To dye or not to dye

[themostsilly]

Okay, I just gave up dying my hair in November (every month with demi-permanent for 2.5 years), and I swore I would never do it agian. I pretty much like my natural color and like the natural highlights that are coming in, but I prefer a slightly darker more neutral tone of brown. So I have my graduation pics next week and would love it if I could take down some of the brassiness in my hair and darken slightly if possible. I would like to do this naturally, but not really sure how to go about it. Since I have little time I wonder if I should just dye it one last time with the demi-permanent dye, so it looks better for the pic.
I have read some posts about molasses, coffee, and rosemary -would any of these be good options to take down the brassiness quickly? I have also read about henna but am learey of trying it since it is permanent. I would love to hear about something natural someone has used with great success.

[ktani]

There is this thread
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=2382

[mellie]

would love it if I could take down some of the brassiness in my hair and darken slightly if possible

You could try some herbal rinses! Red raspberry leaf worked for me.

[themostsilly]

I just noticed a product called Hennalucent Semi-Permanent by Ardell is available at my local Sally's so I thought I would give it a try. I am going to get the bark brown which looks like a neutral brown. It doesn't seem like it would hurt the hair, but I may get a color I do not wany. Has anyone used this product or something similar with good or bad results? Definitely let me know if this is a product to avoid. If so I'm going to give the recipe by TheSpottedCow a try.

[Javadandy]

I just noticed a product called Hennalucent Semi-Permanent by Ardell is available at my local Sally's so I thought I would give it a try. I am going to get the bark brown which looks like a neutral brown. It doesn't seem like it would hurt the hair, but I may get a color I do not wany. Has anyone used this product or something similar with good or bad results? Definitely let me know if this is a product to avoid. If so I'm going to give the recipe by TheSpottedCow a try.

I have used Bark Brown a couple of times on my hair. As far as "henna" goes, it's pretty cheap stuff, mixed with other cheapy ingredients that are not specifically listed on the label. And it is...cheap...$1.86 here in Iowa. Will it hurt your hair? Not if you don't color over it with commercial color right away, but let it wash out instead. For me, I used it twice and it didn't make a huge color difference, except to mildly tint my gray to a gold brown color. It did not give me the extreme healthy conditioning of actual full henna, but it also doesn't appear to be as permanent as full henna. It did condition somewhat, better residual than chemical colors. You need to do a strand test! I would say it gave me good results for what it was intended to do...and it got me into investigating henna and into joining this community.:cheese:

[themostsilly]

I think I have decided against the Hennalucent bark brown. I am worried it will turn my hair too red since it said it will add golden tones, and I am actually trying to tone down the brassiness. I purchased it in Sally's and they said I could use a little packet of purple stuff called red brassiness corrector and that would tone it down, but they didn't really seem to know from experience. I just don't want to take the chance and have my natural hair get turned some funky color or damaged before my pictures on Friday. I think I may order though the Colora henna to try, from reviews I've read online it seems like a better product.
I am trying the molases mask now, and see how that goes.
I am so inexperienced with henna the whole process freaks me out. I was reading the directions for the Hennalucent and was confused, and realized I didn't want to mess this up. I figure if I go the all natural route I shouldn't be able to permanently screw up my hair where it can't be fixed.
If anyone can suggest any good easy to use henna products and/or recipes I would love to hear them. especially ones for making medium brown hair a dark ashy brown;)

[tiny_teesha]

i used indigo on my dark brown hair and it made it ashy looking...instead of golden-nuetral.

[themostsilly]

How do you apply indigo, and where can I purchase it from?

[Javadandy]

I think I have decided against the Hennalucent bark brown. I am worried it will turn my hair too red since it said it will add golden tones, and I am actually trying to tone down the brassiness. I purchased it in Sally's and they said I could use a little packet of purple stuff called red brassiness corrector and that would tone it down, but they didn't really seem to know from experience. I just don't want to take the chance and have my natural hair get turned some funky color or damaged before my pictures on Friday. I think I may order though the Colora henna to try, from reviews I've read online it seems like a better product.
I am trying the molases mask now, and see how that goes.
I am so inexperienced with henna the whole process freaks me out. I was reading the directions for the Hennalucent and was confused, and realized I didn't want to mess this up. I figure if I go the all natural route I shouldn't be able to permanently screw up my hair where it can't be fixed.
If anyone can suggest any good easy to use henna products and/or recipes I would love to hear them. especially ones for making medium brown hair a dark ashy brown;)

Hennalucent Bark Brown did not give me any red tones, it was a neutral brown if anything. The Henna for hair page has several amazing recipes with pictures. For me, adding amla to my hendingo took out the redness. Amla is not a strong dye on it's own, but it's good for the hair. You could find a recipe you like and add some amla to mute any red. Good luck. The best advice is to read all of the experiences here and then look at H4H for recipes.

[themostsilly]

I was afriad to use the hennalucent since I didnt want bad results right before my pictures. I am ordering some colora henna powder in ash brown to try. however I think I will just wait till after pictures to do anything. I may try the hennalucent later since it is so cheap and easily available -Javadandy did you use any special recipe with it, or just straight mix water with the entire package?
I will be checking the H4H recipes-thanks.

[Javadandy]

I was afriad to use the hennalucent since I didnt want bad results right before my pictures. I am ordering some colora henna powder in ash brown to try. however I think I will just wait till after pictures to do anything. I may try the hennalucent later since it is so cheap and easily available -Javadandy did you use any special recipe with it, or just straight mix water with the entire package?
I will be checking the H4H recipes-thanks.

No recipe, just the box instructions with very, very hot water. After I tried actual henna, the Hennalucent just did not work for me anymore...but it did color as described. It cannot match the extreme conditioning that you get with actual henna. If you have the time and can make a small investment, the henna mixes page on H4H will show you some really nice recipes, and you don't have to worry what's in it. I don't know much about colora henna, but since henna is not naturally ash brown, I would wonder what the ingredients are. Good luck with your choice, and if you decide to use the hennalucent, it does seem to be safe, even though it's not specific with it's ingredients. Would love to hear how it all works out for you. Best wishes.:)

Marian

[themostsilly]

Well I have tried many things this week trying to find something to get my hair closer to the color I want before pictures. I tried the molasses mask, which made my hair really soft, but added no color and didn't tone down the brassiness at all. Then I tried the recipe with sage, parsley, and molases, which didn't seem to do anything. So then I bought some fanci-full color rinse, which made my hair feel slightly thicker, but I couldn't notice any difference, a co-worker said it kinda looked slightly darker, but still had the redness to it, I however noticed a very definite reduction in shine, so I will not be using it before pictures. It seems I think my hair looks more brassy than other people do...this may b/c I am use to seeing my hair much darker due to dying it every month, so it is just a bigger difference to me, I will have to get use to. I guess some of it is also the whole self image thing most women have that they look worse to themself then they do to others. Well pictures are tomorrow, I am going to just make sure my hair looks as shiney, and healthy as possible, and see how I feel about the pictures. Thanks for all the advice.