Ash Color Wanted

[kellinaturalmom]

I was wondering if anyone out there has been able to produce ash blonde or ash brown results with natural dyes. I used to henna my hair but haven't for about 5 months. I was planning on never dying again but now that my natural is getting so long I see that there is a lot more grey in there than I thought. I am only 31! Anyways, I would love to hear from anyone who has gotten an ash color because it seems very hard to find info on this.

[Maverick494]

To be honest I don't know any natural dyes that produce this effect.

I only know two ways to get that that don't give damage.

#1. You can get a hair color glaze (which is basically dye/rinse without peroxide or ammonia in it) in an ash tone that will gradually fade out of your hair in a month/six weeks but make the warm colored parts a bit ashier. I got this done this to my hair a few days ago (haven't posted pics yet, but I will) at a salon for $60 and it made a world of difference to my warm length. I believe you can get them done at Ulta hair salon in the US for that same amount (I don't live in the US) or well, that's what I paid because they needed 3 bottles for my hair so I'm sure you'll be off cheaper.

#2. You could also try the various silver products out there to fight brassiness in blonde and see if that does anything for you. I know a friend of mine with platinum blonde hair who got her hair an ashy colour by simply applying the silver shampoo allover her hair (including length) and let it sit for 10 minutes before rinsing. You could try this, just make sure you condition well afterwards.

[xoxophelia]

The only thing I can think of is doing a henna and cassia mix with mostly cassia and then following that up with Virgin Snow Toner from Manic Panic or making your own toner with a blue-violet Manic Panic color and conditioner. Perhaps somebody else will have some better ideas though :)

[Diamond.Eyes]

You might find Nightdragon's "Strong Indigo-Henna-Amla Gloss" recipe and results to be of some use.
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=76572
It seems that a lovely ash/light brown was produced by this mixture.

[akurah]

Ashy colors are hard to achieve, that's because they have a green base. Most ash shades, if things go badly, turn your hair green...

[HollywoodRouge]

does't henna give a golden/reddish undertone to hair?
Im in the same boat as you, first using honey to lighten the shade to a very light brown, and then using purple shampoo to eliminate my natural golden highlights, so far i've only used the purple once, but it does seen to tone done yellowness, giving a more ashy undertone.
the semi-perm mentioned above is good, but i got sick of having to go back every 6 weeks, and seeing my gold slowly come back during that time was very annoying; i only had an ideal 'ash' colour for about 2 weeks.

[BritHair]

I have just recently used a black tea and black walnut rinse to my hair to tone down the grey hairs in my dark brown hair. It worked pretty good but I understand it must be done over several weeks to get a darker affect. All in all it stains the hair.

Anyone else try it?

[kellinaturalmom]

The only thing I can think of is doing a henna and cassia mix with mostly cassia and then following that up with Virgin Snow Toner from Manic Panic or making your own toner with a blue-violet Manic Panic color and conditioner. Perhaps somebody else will have some better ideas though :)

xoxophelia, I read the picture comment you wrote too and I think that is my only option - using indigo. The whole reason I wanted to do an ash color is because I am growing out my natural color, which is very ashy, and wanted to tone down the red. But if you can tell in the pic, there is an area in the middle of my hair that is darker than the rest because of a previous too-dark henndigo. It was really dark and I hated it and vowed to never use indigo again. My natural color is already lighter than the rest of my hair. It just sucks having two-toned hair and knowing it's going to take soooo long to grow out!

[jojo]

I am not 100% sure but I *think* walnut shells or amla give ashy brown results.