Inconsistent results, grey roots and questions about buying henna in the UK

[girlinabox]

Hi all,

Firstly, would you be willing to share with me your favourite places to get henna in the UK and also how you manage to reduce the bright orange 'you've been tangoed' look?

For info I have naturally medium brown hair and have been using henna for over 10 years now - initially starting out just using straight henna but as I've started to get more and more grey hairs (which are ALL in the front around my temple annoyingly!!) I started incorporating indigo (initially using henna and indigo and mixing myself, but then moving to pre-made mixes in the Chesnut shade from 'Its Pure'). Over the last few years my hair got very very dark but the roots always look really bad - sometimes orangey-brown, sometimes not really doing much to cover them at all.

Recently I tried removing some of the built-up darkness using dandruff shampoo and citiric acid masks which helped a bit. I then applied henna (which I got off Amazon and stated was 2.9% Rajasthani henna) and ended up with the most vivid orange roots imaginable! I waited a couple of days for it to settle but it didn't so reapplied, as I read that repeated applications reduces the bright orange shade, but again, it didn't diminish, so I have taken to using the pre-made chestnut mix by It's Pure again...but now I find that with the indigo my hair looks so flat and artificial, if that makes sense? I was wondering if maybe doing some light henna glosses over the top with conditioner might help to give some of that lovely shine and lustre but with my greys covered.

I'm wondering what those of you with darker hair (medium brown to dark brown) do? Pretty please can you share your tips and tricks and secrets with me? I honestly don't know what to do anymore and I am just not ready to leave my greys natural I don't want to go down the chemical dye route as my hair is getting finer with age

Thank you so very much!!

[paulownia]

I would stick with henna only.
Rajasthani is a good choice here but make sure it stands to develop dye at least 12 hours.
If you want to build brown you need to leave it on roots for long time.
Try henna without acidic addictive and keep it for 6 hours. It should get darker after some time.

[Lady Stardust]

I’m in the UK and I used to order from Henna Cat
https://shop.hennacat.com/index.php?...tegory&path=59

I have also ordered from Henna Boy in the past.
https://henna-boy.co.uk/

I stopped using henna when some sections of my hair didn’t take it so well, and stayed orange rather than deepening to darker red. Predominantly silver hair does tend to go neon orange with henna, and I didn’t want to use other herbs to change it to brown.

I found that henna gloss didn’t cover silver, but I did quite a weak gloss so that could be the reason.

[captainjanuary]

It sounds like part of your problem is that you're doing whole-head applications. Your roots will always have less applications of henna/dye than the lengths and if you have lighter roots (grey) then the difference is going to be very noticeable. With whole head applications the ends/length become over-saturated and dark in comparison to your roots. The same thing happens to me but I have light blonde hair, not grey hair. The solution is to ONLY apply henna to the root area. I do this by isolating the root/scalp area to be dyed and the length of my hair in small sections wound up in plastic baggies and secured with small plastic hair ties. Then you have to grow out the length that is over saturated--I did use some Sun-In to lighten it in the meantime but growing it out is the best way. If you only henna the roots at regular intervals your hair will start to become a more consistent color from roots to ends.

I would also only use pure henna. You don't know what is in the mixes.

Recently I tried removing some of the built-up darkness using dandruff shampoo and citiric acid masks which helped a bit. I then applied henna (which I got off Amazon and stated was 2.9% Rajasthani henna) and ended up with the most vivid orange roots imaginable!

Yes, I'd guess this is because, again, you're not isolating your roots. You slightly lightened the length of your hair AND your roots, and then added henna-- it turned up brighter, of course, just like if you'd bleached it.