I want to use Henna

teric506

Hiya,

I really want to henna my hair because it is dull and boring and I really want shiny hair. It is actually a little darker than in my avatar. I normally use Natural Instincts but would really love to get away from the chemicals. I just have no idea whether I should go a medium brown or a reddish color. I would love some opinions as my husband is absolutely no help at all, he just says my hair is going to fall out. Anyway, thanks for the help .

Teri

anniemae

Hi Teri, :wave:

My hair is a little darker than yours - like a medium golden brown, but I am thinking of changing it to add a reddish tone. :color: I've seen such pretty pictures on this forum of girls that have used henna. I think that you would look good in either, but the reddish tones seems to be popular right now. I just wouldn't go too red at first.

Good luck!!

btw - what color do you currently use with Natural Instincts?

teric506

Thanks for the suggestion. When I use natural instincts i mix half navaho bronze and half hot cocoa which was a medium reddish brown color. It fades really fast because i was a bleached blonde and my hair doesnt like color right now.

anniemae

I didn't know that you can combine colors. That must be very pretty.

I've never done a box color. I actually am tempted to use a non-permanent color - Loving Care - to see what my hair would look like reddish. Have you ever used a non-permanent color? If so, will it wash out in 12 shampoos, like it says it will?

I've also read that reds tend to linger and leave a faint cast that may need to be toned down. Is that true?

I don't know if I should try henna or start with a temp box color.

One more thing, I also know that a lot of people on this board use Robert Craig color. It is a gentle permanent color with no peroxide, ammonia, or alcohol. Here is the website:

http://www.robertcraig.com/php/index.php

What do you think?

teric506

natural instincts is semi permanent and is supposed to last through 28 shampoos. It doesn't seem to last that long on me but that was also when I was washing my hair everyday. When I would get color at Sally's I always mixed two colors but I always liked the natural instincts better so figured I would do the same thing. It did come out pretty just not dark enough for me. I would like to go darker but am terrified I will turn out to dark. I have actually tried the Robert Craig hair color and didn't care for it. I could never get the color right and always had a hard time with the consistency of it. A lot of people seem to really like it I just think it depends on what you are looking for. I may try it again some day but I am still on the fence about that one.

mj11051

Check out this site for great henna recipes and color.

www.hennaforhair.com

teric506

thanks for the link mj11051 I went to that site this morning and ordered the medium brunette bundle along with some cassia. I still have a lot more reading to do because I don't want to lose my curl and I don't want to be to dark or red, a medium warm brown would be perfect. Next weekend will be the perfect time to do it to as my husband will be away for the weekend.

anniemae

Good luck, Teri,

Please post some pictures when you finish doing it.

:blob3:

Alexjoujou

Yes please post pic's! I am going to henna next weekend as well (hopefully!). I may go to an Indian market today to see if I can find some:)

teric506

we could all be henna buddies :happy7::blob3::blob3:

mj11051

teric506 wrote: »

thanks for the link mj11051 I went to that site this morning and ordered the medium brunette bundle along with some cassia. I still have a lot more reading to do because I don't want to lose my curl and I don't want to be to dark or red, a medium warm brown would be perfect. Next weekend will be the perfect time to do it to as my husband will be away for the weekend.

No problem, make sure you go into the forums and ask lots of questions. The ladies over there are very helpful.

teric506

ok I am getting ready to mix the indigo and put everything on my hair. Wish me luck. I have some plastic processing caps from sallys so I may use those instead of the saran wrap and then wrap in a towel. I will post pics when its done. Wish me luck.

Alexjoujou

GOOD LUCK!!!!! Can't wait to see the pic's!!!!

Still loving mine. I have gotten TONS of compliments on it in the last two days...Even though I've been CG for 4 months it seems like the henna makes my hair shinier and curlier (with the amla) and everyone's been telling me how great my curls look!!!

teric506

its making a huge mess right now. the towel around my head keeps getting soaked with the henna stuff because it keeps oozing out of the ends of the plastic. Still have 2 more hours to go. I am trying to leave this on for 4 hours, we will see how it goes.

anniemae

Good luck, teri!! Are you done yet? :happy10:

teric506

I wish I was done anniemae. The suspense is killin me, i kinda like the smell though. I mixed it with chamomile tea and put in a lot of cinnamon so it is not bad at all. At 12:45 it will be on two hours, lets see if I can make it to 2:45!!

Alexjoujou

OOHH Keep going! Can't wait..I've left my laptop on so I can check to see when you post again!!

anniemae

Well....how does it look? (fingers crossed) :happy7::happy3:

teric506

K I am all done, I think it came out pretty good but it is a little orange and my hair was falling out like crazy in the shower. It feels really really dry too. I am not sure what to think right now. Here are some pics. the first one is before and the rest are after.

anniemae

Hi Teri,

It looks very pretty - I like it a lot. Is it more reddish or more brownish? Either way, it looks very rich and natural. Yay!! I also like your waves.

How long did the whole thing take - 4 hours? Whew!!

teric506

Thanks anniemae, it is more brownish right now. It took 4 hours. I think from now on if I do it again I am going to do glosses. My hair feel just awful right now, it is so dry. It was getting so nice when I started CG so I really hope I didn't destroy it.

anniemae

I think I read that some of the other girls experience dryness at first, too. Give it a week, and I'm sure it will feel better. Are you supposed to do a deep conditioning treatment now? Hmm....

Alexjoujou

Hi Teri

I like it too. Actually in the pictures it's not super orange at all...but it WILL oxidize and get darker throughout the next 5 days. Mine is quite a bit darker and has way less orange than it originally did last weekend. I like the darker color on you--it is really rich!

What I see is a nice chocolate brown with some reddish highlights. If it's still wet it might dry a bit different too.

I really like it! I myself like the darker colors--having had what everyone used to refer to as "dishwater" blond hair for most of my youth. I love the darker against the paler skin tones as I really think it lends to a little "color" in your cheeks. It looks like it will bring out the hazel/blue in your eyes as well.

I find that people have been telling me all week I look younger. At 43 that's cool- I likey!

EDA: Yes do a DT now but not a protein DT--use something with very little protein or none at all. I'd leave it on for about 1 hour and see if that helps. Keep it moisturized well this week. The dryness seems to be from the acid activator. My hair wasn't dry but the 4 or so days after henna it reacted very weirdly to all my products. It seems to have calmed down but I still can't use things with a lot of oil--It makes my hair look super greasy.

This week will still be a transition and the color will deepen and change. I would proceed with DT and lots of moisture and then evaluate about Wed/Fri timeline to see what's the final verdict

teric506

Thanks guys. I just warmed up 1/3 cup of olive oil and have that on my hair with a plastic processing cap. I am going to leave it in for an hour and then put a boat load of some giovanni direct leave in that I found in my cupboard. We will see how it turns out in the morning.

alexjoujou: its funny you say that about the dishwater blonde color because that is what my mother always said i had growing up too.

System

My hair feels slightly dry after I use henna if I don't rinse it enough. Sometimes you still need to rinse a little more even if the running water appears clear. Condition, condition. I even sometimes use conditioner to mix my henna with instead of just water and that cuts down on the dryness.

teric506

I rinsed the oil out and put a huge amount of leave in on my hair. I cant even run my fingers through it, that's how bad it is. I love the color but as it stands now I will never do this again. Now I am off to find something to fix this mess that I have gotten myself into.

anniemae

Awww....I really hope it gets better within a couple of days. Please keep us posted.