I Lightened my Too-Dark Henna with Sun-In (Yes, really.) VERY pic heavy!!

[Nightshade]

Thanks so much for getting back to me Nightshade. I think I will take your advice. Thanks for getting back to me before I did anything rash with my hair.

You're so welcome You could always try a deposit only dye to even things out as you grow it out!

[spirals]

I don't remember if I ever responded to this, but you are so smart. I have never done henna, but I am sure I would love the color. I have gone that red before, artificially. It looked fantastic. But it faded. So I am considering doing it in the fall. But I know me; eventually I may want to go back to brown. I'd do indigo glosses over it. If I didn't like that, it's nice to know I could use peroxide to lighten it up to a light/medium reddish brown. I don't know if I will ever need to, but I do know my hair can handle a fair amount of peroxide. My ends have 3 applications of it, and while they are dry and feel coars, they split very little.

Also, your hemline and length in the beginning of the thread are exactly what I want.

[posierose]

Thanks so much for replying Nightshade.
Your hair looks just the way I'd love my wavy hair to look like someday. (:
One last questions of which I'm not quite sure if thats the right the thread to post it in. I'm planning to do a color b4 treatment on my hair to get some of the henna out. Will it be safe to use sun in afterwards for some slight more lightening?
here are the ingredients for the UK Sun In:


Water
Hydrogen Peroxide
Quaternium 80
Fragrance
EDTA
Benzoic Acid
Polysorbate 20
Marigold (calendula Officinalis) Extract
Chamomile Extract
Flaxseed Oil
Dimethicone Copolyol Phosphate
Amino Acids
Hydroxyethyl Cetyldimonium Phosphate
Dimethicone
Panthenol
Aloe Barbadensis Gel
Glycerin

[posierose]

(don't know how to edit previous post)
Or do you think I should stick to the sun in only and leave out the color b4?

[Nightshade]

I don't remember if I ever responded to this, but you are so smart. I have never done henna, but I am sure I would love the color. I have gone that red before, artificially. It looked fantastic. But it faded. So I am considering doing it in the fall. But I know me; eventually I may want to go back to brown. I'd do indigo glosses over it. If I didn't like that, it's nice to know I could use peroxide to lighten it up to a light/medium reddish brown. I don't know if I will ever need to, but I do know my hair can handle a fair amount of peroxide. My ends have 3 applications of it, and while they are dry and feel coars, they split very little.

Also, your hemline and length in the beginning of the thread are exactly what I want.

I think that's awesome you're gathering a bunch of information before jumping into henna. That's the best way to go about it!

(don't know how to edit previous post)
Or do you think I should stick to the sun in only and leave out the color b4?

For what it's worth, I did Color Oops (similar to Color b4) and I got much better results with the Sun-In. I'd say skip the color b4

[posierose]

Thanks for helping out so much Nightshade.
Would it be safe to use sun in a day after color b4 though?
Questions keep popping up in my head.
Whats you natural hair color? Mine is an ashy medium blonde and I'm trying to achieve a slightly more penny toned version of the shade of your result photos you posted on the first page.
Do you still use the 35:65 Henna Cassia mix? How do you mix them? Any specific ways to dye release? Do you let them dye release seperately or mixed already? What liquid do you use and how much of it?
Do you gloss your hair with cassia? how often?
Sorry for all those questions but you're helping out wonderfully.

[posierose]

*35henna:65cassia is what I meant

[Nightshade]

Thanks for helping out so much Nightshade.
Would it be safe to use sun in a day after color b4 though?
Questions keep popping up in my head.
Whats you natural hair color? Mine is an ashy medium blonde and I'm trying to achieve a slightly more penny toned version of the shade of your result photos you posted on the first page.
Do you still use the 35:65 Henna Cassia mix? How do you mix them? Any specific ways to dye release? Do you let them dye release seperately or mixed already? What liquid do you use and how much of it?
Do you gloss your hair with cassia? how often?
Sorry for all those questions but you're helping out wonderfully.

I had several months between color b4/color oops and my Sun-In. I would highly, highly recommend you strand test before you did both treatments so close together.

My natural hair color is a medium brown that goes a titch red in the sun. To be totally fair, though, I've been coloring red since I was 13 (I'm now 32) so I haven't seen more than 1/2 of my natural color at a time for a very, very long time!

I do still use my 35% henna, 65% cassia mix. I dump the two powders in a bowl, then add steaming hot chamomile teal to it and blend until it's like thin pancake batter. (I don't measure out the tea, I just add it to the powder until the consistency of the paste looks right). Then I cover it and set it on the warming burner on my stove for 4 hours. (This is a burner that doesn't cook, it's just meant to keep things warm, so I set this to med-low to keep the bowl warm.) This and the hot tea gives me great dye release very quickly.

I don't gloss my hair with cassia. I think the last time I did a full-head treatment of anything was at least two years ago. It's just such a hassle compared to just touching up the roots. When I have done it, I just take a bit of the leftover mix from my normal hennaing (I keep leftovers in the freezer and roll them into the next batch), add conditioner, and slather that on. Then I leave it for an hour or two.

Ask away, I don't mind the questions

[posierose]

Thanks again! (:
How long do you keep the Mix on your hair?
I'm planning to put some chamomile powder in my mixture. Do I just stay with the 35:65 ratio or should I amp up the henna?

[Nightshade]

I leave it on for about 3 hours

If you add powdered chamomile just mix that with the cassia to get your 65%. So 35% henna, 65% cassia + chamomile