Using Henna To Dye Hair

Check out www.rainbowresearch.com, they have henna hair coloring in lots of shades with guides and tips for applying it. Henna is an awsome all natural alternative to hairdye and it is sooo much better for your hair and the environment! It is a little harder to apply, so you may want someone else to help you with it, if you get it on your skin it will stain much longer than regular dyes.

"Just for Redheads" is a great company! They have mascaras, hennas, makeup, and hairpieces all for redheads. I have found their shipping to be expedient and love getting the catalog in the mail. I have also ordered from justforredheads.com. Good luck!

Thanks for the good advise! Carol

I have dark hair with lots of grey. Started using henna about a year ago after I saw a friend's hair. I can't say much as to whether it's safe. But I used to use regular bottle hair color before I switched to henna. It seemed to work fine for me. I got my henna from local Indian grocery shop. But for my indigo, which is another mixture to henna, I got it online. Indigo will make the hair color darker when mixed with henna. You can get more info on the web www.hennaforhair.com. Good luck.

I agree, Henna will give an overly vivid result on hair with a high percentage of gray; The only way to avoid that is to use a combination of brown and red hennas, but since your natural color is red it may take several tries with different ratios before you find the right mix. I also agree that once you use henna if you decide to go back to chemical colors, or even if you use a permanent wave or relaxer, there may be a chemical reaction between the henna and the chemicals. Not only are there substnces in the henna which cause the reactions, but the type of color it is plays a role too: chemical colors cause the outer layer of the hair shaft to open so the color can deposit inside, while henna is a cumulative color, building up outside the hair shaft. repetitive use of henna can also cause oversaturation of color on the ends and length of the hair. While I have seen some lovely results with henna color, these factors presented to you all bear consideration before you decide to make the switch. You can look online to find some good henna recipes-most cultures mix the henna with something other than just water before application.

Henna is a natural "stain" and can look exceedingly translucent and fluro on any grey hairs that may exist. As a hairdresser of 32 years (10 spent teaching), I would advise that you think carefully about this decision. Because of the mineral content in some Henna's, they present a chemical reaction should you ever wish to change back to a "salon" type colour eg ammonia and peroxide. My advice would be to seek a colourist (hairdresser) who uses organic hair colour - these are much more readily available on the market today and you may even find some in the health food store. Henna was in during the early years of my appenticeship and we used to mix coffee and beetroot and eggs to enrichen the mud smelling powder that is very hard to apply and even harder to remove. I do know they have liquid henna's available now, but I'd do some research regarding mineral content first. Good luck.