Going back to henna (hair),any suggestions?

shegirl

I have been dying my hair for 17 years now:eek: and a few years ago changes to henna,but then went back to chemicals to go more copper again followed by proper red (i constantly spend ages red then go brown then back to red lol)

It's been about 18 months since I last used proper chemical dyes but am still growing out coppery bits...

I started using henna again last summer but the one I used didn't make an ounce of difference so I'm currently (every ten days!) using surya cream henna (not pure henna) and using henna shampoo and conditioner midweek until I grow out what is left.

It's quite a pain in the backside and not exactly cheap

Any alternative suggestions until I can go back to permanent henna?My hair is waist lengthish at longest point (loads of layers) and curly.Naturally darkish brown but it appears more dark mousey now Using chocolate colour at the mo to cover the dark coppery bits but can't wait to be brown with a gorgeous red or coppery hint!

Fire_Fox

Not going to speak to you, too jealous of your waist length curly hair :mad:

Fire_Fox

Just kidding, presumably you know henna may loosen your curl, are you fine with that? Were you using pure body art quality henna? Be careful with anything less, some permanent dyes apparently react badly with additives in henna products. There are loads of henna-heads on the Long Hair Community forums, would be worth searching there.

shegirl

Ooh,hadn't realised about loosening the curl.Hmm,me no likey that BUT I can't chemically dye forever...mmmm

The last henna powder i used certainly wasn't body art grade,prior to that I used Lush henna which isn't the best either

daska

You can buy henna direct from some artists. I used to get mine from henna-boy (aka Mark) simply because he was local and I could pick it up in person. He now sells on-line (no collection in person) but does a range of things specifically for hair as well as body art.

Fire_Fox

Wouldn't mix Lush with box dyes, I've heard horror stories. Honestly plain BAQ henna, no additives.

I used to permanently dye red and destroyed my hair refreshing the lengths every six weeks (along with other crimes against hair! ). Switched to a two step process and my hair is now in so much better shape. Firstly I lift the dark mouse roots only with a gentle blonde box dye then I use a high quality semi permanent for several hours to get an intense colour. Sometimes I don't touch the lengths, sometimes I apply a light conditioner to the roots so it mixes with the dye then spread through my hair and leave for the last fifteen to thirty minutes. TBH the colour lasts longer than the permanent box dye, and my hair is in massively better condition - tho that is partly because I am shampoo free.

Obviously there is more time commitment, but you can get on with your life whilst you have the dye on. It's not particularly expensive, the box dye (Garnier Radiant Blondes) and colour (La Riche Directions) are both about £4.

The alternative is to box dye your red/ auburn over the top of a heavy overnight coconut oil soak on naked hair (no silicones to block the oil), the dye eats right through the oil so it still penetrates the hair, but the lauric acid in the coconut helps preserve the structural proteins in the hair. Don't ever bleach out box dye, use a colour remover like Colour B4 Extra, they work really well if you follow the instructions to the letter.

judithbox

Hair seems too long, you can try to put their hair cut short, perhaps to see past the hair will be much better

shegirl

judithbox wrote: »

Hair seems too long, you can try to put their hair cut short, perhaps to see past the hair will be much better

Why thank you,but my hair isn't too long,it cannot be cut short (trust me!) and I don't understand the seeing past the hair thing?