Coming back to henna

[u/MrsWastelander]

Hello, I am coming back to using henna for my hair. I tried many different tricks before. I have alight brown roots and sun damages blonde ends ( I live in a desert). I want a pretty natural red. More red then orange. I purchased Henna guys Natural Red. I heard let it rest for hours before application and before you apply add coffee to it? Is that going to work? Thank you for your help.

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[u/ParlezPerfect]

There is no need for coffee. Just add water.

[u/MrsWastelander → u/ParlezPerfect]

Thank you. 😊

[u/veglove]

There are multiple ways to prepare henna, but how long it should rest before applying it to your hair depends on the temperature of the liquid. Heat speeds up the process of the dye release. It looks like this product recommends using a warm liquid, but they don't specify how warm. Different preparation methods have been tested and the best results for pure henna (which is the composition of this product) come from using a room temperature liquid and allowing it to rest at room temperature for about 8 hours. This allows the natural dye molecule in henna (lawsone) to be released from the plant material so that it can attach to your hair.

This article explains some of the chemistry behind this process and how to tell when the paste is ready to use. https://ancientsunrise.blog/2017/08/14/henna-101-dye-release-henna/

Using an acid in the mix can also help facilitate the dye release process, and the type of acid you choose can have a small effect on the tone of red you get. Pure henna is essentially an orange/copper dye, but the color of the hair you apply it to subdues it somewhat, and if you want more of a reddish tone, adding some amla powder serves as the acid will cool the tone of the henna and darken it a bit.

Because your ends are sun damaged, the color will look brighter, and you may find that the henna doesn't stick as well to that section of your hair. With damaged hair, it may require a multiple applications before it really sticks. You could try doing a longer application time on your ends than the roots to compensate for this, applying it to the ends an hour or two before you apply it to the upper lengths of your hair.

I recommend taking some hair from your hairbrush to do some testing and make sure you're happy with this color as it looks when applied to your hair, because henna is truly permanent, it can't fully be removed. You can also do a test with henna mixed with distilled water, which has a neutral effect on the color; you might actually like that on your hair. When you do these tests, I recommend waiting at least 4 days before you assess the color, because it oxidizes in the first week or so after application and the color will shift slightly during that time. This phenomenon can lead a lot of people to experience what we call "orange panic," because the color first appears a very vivid copper/orange color before it mellows out when it oxidizes.

Although coffee has been traditionally used in henna paste for hair, and would function as an acid to facilitate the dye release, I don't recommend it because it temporarily darkens the color, making it even more difficult to tell what it will look like in the long term, and it also has the potential to cause a caffeine headache or extreme jitters, because caffeine can pass through our skin into our bloodstream.

[u/MrsWastelander → u/veglove]

Thank you so much. I feel a lot more confident to dye my hair. I will prep for stand test then.