Rose Gold v. Impatience

claudine191

So I'd been wanting to try some rose gold accents in my henna'd hair. First my stylist used 30 volume bleach to lift the henna, which worked surprisingly well, given henna's notorious unpredictability cooperating with other coloring products.

Then she applied Ion Rose Gold, which is so pretty, I feel happy just looking at the box. The result was a very soft pinkish gold.........which I came to hate within two days. Maybe it was the placement (an underlayer for subtlety since this was my first time) or maybe it was the interruption of the nice deep copper I'm used to, but ultimately, I got that same feeling I had the last time I had gold highlights added: "this looks like a mistake."

Now here I am on a Sunday morning, henna gooped across the offending layer, plastic and hair clips scattered and stabbed across half my head. I'm glad I tried it the rose gold, but ugh! how boring: 40 minutes of bleach, 35 of color, and ideally, both should have been repeated for optimum effect. I'm sticking with good old henna, period: it may be three hours, but for me at least, the results are predictable and I'm not stuck at a salon, champing at the bit for something to do.

naturecat

You're lucky you can use henna and maintain your curl. I love henna in principle. It gives volume, whereas the h.p. I tried took away my volume and definition. But too much makes my hair too greasy, difficult to dry, and straightens it. It can be nice to experiment with different products, as you've done. Sometimes you need to make some mistakes in order to appreciate what you have. I find that natural always works best in the end. The hair simply looks healthier, and the color more natural.

claudine191

Thanks, naturecat. I'm actually one of least curly people here, or I've become that way out of frustration (see post on "Fake Curlies").

The henna over bleach and color left my hair looking like weird fuzzy orange juice, so.........now I have an undercut. It feels really strange. Not necessarily bad, but very, very different from the weight I'm used to.

naturecat

Yeah, the henna over my h.p. didn't look like it had before either. But in a few months all will return to normal (I know, it stinks to have to wait out those few months). Sometimes it's worth sacrificing curl to have beautiful color and volume.