleach from H&M; it's dirt cheap and does the job. It's a ready made kit, so all you do is mix together the powder and liqiud provided.

You won't fry your hair with only one application, unless you leave it on for hours :P Many years ago I went from chemically coloured black to blonde, that was 5 whole-head applications of bleach, 4 at home and 1 at a hairdresser. And even that didn't fry my hair completly, and I generally wasn't nice to my hair at that stage at all.

I did my ombre in two rounds in two applications. To make an ombre like that, you first coat the lower part of your hair that you want the very lightest, leave that in for a while (I think I left it in 15 minutes or so), and then you take on more bleach, further up on the hair. That's how you get the gradient effect. Probably left that on for about 10 minutes. So all in all, I had bleach in about half an hour. I then repeated that after two weeks, to get the result I showed up. When I did highlights this winter, I bought a stripe kit, also from H&M I think, pulled out hair through the stripe hood, and applied bleach, left it on for 20 minutes. Gave me lovely strong copper highlights in my dark wine hair.
9
I dunno, I have a quite relaxed relationship to bleach. As long as you don't leave it in way longer that recommended on the package, or apply heat (never do that unless you are an hairdresser, working with professional products and a professional heat cap) then it'll take a whole lot to mess things up. Your hair wil get a bit of damage, of course. But it won't be ruined or fried or in such a bad shape that it won't grow. I should know, I've experimented quite a lot with bleach on my hair :P


Also I am so ******n tempted to try this myself now XD But I'm doing gradual sun-in lightening so I should refrain :P

[henné]

PixieP ... You see, I'm exact opposite of you - never had the guts to experiment at all. My only 'experiment' ended in years (about a decade) of henna-love, haha.

I've been hennaying my hair since I was 18-19 years old and I'm 32 now, haha. I've stopped only the last year. The longest layers of my hair have tons of henna applications on them, the hair higher up has several applications of 33%henna/66%cassia and then from my ears up it's all virgin. I've cut my hair a lot in the past two years (10+cm per 'trim), so most of my 100% henna hair has been cut off (at its longest, my hair was BCL). I've also honey-lightened several times during the last two years.

I'll have to sit on this and think hard, but in the end - even if I do fry my ends, which as you say is nearly impossible, unless I'm being a dufus, I can just cut them off without feeling like slashing my wrists :D ;) I'm not all that attached to my length ...

Thanks for all of your input!

[henné]

I would LOVE to see the results of this method! Seems so simple, too good to be true :lol:


I know, right?! Seems like too good to be true, haha!

[PixieP]

PixieP ... You see, I'm exact opposite of you - never had the guts to experiment at all. My only 'experiment' ended in years (about a decade) of henna-love, haha.

I've been hennaying my hair since I was 18-19 years old and I'm 32 now, haha. I've stopped only the last year. The longest layers of my hair have tons of henna applications on them, the hair higher up has several applications of 33%henna/66%cassia and then from my ears up it's all virgin. I've cut my hair a lot in the past two years (10+cm per 'trim), so most of my 100% henna hair has been cut off (at its longest, my hair was BCL). I've also honey-lightened several times during the last two years.

I'll have to sit on this and think hard, but in the end - even if I do fry my ends, which as you say is nearly impossible, unless I'm being a dufus, I can just cut them off without feeling like slashing my wrists :D ;) I'm not all that attached to my length ...

Thanks for all of your input!

You're welcome!

I think you'll at most get some awesome copper-toned highlights, that can be easily cooled down with purple , buy some purple colour from manic panic and add a bit to your conditioner each wash, that will tone it very nicely. Since you don't have any 100% henna left anymore, you won't get nearly as copper as I did.

[*ReiKa*]

I wouldn't try this on hennaed hair. Unless you want a flashy orange result.
Your henna though looks pretty much faded and "weak" so probably it could be done, but definitely I would do a strand test first, but also, there's something more important to consider here: when lightening previously-colored hair, bleach must be used. Yes, must be used, there is no way around it, that's because normal dyes cannot lift the color, as it's been said already (but also, for this kind of jobs, hairdressers use bleach anyway, even on virgin hair, and not because they fancy damaging people's hair, but because that's just the way to do it nicely, if you're looking for a great lighter effect on your hair, bleach works best than anything, since it lifts any color properly, by removing more red pigments in the hair that every hair has in it, even virgin ones, if you don't remove enough red pigments in the hair that's when you end up with unattractive orangey/ultra copper colors).
When they recommed those "extra light" high-lift color kits for color-treated hair, do they contain bleach in it? If they do, fair enough, if they don't, it's not okay, because you do need bleach.
In most cases (well, actually, almost all cases) when lightening color-treated hair the result will too be too warm that it needs to be toned down, so whoever lightens their color-treated hair must be prepared to very warm results that need to be corrected.

So, to be really honest with you I wouldn't do it, and if you really want balayages I would go to a salon. That's what I'm doing too, I already booked my appointment!

[Nellon]

henné​: It could be really awesome I think. Can't wait to se pics when/if you go through with it :)