Hi,
I understaind that Henna for African Hair is just like Purity, but how does it compare to Celebration? I would rather avoid Celebration because it has some lead and pesticides. I have a few grays sprinkled here and there which is why I want to color. How do either cover grays? Does Celebration make the hair darker overall? I'm planning on doing buxus too FYI.
Purity and Henna for African hair are very similar. Only the most discerning of henna construes would tell the difference by looking at the results without a side by side comparison. I would say that Henna for African hair would do an adequate job of covering gray for most people. If you wanted a very dark color or have particularly stubborn grays it may not quite do the trick for you. Neither are quite as dark as the Celebration. They have roughly 1% less dye content. Not everyone needs the highest possible dye content to get their gray covered, especially when going for a lighter color.
Any henna will darken your hair a little, but since it reflects light so beautifully it often appears to have the opposite effect. It depends an awful lot on your starting color and even the light your in at any given moment.
Celebration's dye content is 3.4%, AH is 2.2% - thats a HUGE jump in terms of color in henna.
The lead and pesticides came from the next field over (either from water or on the air) and are minimal at best. Its not something you honestly have to worry about - you get more of both on the tomatoes you buy from your grocery store.
AH henna will cover your grays pretty well, but they may be a little more orange. Celebration will turn even stubborn grays a nice auburn - so yeah, it does result in a deeper color overall.
I will be doing samples with each of these hennas.
What is the dye release time for each approx using lemon juice and/or Amla?
Does the shade of red look different with each? For example, I understand Celebration yields a more burdundy/wine look.
Is it possible to just henna once? I would rather avoid the burgundy look.
Juice: 8 - 12 hours, sometimes 24
Amla: Roughly 12 hours
Celebration dye releases faster than henna for African hair though, so you're looking at closer to 6 - 10 hours for juice, probably 10 for amla.
Yes, the shade will be different due to the dye content difference and the fact that each crop seems to have its own unique shade. You can apply just once on your length and then do your roots from then on.
Thanks!
If I use lemon juice, would I need to add water still?
Also, can I use both Amla and lemon juice or is that over kill? I'm interested in Amla because it adds a hint of brown. I will be using buxus and henna too.
You can dilute the juice if you want, it wont take as long.
I wouldnt do both, personally.. that can be fairly acidic and rough on your hair. Chances are good that you will not see much, if any, color change if you add amla to your henna. It cools the henna down when used in a hennigo, but the change is minimal at best in henna alone.
Thanks for the fast reply! So do you recommend using Amla or Lemon juice as the acid?
I am going to do a sample with both AH Henna and Celebration. Then will add buxus to the mix at the end.
If you have curl or a wave you want to keep, use amla. If not, use LJ. If you're worried about your hair becoming dry, use something less acidic like apple juice (6 - 8 hours typically, 3 - 5 for Celebration).
If you are planning to use buxus I'd go with a less acidic mix. Buxus does better in a less acidic environment, from what I've seen.
Thanks Carrie. So for the less acidic mix, would you recommend Amla instead of lemon juice?
You could but it's not all that much less acidic than lemon juice. Amla will not help buxus come out browner, by the way, so the main reason to use it would be to preserve waves. If that is not an issue, I'd just use tea.
Will using tea cover my grays? Can you please tell me how to use tea? Thanks!
Also, just curious, why don't you recommend using lemon juice with henna/buxus?
Have you had trouble getting your gray covered? Not everyone has trouble.
For those who don't get enough gray coverage with a neutral (water-only) henna mix, adding some acidity can help.
Henna likes a mildly acidic environment. Buxus likes a pH neutral environment. If you are using both, you may need to strike a happy medium when deciding how acidic your mix should be.
I've found, and a few others who have tried it have also reported, that you can get better performance from buxus in a less acidic environment (for example, mixing your henna with water only, or tea only, letting it sit for dye release, then separately mixing buxus with water, adding the 2 together and using right away.
This isn't to say that you can't or shouldn't use any acid in a henna/buxus mix, just that if you try something like 25% amla, or all lemon juice, and your buxus comes out wimpy (as if you'd used henna by itself), try less acid, or in some cases NO additional acid.
Using a less acidic mix like water or tea, you'll have dye release quicker. Guidelines here:
http://forums.hennapage.com/node/39
Hi, Can I use any type of tea and how warm should it be when I mix it with the henna/buxus mixture? When I mix the buxus in after the henna dye releases, should mix the buxus with tea or water? Also, should the water or tea be warm? Thanks again!
Mix the henna with room temperature tea, any kind of tea (red zinger, hibiscus, chamomile or green tea are often mentioned). If you were to use very warm tea, it would release fast, but lose its potency quickly also. It will then take perhaps 1-4 hours to release dye.
When you have tested your henna paste and found that it is staining your skin nicely, then mix your buxus with warm water, stir it up, add it to the henna paste and apply.
Thanks! I am going to try a sample in the morning. For this type of mixture, how long would you leave in the hair approx since I will be using a neutral?
For a medium reddish brown to auburn I'd probably leave it on 2 to 3 hours but strand testing is how you will know for sure.
Just did samples for both Celebration and African Hair using tea and mixed with buxus 1:1.
Both samples look almost identical and I can barely detect red. In fact, it looks a lot like my natural hair color (dark brown). I was wanting a little more red. Can I mix up my remaining Celebration and AH samples together (only henna) and apply over the hair samples? If so, would I need to use lemon juice and would it come out more red?
What do you think would happen if I added some Cassia to the mix?
When you apply henna to dark brown hair the color may only be visible in rather bright light or (best) bright sunlight.
It is fine to combine different hennas. Lemon juice can be used or something less acidic. Lemon juice won't make it more red; the liquid doesn't really make that much difference.
Any difference is subtle and I am sure it would not be visible on dark brown hair, but I got the most "red" henna color (versus orange/rust/auburn) using chamomile tea. Repeated hennas (like 3 or 4 or 5 times) will build up more red to auburn to burgundy color but it will still be quite dark.
Adding cassia to the mix will dilute your henna dye so you see less color change than you are seeing now.
If you want your henna dye to be more visibly red, you will likely need to lighten your hair with bleach (or via other methods like honey lightening) in order to get the red of henna to show up better.
ETA: Just saw the part about buxus. If you want more RED, omit the buxus. Buxus will make the color more toward a brownish color; it sounds like you don't have much gray (a few you said) so what about just using henna, so the grays will be a brighter red and the brown can build up more pure henna color?
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