Colouring your Hair with Henna
Henna is a vegetable colourant that have been used to colour hair since ancient times, especially in ancient Egypt. Natural dyes are similar to semi-permanent dye as it stains the outside of your hair with colour. However due to variable colour results and the residue left behind, it is not advisable to further colour your hair afterwards with permanent dyes or bleaching.
Henna can make your natural hair colour appear richer and enhance natural highlights. Now days it is available as a powder form, which you simply mix up with water to form a paste. The colour can fade gradually, however you can frequently apply henna to maintain colour and give it a stronger and long lasting effect. The results achieved from using henna dye depend on your own natural hair colour. Brunettes tend to produce a more vibrant reddish glow, whilst lighter hair colours tend to produce a more reddish gold colour. Henna is generally not recommended for blondes or hair that is more than 20 percent grey, white, tinted or bleached hair as henna can turn your hair orange. Henna also will not lighten your hair.
For most intense results using henna, leave the henna in your hair for longer. Timings can vary depending on the henna dye. Some dyes can be left for one hour, some can be left for two hours.
It is always wise to do strand tests on your hair to test out the colour as henna can differ for different hair colours and conditions.
If you don’t want to colour your hair you can also use neutral henna to add lustre and gloss. To do this, mix the henna and water into a stiff paste. Stir in an egg yolk for extra conditioning, with a little milk to make the mixture easier to apply. Apply to your hair and leave for one to two hours then rinse. Reapply every two to three months.
Henna Hair Dyeing Tips
- Make sure after applying henna, rinse your hair thoroughly or the hair will be gritty.
- Don’t expose your hair after using henna to strong sunlight and always rinse salt and chlorine from your hair after swimming.
- Use the same henna product each time you dye your hair.
