Henna dread: trying to remove henna

**MotherofPhoenix** · January 16th, 2021, 03:59 PM

So I haven’t hennaed my hair since November and I have about an inch give or take of hair growth. I have been oiling my hair overnight for a week which barely seemed to lift the henna. I started using Suave clarifying shampoo two days ago and I actually notice my hair lighting. Some of my natural blonde highlights are starting to poke through. I’m going to continue oiling and clarifying for about a month until I take it to the salon for bleaching. Is there anything that has worked for any of you besides oiling and strong sulfate shampoos? I am just so sick of henna.
(live and learn but henna was a huge mistake for me)

**Bat** · January 16th, 2021, 04:08 PM

I don't think bleach works on henna, it goes green, you'd best try and tone it or leave it to grow out, I'd never henna I change my mind every day

**akurah** · January 16th, 2021, 04:20 PM

Originally Posted by Bat

I don't think bleach works on henna, it goes green, you'd best try and tone it or leave it to grow out, I'd never henna I change my mind every day

It goes green with indigo. If OP used henna only, OP should be ok.

Nightshade has a great thread here about how she lightened her henna:
https://forums.longhaircommunity.com...ightened+henna

Here's another thread where a user actually successfully removed it:
https://forums.longhaircommunity.com...ad.php?t=85463

Now, I'm going to level with you. Your henna may not come out even with bleach without bleaching it to oblivion. It depends on a number of factors, generally, how dark your henna is, how cooperative your hair is, and how lucky you are. For the vast majority of people, henna is permanent and it should be treated as such. While you absolutely should try the above linked methods, you may find they don't work and your only option may be to live with it until you cut it out.

I really suggest trying the above methods before going to bleach too. If you get lucky (and you might, though I seriously doubt it) your hair will be less damaged for it.

**MotherofPhoenix** · January 16th, 2021, 04:35 PM

Thank you, I will check them out! And yes I never used indigo, always 100% pure henna. I will honestly be satisfied with a cooper blonde or anything light as long as it’s well blended even if it has orange or red tones.. As long as I can lighten it up enough to grow out my natural color. The henna just got really dark. I honestly feel good about the progress so far, it has lightened up a lot. If I could ever figure out how to post pictures I will try to post updates in this thread for other people in my position or may be in my position in the future.

**Bat** · January 16th, 2021, 04:48 PM

Oops sorry guess I was wrong

**akurah** · January 16th, 2021, 04:51 PM

Originally Posted by MotherofPhoenix

Thank you, I will check them out! And yes I never used indigo, always 100% pure henna. I will honestly be satisfied with a cooper blonde or anything light as long as it’s well blended even if it has orange or red tones.. As long as I can lighten it up enough to grow out my natural color. The henna just got really dark. I honestly feel good about the progress so far, it has lightened up a lot. If I could ever figure out how to post pictures I will try to post updates in this thread for other people in my position or may be in my position in the future.

I wish you luck. Don't let my negative nancy attitude discourage you from trying either, it's just... I've seen so many people try to remove henna and fail that I want people to have realistic expectations. The unfortunate fact of the matter is there is no statistical data to give people a better idea (ex: 10% could expect henna to be removable completely, 10% can expect to see lightening, and the remaining 80% are just out of luck). If something like that were available, it might be easier to advise people on how to proceed (or warn them of the risk involved so they have an accurate picture without scaring them off needlessly).

**Obsidian** · January 16th, 2021, 05:45 PM

I've bleached henna, two or three rounds of bleach just made it a lighter and brighter orange. I could have kept bleaching it until actually went blonde but I'm sure that would have melted my hair off.

You can use nightshades method to lighten it some but it will still be henna red. The only way to really get rid of henna is cut it off, grow it out or dye it dark.

**jane_marie** · January 16th, 2021, 05:56 PM

Hello! I'm sorry henna did not work out for you. I can sympathize. I always wanted red hair and then when I achieved it I found that it made me look as if I had jaundice.

Right before I joined LHC I decided to color my hair with henna... only my natural shade is just on the brown side of black and I knew that the henna would never show up red on it. So, I bleached my hair once with a low volume developer, waited a week or two then went over it with henna.

Here's a look at the the color that little experiment resulted in:

Since I despised how sick it made me look I started working at getting it out within the next month. Thanks to the help of quite a few members in the henna & natural haircare section I managed to fade it significantly. I know there must still be henna in it because my hair appears different shades in different light but in most lights it's now more or a warm mid tone brown.

Here are my two most recent photos that show its current "range"

As you can see in the second photo, it's still pretty brassy but it's not the neon vermillion it had been. I suspect that some of the warmer coloration is from bleaching my very dark hair and some of it is from henna remnants.

I don't remember what I did to get it to fade as much as it did. However, if you are interested you can check out these threads to see for yourself:

https://forums.longhaircommunity.com...d.php?t=150683

https://forums.longhaircommunity.com...ght=jane_marie

I'm not sure if it contributed or not however several times (5-10?) over the year and a half since I applied the henna I neglected to wash my SMT out in a timely fashion. I was depressed and applied the SMT with every intention of only leaving it on overnight but I would routinely forget or not care and didn't end up rinsing for several days or a week later. Sometimes I wonder if the honey in my SMT played a part in lifting my henna.

I will say two things though...

First it's possible that I got the henna to fade so much because I bleached it first or because the brand I used was an inferior henna mix (henna, indigo and cassia) which although done as directed was faulty due to the directions being unconventional compared to how people on LHC use henna.

The other thing is that obsessively trying to get the henna out of my hair did not do me any favors as far as the health of my hair goes and I can't really say that I like the color it is now any better. I feel like I wasted a lot of time getting the color to fade as much as it did. Honestly, if I could go back, I think a better option might have been for me to simply shave it off. I still remain tempted to cut it off at chin length so I can have a head of my natural color sooner rather than later. Either that or just... accepted it. I think I might have been happier then (and feel about the same now) if I had just accepted the color.

Just my thoughts. I don't know.

Good luck. I hope the links help.

Edit - One saving grace or having a demarcation line/ growing out color is that the stark contrast in shades makes braids look really interesting. There's always a silver lining.

**MotherofPhoenix** · January 17th, 2021, 09:16 AM

Originally Posted by jane_marie

Hello! I'm sorry henna did not work out for you. I can sympathize. I always wanted red hair and then when I achieved it I found that it made me look as if I had jaundice.

Right before I joined LHC I decided to color my hair with henna... only my natural shade is just on the brown side of black and I knew that the henna would never show up red on it. So, I bleached my hair once with a low volume developer, waited a week or two then went over it with henna.

Here's a look at the the color that little experiment resulted in:

Since I despised how sick it made me look I started working at getting it out within the next month. Thanks to the help of quite a few members in the henna & natural haircare section I managed to fade it significantly. I know there must still be henna in it because my hair appears different shades in different light but in most lights it's now more or a warm mid tone brown.

Here are my two most recent photos that show its current "range"

As you can see in the second photo, it's still pretty brassy but it's not the neon vermillion it had been. I suspect that some of the warmer coloration is from bleaching my very dark hair and some of it is from henna remnants.

I don't remember what I did to get it to fade as much as it did. However, if you are interested you can check out these threads to see for yourself:

https://forums.longhaircommunity.com...d.php?t=150683

https://forums.longhaircommunity.com...ght=jane_marie

I'm not sure if it contributed or not however several times (5-10?) over the year and a half since I applied the henna I neglected to wash my SMT out in a timely fashion. I was depressed and applied the SMT with every intention of only leaving it on overnight but I would routinely forget or not care and didn't end up rinsing for several days or a week later. Sometimes I wonder if the honey in my SMT played a part in lifting my henna.

I will say two things though...

First it's possible that I got the henna to fade so much because I bleached it first or because the brand I used was an inferior henna mix (henna, indigo and cassia) which although done as directed was faulty due to the directions being unconventional compared to how people on LHC use henna.

The other thing is that obsessively trying to get the henna out of my hair did not do me any favors as far as the health of my hair goes and I can't really say that I like the color it is now any better. I feel like I wasted a lot of time getting the color to fade as much as it did. Honestly, if I could go back, I think a better option might have been for me to simply shave it off. I still remain tempted to cut it off at chin length so I can have a head of my natural color sooner rather than later. Either that or just... accepted it. I think I might have been happier then (and feel about the same now) if I had just accepted the color.

Just my thoughts. I don't know.

Good luck. I hope the links help.

Edit - One saving grace or having a demarcation line/ growing out color is that the stark contrast in shades makes braids look really interesting. There's always a silver lining.

oh wow. Yeah I have notice people who bleached prior to henna are the marjority of those who successfully remove it. Still gives me hope. I honestly would be fine with bright orange hair if I can get a really good stylist to blend it out. The way it is now is just WAY too dark for my complexion. Nothing looks good on me anymore and my confidence is just at an all time low. Henna is so beautiful but not a good color for me. Hopefully I can get it to fade like yours and then blend it out to be a strawberry blond until it’s all gone.. I read that whole thread. Nightshade mentioned color oops. Did you ever try that? Thanks for your reply. It’s been really helpful and I feel pumped to conquer this. Haha.

**MotherofPhoenix** · January 17th, 2021, 09:20 AM

Originally Posted by Obsidian

I've bleached henna, two or three rounds of bleach just made it a lighter and brighter orange. I could have kept bleaching it until actually went blonde but I'm sure that would have melted my hair off.

You can use nightshades method to lighten it some but it will still be henna red. The only way to really get rid of henna is cut it off, grow it out or dye it dark.

Was the bright orange attractive/ workable? Like enough to throw a color on it and it look some what nice? I’m just trying to have somewhat of a realistic game plan when I eventually go to the salon. I’m thinking I might have to be copper blond for a while until it grows out. I don’t know anything about color or if that is even possible with henna.