Henna-ing hair to black
Printed From: HairBoutique.com
Category: Hair Talk
Forum Name: Hair Color
Forum Description: The tricks and tribulations of changing your hair color
URL: https://talk.hairboutique.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=58708
Printed Date: October 03 2025 at 1:30am
Topic: Henna-ing hair to black
Posted By: verybored
Subject: Henna-ing hair to black
Date Posted: January 08 2008 at 8:17pm
| For the new year, I'm set on dyeing my naturally darkish brown hair to black using henna. Found a reliable and well-known retailer called Lush here in the UK which sells dark henna so I'll go with that. Firstly though I need some advice, eg what I should avoid, how often I would need to henna my hair for a consistent colour with no roots, etc. Fire away, please. :) |
Replies:
Posted By: valkyrie_grrl
Date Posted: January 09 2008 at 10:17am
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You want to ideally use a mixture of indigo and henna to color hair black. You won't get black from henna alone (reddish type highlights). There is an awesome henna/indigo coloring page. The only thing I can say is to avoid any "henna" sold in a beauty supply shop, as it is usually not henna, but what is normally referred to as compound henna. It's not a natural, but a chemical product. There may be retailers in the UK that sell body art quality henna & indigo and this is what you want. Indian grocery stores sometimes sell henna, but indigo's not a part of their culture as far as I know, so finding it might be more difficult. http://www.hennaforhair.com - www.hennaforhair.com
They have a listing of places that sell henna & other herbs for hair coloring online. I have read that dying via indigo/henna is a messy process, but it's always intrigued me!
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Posted By: verybored
Date Posted: January 14 2008 at 11:19pm
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The 'black' henna that Lush here sell in the UK has Indigo in it, according to the product details. Would that help.
How permanent is it, just in case? I'm quite set on going black, but we never know in this world. Not that it would be a dramatic change going my natural shade to black, admittedly. |
Posted By: carla-b
Date Posted: January 15 2008 at 10:11am
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whatever you buy,make sure there are no metallic salts in the mixture.
as far as i know,henna is a very permanent dye.I don't know about indigo but you should know that it's almost impossible to bleach.
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Posted By: valkyrie_grrl
Date Posted: January 15 2008 at 4:59pm
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I would really check the henna for hair site I posted. They are the experts on henna and indigo. Good luck.
As far as I know, henna and indigo are fairly permanent. I'm not sure about the Lush henna, as I understand it's a bar that you chip/shred and create your haircolor mixture, but I have heard that henna and indigo are horribly messy. It's one of the things that's kept me from trying it. Also henna and indigo have different dye release times. Usually you mix up henna, let it stand overnight and then mix in indigo right before you use the mixture to do a black color.
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Posted By: verybored
Date Posted: January 15 2008 at 7:11pm
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I'll try the site, give it a good investigation. Thanks! :)
Will give the Lush henna/indigo mix a complete miss, from the sounds of it. |
Posted By: PerfectBrunette
Date Posted: January 17 2008 at 2:29pm
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Why Henna? It's so hard to get henna out of the hair. Most contain metallic salts that react with other hair colors. You can't bleach it. Most color removers don't work on it. Just be aware of what you are getting into, which is a very long term commitment. Why not go black with a normal hair dye like L'oreal Preference or even better a demipermanent like Clairol Natural Instincts or L'oreal Colorspa? These will allow you to stay black for as long as you want and then use a color remover to get it out when you are tired of it. |
Posted By: verybored
Date Posted: January 19 2008 at 8:08pm
Demi-permanent means 24 or so shampoos, right? The only thing that stopped me 'taking the plunge' with such hair colours is because they contained hydrogen peroxide when looking at the contents, so I was concerned that my natural colour underneath would be lightened, and look odd if I decided to let the dyed colour fade/wash out. If that's not an issue I'll go for it! However, must say that we don't get Natural Instincts (according to Clairol's UK website) or Loreal Colorspa so I'll look for a good alternative. |
PerfectBrunette wrote:Posted By: PerfectBrunette
Date Posted: January 19 2008 at 11:54pm
| Well, demipermanents do have some hydrogen peroxide but very little. Unlike permanents they are free of ammonia though so they are better for your hair. Also they won't lighten so much as permanents so they are really best for going darker. Hope you can find a good alternative in the UK. Best of luck to you! |
Posted By: valkyrie_grrl
Date Posted: January 21 2008 at 11:07am
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Body Art Quality henna is different from the "henna" that is sold at beauty supply stores, which can contain metallic salts. This is one reason henna has gotten a bad rap. There is a lot of misinformation due to manufacturers calling products henna that are not natural.
Lush is body art quality henna. I will agree that henna and indigo are a major commitment. You will most likely have to grow it out if and when you decide to try a different color other than black or dark brown.
Hope this helps!
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Posted By: PerfectBrunette
Date Posted: January 21 2008 at 12:09pm
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Hi Valkyrie grrl, Nice to know there are some non-metallic hennas out there. I'm still not sure about how to remove them, though. Or are they removable? Very bored, Let us know how your hair turns out whatever you decide to use! |