Thinking of going back

[jivete]

I used to dye my hair with Rainbow dark brown henna and it was this color(sorry for the googly eyes.):
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee322/jivete/LHC/2005_Hair.jpg
http://people.tribe.net/jivete/photos/9de52a4f-c5b6-44cb-8c69-273f3261a710
http://people.tribe.net/jivete/photos/9de52a4f-c5b6-44cb-8c69-273f3261a710Then I thought it would be a good idea to start using box dye. :rolleyes:

Anyway, I've been growing out my natural color and I'm not crazy about it. But what's worse is I hate the color of the ends of my hair. So I'm thinking of going back to a henndigo or henna/buxus combo to get a dark brown. What do you guys think?

Here is my current color, showing the contrast between the ashy roots and the orangey ends:

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee322/jivete/LHC/030309_1.jpg

Thanks!

[Isilme]

you certainly get a gorgeous colour with henndigo! What made you stop? Did you get tired of the upkeep with the roots? I think it's important to think about the reason that made you stop.

[jivete]

It didn't get as dark as I wanted. I really wanted a super dark brown and the henna would come out more red than I wanted. I also didn't think dye would fade as fast as the henna did or it wouldn't fade at all. Boy, was I wrong.

ETA: I don't really remember my roots showing. I'd just recolor when it would turn more red.

I was also using clip-in hair extensions and henna isn't always consistent, so I'd dye to match the clip-ins.

I think I like the idea of virgin color. But I really, really dislike my current color and I'm not sure I like my virgin color much. The last time I had natural colored hair was in 2002. It tends to turn blond in the sun and blond hair does not look good on me.

I was a little dismayed last summer when I used a henna/indigo mix and the indigo faded almost immediately. That's when I decided to quit all dye. Unfortunately, it's gotten really brassy. If I wasn't growing longer, it wouldn't be so bad because I could slowly trim off all the old color. I think I'm ready to do it. My hair is longer than it's ever been but I can't enjoy it because I hate the color.

[mellie]

I used Rainbow Dark Brown all last year, and I loved it. Your color will get very dark if you just keep doing full-length applications. It won't fade either. I tried henna and buxus but the buxus faded very quickly and also the color was a bit more red than I liked. I liked the dark brown with the Rainbow best!

[mellie]

Here you can see how dark it got and nice and shiny too:

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=2381&pictureid=35353

[jivete]

Thanks Mellie. I was actually just going over the buxus thread. I have some left over buxus that I think I'll use up and then go back to the Rainbow henna because it's so easy to get. I believe I had to do it every 3-4 weeks because of fading. My hair does not hold dye incredibly well.

In fact, I'm really sleepy right now and tempted to mix up the henna/buxus, slap it on my hair and take a nap.

[mellie]

It could be that the shampoo you used might be stripping the color out. I used Stonybrook Botanicals shampoo when I was using the Rainbow henna (they are both made by Rainbow Research so you should be able to find it the same place you find the Rainbow henna). It worked beautifully to keep my color permanent and my hair shiny and happy!

[chrissy-b]

I just started using Rainbow Henna again. I used 3 parts medium brown and 1 part dark brown and my hair is gorgeous! It matches almost exactly my natural color but adds shine and covers my greys. I was trying to grow out my natural color after a long time of synthetic dies, but I've got more greys than I'm willing to deal with so I decided to Henna.

I think the color in your first photo is beautiful and if you like it, I'd say go for it again.

[jivete]

You know, Mellie, that's probably right. I was a daily shampooer back then and an avid cone user.

Well, I've got a concoction on my head right now. 2:1 buxus/henna. I didn't have as much henna as I thought. I mixed it with warm water, some conditioner to make enough and applied it right away. It's been on about an hour and I'll rinse in another 30min or so. I'll post some pics when my hair is dry.

I figure if it turns out bad, I'll just run and pick up some Rainbow henna from the health food store.

[manderly]

You have an IDENTICAL problem I had!

I want dark brown, I've used the Rainbow dark brown and chemical dyes, and I only redye when the length gets too orange again. :D

How funny. It is such a pain, as everything I've tried seems to fade sooooo quickly and leave me with the yucky orange. I just want to maintain a nice, dark brown color.

I've been thinking of the Rainbow again, chemical is just easier because I can get it locally, while the Rainbow I have to order online. And unfortunately I didn't experience what Mellie did (wish I did!) and it just faded out :(

Maybe I'll buy a bunch and just keep doing it. Maybe that will get it to build up and stick. It's cheap and it's a nice color :)


ETA: Since the color is too light, have you considered tying the black Rainbow colors?

[tabbymook]

Hi there,

I'm no expert at all, but I got the Rainbow Henna in dark brown to cover up greys, darken my natural colour, and cover up some very brassy orangey ends from highlights-gone-wrong and other ancient disasters.

The Rainbow covered my greys and gave me a beautiful lasting colour on my virgin hair, but would NOT hold on the bleached highlight areas. Faded in a few days, and that was with CO-ing.

I got yemeni henna from Henna for Hair, mixed it, froze, added powdered cloves and got a beautiful dark red, then gave myself an indigo gloss for half an hour-- so far, the dark brown has stayed on the orangey bits.

Mellie was my inspiration for getting the Rainbow Henna, I wanted her beautiful colour and shine but only got in on the un-bleached bits!

I think I'll go back to the Rainbow after my nasty bits are cut out, for the convenience and the colour.

ETA: I don't have any pix of my new brown hair, unfortunately

All the best

Kerry-Lee

[mellie]

Manderly, you mentioned maybe trying the Rainbow Black - I haven't tried it personally but I've heard some folks say they didn't get a good color from it. I'd say keep trying with the Dark Brown - I know that works, and it will keep getting darker each time (I actually started to feel like it was getting TOO dark! That's when I tried some honey lightening!).

I think maybe it really is important to use a gentle shampoo with Rainbow? I wonder if that's why the color held so well for me but not for some other folks? (BTW, Tabbymook, I'm flattered that I inspired you to try it!! :flowers: Sorry it didn't work so well on your bleached hairs!)

[manderly]

It's possible Mellie, I was using poo bars. I'm COing right now (not sure how long that will last).

I was wondering if you have old chemical dyed hair? Or was yours virgin or only hennad? Maybe that has something to do with it? It seems to hold well at my roots, but my length turns orange.

[mellie]

Good thought...mine was only henna'ed. I had done some semi-permanent chemical color a while before, but I waited about 3 months before henna'ing, so it was probably all washed out by then- it seemed to be. My grays were gray again! :-)

[jivete]

Well the buxus helped a lot. It's not great, but it's better. I'll try to do another application next week when I get more henna. I took a picture but am having problems with photobucket. I'll try and post it in my album here.

When I run out of the Buxus, I'm just going to go back to Rainbow. I do like the dark brown.

Manderly, I'm hoping I'm not left with orange when the katam fades. Your color is actually what got me thinking about going back. It's a really pretty color.

It is annoying to constantly have to reapply the henna/indigo. I'm hoping that since I'm not washing as frequently and I rarely use shampoo, the color will stick a little longer. Although I'm really liking soapnuts to wash with per Mellie's directions. I saw in the buxus thread that it seemed to remove the katam. We shall see.

[manderly]

Yeah, I really liked the Rainbow, the fading of everything I try is really annoying though.

Here shows my fade to orange fairly well:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y50/astrauser/CIMG1901.jpg

I don't have any photos of it right after henna/chemical dye, but here is a more recent photo that is probably about a month or two after chemical, you can see it slightly fading again *sigh*

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y50/astrauser/CIMG2108.jpg

[mellie]

I only had fading when I used the Buxus, not the Rainbow. The buxus did wash out (fairly quickly) leaving me with reddish hair.

But one application of the Rainbow covered it up permanently (and when using soapnut foam washing!). Hey, I just thought of something else I did that might help the color stay: I put a splash of vinegar in the mix. So here's exactly what I did: mixed the Rainbow up straightaway with hot tap water with a splash of vinegar, applied it generously to squeaky clean hair, left if on 75 minutes, then rinsed out well and did not shampoo for 24 hours afterward (also important to get the color to stay well). Then shampooed either with soapnut foam washing or Stonybrook Botanicals shampoo.

Hope that helps!!