henna+sun=a lighter red?

[Isilme]

Hi, I have thought about something. When I had my natural haircolour (dark blonde/light brown ash) it would get bleached by the sun in the summer and turn blonder and golden. Since I started to use henna I haven't been out in the sun enough to notice any bleaching, and I have had my hair up. But if I spend much time outdoors this summer with my hair down, will it get bleached? Or will the henna block the sun like it does on skin? And for how long? And the most interesting question, if the henna protects the hair from bleaching, will it also not become as damaged as it has been in the past? I mean, bleaching is damaging, weather it is sun or product.
Outdoorsy hennaheads, share your experiences! :)

[Gothic Lolita]

Sorry I can't share my experience, but I'll just stay around here and wait for an answer, because I was just wondering the same thing. I'd love to get lighter red highlight in my hair!

[EvilPigeon]

Hmm, if there is any bleaching at all it shouldn't be much. But I'm definetely no expert! I have only had henna for a little over a week, where on the other hand my sister has used it for about a year and a half. But for what it's worth, I've never noticed any bleaching in her hair...and believe me, I would notice-I'm one of those people who pay attention to extremely small details =P It seems to me that if you go out in the sun with henna'd hair, you won't get much damage if any...Catherine from Henna for Hair always said that she had no damage with chlorine pools after henna,or that the Henna helped protect her hair from chlorine damage.

[prosperina]

I always thought, and in fact I think I read this on the old LHC, that someone had henna in her hair then went on vacation to a sunny place and the only thing that got bleached in the sun was her roots which went from brownish to really blond. Don't know who said this though. I'm always forgetting who does what. I live in a sunny climate and walk outside a lot and I haven't noticed any sun lightening on my henna at all. I was under the understanding that henna worked like sun block for hair. I do wish I could have some blond streaks put in though....

[khyricat]

I think you are referring to Iris.. I know that my mom and I never noticed any change when we were both using henna years ago, but neither of us tried the 8 hour thing, and she thought it too light on her whites to keep it up

[Kirin]

Henna is actually a natural UV block. If the sun does manage to lighten it, it will reoxidize and darken back up. Last summer myhair would do that, lighten faintly but within two days... it was back lol

[wintersun99]

Just to back up Kirin, on H4H someone asked this question and Catherine stated that henna is a natural UV block for both hair and skin.

It should not lighten and if it does, it will likely only do so at the roots were there is less henna buildup or virgin growth.

[Gothic Lolita]

I only do really light henna glosses. Is it possible that it would bleach out a tiny bit?

[Shell]

I only do really light henna glosses. Is it possible that it would bleach out a tony bit?

I'm hoping to hear a positive answer to this too!

[Gothic Lolita]

hm, does no one know if henna gloss at least bleaches out a bit in the sun? I don't want to highlight it with honey or even chemical dye, since I don't know how Henna reacts with lightening stuff.....

[brok3nwings]

shell and gothic lolita i dont know anything about henna, but i think it would deppend on how much henna you have in your hair! "It should not lighten and if it does, it will likely only do so at the roots were there is less henna buildup or virgin growth." well, then you just have to see if you have enough henna to block the sun...how many times you did it etc, but it is better to see someone else´s reply

[Shell]

I've done two glosses; one kind of haphazard, and one pretty thorough. It's getting quite hot and sunny here--so I will be reporting back on whether or not it lightens!

[terriej]

I henna'd three times last year. Last henna in Sept. so the top part only got henna'd once. My natural hair is blonde. I wash my hair everyday, I wash in hot water, I live in a hot and sunny area of Calif., I don't think my hair has faded at all, not even the lighter parts next to my roots.

If you are a very outdoors-y person though, say you swam in your pool all Summer or went surfing all the time, it seems there would have to be some effect. I have never seen anything outside that didn't eventually succumb to the bleaching power of the sun.

[Shypii90]

interesting theory

I have the same hair as you, Iris.. It's light brown and in summer the ends all bleach to a golden yellow colour.

I had never thought whether it bleaches or not with henna. I haven't tried henna yet.

But thanks for the replies everyone :)

[Shell]

I've been wearing my hair up a lot this week, and I have noticed the usual streaks starting in my hair, right from the scalp. This happens every summer, and it seems totally normal for me. I did my gloss mostly for conditioning, so I didn't leave it on for long. I seem to be getting highlights through the henna. Again, I don't have much henna on at all, so that's probably why.

[Druid of Alba]

Henna is actually a natural UV block

Really?????? What is its SPF? I am so excited, I am such a vampire lol, I burn easily and if this is true I am so happy! Hehe, I could just hide beneath my hair as a sun block :)

[tiny_teesha]

I'm going to have to agree with you! My ends glow when the sun hits them just right...probably does help that immediately after i have dyed black hair (which i have hennad) and then virgin hair.) Below the black hair i've had bleached dyed brown hair. Maybe the bleach helps to really bring out the henna?

[Shell]

Bumping this up to report: I'm starting to see some light sun streaking on my hair, even though I glossed. Some of it is the gloss fading, but I think some of it is good old summer sun streaking. I'm trying to wait until mid to late summer to gloss again, so that I can have maximum streaking before glossing--but I'm eager to gloss again, so we'll see!

I just wanted people to know, that at least on my blonde hair, it is lightening despite the henna gloss.

[Gothic Lolita]

I can report as Shell: I've glossed a weeks ago and it's pretty warm here, so I've been in the sun a lot. A bit of the henna seems to fade and then lighten up the hairs, although not as strongly as it used to be without henna.

In June I will be in Tuscany for a week and almost the whole day outside. I'll report how my hair looks afterwards!

[Nynaeve]

I only do really light henna glosses. Is it possible that it would bleach out a tiny bit?

It would seem like it would because it really hasn't built up at all, but I have no experience with henna on my own head, so I can't tell you for sure. :(

[khyricat]

I didn't notice any sun lightening on my hennaed hair last year.. normally sun makes my darks reddish though.. and so does henna, so it could just be masking it..

[sibylla]

If you go to the beach the hennaed hair will become lighter because of the reaccion with seasalt and sun. Remember to have sealed to color well with ACV or the red will come running down your face...

Gloss is more likely to be affected by the sun and fade.

[Isilme]

we'll see what happens if I go to the beach enough this summer. I have to slather on my spf 50+ I think;)

[khyricat]

hrm- I know I have now found enough anecdotal evidence that henna prevents sun from reaching spots with henna tattoos (my sister had an inverse of her tattoo until her tan evened up after we went to Mexico several years ago, and again another time, and I found reference to similar on some of the henna skin art sites) that I believe it has some sun block tendencies, I don't know if it's enough on the hair to make a difference though.

[jel]

Remember to have sealed to color well with ACV or the red will come running down your face...


Erm, no. Lawsone molecule in henna actually binds with hair shaft - meaning no colour run off (unless within the first couple of days of application where some henna is still washing off the scalp).

I've spent by now two summers with henna on my hair. I went on a fortnight's beach holiday both years, and my henna did not get bleached at all. TBH, I kept to the shade/parasol most of the time, but I did expose my hair to both the sun and the sea... Also, my hair didn't get damaged (but I oiled it and COd every day).

[sibylla]

Jel

Thank you for explaining that. Maybe it was the first day after henna and I had henna on the scalp. It must have looked funny when I got out of the water.....hihi. I´m still wondering though:I used to get orange stains on my towels all the time before I started to do a ACV right after hennaing.Why can this be?

[Nightshade]

If you go to the beach the hennaed hair will become lighter because of the reaccion with seasalt and sun. Remember to have sealed to color well with ACV or the red will come running down your face...

Gloss is more likely to be affected by the sun and fade.


Jel

Thank you for explaining that. Maybe it was the first day after henna and I had henna on the scalp. It must have looked funny when I got out of the water.....hihi. I´m still wondering though:I used to get orange stains on my towels all the time before I started to do a ACV right after hennaing.Why can this be?

On hair with a very smooth cuticle henna can wash off, which is why it sometimes doesn't take ultra-well to very healthy virgin hair. Anything that's coming off on towels is henna that hasn't bound to the hair.

Once it's bound to the hair, there's virtually no getting it out. If all it took was sea salt, there'd be a bunch of LHCers out in the ocean right now. :(

[prosperina]

To provide (further) example, my henna has faded, but only on the previously bleached parts. I think it did this mostly on its own since I was very lazy with lightening treatments. The part that was virgin roots with only henna six months ago is still very very red, and has not and will not budge--and it's LUSH henna that everyone thinks fades.

It's kind of fun because I have one horizontal stripe of really red hair, but it blends in more than you'd think from my description. I've currently got light blondish red, light red, darker red, DARK red, the various shades of orange/red from the top down. It's sort of cool. :)

[sibylla]

Thank you Nightshade for answering!

I´m doing an experiment on my hair these days:I sprinkle water+salt from the Atlantic (Urtekram) on parts of my hair where I had indigo before and tonight I slept with coco nut oil+seasalt. It looks brighter today. I´ll post a picture if I manage to light the hair.

I take this oportunity to say how much I appreciate the henna test that you have done for us so many times!I love to read about your experiments!!

[Hypnotica]

Once it's bound to the hair, there's virtually no getting it out. If all it took was sea salt, there'd be a bunch of LHCers out in the ocean right now. :(


:rollin:

Thank you for the mental image!

[SFreader]

If henna has sunscreen properties; with all the fuss about avobenzene, I'd be tempted to paint my self in henna before my next backpacking trip. Just so I didn't have to mess with it. (Probably won't though, cause henna shows up oragne on my skin)

If it showed up brown, yep I'd be covered in green goop in a new york min.

[wintersun99]

I´m doing an experiment on my hair these days:I sprinkle water+salt from the Atlantic (Urtekram) on parts of my hair where I had indigo before and tonight I slept with coco nut oil+seasalt. It looks brighter today. I´ll post a picture if I manage to light the hair.


oh, be careful and watch your hair - I remember reading the saga of a member (now in the archives, snowymoon maybe?) having a really bad experience doing this... someone who remembers may be able to speak more about it, but I do remember it was a disaster for her hair...

ETA: here is the link, hope it works
http://archive.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=12690&highlight=chelating

[burns_erin]

I do full on hennas and my hair is naturally fairly dark but easily bleached by the sun. It seems to me that for my hair, even with henna on it, my natural color bleaches out from underneath it, so the ends end up very red. It may do it a bit slower than before, but for me the henna does not fade in the sun but my hair color does.

[soprano]

I've been coloring with henna for over two years now and I have natural highlights. It looks great. I was a bit surprised to see them because I almost always have a hat or a bike helmet on when I'm out. Last summer I was quite ill all summer long and barely went outside; I didn't have any highlights then.

[cameronscurls]

i left box dye on my hair for too long and it came out too dark, then i henna'd my hair. When i put henna on my roots its comes out muuch lighter so i used sun in on my lengh after reading nightshade's post. i think it worked pretty good! very little damage:)