Color over Henna’d Hair

Has anyone ever had any luck using color over henna'd hair?

Six months ago I let my hairdresser convince me to add Chestnut low-
lights to my 50% white hair. I really liked the color. However, my white
hair wasn't taking the semi-permanent product well and only lasted a
couple weeks. I couldn't afford to go back every two weeks and nervous
about permanent chemical dyes, I decided to go "natural" and use henna.
Turns out this is NOT something you do casually. After only one boxed
henna application and two Body Art Quality henna applications in just as
many weeks, I have realized this is not for me. It has turned out to be far
to time consuming and I haven't even achieved a color I like yet. When I
went to order more henna/indigo and saw how much it was going to cost
me I realized I can't keep this up, I can't afford to. I can't keep trying to
make it work for me. I'm not enjoying the experience.

I don't have the $400 -$500 to go to a professional colorist and have a
fruit-based stripper used to color correct my hair (which I have read can
be done). I have however also read online that you can use mineral oil
and heat applications to reduce the red/orange enough to color over the
henna. I would be much happier with Chestnut colored hair while the
henna grows out than with all this Red/Orange.

Has ANYONE had any luck with this????    

I understand the benefits of using Henna and that many women/men are
very happy with their results (and their red hair!), It's just not for me.

ANY feedback and/or support will be welcomed.

~blueyedlady

Thanks for taking enough interest to offer a suggestion. Unfortunately,
using one of those prepackaged henna dyes is where my troubles all
began. I researched and found that using body art quality henna was
safest and healthiest for the hair and tried that instead. Unfortunately,
pure BAQ is going to color your hair some shade of red unless you add
indigo, walnut or other plant additives to darken it. It certainly is a long
term comittment, a lot of experimenting and time consuming.

That's why I was wondering if anyone on this forum had gone from having
hennaed hair back to using chemical dyes successfully. In particualar, I
was curious about Robert Craig Products. His site is where I found
information about successful coloring over henna. I am planning on
doing strand tests, using mineral oil, and his Chestnut #8 color and see
what results I get.

I do appreciate your interest, but there are many things I have learned
from my recent experiences with Henna, and one would be not to trust
any of the 'boxed henna" mixes. You never know for sure what's in the
box.

~blueyedlady

If I could achieve a darker auburn color I'd probably be content with that.
I have never ever bleached my hair and wouldn't even know where to
begin. I cut my hair to just above my shoulders to make it easier to work
with I know it will grow back. But the RED color is just way to much
for me. I think we have a Sally's Beauty Supply Shop nearby. I'll likely
pick up some supplies to strand test with. Is there a particular type
bleach to be used (or avoided)? Or are they all the same?

Just the thought of bleaching my hair .... makes me a bit nervous.

~blueyedlady

im definately not recomending you bleach your hair. i was just giving an example that henna can be colored over. bleach is very harsh stuff, and i dont reccommend it for the un-edperienced. i would say that it is fairly safe for you to try and remove the color, or pick up some of the hennalucent dyes at sally's and strand test from there. just dont bleach. you dont need it. your hair is light enough