henna/natural hair dyes... blonde to dark?

Question

I'd love to hear from people who have dyed their hair with natural dyes and/or henna.
I'm blonde, and I've used Naturcolor to dye my hair dark brown, and it worked pretty well. Any other recommendations?
Stories about henna, especially blondes going to dark??

I'm very familiar with henna uses for skin, since I've been using it for years as a semi-professional hobby.
But I don't know any other blondes that have used on skin, or have used the boxed "dark brown hair henna" dyes.
Thanks!

Answer 1

First off there are a lot of misconceptions when it comes to henna. Professionals at hair salons aren't trained in the use of natural products including henna, so most of them are only familiar with boxed henna that typically will contain metallic salts as someone above here has mentionned, and other additives and products. So yes be wary ! Use only body art quality henna powders for hair application. It is safe and you will be very happy with it. It is pure and has no additives.
You said you dyed your hair brown, so it is brown now? If so you can use henna, but yes henna ONLY dyes reddish tones when used alone. Black henna well there is NO such thing. Scientifically henna is a single plant called lawsonia inermis and it dyes red tones. One plant can't dye two different colors, it doesn't make any sense.
So get yourself some body art quality henna and to maintain that brown tone in your hair, if you'd like to, add indigo into your mixture. You can get all sorts of brown tones depending on the quantities you use. From Chestnut to Mahogany, Chocolate, Lush brown., and more.

You can view recipes here at www.HennaBlogSpot.com

I hope this helps !
Natural is always better then chemicals.

Khadija

Answer 2

Hi, I don't know where you got your information or henna, however, according to my resource (which it's very reliable) medium brown henna will be dyed an auburn color with henna. Review the link below. You can try dyeing it again with the henna. Because it now has more of a red tint to it should help dyeing it more red. You can also add a little bit of indigo to make the henna less coppery (it should be 4 parts henna to 1 part indigo). You can also check out the link below to see what other's have done to get more of a red. Be sure to deep condition your hair afterward simply because the acidity will dry your hair out. Also try keeping your head warm if you can; henna doesn't stain as well when it's cold. Otherwise, just leave it in as long as possible. Good luck.

Answer 3

Henna colors were very popular back in the 70's. You may, however, run into some problems with them. They sometimes mix with the minerals in the water you use to shampoo your hair and can turn some interesting colors! IE purple or pink.

If you choose to have your hair professionally colored in the salon after using a henna please let the stylist know that it is on your hair (And I mean until EVERY inch of that treated hair is cut off. Don't think that after 6 months it still isn't in your hair!) as she may need to remove it prior to the new color. And for gosh sakes don't even THINK you're going to go back to blonde!

Also, don't EVER perm over hennas as they contain metallic salts and your hair will melt off.

Answer 4

Um, I've used Henna before, mostly on my skin. My experience with it was nice, but I would NOT use it on my hair. The easiest henna to get is the reddish one and it would look odd on light colored hair (in my opinion). The black henna I heard is poisionus...or bad for you...something like that. So I wouldn't use it. But I LOVE henna for tatoos!!