Is henna permanent?

[prettyhairisred]

I'm considering henna for my waist length dark blonde hair. I used to dye my hair red all the time, with lots of compliments, and I want to find a less damaging way of doing so.
My hair doesn't need the harshest dye, as blonde accepts color fairly easily, but will henna stay? :confused: I've researched a bit online. My mother seems to think it fades while a few sites say that it's permanent. :rolleyes:
It just seems that a damage free, beautiful red color is too good to be true! :p If all this is true, why bother having horribly damaging chemical dyes?! :(

[Ravenwind]

Henna is very permanent. It does not come out! There have been people with success using Color Oops and bleach, but it's sort of damaging. Last I died my hair with henna was in January and it's still just as red as when I dyed it. It doesn't exactly fade, but the color gets darker after you dye it. I just noticed it doesn't stay as vibrant as it is the very first day you dye it.

Henna is not damaging at all. It's a very good conditioning treatment and dye :) people usually look down upon henna because they think it ruins hair, so they stick to chemical dyes.

[caadam]

I second Ravenwind. Henna is permanent. Never tired it myself, but if you look around LHC, you will see how permanent it is through our local hennaheads. lol

[Miss Catrina]

What I've heard is that it fades in the sense that it is very, very vibrant when you first do it, then kind of "settles down" over the next few days. I heard that you don't know what color you really have until after 3 days - or maybe 3 shampoos?

Either way, after that - that's it. You're pretty much stuck with it.

[Falcore]

Yes, it's permanent so just be sure it is realllllllly what you want. And find a good quality (BAQ) one from a reputable site.

[AnqeIicDemise]

Short of chopping off your hair or damaging the crud out of it to make it less bright, it is permanent. But if you're up for the commitment, go for it. I need another pair of hands to help me with mine or I'd keep it up. XD

[prettyhairisred]

Thanks for all the help :) im defiantly thinking of trying it. Though the not knowing what color you have part is a bit frightening :o what brand should I buy?

[TheMechaGinger]

Henna is insanely permanent. You can't get it out with color oops or any similar product and although it might fade over time it's a very very minuscule amount of fading. I haven't henna'd my hair in six months and it's still the exact same color. Another thing to consider is that henna just coats your natural color so on brown hair it shows up as red highlights but on blonde hair it shows up as flaming red. If you love red then that's totally awesome. I'd definitely recommend a strand test first to see what you're going to end up with. And as far as brands go, as long as it is lawsonia inermis in the ingredients list and nothing else you're pretty much good to go

[ladylowtide]

Very permanent. Some people have trouble getting the color to take because they tried not the freshest henna or an application process that isn't right for their hair, but once it shows up, it stays.

It is brighter and more orangey the first day, then settles down into the color it is going to be 2-5 days, just like when you henna your skin, only it stays on the hair.

I would not try a straight henna application if you are looking to get strawberry blonde, or light copper red because chances are that it might end up much redder the first time, or much redder each time you do your roots if you get any overlap.

The thing with henna is that is translucent. Like a orangey red tint over your natural color, which is why it looks more vibrant on lighter hair. It you layer multiple henna applications over the same hair you will get a darker and richer red color, versus and initially more orangey color the first time. I highly recommend www.hennaforhair.com they have a ton of information on hennaing your hair.

As far as the non-dye benefits of henna, it has made both my virgin and damaged bleached ends, shinier, more sleek. My ends are less velcro-y and my hair hardly tangles anymore, even when I have braid-waved. If you can take the commitment, it can make your hair look beautiful red, but if you think that even 1% of you might like your virgin color more. Don't do it. I think it is as simple as that.

[fairystar32]

Agree with others, it took me years to grow all my hendigo out and right until the end, the ends were dark brown/black with a red sheen ;)

[prettyhairisred]

Thank you ladylowtide that website was very helpful.:) a hair color that actually IMPROVES your hair color sounds like a dream come true ! :D I am a bit worried at how bright it'll turn my medium/golden/sometimes dark blonde hair. But I guess I'll do a strand Test like suggested. After all my pale coloring is what maks the red look so natural! :p I'll try to post pictures of the result, if I've figured out how to do that by then :rolleyes:

[Alvrodul]

Oh, absolutely. Don't put henna on your hair unless you want to commit to having red hair - you don't flirt with henna, you marry it.
It is true that there are some who have been able to get rid of the henna short of resorting to scissors, but don't count on being able to do so.
And certainly not without causing a lot of damage.

If you are unsure that you want red hair, or think you may change your mind, try another, less permanent, solution.

[jojo]

I was very lucky, though chemical dye doent stick long in my hair and i did remove all my henna but i was that one in a million, my advice is use a semi dye something like castings amber is a nice red and has no peroxide or ammonia and is very gentle on the hair, id not recommend henna unless you have properly researched it and are 999% sure you want to be a red head for good, before deciding check out the threads of people on here desperate to get rid of it!

[GlennaGirl]

"Is henna permanent?" Oh my yes. It's Agent Orange-permanent. When the world ends and everything else has been eradicated, all that will be left is cockroaches, Twinkies and henna.

[prettyhairisred]

Haha that last comment gave me my second laugh of the day ^ :p ::cheer:
I've got the message of henna's permanent ness :D

[HintOfMint]

"Is henna permanent?" Oh my yes. It's Agent Orange-permanent. When the world ends and everything else has been eradicated, all that will be left is cockroaches, Twinkies and henna.

Hahaha! That's hilarious!

[Mesmerise]

Well I will differ on my opinion of henna's permanence to some others here and say... it depends! When I first hennaed my hair (over 20 years ago) it certainly faded quite a lot (and a few months later I remember having a chemical red dye put over it).

It has also faded in my DD's hair, because I don't do hers full strength or monthly. What I've done with her is given her a couple of henna glosses (once this year and once last year) and occasionally I've coloured a streak of her hair with henna. In her case, it's always faded. I did a gloss only a month ago and you can hardly tell at all now, and as for the last streak I did, it's gone (although she didn't leave it in as long as I do).

There may be several reasons for this. For starters, the gloss is dilute. I would imagine full strength means more colour and harder to remove. Also, this term she's gone swimming in a chlorinated pool twice a week (usually it's just once a week, but this term the school is giving them lessons too), and I have a feeling that contributes to the fading.

Then there's lack of frequency, because in her case I will do it after a few months, rather than regularly like for myself. I can NOT imagine that my henna would fade now, even if I left it... the ends probably have 15-16 full strength applications by now!!

If you try something like a light henna gloss (henna made up with a lot of conditioner added) you may get a lovely colour that naturally fades over time (but may still last longer than a lot of hair dyes you purchase, because I've found red to be one of the fadiest colours!). If you are at all unsure, then do a strand test first, though ;). It looks great in my DD's hair which is light brown/dark blonde (however you want to define it lol...).

Actually here's a pic of her hair when I did it last year... hopefully it works okay because Photobucket has changed since I uploaded it and I can't figure out how to get a proper link :rolleyes:.
http://mob163.photobucket.com/albums/t295/ahri22/P2280061.jpg?t=1298976644

This completely faded within a couple of months... and since I did it last month, it's faded as well. (I used Jamila BAQ henna).

[Nannanej]

Back when I started using henna, I would use lower quality henna (pure henna, but not body art quality), and pour boiling hot water over it when I mixed it (this gives instant dye release, but also makes the henna fade, as far as I know).
It definitely faded .. From a strong, dark red to just a tint of orange in a couple of months. But that's because I was doing it all wrong :b Body art quality henna prepared the right way is definitely permanent, and now I have to be careful to only dye the roots, since it very easily gets too dark with multiple applications.
That's another thing to keep in mind .. Root upkeep is a little bit of a pain for me, since my natural hair is this weird translucent ashy color. Every time the roots grow out a little bit, it looks like I'm going bald, and in general just looks pretty bad against the henna, now that it doesn't fade at all. At the same time I don't want to dye too often, because I always get a bit of the already-dyed hair as well, and I don't want it to dark. Meh! So depending on your natural color, that can be kind of annoying.

[Nightshade]

"Is henna permanent?" Oh my yes. It's Agent Orange-permanent. When the world ends and everything else has been eradicated, all that will be left is cockroaches, Twinkies and henna.

LMAO! :lol: Pretty much.

As others have said, you don't date henna, you marry it.

[Anje]

Henna is permanent as in "best removed with scissors" for maybe 90-95% of people. A few people get fading. Don't count on being one of them.

[prettyhairisred]

Your daughters hair is a very nice color btw :D kind of like what im going for. I'll have to consider a henna gloss. I've never heard of them before! It sou ds like the perfect solution: not to bright that my mom'll get mad, bright enough that I and my friends will admire it, and will decrease slightly within time But I know understand that henna will defiantly, completely, 100% never fadee! :D
Any ideas of a good henna gloss seller? I'm just asking as I'll have to order online (my town is minuscule -.-) and the store I was originally planning to purchase from (lush) seems to have nothing of the sort!

[Maelyssa]

My own henna seemed to fade in brightness very steadily over the course of a month following the application but only a small amount. Kind of went from looking brilliant red to a coppery reddish brown if that makes any kind of sense.
If never totally fades but some lightening past the first few days may occur.

[Alvrodul]

Finding out just how henna will react to your hair is why it is so important with extensive strand testing. And even so you might get surprises.