How to avoid lighter roots/dark length with henna?

[pullanmuru]

Hi! I've been colouring my previously black henna/indigoed hair with just henna. My natural colour is mousey blonde, and although I was worried that my hair would just end up orange it seems that my hair really takes in henna dye very well. The problem is just every time I use henna, the bit that has already been hennaed is darker than the roots. I try to do just the roots, but some henna always ends up on previously dyed parts. That's partly because I don't like my natural roots and I like to use henna quite often. Also it's not so easy to spread the stuff into the roots only, without any getting on the previously ocloured parts.

The hair that has had just one application of henna right after hennaing is bright orangey red, then turns less orangey and more red in a couple of days after colouring. But the part of hair that has two or more applications is dark burgundy. I'm surprised about the darkness of the colour, as I've always assumed I wouldn't get very dark results with henna.

Does anyone know any tricks to avoid this dilemma of bright/lighter roots and darker length? I would like my hair to be either lighter red OR the deep burgundy, it's the two-tone hair I don't like. It looks like I've naturally ginger hair that I've been lazy to colour darker...

[myrrhmaiden]

I would try a hair color brush. It is flat and wide and meant for precise application of hair color. You should be able to find one cheaply at a local beauty store. Part your hair into small sections and apply the henna to the roots only. Having a friend help with the back is definitely welcome. Leave the color on the roots for as long as you usually would, and voila! Henna blends pretty well if there is any slight overlap. If you are doing all over applications, there is really no way to avoid two tone. It's tricky at first, but the more you do it the easier it will get. Good luck.

[RocketDog]

I have lightish blonde hair and I do my roots probably every 3 weeks or so, and when I'm doing things the 'long' way I will spoon my henna into a ziploc style bag and snip off a corner to make an 'applicator' for the mud. It's more precise that way, and if you do parts every half inch or so you can really get your roots without having too much of the mud go everywhere else.

I have to say though, I use Jamila henna and I find it very forgiving if I'm lazy when I apply - other than the obviously first-application-orange roots I never see dark spots from overlapping applications. It is not a 'true' red that I get anyways, it's definitely more towards a rusty-auburny color, which may or may not be what you're looking for. Feel free to squeak a peek in my gallery to see what color I'm talking about ;)

[CaityBear]

The color brush is awesome. I bought some at the local Dollar Store a long time ago and I like to use those to get my roots first before I put henna on the rest of my head. Getting the very back is kind of difficult but it's pretty easy to do about 70% of my roots with it.

[pullanmuru]

Thanks for your replies. I do already use coloring brushes, honestly I wouldn't manage without them. But I am going to try the plastic bag method next time, thanks for the advice. The biggest problem area is on top of my head and around the face which are naturally the parts where the roots are most visible.

Has anyone tried applying henna two times in a row, so that the second application would darken the roots. Perhaps having a couple of days in between applications to let the first one oxidize before the second one. I wonder if that would work? It's a bit of an effort though.

My hair colour is very interesting at the moment because most of my lengths is still black from indigo and then there's about 2-3 inches of this dark red-brown, and then an inch or so of bright red. I think I could cope with just the dark auburn/mahogany ( I don't which it is as it changes in different light settings) and brighter red but having the black ends on top of that is SO annoying I'm almost tempted in cutting my hair drastically :eek: but I really don't want to do that.

[Jonl]

I guess, it depends on the type of henna you use. It is best to go through the instructions on the pack. You problem seems to be complicated, but maybe due to wrong way of application. You can take take professional advice on the same....because no use guessing and experimenting.

[pullanmuru]

I've been using Yemen henna from Hennaboy and I really like it and before that Punjabi Prime from Mehandi. There really are no instructions on the packet, it's just pure henna. To my knowledge most professionals don't know that much about henna or don't really know what to do with it. My sister is a hair stylist and she doesn't know anything about henna.

[cleanbug]

Hi there, my roots are always a tad lighter than the rest of my hair. i do roots only every 3 weeks but really and truly it covers the first 1.5 inches of hair. i usually have about 1.2 inch or a little less of roots every 3 weeks. I find with doing roots this often there is not much of a lighter root area (because its less that 1/2 inch). i leave it on for 5 hrs & too use yemen henna.
because it overlaps a little, the last root touchup gets the 2nd application (so it now matches the length of my hair) and the new greys get their first application.
i dont see how there is a way to get around the roots being a bit lighter as multiple apps is the only way to get the henna color deeper.

[Shatam1]

I use a hair dye bottle. I cut the tip a bit more to make the flow of henna easier and I mix my henna to be mor liquidy than when I do full head applications. I put my hair up in a pony tail and shoot the roots only all around my scalp and under the pony tail. When I finish I wrap cling wrap around the pony tail all over my head then I wrap everything with a plastic beg or more cling wrap. Finally I cover all that with a wool hat and voila....;)

[piratejenny]

I've posted a similar question recently and GRU wrote an awsome reply (reply #20):
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=86627&page=2

I haven't gotten around to trying it yet but I most certainly will :D. Good luck!

[pullanmuru]

I'm coming back to this same old problem.

The problem seems to be, not so much the application, but the fact that henna just doesn't colour my very blonde roots that well with only one coating. And whenever you henna there is going to be some overlapping colour, even if it's just an inch or so.
Probably more than that in practise. So the part that has two coatings is darker than the part that has only one coating of colour. I just can't seem to get totally even colour all the way from roots. It may not be noticeable but it bothers me a bit :undecided

The difference with chemical colours is that they don't go darker with further applications.

[uglypug]

I have a similar problem in that the lengths are very dark after a few full-head henna-ings (over box dye) but I have grey roots. I've tried to match up the colours by multiple root-only applications of henna but as I was left with grey/orange roots and burgundy ends I gave in and used a box dye to even it up a little. Looks much better now but I would like a less damaging option. Semi-permanents don't really cover the grey either.

Ultimately I think I am too lazy to henna several times every time I need to touch up my roots:D

[Lala3488]

how long do you leave your henna on your roots? I have the same issue with darker length because my roots are a dark blonde color. When i leave the henna in overnight (8-9 hours) the color comes out alot more even. Maybe you could try leaving it on just the roots for a longer period of time and it might help some.

[swearnsue]

I think the old indigo will fade out over time, so that will help. My roots are very noticeble because they are gray. I use a high lawsone henna, Raj...(sp?), so the grey gets very dark red and matches the rest of my hair pretty good. Also my hair grows slowly so by doing henna every 3 or 4 weeks I'm able to keep the roots from showing pretty much. I know what you mean about the roots around your face showing more. I think in my case it's because I don't cover that area with henna as well because I'm trying to keep my face from getting too orange and also it is hard to get the plastic wrap around my ears and cover the "sideburns". But if you keep hennaing the roots I think it will even out eventually without having to cut off your hair.

[Shatam1]

What if u put vegetable dye, like Manic Panic on the roots, red of course, then henna over it?? Would that work to yield darker roots?? I am thinking of trying this because I am tiered of this exact problem. I touch up my roots every 10 days to 2 weeks and still the roots come out orange yellow:confused: can someone chime in on this ?? Thanks:)

[pinkb21]

I have the same problem with having natural light blonde hair....so today i am going to leave henna with a small amount of indigo on my hair for three hours. Wash and dry then indigo on just my roots for an hour.

[Shatam1]

I did it:cheese: yey.... Yesterday I put very small amount of MP vampire red on my orange roots After washing my hair and combed it through my crown only. It turned out a perfect burgundy red and blended very well with the length. But I used very very little.like less than half a tea spoon. I haven't covered it with henna yet.. I guess I can wait a while and see what will happen with the washing. I didn't even wait the full 15 minutes to wash it out. I left it only for ten minutes maybe... This stuff is really easy on the hair . It is even very conditioning. My hair felt soft and is very shiny.
Successful experiment:D

[pullanmuru]

I've been using manic panic now as well between hennas.

I think I might've been using too strong/high dye content henna (Yemen & Red Raj) since my hair turns burgundy with JUST 2 LAYERS of henna!! I did my roots yesterday, and noticed that the little bit of my hair with overlapping colour (seriously you cannot avoid a little bit of colour overlap when doing roots touch up) turned burgundy. Red Raj is real deal! Unfortunately I don't go for burgundy, as I would rather have a lighter/warmer/more orangey/light auburn type tone to my hair. Burgundy is just too dark.

I don't know how on earth am I going to achieve that! I would still like to henna every now and then, since manic panic fades so quickly and it's more of a mess as it stains to easily...it's good for quick fix up on areas where the lighter roots are annoyingly obvious though! And I love the intense bright red you can get from manic panic but I would only do it every once in a while..

[cmg]

The henna you are using now might be about twice the lawsone content from a "noname-henna". So why dont you just mix it 50/50 with cassia? There is no way you will get it lighter on the lengths by doing full henna roots all the time.

Surprisingly enough, I get not covering- or shade- problems when doing my roots only. I have white roots and currently I am aiming for the darkest possible henna shade I can get. I do the roots every fortnight or so. I dont know if I will ever reach burgundy (cool shade) on virgin whites. But even though my hair is now chocolate brown :bigeyes: (which is a little dissapointing) it still has typical henna firey flares :cool: I use a noname henna but this is enough to get good coverage.

If you want the henna to stick better on the roots you can do a BS wash right before (rinse VERY well). You may also be able to draw out some henna from the lengths with a warm coconut oil-honey treatment. This worked for lots of people to start some bleeding of the dye.

/ CMG

[cmg]

Just remembering, if you dont like using coconut oil, olive oil and peanut oil are said to work well for this also. Camellia oil may be an alternative also (easier to get out after the treatment than the olive oil). Dont really know why these oils in particular work, but they seem to, according to various people reporting this internationally.

/ CMG

[pullanmuru]

Sorry, this might be a stupid question but what is BS wash? Baking soda? No? Yes? :D just guessing...

I'll definitely try the oil treatment. Although I managed to lighten the lengths with 40 vol bleach highlights... :) yes, not good for the hair but overall looks lighter.

[cmg]

You guessed right!
Not the baking powder mixture, just plain natriumbikarbonaatti eli natriumvetykarbonaatti E500 :)
You can use it different ways, just search here on LHC.

/ CMG