The amazing technicolor hairdo
June 1, 2010 4:56 AM Subscribe
I use henna on my hair, which I am growing out. Am I in a lifetime relationship with henna, or is there a point at which it's safe to switch to chemical dyes without a potential technicolor reaction?
I used to have really short hair, but began to grow it out a year ago. The grow-out process has made my increasing grey hair more noticeable, so I've been coloring it with the "brun" Lush compound henna, which matches my base color perfectly and tints the grey enough to make it blend in. Apart from making my house smell eerily like my old apartment in Eugene and the part where I sit around for a few hours with my head encased in plastic wrap and a ski cap, this is a good, relatively low-cost and low-hassle way to go.
However, soon my hair will be long enough to require a return to the salon, and I am thinking of a color change along with the new shape/style. I have heard multiple horror stories about mixing henna and chemical dyes on the same head, particularly when the henna in question is compounded with salts; while there are previous AskMes about this, they are about hennaing previously chemically colored hair. Is there a point at which it's okay to color/lighten previously hennaed Caucasian hair?
FWIW, the reason I'm not just going grey is that women in my family don't grey evenly for about 10 years. I'll go natural when it's mostly converted, but for now it looks much less messy when it's colored. My hair is currently shoulder-length and slightly layered, hasn't been cut in a year, and is medium to thick with a mix of fine (blonde & grey) and coarse (dark) hairs.
I used to have really short hair, but began to grow it out a year ago. The grow-out process has made my increasing grey hair more noticeable, so I've been coloring it with the "brun" Lush compound henna, which matches my base color perfectly and tints the grey enough to make it blend in. Apart from making my house smell eerily like my old apartment in Eugene and the part where I sit around for a few hours with my head encased in plastic wrap and a ski cap, this is a good, relatively low-cost and low-hassle way to go.
However, soon my hair will be long enough to require a return to the salon, and I am thinking of a color change along with the new shape/style. I have heard multiple horror stories about mixing henna and chemical dyes on the same head, particularly when the henna in question is compounded with salts; while there are previous AskMes about this, they are about hennaing previously chemically colored hair. Is there a point at which it's okay to color/lighten previously hennaed Caucasian hair?
FWIW, the reason I'm not just going grey is that women in my family don't grey evenly for about 10 years. I'll go natural when it's mostly converted, but for now it looks much less messy when it's colored. My hair is currently shoulder-length and slightly layered, hasn't been cut in a year, and is medium to thick with a mix of fine (blonde & grey) and coarse (dark) hairs.
Well, I don't know the first thing about this, but perhaps you could cut a small lock of your henna-dyed hair and test a chemical dye on it?
posted by Salvor Hardin at 6:43 AM on June 1, 2010
posted by Salvor Hardin at 6:43 AM on June 1, 2010
I agree with doing a strand test. But FWIW, I used henna on my blonde hair (body art quality, though) and went to an Aveda salon when I had massive roots and they bleached my hair (turning it a very light bright orange) and then coloring back to my dark blonde with no problem.
posted by DeltaForce at 7:04 AM on June 1, 2010
posted by DeltaForce at 7:04 AM on June 1, 2010
I used red henna on bleached white hair, leaving me with a kind of awesome bright orange for a few months. When I tired of it it took chemical brown dye without a hitch.
posted by L'Estrange Fruit at 7:36 AM on June 1, 2010
posted by L'Estrange Fruit at 7:36 AM on June 1, 2010
The issue with henna and chemical dyes is that some henna hair colours contain metallic salts, which react very badly with the other chemicals in salon hair colour. I don't know if Lush hennas contain the metallic salts. Typically, if it is considered "body quality henna", they don't contain it. You should research prior to the appointment, of course.
posted by kellyblah at 7:45 AM on June 1, 2010
posted by kellyblah at 7:45 AM on June 1, 2010
You're not wedded for life, but you absolutely need to tell whomever colors your hair in the next six months that you had been using henna. If you're a DIY colorist, I personally would not truck with chemical dye for at least that amount of time. The potential for damage is too great and also expensive, I wouldn't risk it - it would take you back to a salon for repair which would eat up anything you saved by trying to do it yourself.
posted by micawber at 9:38 AM on June 1, 2010
posted by micawber at 9:38 AM on June 1, 2010
yes to everything/everyone so far! definitely strand test for permanent (peroxide developer) colors. any sane colorist would much rather take the time to test something out than melt your hair off. or, if DIY, snip a lock of hair, tape it to some wax paper, mix equal dabs of the developer and the color in your kit, apply, time, rinse. If the test feels crunchy, rubbery, stretches waaaaaay out, otherwise feels weird, or the color seems off (eg "my kit said brown but this just looks GREEN") the prognosis is not good.
Along the lines of getawaystick's experience, there are 'demi' (pm shines from paul mitchell), deposit colors (manicpanic), or non-oxidative permanent color lines (goldwell elumen) that could be used with lower risk until all the henna'd portions of hair are trimmed off.
Oh checkitout! I googled & found the 'test your hair for metallic dye test' which may come in handy too!
To determine if hair has been colored by a metallic dye, mix 1 oz. of 20-volume peroxide with 20 drops of 28% ammonia. Submerge 20 strands of hair in the solution and let it sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes. If the hair lightens rapidly, the hair contains lead. If there is no reaction after 30 minutes, the hair contains silver or bismuth. If the solution starts to boil and emits a foul odor, the hair contains copper. Hair that has no metallic salts on it should lighten only very slightly. (via)
good luck!
posted by Rube R. Nekker at 9:53 PM on June 1, 2010
Along the lines of getawaystick's experience, there are 'demi' (pm shines from paul mitchell), deposit colors (manicpanic), or non-oxidative permanent color lines (goldwell elumen) that could be used with lower risk until all the henna'd portions of hair are trimmed off.
Oh checkitout! I googled & found the 'test your hair for metallic dye test' which may come in handy too!
To determine if hair has been colored by a metallic dye, mix 1 oz. of 20-volume peroxide with 20 drops of 28% ammonia. Submerge 20 strands of hair in the solution and let it sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes. If the hair lightens rapidly, the hair contains lead. If there is no reaction after 30 minutes, the hair contains silver or bismuth. If the solution starts to boil and emits a foul odor, the hair contains copper. Hair that has no metallic salts on it should lighten only very slightly. (via)
good luck!
posted by Rube R. Nekker at 9:53 PM on June 1, 2010
As a former Lush employee, all of our literature said chemical hair dyes are ok over the hennas after a period of time.
From what I understand about chemical dyes vs hennas is that chemical dyes break apart each strand of hair and force the color in there. Hennas wrap the hair in a blanket of sorts, providing translucent color, shine and a bit of protection. They do say not to bleach henna'd hair, as it'll force the henna deeper.
My thoughts/experience: I henna'd in November of last year. My hair never went back to its base color, though it did fade. In February I went to a salon to get it dyed darker. They did a strand test and said my hair was slightly too damaged for the permanent dye and we did a demigloss, as mentioned in Rube's post. It worked for going darker and didn't damage my hair too much.
FWIW, I have curly, dry, pretty damaged hair to begin with. Also, my hair tends to hold color. Demiglosses should be 6-8 weeks and mine's still going strong... hasn't faded much.
posted by bubsy012 at 10:30 PM on June 1, 2010
From what I understand about chemical dyes vs hennas is that chemical dyes break apart each strand of hair and force the color in there. Hennas wrap the hair in a blanket of sorts, providing translucent color, shine and a bit of protection. They do say not to bleach henna'd hair, as it'll force the henna deeper.
My thoughts/experience: I henna'd in November of last year. My hair never went back to its base color, though it did fade. In February I went to a salon to get it dyed darker. They did a strand test and said my hair was slightly too damaged for the permanent dye and we did a demigloss, as mentioned in Rube's post. It worked for going darker and didn't damage my hair too much.
FWIW, I have curly, dry, pretty damaged hair to begin with. Also, my hair tends to hold color. Demiglosses should be 6-8 weeks and mine's still going strong... hasn't faded much.
posted by bubsy012 at 10:30 PM on June 1, 2010
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The instruction packet they give you when you purchase Henna at Lush had more specific instructions, do you still have it handy?
posted by getawaysticks at 5:14 AM on June 1, 2010