I got the henna out of my hair, yay :)

[Bianca]

I used henna twice, and I didn't really think I could bleach it out, after being told by almost everyone that bleach would only destroy my hair and I just had to grow the henna out. But there was just no way I was cutting now that i'm so close to getting it long :p
I bleached it once, and got an yellow on the ends, and orange by the roots. I colored my none destroyed hair with an ash color, and now I have a pretty golden blond. My hair is just as lovely as before, but that might be because I have really thick hair. If you have used henna for years or something i dont think you can bleach it out btw :)


This it how it turned out:

http://byfiles.storage.live.com/y1pTzqm4u6WW1uDBBt7mO5C20KuTg-3MIugyEkQ6DymPUWVmz5wz_NeWQGetwQRX6On

[Hatsumomo]

Congrats on getting it out. I'm still trying to figure out how:confused:

[mellie]

Wow, that's great!

[brok3nwings]

that is great! i agree with you, with many applications that woudnt be possible.. i just have to say, you may think your hair is just "as" lovely as before but believe me, bleach damages the hair, even if you dont feel or see it now you will eventually. So you should have that in consideration and treat your hair better then ever!

[redtea]

It looks like it worked really well! What color was your hair before you used henna? I really wish I tried this after the first or second time I used henna. I spent a very long time hating my hair.

I agree about the bleach damage - it may take months before you start noticing. I'd prefer to trim occassionally than have to look at a color I don't like in the mirror every day though.

[Kirin]

I am very glad this worked for you! Take really good care of your hair after bleach and color, extra special gentle handling and moisture treatments. Protein will also benefit bleached hair. Its likely in time you will get damage, but mostly on the last inch or two, possibly three which can get trimmed out over time.

I am by no means an expert, but I have bleached many times in my life, and found that basically, only the very ends would be ravaged, not the whole kaboodle.

[brok3nwings]

redtea but you DO have a beautiful henna colour! of course i understand what you mean...sometimes it is not for us.

[hennabrain]

Congrats, Bianca! It looks very nice. If I may ask, what did you use to bleach, and what sort of color did you use for the ash blond?

[Bianca]

Hatsumomo: How many times have you used henna ? If it's more than a coulpe times I would say you'd have to grow it out :(

brok3nwings: I always take good care of it, I just had to get rid of the henna and get closer to my natural blond color. The upkeep was to much. I'll do lots of deep con treatments and pray that it keeps looking fine :p

Redtea: My natural hair color is medium blonde :)

Kirin: Hi again :p I will do a protein treatment tomorrow, and pamper it more than ever :blossom:

[wintersun99]

Lookin' good.

I'm curious, what henna did you use and how many times?

[Bianca]

Congrats, Bianca! It looks very nice. If I may ask, what did you use to bleach, and what sort of color did you use for the ash blond?

I just bought a bleach pack from nutrisse and smacked it on ( It's probably not very strong). But it was the only thing I could find in the store. Afterwards I colored it light ash blonde, permanent nutrisse creme, 8.1 :)

[Bianca]

redtea but you DO have a beautiful henna colour! of course i understand what you mean...sometimes it is not for us.

I agree :)

[Kirin]

I'm curious too as to the bleach you used. I have been henna'ing a long time, however, I know there will come a day I wish to get to whatever my natural color is... as the upkeep is crazy. Since I have henna'd so long, it may not work.... but when the time comes I'm willing to be a guinea pig.

Growing it all out would be a nightmare, and since I don't plan to cut, I'd rather sacrifice "some" length than all of it.

[Bianca]

Lookin' good.

I'm curious, what henna did you use and how many times?

I used henna from h4h (Rajasthan). I used it twice. Mixed with cassia, left on for 3 hours the first time, and 2 hours the second time. I honestly didn't think I would get it out. So very happy with the result :cheese:

[redtea]

redtea but you DO have a beautiful henna colour! of course i understand what you mean...sometimes it is not for us.

Thanks :)

It was originally not so beautiful though.. when I first used henna, I used it over highlighted hair that was light on top and a medium golden blonde on bottom. The bottom came out fine, but the highlights were ugh..just horrible. I hated leaving the house for months and when I did I would get all sorts of rude comments. Luckily I was unemployed at the time so I didn't have to see many people.

I've probably cut off over 8 inches of my hair since my first henna 2 years ago, so the majority of my highlights are gone. I've also colored over it dark brown several times which has since faded but really helped to even out my color. When it faded to the point where my roots were close enough to my length, I used a 1/4 henna to 3/4 cassia mix. I've since increased it to 1/3 henna.

I'm very happy with how it looks now, but it's taken me two years to get it to this point. If I had to do it over, I would stay far away from henna. :p

[Celebrian]

You certainly can bleach henna out - to a point. I've done it a couple of times (a couple of years back) but you'll never reach 'cool' blonde. The lightest you'll ever get will be light orange/light copper/or rich yellow blonde. I honestly don't think you can get rid of the warm tones just by bleaching over henna.

But yes, you can then add a neutral/beige type of toner, and reach a pretty mid-darkish blonde.

Just a side-note. It was my hairdresser who bleached my first henna strand - and two things amazed her. One was that the henna took (I think) several hours to move from a medium red to a rich (and very pretty) red-gold blonde. The second thing was that the condition of the strand was remarkable; really good, strong and shiny.

So, always do the strand tests first - but if you've been henna'ing your hair for some time - I think you'll possibly be suprised at how well the hair stands up to bleaching. I can only speak for myself though, as everyones hair reacts differently.

It's the indigo you have to watch. Bleach over that - and you'll likely get green lights; which will be fairly resistant to subsequent red henna (if you're unlucky - as I was).

I had to resort to powerful red box dyes to even begin to counteract the green - before continuing to henna etc.

Excuse hijack...

We now return you to henna. :D

[shwankie]

Congrats on getting your henna out! I did this several years ago, and found the same thing. I used the fruit "bleach," (or rather, my hairdresser did), and it came out after two treatments, one month apart. It was lightened with the fruit extract stuff, then counteracted with a neutral base blond dye, and came out warm and rich blond. The second treatment got me all the way back to my natural platinum blond, no reds or golds at all.

Like you, I'd only used henna twice. The upkeep was just too much of a pain, especially as I had to pretty much sleep with it on to get the color to take anything other than a light peachy-orange (I was using incredible henna at the time, my hair just hates dye of any kind). I suspect this is why it was fairly easy to get it out.

[LadyMoon11]

Oh wow- you DID get the henna out. Or at least, it is well covered for the time being. It looks great!
I would not be surprised if the orange hennaness returns, creeping up once the hair dye fades. You'll just need to re-dye to cover.
Conrats, it does look wonderful! :D

[plainjanegirl]

You had a nice red color, but the blonde is very pretty too. Glad you got the color you wanted.

[Hatsumomo]

Bianca - Just the once but I've got dark hair and two inches of roots which might go a different colour than the rest with bleach :/

[jojo]

nice result

[Wyldekat]

Celebrian, How many times had you used indigo before you bleached it and it turned green?

[iris]

Congrats on getting your henna out! I did this several years ago, and found the same thing. I used the fruit "bleach," (or rather, my hairdresser did), and it came out after two treatments, one month apart. It was lightened with the fruit extract stuff, then counteracted with a neutral base blond dye, and came out warm and rich blond. The second treatment got me all the way back to my natural platinum blond, no reds or golds at all.
Ah, another mention of the ever-evasive fruit bleach - I've been trying for years to get an idea of what this stuff is (because its been reported to work better on henna than other bleaches). Do you know any more about it? A brand name maybe? Any scrap of information (no matter how tiny it may seem to you) will be helpful!

[Oskimosa]

Ah, another mention of the ever-evasive fruit bleach - I've been trying for years to get an idea of what this stuff is (because its been reported to work better on henna than other bleaches). Do you know any more about it? A brand name maybe? Any scrap of information (no matter how tiny it may seem to you) will be helpful!


I remember hearing about this before, too. Usually, the posters come by once, drop the phrase, and vanish into the fog.

I personally would love a way to get highlights into my henna. I gave up after that pitiful attempt with 30 vol on my head for 2 hours left me with nothing but splotches suspect to be a shade lighter than the rest.

Also, it'd be comforting to know while I'm growing my hair out and using henna, that if I suddenly ached for my natural mousy color that I wouldn't have to hack off the past few year's work ;)

[wintersun99]

Celebrian, How many times had you used indigo before you bleached it and it turned green?

Not Celebrian :)

But I'm fairly certain that it was bleaching over Indigo that turned green (not henna) as the same thing happened to me :D

[wintersun99]

Ah, another mention of the ever-evasive fruit bleach - I've been trying for years to get an idea of what this stuff is (because its been reported to work better on henna than other bleaches). Do you know any more about it? A brand name maybe? Any scrap of information (no matter how tiny it may seem to you) will be helpful!

Ha, ha - I was thinking the same thing! The only other person I know of that was able to retrun to blonde is Rini, but her process was by regular bleach...

I would also bet that these processes work ONLY if one plans to return to blonde, because of the bleaching. I doubt that one could remove henna and have their natural brown remain intact. One could probably bleach to blonde and then re-color to brown... but it doesn't seem to work for many people, at all... hmm...

[Kirin]

I asked one of my friends who is a hair dresser what "Fruit based bleach" is......

Her answer? "Its not fruit based bleach, its a bleach pack by Garnier that you add in a packet of fruit oils that comes with it so it smells like fruit.... and its supposed to protect the hair".

If this is the illusive "Fruit based bleach", its no miracle lol. I have no idea if this is the illusive item, but from her standpoint there is no miracle fruit based stripper.

[Wyldekat]

Not Celebrian :)

But I'm fairly certain that it was bleaching over Indigo that turned green (not henna) as the same thing happened to me :D


This is completely off the henna topic... I used hendigo once then immediately used harsh detergents hoping to get some indigo out (didn't know til afterwards that indigo turns green when bleached!:mad:).... argh.. What did you do to fix the green after you attempted to highlight it? I haven't attempted to try to highlight my hair. Green wouldn't be appealing on me!:D Sux because apparently I'm not going to be able to add any carmel highlights to my hair this coming summer. :( Oh, but my hair did lighten up considerably after washing my hair over and over with harsh detergents!

[Oskimosa]

I asked one of my friends who is a hair dresser what "Fruit based bleach" is......

Her answer? "Its not fruit based bleach, its a bleach pack by Garnier that you add in a packet of fruit oils that comes with it so it smells like fruit.... and its supposed to protect the hair".

If this is the illusive "Fruit based bleach", its no miracle lol. I have no idea if this is the illusive item, but from her standpoint there is no miracle fruit based stripper.

Hmmm. Veeeery interesting. I can see how a stylist could describe that very product as a "fruit oil bleach" to make it sound more appealing to a customer. If it has coconut oil in it, it might actually work somewhat. I know ktani has said she's read some studies that strongly suggest doing a heavy coconut oiling can protect the hair from damage from bleach, but to what extent is unclear. I'd love to find out, but at the same time, I don't care to bleach out my henna right now so it's kindof a moot point for me.

[shwankie]

Sorry, I just saw this question to me.

The fruit bleach was not bleach with fruit added, and it in no way smelled like fruit (it smelled just as bad as peroxide or bleach), much like professional fruit acid peels used by cosmetic surgeons do not smell like tomato (even though that is often a key ingredient). It was, in fact, described to me as the difference in the types of peeling masks you get at a plastic surgeons office. All of them can be harmful if not used correctly, so must be used with care; but, they all do different things. The stylist believed that the fruit-based lightener would ultimately be less damaging to my hair. Since he didn't use any bleach, I have no real comparison.

The only place I know of to get it might be through a stylist that uses a specific line of hairstyling products they have to be specially licensed to use, called "Goldwell," but my suspicion is they would not sell it to you directly. My stylist at the time was a Goldwell stylist, which is the only reason I know about this at all. This was also something like 8 years ago, so I have no idea if they still carry this in their product line or not.

Sorry, I wish I had more information. I've moved out of state since then, and I am not even sure that the salon exists anymore.

[Bianca]

I used coconut oil before the bleach and before the color afterwards. Dont know if it did a difference. But no harm in trying :p

And thanks jojo :blossom:

[ktani]

I used coconut oil before the bleach and before the color afterwards. Dont know if it did a difference. But no harm in trying :p

And thanks jojo :blossom:

Did you leave the coconut oil in and have the bleach and colour applied over it like this? From reports, and research on flavonoids, it can help prevent damage.
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showpost.php?p=303569&postcount=105

The whole thread is here.
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=10495

[lapushka]

I had henna bleached out about two years back. I had had multiple henna applications, about 4 to 6, I think. We used the strongest bleach (to bleach out black hair), and after a color was put over the bleached hair, it ended up a light brown. My hair was fried, though. It was so dry I needed to pamper it lots, with heaps of conditioner.

[Bianca]

[QUOTE=ktani;372155]Did you leave the coconut oil in and have the bleach and colour applied over it like this? From reports, and research on flavonoids, it can help prevent damage.
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showpost.php?p=303569&postcount=105

Yes, I did. And it's thanks to you. I read what you wrote about the coconutoil and peroxide some time ago :p

[ktani]

[quote=ktani;372155]Did you leave the coconut oil in and have the bleach and colour applied over it like this? From reports, and research on flavonoids, it can help prevent damage.
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showpost.php?p=303569&postcount=105

Yes, I did. And it's thanks to you. I read what you wrote about the coconutoil and peroxide some time ago :p

Well that is great. I am so glad that it helped. Thank you.

[ktani]

Hmmm. Veeeery interesting. I can see how a stylist could describe that very product as a "fruit oil bleach" to make it sound more appealing to a customer. If it has coconut oil in it, it might actually work somewhat. I know ktani has said she's read some studies that strongly suggest doing a heavy coconut oiling can protect the hair from damage from bleach, but to what extent is unclear. I'd love to find out, but at the same time, I don't care to bleach out my henna right now so it's kindof a moot point for me.

It is not a heavy oiling with coconut oil that is required http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showpost.php?p=303569&postcount=105. From the research and reports in Honey, I had a theory, and I was not the only one to have this theory, lol.

When I started this thread, http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=10495, I had no idea that people were already doing what the research turned out to say should or needs to be done (the only difference is, they used coconut oil). And it appears that it does work. At least I understand why and how it can work.

[tabitie]

Did anybody ever figure out what this 'fruit bleach' was? Given the plastic surgery product reference and Iris' success bleaching with citric acid, it sounds like it could have citric acid in it?

[Nocturnal]

tabitie, I think you are on the right track. Remember Nightshade's success with Sun-In?
From Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citric_acid):
Citric acid can be used in shampoo to wash out wax and coloring from the hair. It is notably used in the product "Sun-in" for bleaching, but is generally not recommended due to the amount of damage it causes.[citation needed]Actually it has been discussed at the Beauty Bottle: http://chatter.thebeautybottle.com/showthread.php?t=1497

[tabitie]

Thanks Nocturnal. That is REALLY interesting. I did not know Sun-In contained citric acid (I used it back in high school to go blond.)

I had always wondered about Nightshade's success with sun-in and why she succeeded where so many others failed.

Interesting fact: 1 tsp / liter of water makes a good citric acid rinse for hair. (Works like ACV rinses.)

[Nightshade]

Thanks Nocturnal. That is REALLY interesting. I did not know Sun-In contained citric acid (I used it back in high school to go blond.)

I had always wondered about Nightshade's success with sun-in and why she succeeded where so many others failed.

Interesting fact: 1 tsp / liter of water makes a good citric acid rinse for hair. (Works like ACV rinses.)

Huh, interesting idea that it was the citric acid in conjunction with the peroxide that made it work so well.

[ktani]

Interesting theory, except that the Sun-In Nightshade used and the others I have seen online ingredient lists for, do not contain citric acid, http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showpost.php?p=436999&postcount=33

Sun-In at drugstore.com, http://www.drugstore.com/products/prod.asp?pid=14973&catid=10362

[Nightshade]

:ponder: but the lemon juice would contain it, right?

That's in the one I'm currently using :)

[ktani]

:ponder: but the lemon juice would contain it, right?

That's in the one I'm currently using :)

But that is not the one you used to get the lightening in your new profile or in that thread. I doubt that the amount of lemon juice or citric acid in it, would make any difference to lightening results.

[Nightshade]

Quite true :)

[ktani]

Quite true :)

And lemon juice is not in all Sun-In versions. This is the one Heidi 34 bought, that it turns out, has double the peroxide strength of yours, http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showpost.php?p=459376&postcount=351

Heidi 34's post, http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showpost.php?p=459528&postcount=355

[ktani]

I found another version online, with the same ingredients as Heidi 34's but with a different peroxide level, so the ingredients remained the same but the peroxide level changed, http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showpost.php?p=459458&postcount=353

Still no citric acid listed. There is therefore no indication to me, that it is in any way, an active ingredient. I just think it is there for marketing.

[ktani]

:ponder: but the lemon juice would contain it, right?

That's in the one I'm currently using :)

Where in the ingredient list on the one you have now, does it list the lemon juice? I am just curious, because it is not listed here, http://www.americarx.com/Products/7418.html.

[Wyldekat]

Ok the whole thing is curious to me because on H4H they suggest that you use lemon juice..which is citric.. but Henna gets darker everytime you apply it. Even with lemon juice??

[ktani]

Ok the whole thing is curious to me because on H4H they suggest that you use lemon juice..which is citric.. but Henna gets darker everytime you apply it. Even with lemon juice??

There are 2 ways lemon juice is used with henna.

One is to use lemon juice to mix the henna, as a replacement for water, into a paste, before applying the henna. Henna darkens each time you use it, as the lawsone binds to the keratin in hair, layer upon layer over time, with each henna applied. The citric and ascorbic acids in the lemon juice in the mix, are not being used to try to lighten colour, there. Lemon juice is being used to increase dye uptake but that is under debate.

The second way is to try to lighten a too dark henna with lemon juice and that initially has been reported to work, until the henna reoxidizes, and redarkens, though not necessarily all the way back to the darkest shade. It is actually the ascorbic acid, (Vitamin C) in lemon juice, not the citric acid that causes most of the lightening. Citric acid was not reported to be that effective for lightening henna, when used on its own.

The following works for me, as an explanation of the difference between an oxidizing and reducung bleach (peroxide being the first one and lemon juice, the second and why henna does not necessarily redarken completely, following lightening with lemon juice (not all chromophores are repaired). Lemon juice has been reported to be used with sunlight, with heat or on its own, to lighten hair colour.

"Oxidizing bleaches .... break the molecules at the double bond. This results in either a shorter molecule that does not absorb visible light, or a molecule whose chromophore is either shorter or non-existant. A shorter chromophore will absorb light of a shorter wavelength than visible light .... and so does not appear colored.

Reducing bleaches such as lemon juice .... convert the double bonds in the chromophore into single bonds, eliminating its ability to absorb visible light. Sometimes the reaction is reversible, where oxygen in the air reacts with the molecule to repair the chromophore, and the stain returns.

.... most famous hair bleach is hydrogen peroxide (http://sci-toys.com/ingredients/hydrogen_peroxide.html) .... Unlike .... lemon juice, peroxide is an oxidizing bleach .... its effects are less easily undone."
http://sci-toys.com/ingredients/bleach.html

[long.again]

I henna'd my hair for a year (monthly) and then got the color out. It wasn't easy and it destroyed my scalp and hair. I had to bleach out my hair several times - 4 or 5 I believe and then add dye over it. Now my hair is so porous it won't hold color. I think I almost have the damage cut off though. :( Sad because I loved what henna did for my hair but did not love how hard it was to change.

[anamol1luv]

this thread has been very helpful. ive henna-d my hair just a couple of times now, and its doing horrible things for my complextion, as well as totally changed the texture of my hair. while others seem to love this change, my wavy full bodied hair is now straighter and drab. i'm trying all of these ideas. thanks so much!

[pammyxjean]

I henna'd once about two months ago, Im going to bleach my hair out once and then put a purple based blonde, hopefully it will turn out as nice as the original posters.

[stinkyfeet]

OP, you achieved a great result! I hope your hair stays in good health!