henna hair dye?

[Kenzo]

is henna hair dye any good?

[blueeyedlass]

i used powdered henna a few times on my hair years ago and it was really quite good actually the colour lasted well the only problem was the smell it was stinking but then the smell of ammonia from regular dyes isnt the nicest either .

[qapmoc]

Be careful with henna, it is a natural product and it might contain things you don't expect ! I know someone who used a cheap Henna product of Indian origin and soon after suffered a really bad attack of fungus on the scalp which took ages to get rid of.
Presumably the Henna powder also contained spores of the fungus.

[Dreaming]

I used to henna my hair all the time. But yes be careful as depending on your hair type the brightness of it can vary a lot. On my (then) thicker hair, it went a reddy brown, but on my sister who had finer hair, it went very orange. You can add things to it also like, coffee, or beetroot to vary the colour. Also beware that once you start to henna your hair, you cant then use semi or permamant colours on it. But most packs warn you of this anyway. Happy Hennaring (if thats the right spelling!)

[happy_face]

About 15 years ago I used Henna all the time because at the time you couldn't really get any ginger or vibrant red colours in the shops. And then Henna only came in the powdered form. As Dreaming said you can add stuff to it to add more colour. I used to add red wine and coffee to make the colour more intense and I wrapped my head in cling film and slept with it overnight as the longer you leave it in the better the colour. At the time of using henna I had quite long hair and the day after was like trying to wash out dried cowpat and it was a nightmare. But once out of the hair it was nice and soft and gentle to the hair. I was told that you couldn't colour or perm your hair once you'd dyed it with Henna but I managed to switch to other Ammonia based hair dyes with no problem. The only problem was that because the Henna was a natural product it protected the hair and the ammonia based colour didn't last too long before it faded. But perserverance cured that. I must admit I haven't gone back to using Henna again because the result of the colour is never predictable and you tend to get a slight difference in colour when colouring

[Kenzo]

well, i was thinking of going for red, which you can buy in blocks from Lush, thanks for all the advice, in the end i'll probably chicken out and just not bother!

[jerseyjane69]

speaking as a hairdresser,, i would advise against it... only really because once you have put henna on your hair,, it's an absolute nightmare to either get out or colour over if you don't like it... looks ok when you first do it, as long as you don't mind which kinda red it goes as it can be unpredictable........ the best thing would be to buy a semi permanent colour which will wash out over 24 washes......and at least if it's horrid you can colour back to your natural colour with a semi afterwards..

[charliekins]

Hi, i used the blocks from Lush that you were talking about, and this is the second time iv used them.

i've used the red one both times, on my hair which was previously dyed brown, and the colour has come out fantastic, it makes your hair soft and an amazing colour.

it's quite hard to put on though, and you will need some help!

the colour lasted about 2 months on my hair, and went back to the colour it was before.

if you go into Lush, the people are quite helpful and can tell you more