On topic (not that henna isn't fascinating...no really
I've never had short hair, so I can't do a then/now comparisson, but now I'm older, and most people who had long hair when they were younger have cut it, I get more of my school friends saying how lovely it is when they see my hair which is nice.
As far as men go...I don't have a boyfriend so it can't work that well lol. I normally get the "wow your hair is long" from them, and that's it. But then, I'm fond of wearing tight red shirts and low cut tops so I should be glad I'm not attracting men as they would be the wrong kind!
It would be nice to be noticed for my hair, but it's usually an after-notice, not attention seeking.
Yes Fran, that is correct. Your result would be more subtle than if you had lighter hair. You would still have some gorgeous flame red highlights when your hair is in sunlight though
I don't know of anyway to strip henna that would not damage your hair. You could bleach it out and re-colour over the top if you really wanted to....but then it'd be pretty brutal! If you were not happy with the colour, it would be far better to do another application using different ingredients in your mix. You can apply henna as often as you want without causing damage. This is great news if you are trying to achieve a certain colour and need to experiment a little.
I was wondering if you could tell me the url of that site that said henna dries out your hair. I'm always interested in the sources of mis-information Henna does the opposite of drying out your hair. It's the closest thiing to a permanent conditioner that I've ever seen. I don't have to condition my hair hardly at all now....it's quite amazing to me as I always had to use TONNES of conditioner before.
As for brown, I add cloves and Amla to tweak it towards brown. Works a treat for me. Others use a little bit of Indigo, others use coffee. I guess it's experimentation.
I have very grey/white roots in the front and top of my hair and my hair grows fast. So every 3 weeks (when my hair has grown to see obvious white roots), I put full strength henna on my roots only with a tint brush and then mix up full strength henna with conditioner or yoghurt and slop it on the rest of my hair (just as a treatment). It's quick and easy for me to do it this way. You could just slop it all over your hair though if you wanted to, it definitely wouldn't hurt, but you'd go through more henna and thus spend more money.
Henna is permanent. It does not fade....at all. I found this quite astonishing at first, as chemical dyes always faded for me....even if it just faded a bit, it looked "old" and I didn't like it. Henna stays rich and true for ever. It does not wash out. It covers grey hair amazingly well (especially with repeat applications to increase the depth of colour) See the grey hair section on the hennaforhair site.
First time henna users are always ecstatic because they've never seen their hair look so good. Long term henna users are just quietly happy and have become used to being spoiled (like me!)
I've been reading up on the site you mentioned and another site or
two. This is not made too explicit, but it looks like some people
mix something brown into the dye--coffee, for example--to get a reddish
brown rather than red. I did hit a site where they claimed henna
dries out your hair and makes it brassier every time you use it.
On the other hand, that is what conditioners are for and as for brassy,
I'd assume you can always add coffee if you don't like the shade you
got before. It's not like commercial dyes never dry out your hair
or make it brassy.
If you don't mind my bugging you I have another question or
three. Most of the posts I read were from people who just hennad
their hair for the first time and loved it. Which is great, but in
terms of long-ter use:
I reluctantly quit using semi-permanent dyes (after some years) because
my hair got gray enough right in front (where it's grayest) that the
gray started showing up after two weeks, and I'm not
exaggerating. I'm sure your roots show as your hair grows out, no
matter what, but how long does the henna stay on a super-gray streak?
And how long does henna last on the rest of your hair, that is how often must you redye?
Do you have to do the business where you put it on the roots, let it
sit, then just dye the rest of the hair for a few minutes? Or can
you just glop henna on all over (which I think is easier)?
Thanks,
Fran
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There are no chemical dyes that are "gentle". They all do damage. Henna, on the other hand, not only does NOT damage your hair, it actually improves it's condition and texture.
Well I'm glad you asked Henna is probably one of my favourite topics!!
If you are going to use henna, only use the BAQ (Body Art Quality) henna. Horror stories of hair turning green are usually those involving commercially sold "henna" which has additives, some of which are not even listed on the box.
One of the many wonderful properties of henna is that it does even out your hair colour. Before my first ever henna, I had been using chemical dyes (why why why??) and was getting intense roots, but faded lengths. It was always very uneven. My first henna came out totally even and for the first time in many years, I had hair that was pretty much all one colour. Incidentally, you should always do a test on harvested hair (from the shower, brush etc) before you do your whole head. I was impatient the first time though, and just went ahead and did it, even just one week after my last permanent chemical dye treatment Lucky for me, it was all good.
Henna won't make your hair lighter, but it will make it red, make no mistake. Just what shade of red depends on: your starting colour, how long you leave the henna on, the freshness and quality of your henna, what you added to your mix, how many applications you do and so on. Everyone gets a unique shade, but it can be controlled by manipulating one or more of the above factors.
Your grey hair will be lighter, and maybe even a bit orange at first. Personally, I like my lighter "highlights" where my grey was, but some people don't and prefer to use a bit of indigo to tone them down, or just re-apply the henna to those areas a few times to saturate the colour.
I recommend doing your research and an excellent place to start is hennaforhair.com Go to the mixes page and read up on what everyone uses in their mix to achieve the colour that they want. Take note of their natural colour and grey percentage to get a good idea of what your hair will turn out like.
I hope you do decide to go on the henna journey Fran....it has been totally hair-changing for me and has been the main reason I've decided to grow my hair. I am more than happy to answer any other questions you may have
Incidentally, I just saw a photo of myself today and my hair looked soooooo shiny and glossy, that it almost looked fake!!! LOL My hair would never look this way if it were chemically dyed.
I want to ask about the henna. I dyed my hair dark brown with
semipermanent dye (L'Oreal Espresso) for years, during which it really
soaked into the bottom third of my hair. I've been trying to wash it
out since mid-June. Right now it's grown out + washed out at the
top third (and I've discovered I'm more of a natural brunette than I
remembered, I always thought of my hair as a medium golden brown, but
that's more the color I had when I permed it years ago). The
middle third is reddish brown, still not quite my natural color. The
bottom third is finally starting to lighten up some--the dye goes
reddish brown before it washes out and it's getting a red tinge.
So I figure in a few weeks it will FINALLY be light enough to permanent
dye it a lighter color, which was the whole point of this
gradual-washing-out exercise.
(There seems to be no color remover that really works on semipermanent
dye--I contacted the Colorfix website and they said that doesn't
either.)
OK, so I've stored two boxes of medium golden brown permanent dye in the bathroom for 6 months. But:
I've always wanted red hair--as long as it (a) turned a natural
red and (b) did not do something really awful like go green due to
chemical reactions with my previous dye job. (I had a semipermanent red
dye job from a hairdresser that was an unnatural scarlet and I hated
it. I've never gone green but having had ombre hair all this time has
been bad enough).
So, what does henna look like assuming you (a) use a 100% natural henna
that doesn't turn your hair green (is that guaranteed?) and (b)
you put it over a mixture of brunette and gray?
Fran
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If you're in the beauty business, you have to look good for
professional reasons. Amd it helps if you're in any kind of sales
full time.
I've always been a writer and editor, so people have always judged me
professionally by whether I'm smart, well read, good at project
management, and so on. I'm not saying I'm ugly, and in fact last
time I worked for another company, as a senior editor for a book
publisher, the management was always holding me up as an example of
high fashion to the other editors (a casually dressed group by
preference).
It is possible people judge others first by how they look, and of
course when I have any sort of business meeting I dress for it the way
you're supposed to. But that looks-impression phase only lasts a
few minutes, in my experience, after which you have to prove your other
qualities.
I'm not by any means saying women should not dress up, do their hair,
wear makeup, exercise etc., or that I don't do those things. I'm
just saying I think defining who you are by how you look, or letting
people define you that way (or letting them tell you who you are at
all), is a bad idea.
Fran
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Yay!! Thanks girls It didn't really seem like my birthday though...just another day in the life of. I did buy myself some nice Lindt chocolate though when I went grocery shopping and my husband took me out to dinner too. 33 is kind of an interesting number though...
Fran, I don't want to debate you on this. I actually agree with what you are saying (in principal), however the SAD reality is that people are influenced by how a person looks before they get to know them as a real person. How you look is kind of the "advertising" for your "business". I just find that it is easier to get ppl to come up and talk to me if I'm looking good....even if it's for the wrong reasons....then you can really get to know each other and the whole superficial thing falls away. I enjoy meeting people, and my business requires that I network with other industry-related people, so looking good is very important to me. Using your attractiveness is powerful I think. I certainly don't base my self-worth on it, but I'm happy to use it as an assett for as long as I can. I know that I am an intelligent, creative, assertive person inside, and so do those who know and love me, but complete strangers can't and don't know that from the outset. Maybe one day somebody will come up to me and say "gee, you look intelligent", but I'm not holding my breath
Continued. . . . in terms of my self-image, and the way I want people
to think about me, I'd rather be intelligent, assertive, creative, a
lot of things, than sexy, or even pretty.
Of course I don't think you're a bad person. I think all women
dress at least partly for themselves. I dress almost entirely for
myself--I love having good clothes and lots of them. My husband
tries to sympathize but he's the kind of guy who sometimes says, "Nice
new dress" when I've been wearing it for two years.
But women are taught, more than men, that their value to society is
what other people think of them. And that appearance should be a
large part of their value. And some, especially the insecure,
value themselves largely according to how much attention they
get. I think that's unhealthy. It's better to focus on what
you have achieved than on what others think, whether that's good or
bad.
I don't condemn others for doing it but I've never at any point in my
life dressed to look sexy. I've never dressed to look dowdy,
either.
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My hair isn't all that long yet (just below shoulders), but I have noticed lots of attention from men since I have been wearing my hair in two braids....I think they think it is cute, so I get a lot of smiles, unsolicited conversations, and heads turning. It is something I noticed, not something I have looked for.
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Henna does the opposite of drying out your hair. It's the closest thiing to a permanent conditioner that I've ever seen. I don't have to condition my hair hardly at all now....it's quite amazing to me as I always had to use TONNES of conditioner before.
Lucky for me, it was all good.
my LJ
