Here in Denmark the noxiousness of hair dyes is the hot topic of the moment. Hair dyes, even the alleged organic ones that are offered by hairdressers have proven to contain chemicals, sometimes lots of them. A TV documentary concluded that the only hair dye that had never provoked allergies in studies here in Denmark was pure henna. I have never had any allergy problem with hair dyes, but I have never liked the idea of all the chemicals that ended up in my system, and the dyes were aggressive on my scalp and on my hair leaving it, over time, more and more brittle. So I got curious and questioned my hairdresser about Henna. As you can imagine the information was scarce and I felt that she was reluctant to tell me more.

So I went on the internet and stumbled upon Catherine's fantastic site, henna for hair [www.hennaforhair.com]. I read a lot, and finally came to the conclusion that I must try henna. I bought a box of henna here in Denmark, the strand test was ok, but still, compared to the pictures I had seen on Catherine's site, I was disappointed. I decided to order Ancient Sunrise henna from Catherine. A week later I had received my Henna. Thank you Catherine!!

I did a new strand test with a mix of Henna and a mildly acidic mix, clearly the color was far more vivid than the first test, and decided to go ahead with it.

My hair is originally dark blonde-mousey blonde, but it had some leftover dye in it, darker in the ends and some very light highlights at the back and on top.

I did the easy mix with lemon juice and henna, put my glass bowl on my heated bathroom floor on a towel. My husband was a dear and helped me cover my hair with the mixture. No mess, great. I wrapped my head in a saran wrap and aluminum foil and waited for two hours, washed it off and conditioned it. The result exceeded my wildest dreams

Here is my mix:

100gr. of Ancient Sunrise Henna.
100ml of acidic liquid mix

I waited 4 hours for dye release. My heated bathroom floor speeds the process up without being too hot.

I then gave my mixture a couple of hours more, and once again my husband lent me a helping hand, we wrapped it all up and this time waited for three hours before washing it out.

And the result, boy o' boy.!! Deep Irish setter red is the closest I can come to describe it. No Bozo orange but a fantastic glow. I AM HOOKED. I have already received lots of compliments on my hair. I am so glad. And no itchy scalp and the feel of my hair is amazing. My husband loves it and says it has never been so beautiful. What more can a girl ask for!!

Notes and References
Henna: https://www.mehandi.com/Mehandi-com-Ancient-Sunrise-Henna-for-Hair-s/121.htm
Don’t have fruit juice on hand? Keep some fruit acid powders in your cupboard.
Mildly acidic liquid: https://www.mehandi.com/Fruit-Acid-for-henna-dye-release-s/299.htm
More info on mildly acidic mixes: https://www.tapdancinglizard.com/henna-and-acidic-mixes/
Chemical hair dye allergy: https://www.tapdancinglizard.com/henna-for-hair-2/ pp. 18-26

Video How-To
Going red with henna: https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/739464950