Is my hair too dark to use henna?

[hairykiter]

So my hair looks like this indoors:


In sunshine it shows up a few lighter brown/reddish tones.

I want to introduce a colour difference between the undercut and the rest of it without going too wild (though if I wasn't worried about getting a job I'd bleach the hell out of the undercut and dye it various wild colours) so I thought about using one of Lush's henna blocks? (Sensitive skin + not a fan of chemicals)
I thought I'd try it on the undercut first (cos I can buzz it off again if anything terrible happens) then if it's effective, henna the long hair and keep the undercut natural.

I don't want to go any darker (and I know it won't lighten my hair either) but I don't know if I'll be able to get any colour effect from the henna? Even the reddest one?
There is also the question of whether I'd suit my hair a little redder?

Any help & advice appreciated

[rivetlicker_]

I would assume so o.0
Best to go into a store and ask or hit up the forum.

[hairykiter]

So after some internet-rummaging, I found that even jet black hair can show up reddishness from henna, plus it's actually good for your hair, so what the.

I got a teeny tiny sample from my local lush to try it out, I'm currently sitting with mud on my undercut and clingfilm round my head haha
Dunno if it'll work, I had kind of a hard time getting the stuff to stick to my hair. Not sure if I did it right tbh. *shrugs*

[iamtheparty]

It'll take on a reddish tinge. I henna'd my hair with the red henna from Lush a few weeks ago. It was slightly lighter than yours and I have a distinct red tinge. My roots were lighter though and they've gone really red. I'd recommend pre-lightening it just a little first.

[hairykiter]

Just washed it all off, 4 1/2 hours has to be long enough.
Softened it up/off with tons of conditioner first, then washed and conditioned my whole head. (not used conditioner for ages, it's quite nice lol)

I normally use head & shoulders (and used it just now before I thought), but does H&S strip henna like it strips other colours? Should I switch shampoo?

[rivetlicker_]

A great alternative to H&S is Soak N Float from Lush. Probably won't strip colour out as much either. (My Seanik certainly doesn't).

[hairykiter]

So this was the result - I got a nice coppery-ness going on, as expected it's a bit patchy so it'll need going over again. I like it BUT it's too red for the rest of my hair. So now I'm not sure whether to ...

a)make the undercut more evenly coppery and leave the long hair au naturale,
b)let the undercut go back to normal and get one of the brown-with-a-hint-of-red henna blocks to do my long hair,
c)have a coppery undercut and brown-with-a-hint-of-red henna'd hair,
d)bin the whole idea and stick with my natural dark brown.

Any opinions? I'm so indecisive haha.


I think the only Lush shampoo I've tried is karma (or karma comber?) which I LOVE the smell of but it dries my hair right out and leaves it super tangly. I'll ask about soak n float, thanks for that


(edit) just so I'm not double posting. Think I'll choose option C and try to achieve 2-tone-ness with the same henna block, only wrapping up the undercut in clingfilm.
Pics will happen

[hairykiter]

Forgot about this!
I made an attempt at the henna the other day, it definately works. My hair looks the same colour as always until the light hits it....