Talk to me about henna!

[LemonFrosting]

Never home dyed my hair before. Used to have highlights done at the hairdressers many many years ago.

My hair is medium brown, but I fancy going a little darker, with a burgundy red colour....I think! It's a pixie cut.

Is home hair colouring ever a good idea? I was thinking of a semi so that it washes out quicker in case I don't like it. I've heard that henna isn't as harsh on hair.

Any advice or even pics much appreciated! And feel free to tell me don't do it!!

I henna'd my hair for years. However... it's permanent (although it fades) not semi-permanent, so bear that in mind.

I bought powder from Henna Boy.

The technique is relatively straightforward. Mix the powder with water to a mud pie consistency and let it sit for at least 24 hours for the colour to come out. Longer is fine. When you're ready, wash your hair. Vaseline your forehead/ears/any bits of flesh you don't want bright orange. Heat the henna glop til it's warm/hot, then glop it onto your hair, making sure you get it into the roots. You want lots. Wear gloves!!!

Cover your head with clingfilm and an old towel. Then let it sit. Minimum an hour, but really as long as you like. Then wash it out. Expect to wash it three or four times.

It will go BRIGHT initially, but the colour settles after 24 hours. Ohhh, and you'll smell like swamp for a day or two.

If you get the henna from Lush you’ll smell like Turkish Delight rather than an old ashtray which I got from the Body Shop henna years ago .
you can get red through to black and mix the colours to suit. (Lush isn’t true henna there’s a load of conditioner in it too)
with the Lush one you melt the solid block. Make sure you don’t use metal with henna so Pyrex bowl ,plastic or wooden spoon.
Protect your skin with vaseline
gloves
clingfilm is good to protect everything and keep your henna warm and stop it drying out. If you want red tones keep the warmth with a towel. You can add vinegar or lemon to alter the finish too

apply cheap conditioner to loosen it when you wash out. Couple of conditioner rinses then shampoo and rinse till clear water.
it does take 24 to oxidise so it’ll darken

you cannot use a box dye after it’ll react
it’s a pain to grow out when you get bored
my bathroom looked like an abattoir when I rinsed out the red henna -I used to stand in the shower and clean it as I went along.

and don’t forget your patch test and strand test.

there’s a huge thread on henna probably about 6+ years old but worth searching up

I've been henna-ing my hair 'blonde' for years. Mind you, it will not actually lighten up your hair but it does dye the stray greys into something of a uniform neutral colour. I always have some trouble finding the right consistency of the mixture: too much water and it will drip all over. Too little water and it won't spread. I'm aiming for yoghurt like consistency. The good thing about henna is that its all natural. The bad thing is that it won't wash out. It rather fades over a couple of weeks.
On my packages it never says to leave for 24 hours - just to spread while still hot. I may give the mixing and reheating a try.

Thank you so much for advice! I used to help my mother henna her hair years ago so I remember it being gloopy cow pat consistency! :)

Now it's whether I'm brave enough. I think I'm scared that if I don't like the colour then I'm stuck with it!

@Reservoir13 - sorry to hijack the thread but which blonde henna do you use? I used some to try and blend some grey at my temples into my naturally blonde hair in the summer, and ended up with the grey bits a bright daffodil yellow and the rest of my hair a weird dull, almost khaki shade, which took ages to wash out. I used this one - never again, but I would really like to hide my grey hairs a bit!

I buy this henne/natur/blond one from my local Bio-shop: hennedrog.fr/notre-gamme-de-produits/
It is also a golden blonde - so perhaps check the ingredients to see if this looks more gentle. It never turns out blonde but my greys look more like the rest of my hair. Certainly not yellow.

I've done mine for years. Dark brown hair with silvery streaks naturally.
I just buy henna powder from an Indian or Middle Eastern grocer.

Re did it yesterday, roots are a bit bright but it takes a day or two to oxidise.

@Auldspinster your hair colour is gorgeous! How often do you colour it?

Every few months.

I wash mine with henna every couple of months. If you don't leave it on very long, it won't be very strong.

So do it, leave it half an hour then wash a section and see if you like it. Leave it on longer if you want.

I don't leave mine on long at all. It gives the grey roots warmth, rather than turning me foxy orange! I do that sometimes for a change, but generally just go for the brightening and softening effect rather than full colour.

I don't leave mine 24hours use boiling water to mix, add a squirt of lemon or vinegar, and use it when it's a comfortable temperature. You'll see it turn from dark green brown to an slight orange as the dye releases.

I add oil for moisture. Sometimes a camomile teabag, or some aloe Vera for moisture.

Thankj you, @Reservoir13 :)

I've been hennaing my hair for 40 years, it's glossy and shiny and I love the way it glows in strong sunlight. For the last few years I've been using Spiritual Sky henna liquid, it's in a bottle with a nozzle and it's a shampoo based henna- it works on my hair (mousey with grey now). I'd start with that if the powder hennas seem too much faff.
Wear gloves and section your hair as you apply it, use a tinting brush to spread it, start with the roots and then do the ends.
I buy mine on eBay, a single bottle will do one short bob, so if you have a pixie cut it's plenty. Put it all on, don't skimp. Then wrap in cling film (two or three wraps round your head) and put an old hat on over the top. Leave it on as long as you can (I sleep in mine, I put an old brown towel on my pillow but as long as I have a hat over the cling film I don't get seepage). It washes out in the shower.
It will "bleed" colour for a while so don't use your best white towels after you've washed it out. The colour is glorious. I'll post a pic in another post. I use the Auburn shade.

Here you go, apologies for the yellow face! This was in December, I'm 60. It look pretty good (the haircut helps)

Gorgeous colour @Mxflamingnoravera ! Your hair looks so shiny too, lovely condition.

The bottle one sounds alot simpler rather than preparing it on the hob.

I use lush henna but always mix the red with the dark brown as it says only red covers grey. Has anyone managed to get grey coverage using just one of the other colours eg chestnut? It would be less faff. I only have grey streaks (currently!!)

I stopped box/hairdresser highlights over a decade ago & went back to henna.

I use pure powdered henna mixed with lemon juice (&/ herbal tea if scalp is feeling sensitive)

I mix cold to v thick double cream consistency & leave on/near radiator or in airing cupboard for a few hours til the orange tinge indicates dye release.

I warm up & loosen the mix with more liquid then slop it on. I can’t be bothered with sectioning combs etc but I do it in rough sections & massage it well into the hair.

I’ve brown hair with white speckles so I leave mix on overnight to get burgundy with rose gold (which sounds even better than it looks <natch> still more fun than the original though)

You can add brightness of blonde/red/brown/black & blue-black tones with a whole range of powdered plants, with single mix or multiples to get different looks.

Surprise is the element I like most about henna, whether using the same mix/method as last time, or deviating wildly, the hair colour is always different in intensity - and takes about three days to ‘settle in’ so bear that in mind too!

(If you like the result but the smell is off-putting, apparently you can add a few drops of scented oil, I haven’t bothered so can’t say as to it’s effectiveness)

Try Mehandi.com for discussions and mix ratios of different powders @Wanttoswimintheocean the only one I remember off hand is indigo which gives black/blue-black tones I think but I’ve even a printed copy of their henna 101 pdf (can’t remember it’s title)

Clear info on what plant/powder does what, and mixes in 1/4’s with rough idea of effect (depending on your own hair colour)

Pros & cons of what to mix the powders with, length on, application etc

Good place to look at for you too @LemonFrosting see where you want to start out from!

Hi, have been using henna for 45 years- its been fantastic for my hair's condition. I don't use lemon juice - hadn't heard of that before- what does this do ? Sometimes I add coffee grounds or spices from the kitchen shelf to see what happens. I mix with boiling water and some conditioner & leave until cool enough to apply. All I would add is you don't need to use Vaseline - petrochemical-based stuff is not the nicest for your skin (or our planet) - you can use oil-based moisturiser/sweet almond oil around your hairline/ears & a plastic bag that can be rinsed & used again. I think the smell is ok - quite earthy and comforting. I love the variation in colours - always a slightly different result, always gorgeous, as my hair quality changes from teens to 60.