Henna for Hair!

[AzureN1ght]

I want to send a big THANK YOU to Kara (KLG) for giving me to scoop on using Henna to dye hair! I've been getting worried about my hair (it's very fine) breaking, as I've been using chemical dyes since I was 13 or so... And I was complaining to Kara awhile ago that I was going to have to give my hair a break and grow out my roots. Magically, she produced a foil package from her freezer and told me about how SHE uses Henna to color her hair and how it's actually GOOD for her hair (I mean, the woman's hair's down past her butt and looks SO healthy).

So, after sending away for a sample to test on hairbrush-harvested hair (the test turned out great!), I sent off for 400g of pure Henna! It came in the mail today and I am beyond excited about getting things done! I've mixed about 200g of it (Kara was right--it looks like MORE than enough) with lemon and grapefruit juice and it's setting. It needs about 12 hours to release the dye, and I'm so impatient!

12 hours for dye release, slop it on my head and it takes about 3-6 hours after that (depending on the intensity) to saturate the hair with color... So, it looks like I won't have the results until tomorrow (and of course I'll take pictures then!)--but I wanted to gush, because I'm so excited.

If anyone else happens to be interested, Catherine's website www.hennaforhair.com has a TON of info--from the history of Henna to different techniques/mixes for coloring. And if you follow a link on her site, you can buy Henna (and the samples!) directly from her.

Yay!

[MeMe]

that's cool! I can't wait to see the end result!

[darkangel]

I wish I could trust myself to dye my own hair. The one time I ever tried was a total disaster.

Kim have you always dyed your own?

[AzureN1ght]

I wish I could trust myself to dye my own hair. The one time I ever tried was a total disaster.

Kim have you always dyed your own?

When I first started doing it--at 13--I had it done professionally. I started with hilights, then decided that getting my WHOLE head dyed was cheaper than hilights, so I went with that. After awhile, I decided it was just too expensive (I worked for my parents at the time, weekends and vacations) and decided to do it myself.

I've been doing it myself since 14 or so? It's really not so hard. I'm not saying that I haven't had weird or spotty results occasionally but 90% of the time, I've managed to do it without a problem. I found a box haircolor I liked (Herbal Essences "Radient Ruby") and stuck with it for years.

I'm just glad that I can stay a redhead AND have healthy hair! Hennaing sounds messier than bottle hairdyes, though...because you're supposed to really slop it on thick, like icing a cake. We'll see! Hopefully I won't spend a week looking like an oompa-loompa

[Reptile_Man]

ohhhhh im gonna have to try that,i used to use chemical dyes to dye my hair jet black(naturally brown) black is me fav colour.havnt dyed it in 3 years cause it was ruining my hair, making it fall out.does it break your hair or make ia lilk buit of it fall out liek whne u use chemical dyes?

[darkangel]

I have had quite a saga with my hair... I did highlights here and there when I was younger. My big mishap with the at-home color was with a very unflattering red that took quite a bit of color-correction to make look right. A little over a year ago I had lots and lots of bright blonde done, almost my entire head, and it looked fantastic on me. Unfortunately my hair seems to go brassy no matter what the color, so when I moved back to my hometown I opted for a rich, chocolate brown, which wound up almost black due to an inexperienced hairdresser... So I went to another crappy hairdresser and she charged me 200 dollars to do, basically, nothing... Now I'm wanting to go to just a warm brown shade and I don't trust anyone... LOL

[AzureN1ght]

I have had quite a saga with my hair... I did highlights here and there when I was younger. My big mishap with the at-home color was with a very unflattering red that took quite a bit of color-correction to make look right. A little over a year ago I had lots and lots of bright blonde done, almost my entire head, and it looked fantastic on me. Unfortunately my hair seems to go brassy no matter what the color, so when I moved back to my hometown I opted for a rich, chocolate brown, which wound up almost black due to an inexperienced hairdresser... So I went to another crappy hairdresser and she charged me 200 dollars to do, basically, nothing... Now I'm wanting to go to just a warm brown shade and I don't trust anyone... LOL

Yeah...I've had the same hairdresser since I was 13 and I trust her COMPLETELY. Unfortunately, a year ago this spring, I came home from school to find that the place she had worked at was CLOSED. I wanted a trim and had a panic attack--who was going to cut my hair?! I was on my way home from the mall and stopped in a strip mall (my first mistake) at a place called "Angelina's"--my old hairdresser's place was "Alfredo's"--so it sounds like it could be okay.

I asked for a trim--a few inches off with "long layers" (my 'usual' with Rita, my old hairdresser). She started in the back and by the time she got to the front I realized that the shortest of the layers was only about 4" long on the top, and my longest layer was just shorter than my shoulders... She cut mid-back length hair up past shoulder length--NOT what I asked for.

I sucked it up in the shop and left...then cried for days. I HATED it. Fortunately, I found out a few months later where my old hairdresser is now working--so I've seen her for trims since then, and she's blended the terrible layers for me. Fortunately, I'm almost back to my pre-butchering length

Sorry for my long-windedness--but the moral of the story is: Find a hairdresser you trust and STICK WITH THEM!

[Laooda]

Henna is Awesome stuff!!!! And it smells SO GOOOOOOD too! I used to use the clear just caused I loved it so much when my friend used the Burgundy!

[SarahMB]

Can't wait to see the results, Kim! If you really like it, I might give it a go as well. My hair is breaking like crazy these days, and just really dry between deep conditioning treatments. I spend a small fortune trying to keep it healthy and red, it's hard to do!

[recycling goddess]

i used henna on my hair for years... lovvvved it.

now i have bright red streaks and black streaks in my brown hair... so no henna for me.