As a public service, I'd like to offer one word of warning -- well, three words:
DON'T USE HENNA.
For years, I used a permanent haircolor in very light blonde to lighten my medium brown hair to a light auburn. Then I decided to let it grow out. But when I had about two inches of roots showing, a big event came up that I needed to look good for... so I decided to put something temporary on the lightened portion of my hair to tone it back down to the color of my roots.
What to use, what to use... oh! Henna is natural! Henna washes in, washes out... that's perfect! I'll use some brown henna!
It was a disaster. The lightened portion of my hair was so damaged from years and years of coloring that it soaked up that brown henna like a sponge... while the healthy, uncolored roots rejected it almost completely.
What's worse is that, for some reason, the supposedly brown henna went absolutely black on me, and not even "hair black" -- it looked like dry black yarn, not like hair at all.
So there I was with chestnut on top and dead dull black below, preparing to go to a convention to meet over a hundred people who were responsible for keeping me employed. AUGH!!!
I had two days left before the event, and I spent those days in the shower. I washed my hair with everything from Prell shampoo to Cascade dishwashing liquid to Lava handsoap, and that henna never budged. All I succeeded in doing was making my whole scalp burn and itch.
So I went to the convention looking like an old two-tone convertible, brown over black, and in need of some body work as well. ~sigh~
DON'T! USE! HENNA!
DON'T USE HENNA.
For years, I used a permanent haircolor in very light blonde to lighten my medium brown hair to a light auburn. Then I decided to let it grow out. But when I had about two inches of roots showing, a big event came up that I needed to look good for... so I decided to put something temporary on the lightened portion of my hair to tone it back down to the color of my roots.
What to use, what to use... oh! Henna is natural! Henna washes in, washes out... that's perfect! I'll use some brown henna!
It was a disaster. The lightened portion of my hair was so damaged from years and years of coloring that it soaked up that brown henna like a sponge... while the healthy, uncolored roots rejected it almost completely.
What's worse is that, for some reason, the supposedly brown henna went absolutely black on me, and not even "hair black" -- it looked like dry black yarn, not like hair at all.
So there I was with chestnut on top and dead dull black below, preparing to go to a convention to meet over a hundred people who were responsible for keeping me employed. AUGH!!!
I had two days left before the event, and I spent those days in the shower. I washed my hair with everything from Prell shampoo to Cascade dishwashing liquid to Lava handsoap, and that henna never budged. All I succeeded in doing was making my whole scalp burn and itch.
So I went to the convention looking like an old two-tone convertible, brown over black, and in need of some body work as well. ~sigh~
DON'T! USE! HENNA!