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Question: Can you tell me a little about henna hair colors and how they work?
Answer: Henna hair dyes are one of the oldest forms of hair color dating back thousands of years before Christ. It is a natural compound that is harvested and cropped usually in the month of November every year.
Henna Hair Dye Preparation and Mixing:
It is prepared by drying the leaves in the sun, removing the leaves veins and then crushing the remainder into a powder form. The powder form is obviously the most popular for retail but can be purchased in a more raw form if desired. The traditional method of mixing henna hair dyes is to add hot water and stir into a creamy paste. Some people today have devised their own mixing formulas. In our salon we use to add hot black coffee in place of water to give the hair a deeper richer tint. Some people add lemon juice for the red henna hair dyes as to activate and accelerate the red tones. Others add egg yolk to the mixer to help keep it some what moist during application. Henna can also be mixed with a ten volume peroxide to create a light, fire crystallizing color. For light hair seeking to be red, adding hot red wine helps to deepen the red tones.
Henna Hair Dye Application:
Henna is applied as a whole head tint, treating the middle length first, the ends second (as long as there has not been any tint applied to the ends previously), and when the color is half way developed, apply to the roots. You can leave the henna on the hair for up to an hour depending on the base color and the depth of the required. The darker the hair color, the more chestnut the result, the lighter the natural color, the more reddish the stain.
I suggest you limit the use of henna hair dyes to your clients with dark brown or dark red hair. Hennas tend to look orangey on lighter hair. Never use a henna hair dye over a tint or perm, the combination of substances can give a very uneven and unexpected result.
ALWAYS AVOID COMPOUND HENNAS! These contain metallic substances which may cause a chemical reaction and usually take 24 hours to set in. They are also more challenging (the color looks like crap) to the sylist.
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