Is there such a thing as dark brown henna?

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My hair is dark brown with a few greys which im not bothered about but as I’ve got older (60s) my hair generally looks faded and I’d like to warm it up. Whenever I’ve had it coloured or had highlights/lowlights it’s really dried out my hair which is very fragile, porous and dry. I like the idea of henna but have no idea if I can easily get it to a dark brown with very little red/no red, or if that’s even possible. I also don’t know if it really is good for condition and if it’s true that it won’t dry out hair if used regularly over a long time. Are any of you henna experts?

I used to use Lush henna. They have different colours and you can mix and match the blocks to make something redder or darker.

The major plus was that the condition of your hair was amazing afterwards - it coats and bonds to your hair and so your hair is fantastically silky.

Big disadvantages - it's messy and takes ages. If you don't like the colour you are stuck with it (or you can henna over it again) as you can't dye hennaed hair.

There are loads of youtube videos of Lush henna so you can get a good idea of colour but mostly people are going for the red options.

I use a mixture of henna and indigo powder (about half and half) for my dark brown hair. There's indigo in the dark Lush henna blocks too - I used to use those but found it easier to just use the powders.

Have a look at It's Pure henna. The Very Dark Brown covers grey well - it says it's for 'darkening blonde to medium brown hair, or grey hair' but I've used it on much darker hair with grey.

Thank you all. This is so helpful. There are so many videos on YouTube i didn’t know where to start. I’ll take a look at Its Pure Henna and Lush. The main thing I was wondering was whether you can get a dark brown without red. I’ve had red highlights before and they really don’t suit me at all.

'It's Pure Organics' do mixes of henna, indigo etc to give various shades too. They have black, very dark brown, dark brown and natural brown as well as other colours. They mix varying amounts of indigo, henna etc to give the different colours, so one would hopefully suit you.

Another option is to buy henna and indigo separately online and mix them to the shade you want.

I use Lush Caca Brun but it is a pain breaking up the blocks. Turns my greys a light brown and they blend in much better.

@LizzieAnt I concur, 'it's pure organics' is great. Nothing artificial and comes out lovely brown. I usually just use pure henna but their 'natural brown' came out as lovely chestnut on my medium brown hair. It fades to orangey brown after a few months but it can be just redone. I'm considering going back to brown from red as it suits my skin better. The only downside is should you change your mind, you can't bleach the indigo out as it goes green!

Id prefer a ready made powder rather than mixing indigo into henna. I think I’m going to give the it’s pure dark Brown a go.

Sounds good, it worked well for me. Just to add though that Smurftastic is right - you can't remove the colour, it has to grow out. It was an easy decision for me - I'm allergic to some of the chemicals in the regular dark hair dye, so it was that or grey - but just so you know.

I'm also allergic to most hair dyes although I can use some semi-permanent ones, but I find them a lot of effort. Condition of my hair after henna is incredible, I get mirror-shine and silky sleekness. Here's 'natural brown' over medium brown hair in indoor lighting.

smurftastic. That looks a lovely colour and soooo shiny.

It does fade to more gingery colour after a while but I've never tried the 'dark brown', which might be less warm. I strongly recommend the 'It's Pure Organics', I've tried about a dozen of different brands and always come back to this one, or Davis Finest for pure henna.

Need to add some indigo to henna that will give you a darker shade of dark brown depending on how much indigo you add

Lush henna is great. Use a grater to grate down the blocks then add boiling water. They do 4 colours, I think one is a brown colour. You need to leave it on for a few hours but the results are good. It comes out of towels okay too.

If you don't want to grate the blocks with Lush, put the blocks + boiling water in a bain marie and they will melt by themselves.

Just to add that I used a permanent box dye (dark brown) about 3 months after I stopped using Lush henna fairly regularly and it was absolutely fine. Apparently the Lush stuff doesn’t contain the ingredient that reacts with box dye (some types of henna do, though). I went back to henna though as my hair looks infinitely healthier with it! I’m about 10% grey and it definitely doesn’t cover them but does make them blend in a little better.

Did you make a decision yet, OP? I never used Lush myself as it looks like a faff to have to grate the block first, but one of my friends used it and was pleased. If you use a powder you skip that step. I almost regret I hennaed recently as I'd really love to do the whole ritual again . Please feel free to DM me if you have any further questions. Good luck!

Thanks Smurftastic. I think I’ll go with the Lush. Don’t mind grating it. I can always stick it in the chopper part of my blender if it’s a pain. I’m going into town next week and will call into Lush.

I think it would in all likelihood break a food processor, unless you broke it down into fairly small lumps first. I put mine on the back door step (stone) overhanging a bit, stand on it with one foot and stamp the other on the overhanging bit to break it off, and repeat. Then the bain marie method.

EversoDelighted thanks. Somehow imagined it would be soft 🙈.

No, they are pretty hard blocks, you can grate it manually but it takes a while, I've only tried it once.

Lush henna is good, yes. I have used it in the past. You can also use pure henna on your hair and then use indigo over it if you want dark brown. I find that henna oxidises soon after you apply it so the red fades a little. I buy the pure henna powder and blend it with either lemon juice or vinegar. I leave it overnight or until a dark brown ‘skin’ appears on top of the henna - that tells you the dye molecules have released and it’s ready to use. I have a hairdresser who does my roots for me which makes it much easier.

Lush blocks are rock hard. I tried grating them and got fed up after a while and just chucked them in the saucepan to melt, it would have taken me all day and TBH I didn't have the biceps for it.

Totally agree they would kill a food processor.

The other thing is that being Lush, they are very heavily fragranced. Which is fine if you like that sort of thing, not fine if you don't.

AnnaMagnani. Thanks for heads up about the lush being very fragranced. I have a sensitive scalp so will steer clear.