Natural redhead using henna?

**redhed515** · December 25th, 2018, 10:47 PM

My red hair has faded as I’ve aged. I used to be a carroty red. I’m a medium auburn now. I want the intense red that I had in my twenties. Is henna a good idea on someone who already has reddish hair?

**akurah** · December 26th, 2018, 12:19 AM

Henna can give an intense orange red. I believe small quantities can be ordered for the purposes of strand testing from a variety of the vendors who sell it. My advice would be to get some samples and conduct some experiments with shed hair from your brush.

Henna will push burgundy with enough repeat applications so if you do chose to henna after finding the shade you want, switch to root only applications so that you stay at the shade you like.

**Red.** · December 26th, 2018, 02:15 PM

Yes! I did it and I'm a natural redhead. I made a thread about it here, I believe it is on the second page right now. It gave me pretty vibrant results.

**Milui Elenath** · December 26th, 2018, 11:10 PM

It's excellent as it blends really well with your natural tone if you want to do roots only.

**Fethenwen** · December 27th, 2018, 01:03 AM

YES. I had also a bright carrot color when I was little, then it turned copper. Now I don't even know what to call it anymore. I have hennaed for years, it suits my skin tone perfectly and I also get the conditioning and strenghtening benefits from henna.
Second that what akurah wrote. I made the mistake in the past where I did too many full hair applications and ended up with burgundy hair.But thankfully that has faded with time and sunshine and I am where I want to be now color wise.
You might also want to look into different blends of henna, for example I use henna mixed with cassia 50/50 in order to get a lighter tone of red.

**Cate36** · December 27th, 2018, 07:22 PM

Please think think .. strand test strand test.. I did this earlier in the year. My ginger faded to blond.. I had the bright idea of using henna earlier this year.. rushed out, did zero research .. and ended up with orange... not auburn... or my beautiful natural gingery colour... I destroyed my hair stripping the colour and label it as the worst mistake of my life... My whole . hearted advice is to go to a stylist that specialises in colour.. high quality... and try something temporary...

The reason I say this, is although everyone told me how great the henna looked, I hated it (and it doesn't matter if the world loves you, if you don't love yourself, you live in a horrible place.) I thought in the end, that the blond I was going, actually suited my face better as I was growing older...and missed it.

So although Henna can look amazing on natural red heads... if you don't like it.. there is NO going back.. zero. you have to love it.. or live with it for a few years whilst you try every trick in the book to try and lighten it or grow it out... so... *think*...

**Alex Lou** · December 27th, 2018, 08:04 PM

I'm cautious about henna since it's extremely permanent. I finally did a henna gloss and I love it. I keep meaning to take photos... It added an orange tint that I notice but literally, no one else has noticed. Which I think is great because I don't want to look like I've departed from my natural color. It does remind me of the color I had when I was younger. I think glosses are a great way to work up to the color you want with far less risk. I also used 100% henna, mixed it myself, and strand tested.

**Cate36** · December 27th, 2018, 08:40 PM

Originally Posted by Alex Lou

I'm cautious about henna since it's extremely permanent. I finally did a henna gloss and I love it. I keep meaning to take photos... It added an orange tint that I notice but literally, no one else has noticed. Which I think is great because I don't want to look like I've departed from my natural color. It does remind me of the color I had when I was younger. I think glosses are a great way to work up to the color you want with far less risk. I also used 100% henna, mixed it myself, and strand tested.

Yes.. at first this was me also.. but it was winter.. and in artificial light, the henna could look amazing.

The issue for me was how my hair would change colour in different lights.. (as everyone's does) . BUT sunlight made my head shine orange.

As with you.. no one mentioned anything.. but it really affected my confidence.. I spent all my time avoiding mirrors in the end because if I caught myself in an unflattering light.. the colour could look like coco the clown and I broke down in tears on many occasions worrying about how I appeared.. It really affected me badly.. .

Obviously all of this depends on the henna mix you are using. Cassia in the mix creates different tones etc.. I used LUSH caca rouge.. which is mixed with coco butter and lemon.. but regardless.. I went from love to hate VERY fast..

If you do it, and LOVE It.. Henna is a miracle.. it made the condition of my hair feel amazing.. I loved that part.. and it doesn't fade.. etc.. it's just if you hate it...

**Kat** · December 28th, 2018, 07:04 PM

I think it probably depends on what you have now vs what you want. When you describe "carroty red" and "auburn," I'm imagining your hair now as being rather darker than when you were younger. Henna isn't going to lighten it... it might brighten it, which can make it look lighter because of more light reflecting, but I don't know that it will take you from what I think of as "auburn" to what I think of as "carrot" (so I think we are probably both talking about different shades).

**redhed515** · December 28th, 2018, 07:28 PM

Thanks for the advice everyone. I went ahead and used the henna and I'm very happy with it! I don't know how to do images so I'm using this>>>https://ibb.co/9tL3Jvf