Henna Thread, take two

[ademtce]

i think my henna faded, i know the color will settle but this a wk or so after and my hair is more brown than red. i like the color it was before, but i also want my hair a lighter & redder.
i wonder if i could dye over it to a lighter brown, then re-henna.

does this sound like something i should do?

[Tia]

Hi

I´m new here and I have been reading stuff some here and there, but I don´t have found answer(or that doesn´t worked).

Problem is that I can´t seem to get my hair dark red or reddish brown, I get allways only flaming orange(and week or two, and I have lose all color). My own color is maybe like, umm, dishwater blonde or something like that and I have some darker cemical color in the ends.

I have tryed henna, indigo+henna, indigo+henna+amla, but not getting the results i like..

Is there something I could try? I just try that henna+indigo+amla, and yep, its flaming orange again. Maybe just more indigo? I deffinately don´t want black, so i´m maybe use that too little..

[Isilme]

If you want deep red hair you have to leave your henna on as long as you can stand it, four hours or more, and do multiple applications. Try to leave it on longer and henna more often. For some people, things like oils, cones and such can inhabit the colour. If you really aren't getting any colour try to shampoo and skip the conditioner, then henna. Are you using any acid n your mix? Some people find that acid mixes never gets then past the flaming orange. Try both and use the one that gives you the most colour. Also, how do you dye release your henna? Leaving it out too long might kill the dye.
I'm interested in how you henna because I want that flaming orange so bad:P
Oh, and you say you're a blonde, that could be contributing, because the lighter starting colour you have the more henna you need to make it darker.

Hi

I´m new here and I have been reading stuff some here and there, but I don´t have found answer(or that doesn´t worked).

Problem is that I can´t seem to get my hair dark red or reddish brown, I get allways only flaming orange(and week or two, and I have lose all color). My own color is maybe like, umm, dishwater blonde or something like that and I have some darker cemical color in the ends.

I have tryed henna, indigo+henna, indigo+henna+amla, but not getting the results i like..

Is there something I could try? I just try that henna+indigo+amla, and yep, its flaming orange again. Maybe just more indigo? I deffinately don´t want black, so i´m maybe use that too little..

[florenonite]

i think my henna faded, i know the color will settle but this a wk or so after and my hair is more brown than red. i like the color it was before, but i also want my hair a lighter & redder.
i wonder if i could dye over it to a lighter brown, then re-henna.

does this sound like something i should do?

It's possible for it to oxidise for up to a week, so this probably is the oxidation process. I would also not recommend dying it lighter then rehennaing; even with medium-brown hair you generally ought to get a very red colour with a full-strength BAQ application.

First of all, are you using BAQ henna? If not, try BAQ, it will often leave a better stain.

Secondly, how did you prepare your henna? Did you leave it sitting out or anything? Did you use hot water or warm? You might have inhibited the dye.

Thirdly, how long did you leave it on for? The longer you leave it on, the deeper the stain.

Your hair might also be really porous, in which case a first application may come out fairly quickly, particularly if you only did a gloss.

Finally, what's your starting colour? Could you post a pic? That might give us a better idea of what colour you can expect to achieve. A pic of your hair now would be useful, too.

[Tia]

If you want deep red hair you have to leave your henna on as long as you can stand it, four hours or more, and do multiple applications. Try to leave it on longer and henna more often. For some people, things like oils, cones and such can inhabit the colour. If you really aren't getting any colour try to shampoo and skip the conditioner, then henna. Are you using any acid n your mix? Some people find that acid mixes never gets then past the flaming orange. Try both and use the one that gives you the most colour. Also, how do you dye release your henna? Leaving it out too long might kill the dye.
I'm interested in how you henna because I want that flaming orange so bad:P
Oh, and you say you're a blonde, that could be contributing, because the lighter starting colour you have the more henna you need to make it darker.

Thank you for the answer.

I usually use some lemon, that last mix i put only little, two teaspoons or something like that.

Sometimes I have had dirty hair but usually I wash it before, wait it dry and colour then.

That last mix i let sit over night on table before colouring. Usually i have waited only 30 min-3 hours(i have not found that site yet then) and maybe that was problem then.

My hair is slippery and it has always been hard to colour, everything just fades right away. I think now it´s getting tiny bit of colour more than last time, so I keep trying on darkening..

I´m going now to put henna on my head for over night and tomorrow some henna+indigo or indigo for few minutes. I´ll raport how it works.

I have to get some hair i can live with for friday..

[ademtce]

It's possible for it to oxidise for up to a week, so this probably is the oxidation process. I would also not recommend dying it lighter then rehennaing; even with medium-brown hair you generally ought to get a very red colour with a full-strength BAQ application.

First of all, are you using BAQ henna? If not, try BAQ, it will often leave a better stain.

Secondly, how did you prepare your henna? Did you leave it sitting out or anything? Did you use hot water or warm? You might have inhibited the dye.

Thirdly, how long did you leave it on for? The longer you leave it on, the deeper the stain.

Your hair might also be really porous, in which case a first application may come out fairly quickly, particularly if you only did a gloss.

Finally, what's your starting colour? Could you post a pic? That might give us a better idea of what colour you can expect to achieve. A pic of your hair now would be useful, too.

i used BAQ Punjabi Prime henna. mixed it with half water / half lemon. let it dye release about 2 1/2 hrs. i check it for dye release with the spot testing on my wrist and it left a nice orange spot. so i applied it to clarified hair, let if on for about 2 1/2 hrs. my natural level is Level 2 (dark brown) but i had about 1/4 processed hair on my ends.

this is my starting color.


after henna (12 hrs oxidation)


after 1 wk ( this basically how my hair looks now)



this is kinda of unrelated but not at the same time.
i woke up today and out of nowhere my hair was extremely dry & brittle. the night/day before my hair was fine. it thick (or it felt thick) and strong. but i woke up today and it feels like my hair is totally ruined. i did not dye my hair with chemicals. so i have no idea why my hair freaked out = (

[florenonite]

ademtce: Are those lighter bits at the bottom of the last picture the processed hair at the ends? It's possible your hair is too dark to take a bright colour from the henna, but mixing it with cassia might help, though I confess I don't know much about cassia. There are also some threads here on lightening henna, for instance Nightshade did so with Sun-In, or you might want to gently lighten your hair before applying it (though don't dye it a lighter brown, because that would likely cause more damage than, say, using just peroxide, about which I do believe there's a thread). It does look as though some of the henna's actually come out. Perhaps your hair's really porous and it's washed out. You could try and do another application and see if it sticks this time. You might also want to leave it on longer next time; most people leave it on for at least four hours.

You won't get that pre-oxidation colour with just straight henna, because it's lighter than your natural colour, and henna cannot lighten hair (though it might appear to do so before it oxidises). What I've suggested above, besides the suggestions for lightening the hair, might help give you more red, but it won't give you as bright a red as you had pre-oxidation, but perhaps a colour more akin to the one in Isilme's siggy a few posts above.

ETA: Here's Nightshade's thread on lightening henna with Sun-In.

And Here's Nat242's thread on lightening hair with peroxide prior to hennaing.

[NotOfThisWorld]

No one seems to have noticed my henna gloss... My hair is definitely redder but nobody's commented on it. :P Oh well I'm loving it. My husband was surprised yesterday at how red it can be in the sunlight at times, and then how it can look still just normal dark blonde. He likes it. I'll get around to posting picture I promise.

[Velouria]

i think my henna faded, i know the color will settle but this a wk or so after and my hair is more brown than red.

It may be oxidation, but it may also be fading. It is quite common for the 1st application of henna to fade. After hair has been hennaed twice, though, there is rarely much fading...although there may be some on the roots that have just had one layer of henna.

[ademtce]

in answer to the extreme dryness i had, i discovered i just need a trim.
my ends had gotten really bad, (pre-LHC) i was flat ironing everyday - but i've stopped now, completely. but i need to cut off the split/burnt ends.