Cassia ruined my hair, help!

[kittylover]

I need your help guys. I used cassia on my hair 4 days ago and the color is absolutely hideous. My natural hair color is medium brown which was highlighted to a light blonde. My hair was very damaged from the highlighting and in some places it even was like cotton candy but only at the bottom. Anyways, in order to improve the condition of my very damaged bleached blonde highlights I decided to do a cassia treatment. I mixed it with ACV and let it sit for a few hours for dye release because I wanted the full benefits of the conditioning treatment. I left it on my hair for 3 hours. It left the top half of my highlighted hair a nicotine yellow color and the bottom half very orange. It looks really horrible. It looks at least 3 shades darker. I have done 2 honey lightening treatments so far but it didn’t do much. I am thinking maybe the olive oil and cinnamon in the honey mix made my hair even darker. I will be trying the honey lightening with just honey and distilled water and see if that helps some. I understand cassia is supposed to be only temporary but due to the really bad condition of my bleached hair I am thinking this might be permanent. My hair really sucked up the color. Is there anything else I can do to get the cassia out of my hair besides honey lightening treatments? I am really desperate. I want my blonde hair back. I have been wearing my hair in a bun since it happened. Again, top half of my hair is nicotine yellow bottom half were my hair was really damaged is orange. Any help and advice is greatly appreciated.

[IndigoAsh]

I imagine that maybe doing a regular Henna over it would correct it.

[melrose1985]

If I remember correctly Cassia is something that does wash out over time. So Maybe you should wait it out until it fades out.

[little_cherry]

Hmm...I would try one of those toning shampoos to cut out the brassiness...they come in purple and blue..I'm guessing you'll need to get the purple toning shampoo for where it's yellow and the blue for where it's orange. It certainly won't hurt to try.

You used straight ACV to mix the cassia? That may be the reason why you got such a screaming yellow...many here just mix it with water...also, next time, don't dye release the cassia if you're not looking for the colour; cassia will still have conditioning properties without the dye release....mixing it with conditioner and doing a gloss does well, too.

[GoddesJourney]

Hmm...I would try one of those toning shampoos to cut out the brassiness...they come in purple and blue..I'm guessing you'll need to get the purple toning shampoo for where i's yellow and the blue for where it's orange. It certainly won't hurt to try.

You used straight ACV to mix the cassia? That may be the reason why you got such a screaming yellow...many here just mix it with water...also, next time, don't dye release the cassia if you're not looking for the colour; cassia will still have conditioning properties without the dye release....mixing it with conditioner and doing a gloss does well, too.

I'm going to agree with this whole post, especially with the ACV part. That stuff is highly stainable.

[NouvelleNymphe2]

regular henna is going to make chemically processed blondish-brown hair very red/orange/copper i would think. even if it is just a gloss. it will not bring the blond back. if i were you i would check out Nightshade's article regarding Natural Hair Coloring with Henna and other herbs:

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=2

it talks about lightening, different types of treatments, and also going blonder naturally. i'm sorry to hear that you don't like the yellow or brassy colors. i love cassia. it is definitely a brassy/yellow/corn color. it gives my hair lots of strength. my hairs are virgin so i don't know how cassia effects chemically processed hair. best of luck! hope you find some help in Nightshade's article. :blossom:

[spidermom]

Warm oil treatments, then washed out with a dandruff shampoo or maybe one of those color correcting shampoos. French or dutch braid colorful ribbon into your hair to make the colors prettier.

[Rini]

I imagine that maybe doing a regular Henna over it would correct it.

No, don't do this. Your hair will turn orange. There was a thread somewhere around here a while back when FrannyG did a similar thing and she managed to get the colour back to blonde. PM her?

[Gilly]

Why did you mix it with ACV???
I always thought that water was the best to use with cassia, its what I do.

[Igor]

Hmm...I would try one of those toning shampoos to cut out the brassiness...they come in purple and blue..I'm guessing you'll need to get the purple toning shampoo for where it's yellow and the blue for where it's orange. It certainly won't hurt to try.

You used straight ACV to mix the cassia? That may be the reason why you got such a screaming yellow...many here just mix it with water...also, next time, don't dye release the cassia if you're not looking for the colour; cassia will still have conditioning properties without the dye release....mixing it with conditioner and doing a gloss does well, too.

Agreeing.

I have to ask, where did you get the idea to use ACV in cassia from?

Cassia isn’t supposed to be colouring. People use cassia because they want the non permanent benefits from henna without the colour

[kittylover]

Agreeing.

I have to ask, where did you get the idea to use ACV in cassia from?

Cassia isn’t supposed to be colouring. People use cassia because they want the non permanent benefits from henna without the colour

On the hennaforhair site it said to mix with lemon or orange juice and I didn't have any so I used ACV.

'Mix cassia with enough lemon juice or orange juice to make a paste as thick as yogurt. Let the paste sit about 12 hours. Section your hair and apply the cassia thick, as you would cake frosting into all the sections and down to the scalp. Wrap your hair in plastic wrap to contain the slop. Leave the paste in three hours. Rinse out and shampoo. Your gray or faded blond hair should feel heavy, thick and silky, and have a lovely youthful golden color.'

I did excatly that except I used ACV instead. I only used one tablespoon though. Do you think the yucky yellow color will still fade over time?

[kittylover]

No, don't do this. Your hair will turn orange. There was a thread somewhere around here a while back when FrannyG did a similar thing and she managed to get the colour back to blonde. PM her?


I did try her method of removing the yellow stain but unfortunately it didn't work for hair.

[Tom Steinberg]

Sorry to hear about your mishap Kittylover. I was considering to try it myself, but I have read on the net that it may change the color, so I chickened out.

[Nightshade]

yeah, big fat NO on the henna, it'll make things a lot worse.

I send the hot oiling treatments :) Slather up your hair with warm EVOO, wrap it up and let it sit for an our or so, then shampoo it out. It may take awhile, but that should fade it.

You could also try honey lightening and see if that'll help, it seems to work better on hair that's already lighter.

[Artsy]

On the hennaforhair site it said to mix with lemon or orange juice and I didn't have any so I used ACV.

I did excatly that except I used ACV instead. I only used one tablespoon though. Do you think the yucky yellow color will still fade over time?
ACV itself can leave colour in your hair. When I used it on my blond hair I had a slight yellow tint deposited with rinsing. I preferred to use chamomile on blond hair to treat it. I never did cassia on blond. Anyway, both cassia and ACV will wash out completely. Deep oiling and warm oil treatments should help with both your hair's condition and to lift the colour a bit. Get yourself some toning conditioner for blond hair and leave it for 1 hour, it will deposit a bit of purple and tone the yellows. It does not have to be a professional toner.
Also if you have John Freida available in your area, there is a highlighting conditioner for champagne blonds, and there is a lightening one with citrus and chamomile. Both work very well with removing colour deposit.

[little_cherry]

Give clarifying a go. Follow this with an olive oiling over night, CWC the oil out the next morning and do a deep moisture treatment.

Going by what you've said in your first post, your hair sounds extremely porous and would benefit more with a weekly protein and deep moisture treatments and a monthly clarifying...oiling the ends would help, too.



On the hennaforhair site it said to mix with lemon or orange juice and I didn't have any so I used ACV.

'Mix cassia with enough lemon juice or orange juice to make a paste as thick as yogurt. Let the paste sit about 12 hours. Section your hair and apply the cassia thick, as you would cake frosting into all the sections and down to the scalp. Wrap your hair in plastic wrap to contain the slop. Leave the paste in three hours. Rinse out and shampoo. Your gray or faded blond hair should feel heavy, thick and silky, and have a lovely youthful golden color.'

I did excatly that except I used ACV instead. I only used one tablespoon though. Do you think the yucky yellow color will still fade over time?

I was under the impression that you used ACV alone..

The instructions you used was for colouring hair; the only thing I disagree with in the instructions is the use of straight lemon juice or orange juice. Strong acids in cassia will give you and unsightly Big Bird colour-- just ask all the cassia users here. ;) Experience is golden. :) Pure/distilled/bottled water is the best way to go.. cassia or henna.

[ddiana1979]

Oh dear. Don't use henna. At this point, you'll end up with a weird orange if you use henna.

I would suggest minimally damaging techniques to try to get it back to as normal as possible. More honey lightening treatments should help (& won't damage your hair). You can do a couple/few SMTs to get some moisture back into your hair. Some people use chamomile tea on blonde hair. Catnip tea should help protect your ends a little bit, which are now damaged.

See Ktani's information here on Honey Lightening (http://ktanihairsense.blogspot.com/2009/11/part-4-of-4-on-innovativee-approaches.html). Ktani may be able to help you come up with a better solution, if she is willing. Also you may be able to get some help from Mehandi.com. They have a forum, and you can ask for technical advice.

Don't do anything drastic. Don't go to a stylist to get it "fixed" unless he or she knows how herbal dyes work.

[Unofficial_Rose]

OK, I have to reply to this! Cassia and lemon-juice dye-released overnight turned my (then) pale-blonde highlights a hideous butterscotch colour like the one you describe. I got it out by slathering coconut milk onto dry hair, wrapping it and leaving for a few hours, then shampooing out. Maybe you could try this?

[kittylover]

I will try the hot oil and deep oil treatments. I will also try the coconut milk method. I will get some tonight. Thank you so much for all the suggestions. I hope some of this will help.

[UltraBella]

My suggestion is for a shampoo meant for swimmers to strip the chlorine out that your hair absorbs. I have used the Paul Mitchell one to lighten a haircolor that was too dark and it worked very well and my hair was still in nice condition.

[LaurelSpring]

The good news may be that if your hair is so porous that it grabbed the color it may also be so porous that it may not hold onto it. When I have wanted to attempt to strip my hair I use mineral oil. Its a pain but it can pull some color out. Dish detergent can also strip it. Those may help initially and then you can back down to the honey and smts etc.

If nothing else helps and time doesnt take care of it and if worse comes to worse you can always try to color it back to your natural color and that should take care of it. Ktani had that thread about adding coconut oil to color so it wouldnt be damaging. Thats a thought also. Hope it comes out soon!

[lapushka]

Cassia over a very light color (white hair, light blond hair) will give off color... on natural hair, but I think the reaction on bleached hair might be much stronger than we all think it is. Hopefully it will also fade on chemically processed hair, IDK.

Guys, do be careful switching back and forth between natural dyes and chemical dyes. I've had disastrous results with this, and I'm sure there are others. People keep doing this, thinking that because it's natural it won't affect the chemical process in a negative way. Except, you just never know...

I'm sorry I don't have any suggestions on how to improve the situation.

[MAO]

I echo the warm EVOO. It's always been real good at pulling color out of my hair! What I do is nuke the OO and then dunk my whole length into the bowl, and then squeeze out the extra oil. You will see color in the oil you squeeze out! Of course, it might take a couple of shampoos to remove all the oil though. ;)

[Anje]

I imagine that maybe doing a regular Henna over it would correct it.
Only if by "correct" you mean "make darker orange." I don't think that's what she wants. (Me on the other hand.... I like my hair to look like it's on fire.)

As others have said, I think a good shampooing and/or some warm EVOO treatments will help pull some of the color out without too much damage. Don't do anything too harsh, like multiple dish soap washes. The color will come out eventually, and you can use an anti-brassiness shampoo and conditioner to help cover it in the meantime.

In the future, skip the ACV (and lemon juice, for that matter) in the mix, and just use water. That'll make it lighter, since ACV is known for bringing out red tones. It'll also make it less drying. You might also want to look at Zizyphus spina christi (http://www.mehandi.com/shop/zizyphus/) as an alternative to cassia, especially if your hair is really light-colored. It's supposed to have similar conditioning properties, but no color at all.

[kittylover]

Cassia over a very light color (white hair, light blond hair) will give off color... on natural hair, but I think the reaction on bleached hair might be much stronger than we all think it is. Hopefully it will also fade on chemically processed hair, IDK.

Guys, do be careful switching back and forth between natural dyes and chemical dyes. I've had disastrous results with this, and I'm sure there are others. People keep doing this, thinking that because it's natural it won't affect the chemical process in a negative way. Except, you just never know...

I'm sorry I don't have any suggestions on how to improve the situation.

Do you think I will be able to put a few highlights in my hair after the cassia has faded some? I am thinking maybe in 3-4 weeks and only the root area? I have higlighted my hennaed hair before and it turned out okay. But I don't know about cassia.

[NouvelleNymphe2]

(Me on the other hand.... I like my hair to look like it's on fire.)

lol!:thumbsup: and it looks so perrrdy like that

[kittylover]

The good news may be that if your hair is so porous that it grabbed the color it may also be so porous that it may not hold onto it. When I have wanted to attempt to strip my hair I use mineral oil. Its a pain but it can pull some color out. Dish detergent can also strip it. Those may help initially and then you can back down to the honey and smts etc.

If nothing else helps and time doesnt take care of it and if worse comes to worse you can always try to color it back to your natural color and that should take care of it. Ktani had that thread about adding coconut oil to color so it wouldnt be damaging. Thats a thought also. Hope it comes out soon!

I will try mineral oil. I have some at home. Is mineral oil hard to wash out? I have tried coconut oil and it washed out just fine.

[Anje]

No personal experience, but I'm under the impression that mineral oil is a lot harder to get out than veggie oils. Also, it doesn't soak into the hair (coconut and olive do, to some extent), so there's less benefit from it for the hair, which is a nice side effect from soaking in EVOO.

To get oil out, I suggest getting a bunch of cheap conditioner (think Suave, VO5, White Rain, etc.) and smearing a bunch into your oily-but-not-wet hair. Let it sit for a while, maybe a half hour, then rinse it all out. Conditioner often does a better job of emulsifying oils than shampoo does.

[lapushka]

Do you think I will be able to put a few highlights in my hair after the cassia has faded some? I am thinking maybe in 3-4 weeks and only the root area? I have higlighted my hennaed hair before and it turned out okay. But I don't know about cassia.

I'd not risk it, if I were you. Switching between natural and chemical dyes some more isn't going to solve things, IMO. It might, but the outcome is always risky, that's why we usually need to strand test. I know, I once didn't either, and my hair got fried. Please be *especially* careful with bleach and natural dyes. Sometimes it might be okay, but there are times when it can go terribly wrong too.

[ratgirldjh]

Once when my hair came out way too dark from boxed dye - I put a lot of conditioner on my head (you could add olive or mineral oil too) and let it sit for hours wrapped up in plastic. When I rinsed it out and then shampooed - enough color came out so that it was much better.

And I've read that the color from cassia is not permanent - unlike henna - so just COing it a few times may take care of it.

djh

[kittylover]

Will soaking my hair in EVOO leave a yellow or gold stain in my hair because of the color of the oil?

[madeline_]

Maybe it's mineral buildup from hard water? I've read that cassia càn turn darker if your water contains a lot of mineral. There's a wash at Mehandi / Henna for Hair that's called Rain Wash, that gets rid of mineral buildup, and it might very well lighten a cassia treatment gone wrong because of it. And then rinse with distilled or demineralized water.

Either way, though I know it won't do you much good now, always mix cassia with distilled water only, and one or two hours straight after mixing should suffice for application. I hope that this experience won't change your mind for the worse about cassia, it is a lovely product.

[kittylover]

Maybe it's mineral buildup from hard water? I've read that cassia càn turn darker if your water contains a lot of mineral. There's a wash at Mehandi / Henna for Hair that's called Rain Wash, that gets rid of mineral buildup, and it might very well lighten a cassia treatment gone wrong because of it. And then rinse with distilled or demineralized water.

Either way, though I know it won't do you much good now, always mix cassia with distilled water only, and one or two hours straight after mixing should suffice for application. I hope that this experience won't change your mind for the worse about cassia, it is a lovely product.

Thanks madeline. I do love what it did for the condition of my hair though. The frizz is gone and it is fuller and much more managable. It actually looks like normal hair now. If it wasn't for that awful color I would be in heaven right now. I will definitely try cassia again, heavily diluted though with conditioner or something like that.

[NouvelleNymphe2]

Will soaking my hair in EVOO leave a yellow or gold stain in my hair because of the color of the oil?

it might leave a gold sheen if your hairs are light. mine are light brown with natural highlights. when i cassia (+honey+EVOO, etc.) it leaves my highlights goldish or corn colored. see profile album.

[heatherovka]

I just did a cassia treatment about a week ago and I thought my ends in particular turned out a very weird bright yellow (I have light brown hair). Overall my hair seemed a bit darker. The next day I did a 3 hour SMT and after that the color seemed much calmer, back to where I almost can't tell any color difference.

So I agree with the olive/hot oil soak ideas, and you could try a long SMT (with or without oils). Honestly I do think it will wash out over time. I hope that helps.


ETA: I doubt you'd get too much color change from the olive oil. I would be very hesitant to try mineral oil, I've just not really heard much about that used for hair.

[autumn_aqua]

Something else you might try is GVP's version of Joico K-Pak. Whenever I use it it pulls a LOT of Elumen color from my hair, no matter how old the color. Nothing else does this.

I shampoo (if I were you I'd use a clarifying shampoo), squeeze out excess water, and apply very generously from root to ends. Put on a plastic cap or saran wrap and leave it on using heat. Leave it on as long as you can stand before rinsing (at least 30 minutes), then rinse well and follow with a moisturizing conditioner.

Elumen and cassia aren't the same thing of course, but Elumen is a deep-penetrating stain for the hair and I'm thinking it might pull at least some of the stain out for you. You can find GVP products at Sally's. Good luck!