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

[Medievalmaniac]

Nightshade -- I would NEVER have had the guts to try this if you hadn't achieved such great results -- you're the trailblazer!

[Nightshade]

Aw, thanks hun I'm just glad it's helped a lot of other people who were in the same boat as me!

[Violet.]

Sun in is a hair lightener, right? Does it damage your hair?

[wrh452]

Has anyone tried lightening their henna with crystal light powder mixed into clarifying shampoo? I'm not sure I have enough posts to post pictures, but I think it is changing. I'm not sure if it is getting more red, or just lighter.

[Nightshade]

Sun in is a hair lightener, right? Does it damage your hair?

All lightening methods are damaging to once extent or another. The way I tackled this here was acknowledging that there could be damage and took steps to minimize it

Has anyone tried lightening their henna with crystal light powder mixed into clarifying shampoo? I'm not sure I have enough posts to post pictures, but I think it is changing. I'm not sure if it is getting more red, or just lighter.

I think it might just be the acid lifting your hair a bit, like lemon juice could Most of Crystal Light is citric acid.

[Nellon]

I just tried this as well, and I'm much happier with my hair now! Yay! Thank u Nightshade!

[Nightshade]

You're so welcome! I'm glad it worked for you!

[Barnet Girl]

Hi there - I too have a few questions: I have about 4 inches of new growth after years of bleach, and I rather stupidly purchased organic Henna from Amazon, not reading the print on the front saying it was from Rajasthan (aka red raj, the most potent of them all!) Within 2 applications - one straight henna and one 50/50 with cassia, my dark blonde roots have turned cherry cola!! Who knew henna could be so potent? I can't stand it as it drains my colour, and looks really unsightly next to the orangutan-orange of the bleached bits. (More research needed on how to make these more caramelly)

I have been contemplating and obsessing for weeks about what to do, and this thread gives me some hope. However, I'm really afraid of what will happen if the sun-in touches the already frazzled bleached bits - I am hoping a heavy coconut oiling will be enough to save any overlap. Maybe a gloved hand over bleached bits would help to only access root area? Has everyone else sprayed thin sections of hair at a time?
I am also unsure of how the oiling works (JoJo are you out there?) with the Sun-in process. Do I oil, then wet hair or can I apply straight onto oiled hair? And would it be ok, instead of rinsing to spray water onto hair, then spray Sun-in and dry again? Any advise would be welcome! TIA

[Nightshade]

Well, you're not supposed to use Sun-In over chemically processed hair, but it's worth a strand test Can you pick just a bit of your hair (that you don't mind trimming) and giving it a test run?

I think if you try pre-oiling you'd start with damp hair, oil it and then Sun-In over it ^_^ But strand test!

[Barnet Girl]

Thanks for the reply Nightshade. I would only be using the Sun-in on the root section - it's the section where the bleach meets the roots that I'm worried about. I've got 4 strand tests on the go at the moment, and I've sprayed and dried them each 4 times with the Sun-in Super (the 6% as I accidentally picked up the wrong one) and I'm still not seeing a lift in colour! I would oil the night before as the oil will then have maximum effect. I thought the point of the water would be to ensure even distribution of the product - and I'm guessing oil would have the same effect?
It's a tough one as strand tests are not always reliable due to the damage often rearing it's ugly head weeks later. Oh the torment! I obsess about this daily as I'm so unhappy with my current colour, but equally my hair is terribly fragile. I may treat a small section of hair to get a realistic idea of damage over time. As you say, slow is the way to go!