Henna Thread, take two

[shelomit]

Cyclamen, from what you've written, I take it that this is the first time that you've applied henna on this hair and that you didn't have some other kind of layered dye situation going on underneath it? If so, this is the opposite of what some people experience, in which their roots are darker but their lengths get sun-bleached and therefore wind up looking an orangeish or a brighter red with the addition of henna. Greys and grey patches also tend to look brighter/brassier when hennaed than non-greys on the same head, but it sounds like you have mixed greys. This result could make sense if you dyed over grey hairs previously and your roots have now grown out grey/lighter, but again that doesn't sound like what you're describing. Apologies if I've misunderstood something!

Temperature does affect dye somewhat. The henna "mud" will take longer to activate in cold weather or if you store it in the fridge overnight, as some people do. In my experience, though, it shouldn't noticeably affect the dye uptake (AKA how quickly/how well your hair absorbs the dye), and certainly not in a different way across different parts of your head. The runniness could possibly indicate a mixture that is too watery. And I agree, you certainly shouldn't go less than two hours. Even that is kind of cutting it close. . . I might recommend 3.5 for good coverage.

[Corvana]

I'll be hennaing soon (well, probably summer time), and I was wondering: I have hard water, should I like... get distilled or something to mix with my henna, or is it fine? I get buildup in my tea kettle after like two uses, it's hard. It's awful

My plan is to get one of the Nightblooming mixes (I... don't remember which off the top of my head lol), and I'm not gonna add anything else to it. I've started gathering hair for my swatches, even though I don't wanna do swatches, I just wanna do the henna! I know I'm not gonna get a super bright result, my hair is quite dark! Normally I'm incredibly impulsive, but since henna is a much bigger commitment (both due to its longevity and due to me not being willing to chop my hair off) I want to do this slow and right. What all would I need to swatch for? For like... how long to let the dye release maybe? Just to see how the color looks in the end? I don't know! Do I only need one? Or more?

So yeah, that's my questions: Do I need to worry about my super hard water, and How many strand test swatches do I need if I'm just using straight water with my mix?

[SaveTheTapirs]

I'll be hennaing soon (well, probably summer time), and I was wondering: I have hard water, should I like... get distilled or something to mix with my henna, or is it fine? I get buildup in my tea kettle after like two uses, it's hard. It's awful

My plan is to get one of the Nightblooming mixes (I... don't remember which off the top of my head lol), and I'm not gonna add anything else to it. I've started gathering hair for my swatches, even though I don't wanna do swatches, I just wanna do the henna! I know I'm not gonna get a super bright result, my hair is quite dark! Normally I'm incredibly impulsive, but since henna is a much bigger commitment (both due to its longevity and due to me not being willing to chop my hair off) I want to do this slow and right. What all would I need to swatch for? For like... how long to let the dye release maybe? Just to see how the color looks in the end? I don't know! Do I only need one? Or more?

So yeah, that's my questions: Do I need to worry about my super hard water, and How many strand test swatches do I need if I'm just using straight water with my mix?

I'm kind of in the same boat, doing henna soonish and I'm concerned about my super hard water. I can't answer you about swatches, except to encourage you to consult hennaforhair.com because they have so much really thorough info on techniques and processes. I would definitely use distilled water in your mix if you're just going to use water. I plan to do a chelating treatment before hennaing as well, there's good info on that here: http://science-yhairblog.blogspot.co...-hair.html?m=1

I'm going to do a citric acid treatment/rinse since I have some citric acid lying around, and an ACV rinse just before applying henna. The hard water can actually affect your color result and dye release/uptake. There's some info on that here: https://www.ancientsunrise.blog/tag/mineral-build-up/

(As I understand, hennaforhair=Mehandi=Ancient Sunrise. They have their own chelating treatment called Rainwash but I believe it's just citric acid.) I recently bought some Ion hard water shampoo at Sally's and I really think it helped my scalp stay buildup-free for a lot longer. So I'm really getting into the chelation thing and thinking it might be the missing piece in my haircare puzzle. I hope that helps at least somewhat!

[Cyclamen]

Shelomit, thank you. Yes, you understood everything right.
It's been more than a week now, henna has fully oxidized, and colour looks more even now. I think temples looking more red has something to do with angle at which hair lays and reflects red glow. Maybe I'll take some pictures in the daylight when it stops raining.

[shelomit]

Shelomit, thank you. Yes, you understood everything right.
It's been more than a week now, henna has fully oxidized, and colour looks more even now. I think temples looking more red has something to do with angle at which hair lays and reflects red glow. Maybe I'll take some pictures in the daylight when it stops raining.

Ah, okay--good to hear that the uneven takeup seems to have been a temporary matter : ) It is always so hard to judge exactly what shade hennaed hair has wound up unless you're in sunlight. . . which might not be until March the way our weather is shaping up here ; P

[Jane99]

I have a zero water filter for my drinking water which filters out all the particulates and I use that for making the tea for mixing henna because of the concerns about hard water. Someone on here had her hair turn green from cassia, because of the hard water but if I remember correctly she used Nighblooming’s hard water crystals and it got the green out

[Corvana]

I'm kind of in the same boat, doing henna soonish and I'm concerned about my super hard water. I can't answer you about swatches, except to encourage you to consult hennaforhair.com because they have so much really thorough info on techniques and processes. I would definitely use distilled water in your mix if you're just going to use water. I plan to do a chelating treatment before hennaing as well, there's good info on that here: http://science-yhairblog.blogspot.co...-hair.html?m=1

I'm going to do a citric acid treatment/rinse since I have some citric acid lying around, and an ACV rinse just before applying henna. The hard water can actually affect your color result and dye release/uptake. There's some info on that here: https://www.ancientsunrise.blog/tag/mineral-build-up/

(As I understand, hennaforhair=Mehandi=Ancient Sunrise. They have their own chelating treatment called Rainwash but I believe it's just citric acid.) I recently bought some Ion hard water shampoo at Sally's and I really think it helped my scalp stay buildup-free for a lot longer. So I'm really getting into the chelation thing and thinking it might be the missing piece in my haircare puzzle. I hope that helps at least somewhat!

Ah thanks for the advice! I need to get a chelating shampoo, so it's on the list! I need one in general, but my clarifying shampoo has been doing fairly well on its own in general. But likely not optimal! It's good to know that I should get some distilled water, though. I thought I might, but wasn't totally sure!

[alewyn]

Hey henna thread! Curious about people's experiences with their henna fading. I did my first henna application in August, and have only been touching up roots since then because I like the color I have and don't want to go darker. Lately, I'm definitely noticing a shade difference between my more recently touched up roots (fully oxidized by now) and my lengths, especially where I had some sun lightened hair underneath--those spots are a bit orangey in sunlight, whereas the fresh stuff is a bright ruby red. For reference, my base color is around a level 6, and those lighter bits were closer to an 8 before henna. When my first application was fresh, everything had the same bright red glint, which is what I'm going for.

Anyway, I'm hesitant to do another full-head application in my attempts to get the two to match because I don't want to go much darker overall. I'm considering doing just roots and tips on my next application any thoughts?

[Corvana]

Hey henna thread! Curious about people's experiences with their henna fading. I did my first henna application in August, and have only been touching up roots since then because I like the color I have and don't want to go darker. Lately, I'm definitely noticing a shade difference between my more recently touched up roots (fully oxidized by now) and my lengths, especially where I had some sun lightened hair underneath--those spots are a bit orangey in sunlight, whereas the fresh stuff is a bright ruby red. For reference, my base color is around a level 6, and those lighter bits were closer to an 8 before henna. When my first application was fresh, everything had the same bright red glint, which is what I'm going for.

Anyway, I'm hesitant to do another full-head application in my attempts to get the two to match because I don't want to go much darker overall. I'm considering doing just roots and tips on my next application any thoughts?

I have no... experience with henna so take this with a whole shaker of salt, but my first thought was maybe a gloss instead of a full treatment?

[alewyn]

I have no... experience with henna so take this with a whole shaker of salt, but my first thought was maybe a gloss instead of a full treatment?

I've been thinking that might be another good option and will probably do more research. I know nothing about glosses, so if anyone has any articles/threads to recommend or tips for choosing a good conditioner (preferably a natural ingredient as I don't normally use store-bought liquid conditioners so I would never use it all up) let me know! I'm slightly nervous because I know henna is very pH sensitive, so I wouldn't want to accidentally alter the composition of the dye (I especially don't want it to lean too far to the golden side, which I know can happen with acidic ingredients).