Henna advice needed!

[SpeedyGonzalez]

What colour should I buy if I want to add a subtle red tone to my naturally black hair? Is it mahogany? Somehow it doesn't look red enough in the photo, it looks a sort of reddish-brown. Which, I suppose, is the colour of mahogany! (ahem)

bermpety-bermp

I used to henna my black hair. I used the Lush red one a couple of times but didn't see a great difference, so I used one that I found in the Indian section of Tesco. If your hair is very dark you probably want to go for a very red one. Even then, I didn't see an enormous difference - only really in the light.

One thing to be aware of is that it can be very drying - I stopped using it for that reason - so make sure you have a good conditioner for after you've washed it out. And it will take you aaaages to wash it out!

Body shop do good henna. I cant remember the colours but there are three shades. The most important thing tho is how long you leave it on. I used to leave for 40 mins to an hour for a subtle look but I have left it on for eight hours before overnight! If you have black hair I am guessing you could leave it on for quite a while.

I used to use the Body Shop henna too - get the one that (used to be called) bright red, and leave it on ages. If you just leave it on a short time it makes your hair more orange, the longer you leave it on the deeper the colour - if body shop still make it that is.

The Body Shop don't do it any more - I asked. However, I've now bought a red-red bottle, so now all I need is the time to do it (newborn baby in the house).

Jan - yes, someone else told me about the 8 hour thing, I'll give that a try!

Thanks all.

I use Henna and often leave it on for about six-8 hours and wrap it in clingfilm. You can also heat it with a hairdryer for a more intense colour.