Shikai color reflect shampoo, so surprised! And concerned.

[Rybe]

So I have been complaining to people a lot lately about my hair color. I was born blond and it has been, a fraction at a time, getting darker and darker as I age, and has now at 24 it has reached a terminally unpleasant dishwater gray brown blond color that I hate that makes me look even paler and something like a corpse. (Disregard my icon, even I think the flash makes my hair gorgeous...it's not that color in reality.) People still would compliment the gold undertones, but I think the dull grayish ones kinda sucked the life out of me :rolleyes: so when I saw this "color reflect shampoo" I decided to give it a whorl and got the "warm" or red toned one (They recommend it for dark or auburn hair with natural red tones, but I have natural red highlights occasionally when they feel like it, so I went for it.)

I wasn't expecting it to DO anything :shocked: One shower later all the nasty grayish tones are gone, my hair has a gorgeous warm tone to it. Not RED but leaning more towards copper then nasty tarnished brass :D Needless to say I'M THRILLED who knew my endless color gripes would get cured in one shampooing that I didn't think would work :rolleyes:

Though now I'm a little concerned. I snooped a bit online to see reviews and found a list of the ingredients that translated the science lingo on the back to find out what magic they worked on my hair, and to see if anyone else had the same experience. Red henna extract! THAT'S what colored my hair :p But I know from lurking around here henna is many, many kinds of permanent, and now I'm concerned if I keep using the shampoo it'll just get darker and darker, and I'm not a henna head for a reason, my husband has red hair. That would just be weird...

Thoughts? Experiences? Advice? Have a couple days until my next wash day, gotta figure out if I'm going to use it again! On top of the color I love what it did for my hair...So smooth and soft!:cheese:

[ladyfey]

I have the same hair color as you, I may have to try this!

[spidermom]

That's funny; I'm sure you meant permanent, but you typed peppermint.

Have you tried an apple cider vinegar rinse? That always brought out the red tones in my hair, which I don't like so I use white vinegar. I prefer my golden tones. I have the Shikai moisturizing shampoo, and I found that my hair feels weird if I don't follow it with a very dilute vinegar rinse.

[Rybe]

Heh woopse, thanks for the catch. Silly spell check errors. I was just too excited about my hair color :)

My goal wasn't REALLY to bring out the red, more to just kill the grayer tones, or counterbalance them at least. My natural hair color at the moment is doing bad, bad things for my complexion. I'm sure it will continue to change but it was driving me nuts. For now "warm" seemed like a good plan! As long as it doesn't start progressing from "warm" to "copper penny"

[Amber_Maiden]

I would go with the acv as well. Use the shampoo only for re-growth?

[spidermom]

Try to find out more information about the shampoo. It could be that the henna is a very weak concentration and won't build up.

[BlazingHeart]

I would switch back and forth between this shampoo and what you were using before - just use this one whenever the gray tones seem to be seeping back in.

~Blaze

[misspriss]

I would switch back and forth between this shampoo and what you were using before - just use this one whenever the gray tones seem to be seeping back in.

~Blaze

This. I don't think it will be too strong of a color, but if you used it and then used something else until the effect started to go away, you would be sure it wasn't permanant. If it never goes away, that one use was all it took ;) But I'm guessing it's dilluted enough not to build up too much, and if you alternate it with another shampoo there shouldn't be a problem at all.

[ktani]

Here a list of the ingredients of all of their products,
http://www.shikai.com/products/ShiKai%20List%20of%20Ingredients%2012-2010.pdf

The only one I see with henna is this one
"WARM SHAMPOO
water, aloe vera gel* (aloe barbadensis), red henna extract (lawsonia inermis), olefin sulfonate, cocamidopropyl hydroxysultaine, cocamide MEA, glycerin, panthenol, jojoba seed oil (simmondsia chinensis), amodimethicone, glycol distearate, sunflower extract (helianthus annus), salt, citric acid, diazolidinyl urea, octyl methoxycinnamate, natural fragrance. "

It is pretty high up on the label. I would pass on this if you are concerned at all, and stop using it.

It is not or should not be left on the hair longer than a normal shampoo would be and I doubt that the colour will be permanent but it may last and longer than you want it to do.

[islandboo]

I actually use their Henna Gold Highlighting shampoo (well, I alternate it with other poos, but I did use it alone for months at a time in the past) and it also has Lawsonia extract as an ingredient. Before I spent a lot of time here I was clueless about what it meant, and now that I know what Lawsonia is I have always been curious about what exactly they meant since my hair never actually turned red (although it does give me very nice shine).

Here is the blurb from the bottle: The secret is non-coloring henna, long treasured for its extraordinary ability to reflect light. We use a special water-soluble form of non-coloring henna that cannot build-up. Leaves your hair with shine and luxurious body.

And here are the ingredients: Water, Henna Extract ((Neutral Non Coloring) Lawsonia Inermis), Olefin Sulfonate, Cocamidopropyl Hydroxysultaine, Cocamide MEA, Glycerin (Vegetable), Acetamide MEA, Echinacea Angustifolia (Coneflower) Polysaccharides, Salt, Panthenol, Hydrolyzed Soy Protein, Methyl, Propylparaben, Fragrance (Natural)

But like I said, even with repeated use my hair never changed color to any noticeable extent, even in terms of highlights.


Edited to add: I see now that the Henna Gold ingredients specify "non coloring henna" and the Color Reflect doesn't say anything about "non coloring" so perhaps you should be cautious... Maybe contact their customer service department?

[ktani]

As far I as know neutral henna is cassia senna not lawsonia inermis. ETA and cassia can yield a gold colour but it is not permanent.

I would contact them too just for a clarification.

[Lilli]

Well, now I am curious and want to know if the warm/red one will last for too long... if it lasted a few days, I'd try it for kicks!

[archel]

Ok now I want to try this stuff, I have been using henna and would love to have to touch it up less often! Where can you buy it?

[Rybe]

Well! I contacted customer service, and the short version is that the red reflect will continue to build up color on your head, but it will also wash out if you shampoo with something else a few times. But it will not build up enough to be an official hair color aka it won't cover grays. But my mom's still gonna try. One of its main goals seems to be trying to preserve colors if you've dyed your hair some sort of redish color. Not coloring your hair. But it worked for me! But I have red tones and a very mailable hair color...

Now I'm going to try alternating it with shampoo bars (a reportedly color friendly method of shampooing :) ) I discovered if I used it twice in a row my color got a bit dark, but one shampoo it lightened up a shade and is a spiffy color again.

I found mine at our local Co-op, so...doesn't mean much about if other ones will have it. My mom found it online, though, because apparently driving downtown is too much work :confused:?

[Lilli]

Well! I contacted customer service, and the short version is that the red reflect will continue to build up color on your head, but it will also wash out if you shampoo with something else a few times. But it will not build up enough to be an official hair color aka it won't cover grays. But my mom's still gonna try. One of its main goals seems to be trying to preserve colors if you've dyed your hair some sort of redish color. Not coloring your hair. But it worked for me! But I have red tones and a very mailable hair color...

Now I'm going to try alternating it with shampoo bars (a reportedly color friendly method of shampooing :) ) I discovered if I used it twice in a row my color got a bit dark, but one shampoo it lightened up a shade and is a spiffy color again.

I found mine at our local Co-op, so...doesn't mean much about if other ones will have it. My mom found it online, though, because apparently driving downtown is too much work :confused:?

Thank you for the report! Now I want to try it to see if I can be a temporary strawberry blonde.