1st henna experience

warning: this is a long post, as i have tried to document every detail about this as i could.

background: i have naturally medium brown hair with reddish highlights (father is mostly Irish w/ red hair and mom is Chech with dark brown hair).
age 14 - 18: blonde highlights to full blonde
age 18 - 20: reds and burgundies
age 20 - 22: blue, purple, pink, fireengine red - my colorful phase
age 20 - 33: blue black

as you see, i enjoy playing with color! i finally got bored with the blue black and tired of harmful dyes and decided to go back to reds and try henna. i knew the only way to do this was to lift the blue black out of my hair before applying henna.

click here for photos of each phase - pics 2031 & 2032 are pre-lightening, showing my black hair with natural roots. you can also see that the black no longer covered every hair toward the bottom.

phase 1 pics 2033 & 2034: lightening the blue black - altho it is horrible for the hair, i decided this must be done. i refuse to walk around with 1' of red and 2' of black hanging from it @ the bottom. i think it looks really bad.

phase 2 pics 2035 & 2036: more lightening - my hair really didn't like this phase. i made sure i conditioned it very well and was extremely gentle..."antique lace". i was afraid to do any deep conditioning (mayonaise, oils etc) until after the coloring.

phase 3: henna!

friday night i mixed my henna using my own blend between Kim, Snuffywump, and Anna. i wanted something bright and vibrant with a cherry/burgundy shade and less orangish.

- 300g body art quality henna from Mehandi
- 2+ cups regular tea brewed strong
- 2+ cups black cherry tea brewed strong (could not find red herbal tea)
- 4 tbsp cloves / 2 tbsp paprika / 1/2 packet of unsweetened black cherry Koolaid (my favorite drink...i had to!) in about 1 cup of water
- juice of 4 lemons

per Kim's instructions, i mixed my teas together with the liquid of my "spice mix", let them cool a bit, then mixed with the henna. i then covered it and let it sit overnight.

saturday morning i mixed up some indigo:

- 75g indigo from Mehandi
- juice of 2 lemons
- a small amount of warm water

i let the indigo sit for a couple of hours per Snuffywump's instructions. i was afraid that if i mixed the indigo with the henna friday night (like Anna does) that my color would turn out too dark.

a couple hours later, i put a few drops of lavender EO and about 1/2 cup of olive oil into my henna mix after filling the sink with hot water and heating the henna a bit. i also warmed up the leftover tea i brewed, which i'm glad i did...my henna was VERY thick! i then added the indigo to the henna and headed for the bathroom.

i also filled this sink with hot water and mixed the henna over and over again. i continuously added hot water and tea through the application because by the time i was finished, the henna was drying in my hair. i wrapped my head in plastic wrap and left the henna on for a little more than 5 hours, then rinsed with water only. hair was close to impossible to comb with leave in conditioner, and was impossible without it.

phase 4 pics 2073 - 2075: sunday - day after henna before shampoo/conditioner

phase 5 pics 2084 - 2089:  monday - after sunday night shampoo/conditioner with leave in conditioner. it took me 45 minutes to comb my hair wet after my shower, and i had to be extremely careful.

now the questions...did the paprika give me the orangish hue, or is this because my hair was bleached? i will have to wait for awhile until i discover the right mixture for my natural color, but in the meantime i would like to deepen my shade and make it more of a cherry color (less cinnamonish), but without darkening the darker parts (bottom) anymore. i think i will try no indigo next time, and maybe some red wine. i will be doing a 2nd henna mix in a couple weeks, which from what i hear will help the dryness. in the meantime i will do a mayo treatment this weekend.

all that said, thanks to anyone who was able to read this entire thing, or any of it for that matter. i am truly ADDICTED that fast and can't wait for my next application. i may not have the exact color i want, but i am enjoying being a redhead again, and the color looks more uniform than before i applied the henna. indoors it's not so orangish and i am getting tons of compliments


Edited by ataraxy - July 28 2006 at 10:27am

Hi,

You really suit the red! It looks very natural on you and your hair looks gorgeous!

Edited by Hellfrozeover - July 27 2006 at 7:30am

many thanks for the compliments 

there's the redhead i've been awaiting advice from! i was wondering if i overcomplicated things. i should have done some research on Colorfix...i had seen it mentioned a couple times and completely forgot about it. i hit a point where i just wanted that black to be gone!

i definitely want red...i love yours Rini, but am looking for something a bit more cherry burgundy for myself. of the 3 mixes i posted above, 2 of them used indigo to obtain the burgundy, and the other used a pre-mixed "red sunset". i think the bleached hair grabbed too much of the indigo. your comment about diluting makes alot of sense. i'm thinking about doing my next application tomorrow, and will follow your suggestion to start with the basic lemon mix. my boyfriend's daughter will have a friend over...what better way to freak her out

i did a basic henna/lemon juice with some lavender EO on saturday. there is almost no change in the color (maybe a hint more red), except that some of the darker parts are now a more drab brown. i really think i messed up by putting tea and indigo into my first henna mix. it darkened the darkest parts even more and didn't give me the red i am craving. altho my hair is naturally a medium brown with slightly red highlights, almost none of my hair is my natural color right now. i'm anxious for some new growth...there are so many colors i'm trying to work with!

i'm debating on a couple different things and will be doing alot of reading over the next couple weeks before doing anything further...i could Colorfix the darker parts and try to even the color a bit more, but first i need to get my henna mix right. i'm afraid that each time i henna, the bottom will get darker and browner. i could also apply a vegetable dye such as Manic Panic to give me more red. i'm considering mixing this with henna, but again i need to do more homework.

i'll get some more pics today and document my findings. i knew it wouldn't be easy to get this just the way i want it, but i'm getting quite discouraged lol. my biggest concern is not damaging my hair anymore.. color is always fixable! one good thing, my hair feels MUCH better after the second henna application


Edited by ataraxy - July 30 2006 at 1:59pm

lol thanks! don't give it to me sugarcoated (another bad pun ) please...i completely agree with you. the color is nice and all, but i don't think it looks right on me. it's actually toned down a bit since this morning (and i'm alot calmer) and is a bit more red, but i am still on the search for the perfect color.

i've been searching the hennaforhair forums all day soaking up info...so far it seems that red wine, paprika, cloves, all spice, and sassafras tea are my best bets for things to try. Rini, you were definitely right.. the lemon juice made my mix more red. now i will try new ingredients one by one. thanks to everyone for their inspiration through these trying times lol

flame on!

It's hard to find someone who looks good with many different hair colors. Congrats on your fabulous henna experience 

Anais

Pretty new red, Ataraxy!