Please henna 101 me to get a RED(!)/not too orange effect : what do I buy / how do I do this?

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Thu, 2016-07-21 09:57
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whimsical cat
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Please henna 101 me to get a RED(!)/not too orange effect : what do I buy / how do I do this?
Greetings!
 
Sorry this is long. I am terribly excited and nervous! In advance, I GREATLY appreciate any help! :)
 
BACKGROUND/GOALS:
End of December, 2012, I first henna-ed my hair. I purchased the henna from this site and did a lot of lurking about (I'm re-stumbling around right now!), trying to figure out how to get the effect I wanted. It was a great success, but...I don't remember the process anymore! I can say, though, that I have very long hair and the bottom parts of it that STILL retain a different color are my favorite parts of my hair (especially in the sunlight! ;)
 
 
I want it to be RED(!), not orange-y.Bright red is pretty. Dark red is pretty. I really just want red, not the orange. The natural bit of my hair is... brownish, mostly - with random blonde/light brown bits.  Last time, I followed some advice to use temporary dye SPLAT in luscious rasberry i think (first throwing out/ignoring the bleach part of the kit, of course!!) to help disguise the first few days while the henna is super orange-y and still settling. Then, the next night I did the henna and left it on for as much of the night as I could stand. (It was SO heavy, but I made it several hours.)
 
 
QUESTIONS:
Okay, but what did I mix the henna with? how long did i let the mixture sit/in what conditions? how long do I really need to leave it on my head for/did I need to wrap head in saran wrap? Apply heat?  These are the minor detailsI don't recall. ;)
 
I think it was the twilight color, but I understand the color of a henna may change with the current crop. So, is that still the best option for the color I want to achieve? And, uh, how much should I buy? My hair is baby fine, but thick. I will get a hair cut first - I guess I'll have to check back in for a final answer on this, but let's ballpark maybe just past bra strap length?
 
Random bonus question : how can I clean the henna out of my bath tub after I rinse my hair? I happened to be in a hotel room last time when it came time to rinse, but I'm pretty sure we left them an orange tub. :X
 
Random bonus other statement : here's my hair life : I'm a low maintenance. I'm a girl who gets her hair cut maybe once a year, haha. I don't really style it/ I avoid sulfates and silicones / it sort of curls and the most I try to control it is an occasional braid. ;P One question, though - before swimming in chlorinated pools, I will saturate my hair in coconut oil. should i stop doing the swimming or coconut oil or both after henna-ing?
 
again, thanks for any and all tips on how to go about this! :)
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Thu, 2016-07-21 12:49
rchou
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Joined: 2015-07-22 16:06
Red hair

Hello,

The best henna to go with for a bright red would be Monsoon, and you would want to mix it with either Kristalovino or cranberry juice. If you hair is naturaly brown, you may not get a bright bright red, but more of a reddish brown shade. You may also need more than one application to get it to the level of vividness you want, but keep in mind that dyeing hair with henna too many times may cause the color to get too dark.

Here is the chapter on mixing: http://www.tapdancinglizard.com/AS_henna_for_hair/Chapter_7_Mixing_and_T...

You will want to leave the henna in your hair for at least 3 hours. With henna, you can honestly leave it on as long as you'd like, and the dye will continue to saturate the hair. 6 is probably the max you'd really want to do, but some sleep in it.

For your length and thickness, I'd estimate somewhere between 200 and 300g of henna powder.

Rinse out the henna by filling up the bathrub with warm water, soaking and swishing your hair around, then applying conditioner all throughout, refilling the bathtub with clean water, and soaking again. This shouldn't leave any stains. If there are, a cleaner with bleach will be fine.

Finally, make sure the hair is cleaned with a good clarifying shampoo before applying, to get the best results. Chlorine doesn't seem to affect henna much, but coconut oil may potentially loosen the bond and cause fading. If you can switch to another type of oil, that would be good.

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