Musings from the Junque Pile - Holy Henna Batman!

If you've been reading my blog lately, you know that in addition to giving up shampoo and condition for baking soda wash and a vinegar rince, I have also tried a couple of different things to attempt to bring more red to my head.

My first attempt was with cranberry juice, and you can read it here: Dying my Hair Naturally part 1

My second attempt was with a mixture of ground paprika, olive oil, and cranberry juice, which was post in: Dying my hair Naturally part 2

Both attempts, I'm told will work, if apply almost every day. It takes time to build up the color, but I don't have the time or the inclination to do either of those every day, and then maintain it.

So I started researching Henna.  Henna is a plant based dye that's been used probably since the dawn of time when some cave woman realized that her favorite hunter was casting his wayward eyes at some younger and more nubile female gather, who didn't have shots of gray in her rat's nest of hair.

it's totally natural, and it's totally potent.  I settled on a company that seemed to have clear, concise information about their product on their website, and fast shipping, which is always a plus.  www.hennahut.com is a company located in Spring, TX, and if I'm honest, I was sold on them by their testimonials page, in which happy customers showed before and after pics of their lovely locks.

In an effort to maintain readership, I'll keep this post short, and just show you my before and after shots after applying their color called "Red."

Before:

 After:










Yeah, I'm not showing a full face pic, because I have NEON RED hair. Which, if I were in my 20's, I would totally be IN LOVE with this color. But in my 40's? Not so much.

I'm dreading going to work on Monday.

What went wrong, you might ask? Did I pick the wrong color? No, I think I left it on too long. The directions say to leave it on anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour. I rinsed it out somewhere between 30 to 45 minutes. I always had to leave commercial dyes on the fully allotted times their directions called for.

And I should have done a strand test. But really, can any of you honestly say you ever do a strand test when dyeing your hair? I didn't think so.

But all is not lost: according to the directions and the FAQs on the website, it is supposed to calm down after you wash it 18-24 hours later. I'm just about at the 24 hour mark, and I will be jumping into the shower soon to see how much it will settle down. I'm seriously considering even using shampoo, which is something I haven't used in over a month (check out the No-Poo experiment posts in this blog to find out what that's all about).

Do I recommend Henna. Surprisingly, yes, I do.l My hair feels great, the dye itself doesn't smell harsh like commercial dyes, because there is no peroxide or any chemicals in it. You can't go lighter with Henna, just darker or brighter.  My aim is for brighter, and I believe I'll be able to get a better result out of the shoot the next time I use it. It's all a learning experience, right?

Besides, Henna Hut JUST came out with a new tint called, Strawberry Blond, which, had it been available last weekend when I made my purchase, I would have snapped it up like a really hungry turtle. I've always been a strawberry blond, not a neon red.

(Boy you should have heard the bad words come out of my mouth when I saw they were advertising their new color online - as I was getting ready to mix the color I'd already purchased - Wooo Boy! Was I ever ticked off about that.

So if you  see a person with glowing red hair walking down the street, be kind to her, will you? She's just having a bad hair month...