Tips for achieving Chocolate Brown with Henna?

[xfan]

Hi there,

I plan to Henna for my first time and am trying to find out the best way to get to a Chocolate Brown color as much as possible with as little red showing. So far this what I've discovered but if anyone has any additional tips, I would love to hear them.

100g Henna mixed with ACV
200g Indigo
30g Amla

I will do a strand test but I will assume in leaving it in for a 3-4 hours since I'm covering 20% gray. My natural color is chocolate brown and it was chemically died chocolate brown a month ago.

I heard maybe to add salt as well but am unsure. I also have the following essential oils on hand if they might help. Cedarwood, Grapefruit ,Thyme, Rosemary, Lemon, Sage, Geranium, and Lavender.

Thanks :)

[Eire]

Creating your own mix is fun and very customizable, but my favorite way to get brown with henna is simply ordering a bar of Lush Caca Brun. It's a premixed combination of henna and indigo solidified with cocoa butter, and you don't even have to wait for dye release. I tried it about two weeks ago and absolutely love the results. It's a warm, rich medium brown with only the slightest hint of red in the sun. Not at all the orangey results I got from pure henna.

To use it, I simply used a cheese grater to grate up 2 blocks (the bar comes with 6) and put it in a pyrex bowl over a sauce pan of simmering water. I had a second saucepan of water heating next to it. I poured enough hot water into the pyrex bowl to get the correct muddy henna consistency, added it to my hair, and then smoothed it over with some conditioner to make sure it was all even. Wrapped my hair in saran wrap for a few hours, rinsed, and done! I couldn't be more pleased with the results.

The nice thing about Lush is that it goes quite a ways (one bar will last me 6 months at this rate -- and I have past-BSL hair), it stores easily (just stuck the remaining bar in a ziplock), and it will always give consistent results. When you make your own henna, you are subject to slight error caused by different mixing amounts, differing lengths of dye release, and crop-to-crop variations. Using Lush eliminates a lot of these factors.

Just a suggestion I thought I'd throw out there -- but mixing your own is definitely an option too! You might wanna check the henna for hair site. They have lots of different mixing recipes as well as results pictures. I found it a really useful site when I mixed my own henna.

[dropinthebucket]

Sometimes the indigo doesn't "stick" the first app or two, but dont' panic - just apply again, and for most people, it will stick the second or third time, if it doesn't the first. Grey's can be more difficult and resistant for some people.

[caribou55313]

Your proportions sound good. I would mix the henna, amla and water together. Let it sit however long it takes to get dye release going (will depend on room temperature where you are, maybe 8-12 hours if you are in air conditioning and use cool water). Test a little blob on your palm to make sure it stains orange in a minute or so. When it's ready, mix indigo and warm water, then add to the henna paste.

I would only leave it on for 2 hours ... longer application times sometimes result in redder color, as the henna just keeps going and going and going after the indigo is done depositing dye. Your strand test will tell you. Be sure to keep your strand test as warm as body temperature, since the heat of your head is going to accelerate dye uptake. Putting it under a desk lamp will work, or put it in a little ziploc bag in your pocket.

Since you're covering gray, suggest washing your hair right before you apply to damp hair. Don't use conditioner as indigo uptake is somewhat inhibited by it.

[xfan]

Thank you ladies :)

[Velouria]

Did you plan on mixing with straight ACV? If so, I advise against it. Way too acidic for hair health, plus acidity weakens the effect of indigo.

Amla is acidic and serves as an acidic addition to henna. Adding anything else acidic, even diluted in water, would be overkill. I agree w/ caribou that you should mix the henna and amla (and water) together for dye release. Just before application, mix the indigo separately w/plain hot water (salted if desired), then combine the pastes and apply.

Whatever you do, don't mix all 3 powders together in your paste and let it sit for hours. The indigo's dye will get very weak from time and the acidity of the amla. It's preparation needs are totally different than henna's.

[xfan]

Well I had asked the place where I purchased the Henna, Mehandi, and they said it was ok to mix the Henna in pure ACV and the Indigo in water. But you feel I should not use any acidic element and just use pure water. I just recall several sites talking about how I needed to add something acidic. But then again, they didn't not consider Amla in the mix. :confused:


Did you plan on mixing with straight ACV? If so, I advise against it. Way too acidic for hair health, plus acidity weakens the effect of indigo.

Amla is acidic and serves as an acidic addition to henna. Adding anything else acidic, even diluted in water, would be overkill. I agree w/ caribou that you should mix the henna and amla (and water) together for dye release. Just before application, mix the indigo separately w/plain hot water (salted if desired), then combine the pastes and apply.

Whatever you do, don't mix all 3 powders together in your paste and let it sit for hours. The indigo's dye will get very weak from time and the acidity of the amla. It's preparation needs are totally different than henna's.

[trinc]

I'd love to see your results, because I'm aiming at choclate brown myself, but haven't had guts to do it yet. take before and after pictures, please! :)

question to Eire about Lush caca brown - is it permanent, or will it fade out a bit?

[Isilme]

a little bit of acid can be good for henna, but not just plain ACV, way too strong. And acid kills indigo so pure water with a tiny bit of salt added would be good.

[caribou55313]

Oh gosh, I completely missed where you mentioned vinegar, sorry! ... agree with Velouria, leave that out, and rely on amla for your acidity mixed with henna. (Water with a splash of vinegar is fine, but you don't even need that since you are using amla, which is acidic itself). A little acidity helps with gray coverage with henna, but too much will irritate your scalp.

Although it's true that indigo is inhibited by acids, getting good henna uptake is crucial to success with indigo. Weak henna uptake will result in poor indigo uptake and/or rapid fading as well.

[manderly]

If it's chocolate brown with little to no red, I would suggest you NOT henna.

You will have red undertones, they are unavoidable. When the indigo fades, it will just get redder. Chocolate brown is a cool color.

I tell you this as someone who hennad wanting chocolate brown. I now use demi permanent dyes to cover up the old red as the brown fades out. I also didn't think that henna did anything fabulous for my hair to warrant me having to battle with ORANGE freaking hair.

Just my :2cents:

[Eire]

question to Eire about Lush caca brown - is it permanent, or will it fade out a bit?

I haven't experienced fading yet, but then again it's only been on my hair for a couple of weeks. :) Before I used it I had the same question, though, and was told by other Lush users that it DOES fade out slightly after a while, but does not turn to red as it fades. They solved this "problem" by simply calling it time for another application.

[trinc]

I haven't experienced fading yet, but then again it's only been on my hair for a couple of weeks. :) Before I used it I had the same question, though, and was told by other Lush users that it DOES fade out slightly after a while, but does not turn to red as it fades. They solved this "problem" by simply calling it time for another application.

that's just excellent news, because I'm a bit afraid of red!!

[trinc]

P.S. Eire, do you have pics of your hair with Caca Brun?

[nmgdolly]

I am starting to show some grays and wanting to use something natural to cover them up. I am naturally a chocolate brown color of hair and do not want anything that will make my hair look any different colorwise. Just bye bye to the grays. I have used chemical dyes in the past, and I hate the way the formerly dyed parts of my hair look. They have a reddish blondish tint to them after the clairol wore off. I used brown, and they faded! Ick! I just want my hair to be the normal brown color, again. Just wondering about the safety and permanency of the Lush Caca Brown.???

[Anje]

I am starting to show some grays and wanting to use something natural to cover them up. I am naturally a chocolate brown color of hair and do not want anything that will make my hair look any different colorwise. Just bye bye to the grays. I have used chemical dyes in the past, and I hate the way the formerly dyed parts of my hair look. They have a reddish blondish tint to them after the clairol wore off. I used brown, and they faded! Ick! I just want my hair to be the normal brown color, again. Just wondering about the safety and permanency of the Lush Caca Brown.???

Safe to put on, but typically messier than using henna and indigo in powdered form, mixed with water. Unsafe to try to bleach out or dye over with something lighter -- the indigo has a tendency to go green if you try it.

The Lush Caca colors are usually somewhat less permanent than mixing up your own henna and indigo, but I wouldn't go in assuming anything. Henna is terribly permanent on most people. Indigo has a tendency to fade (at least on the first application), but not enough for the risk of it going green with peroxide to be discounted even years after the fact.

Another route to look in is semi-permanent direct dyes (which are one bottle or tub, not two things that are mixed together). They're not damaging and come in a range of colors. Your wild color hair dyes are usually semis like this. Like henna, they'll only darken your hair, not lighten it. In general, they fade over the course of weeks, so you do have to keep redoing the process. I'm fairly familiar with the brand Adore, which comes in some wild colors and some normal ones. Maybe a lighter brown that won't tint your dark hair much but will shade your grays would be worth trying?

[nmgdolly]

The semi permanent dyes are something I have thought about, but wanting something permanent and safe. I am lazy and do not want to have to do a great deal of touching up with color... lols. :)

[nmgdolly]

Already tried tea dying. Nothing happenned. Maybe should try coffee?? I do notice it to be an ingredient in the Caca Brun???

[nmgdolly]

I just want to do things as naturally as possible. I already use as much natural skin/body care as I possibly can. Real Victorian Girl, here. :)

[nmgdolly]

Oh, and I am extremelly sensitive/allergic to a lot of chemicals, medicines, cosmetics, etc., which is why I am always so scared to try something new.

[nmgdolly]

Sorry to be so chatty. I do so love this board. Thank you in advance for any wisdom you all might impart.

Grateful hugs,

Nancy Marie

[Anje]

Not sure what you mean by saying you want something safe. I mean, semis contain pigments that aren't generally harmful unless you've got a specific sensitivity to them. So does henna. So does indigo. So does coffee. But they don't contain peroxide (which can cause chemical burns) or PPD (a specific dark pigment that is sensitizing, and causes many people to eventually develop an allergy, found in many box dyes for darker colors). I guess I'm not clear on what would make a semi-permanent direct dye unsafe.

[nmgdolly]

By safe, I just mean without all the damaging chemicals in the Clairol types of permanent dyes. Will be checking out the Adore semi-permanents in a touch. Thank you. :)

[nmgdolly]

Just found out that the Adore Semi-Permanents are available at my local Sally Beauty Supply. Friday shopping, here I come.

[nmgdolly]

Hello,

My two local beauty supply stores did not have any Adore products. Soooo, I mixed up some very strong coffee with my VO5 Kiwi Lime Squeeze conditioner and put that on my hair. Left on for a couple hours and rinsed out. I think my hair is a touch browner. Yay! :)