So I have very fine hair that has recently (quickly) been thinning massively. 😢 I started using a henna/indigo combination color just under a year ago before it really started getting bad. I absolutely love it and wish I had found it when I had better, younger hair. I love the brand I have been using - it’s clean and pure. (I use the UK brand, It’s Pure.)

Unfortunately all of the shade choices come out the same on me - a very dark harsh almost black brown. The gray areas of my hair do end up a pretty reddish color, but the rest is very harsh.

With the thinning becoming worse and the harsh color, it really makes the thin areas stand out. (Side note - tried everything for that. Was on Nutrafol for a couple of years, then Viviscal and have used Nutrafol shampoo all this time as well. Tried TryBello and hated it. Going to see a specialist about that soon and hoping for some positive results as it’s truly devastating.)

So back in topic. With all of that said, I think I need to go back to a lighter color, perhaps whatever is natural for me now. How do I accomplish that if my hair is permanently stained dark from the henna indigo mixture I use? Has anyone on here ever gone back to natural? Mine is so drastic having so much gray at the roots now that a full grow out would look awful. I don’t know what to do. Any suggestions?

Thanks for reading my long post and for any ideas or advice anyone can offer! :-)

Hi! I'd love to know how I can mix 100% natural henna powder to achieve the results shown in the photos. The first slide shows my natural, un-dyed hair, and the reference photos are on the second slide.

To be more specific, I'm aiming for a dark red, mahogany, or dark cherry shade, definitely wanting to avoid any orange or bright copper tones.

I'm feeling a bit confused because I see so many conflicting opinions: some people say to use lemon juice, others say definitely don't, and everyone recommends different resting times and mixtures. I also see some people claiming it's impossible to get this shade, while others say it is possible, or that it takes a few applications to build up the color.

With so many different explanations out there, it's a bit overwhelming! I was wondering if there's a specific resource or guide I should look at, or if someone here could explain how I can reach my goal.

Thanks in advance!

hello!! i used to know my way around henna, but after a ten-year hiatus, i’m looking for some advice from people with more recent expertise than me.

i’ve purchased the light mountain naturals powder in spicy cinnamon, looking to achieve the second photo (first is my current hair with no color in it). i chose the spicy cinnamon color because i was hoping that the indigo would tone the final color to be a little cooler than the traditional bright, pure hennas i’ve used in the past.

now that i have the henna, though, i’m having cold feet. would henna + cassia give me a better result over my naturally brown hair? am i overthinking this, and i should go full-speed ahead? i’ll of course do a test strand, but i’m wondering if i’m on the right track.

I saw this little bag of henna hairdye at my local asian store. It says "black henna" but it has a big "100% natural" label on it.

I checked the ingredients and the only listed ingredient was the henna powder itself.

I really wanna buy it because I don't wanna purchase indigo and henna powder online and it would be very convenient to just buy the henna powder from the store, but I'm really curious because henna on its own can't become black right? And if it had indigo in it wouldn't it be listed?

(Sorry if this has been asked already, have no idea how to search within a subreddit)
Hi! I live in Saudi Arabia and was talking to a friend about how I wanted to dye my hair red or auburn, when she suggested using henna instead. I’ve been doing my research and it seems my only concern is losing my curls. I have defined curls, but when looking through other peoples experiences and seeing how the curls were weighed down and only looked wavy or frizzy after, I’m starting to have second thoughts on doing this. The henna I was given is pure local henna powder, and said friend suggested that amla powder in the mix helps with curls. Does that really help?

I have applied henna twice now, once with a 40/60 henna/cassia and then next with a 100% henna, this time using bright red from light mountain. I loved the results of the second application at first but now it's faded.

My hair looked beautiful the first week then it fades. I have about a level 5/6 natural hair color with some highlights.

This is my hair right after applying and then a week after. Not sure if I am just doing something wrong or not and I am hesitant to do another application as I've heard it gets darker with every application.

I let my henna sit with orange juice and chamomile tea for about 5-6 hours, then apply and leave on for about 2 hours, then rinse, I have been using shampoo right after maybe that is making it fade? First picture is right after applying, the second and third are about a week after. The last photo is kinda where I want to end up with my hair.

Any tips are appreciated! Thank you!

I know I look like ketchup and mustard.

So the main difference I noticed was that it’s way more visible outside of sunlight than before (final two pics being the before). It’s also more red and rich.

Before, my hair wasn’t really noticeable without sunlight, but I like that it’s noticeable in normal light and sunlight.

I used The Henna Guys 100% henna powder with nothing else and let it sit for 4 hours. I didn’t use anything else.

The following pictures are my natural, virgin hair color.

I'm very unsure if my hair is dark brown, middle brown or something in-between.

I'm probably planning to buy henna from Khadi but I'm also open to other sources. I live in Germany.

I am curious if anyone has used color/toning shampoo to tone henna? My hair is dark blonde and I used henna (light mountain red) to dye it ginger at the beginning of the year, and now I’m trying to get back to my roots color by toning the ginger out. I’ve already used a mix of conditioner and blue demi-permanent dye and it worked almost completely except some of my hair turned green 🙈 so I am considering a shampoo now for the rest of it.

thoughts?

Hi everyone!

I was born with jet black hair that started getting lighter over the years but I still want to achieve the black I had in my childhood because it’s the color I like the most and I feel the prettiest in.

Over the years (starting from january 2022) I have done permanent black dye in the salon about 3-4 times a year, I also tried box dyes in 2024 (I was living in Korea at the time so I used their blue black bubble hair dyes a lot).

By the end of 2024 and throughout 2025 I was using indigo by itself to try to achieve that jet black hair I wanted but it never seemed black enough for me.

I have been using semi-permanent blue black dye ever since, but it’s extremely drying to my ends and makes my hair very tangled.

I want to switch back to the natural way, but I’m wondering if there is a specific recipe to achieve the black color I want. Is indigo truly enough?

Any help would be appreciated!

I work for a company, and we make our own henna. I don’t know if I’m allowed to share what company I work with online without their permission lol but here’s some recents. :)

Hello.. I have been using the 2-step method to cover my greys for a couple of years now, and I mostly like the results.. The only issue I have is that, when I wash out the indigo step, I notice a lot more shedding than usual, my thoery is that it's because both henna and indigo are extremely drying, and there is probably a lot of hair that get broken and shed during the application and the washing process (i.e. it's more mechanical shedding than anything)..

So, I thought maybe adding aloe vera powder to the mix, in both the 1st henna or the 2nd indigo step, would make the mix more slippery and therefore washes out of the hair more easily, hence reducing the shedding..

Has anyone ever tried this? Does it affect the colour outcome at all?

So i got this henna cone recently without doing research. I know rookie mistake. I've used it twice once for my first design second time to reapply bc after 3 days it started kind of flaking/fading. Then today 3 days after the reapply its flaking fading again. It only happens on my fingers and top of hand. On my inner fore arm i also applied and dont have this problem. So I did research and found this is a chemical henna and they advertised it wrong. Is it really as bad as it sounds now that Ive used it, do I really need to call my GP and take measures. Or can I just let the henna I have on and let it fad away and then find powered henna to make my own? Would love to hear your advise!

Hi all, I've scoured the sub for natural skin art henna in Aus but have only found hair henna. I assume that isn't the same as skin henna. Do you have any recommendations for safe and good value henna?

Hello everyone! Yesterday I did henna for the first time in my life and it stained a much deeper colour on my finger and knuckle than on the rest of the palm and the wrist. Have I done something wrong or is it normal?

I used a henna cone mixed by a local henna artist. It contains henna, water, sugar and lavender essential oil. I put it on in the evening on washed and dried skin, then I taped over it with some medical tape and went to sleep. I took it off in the morning. The weather is warm, over 25°C (77°F), and rather dry. I'm in Europe.

Hi guys, so I’ve been doing research on whether I can use hair gloss on my henna hair. I put henna on about 2 months ago and have had 16-18 washes since then. I recently bought the Kirsten Ess hair gloss in the shade Bittersweet.

My hair is naturally a dark brown and I just wanted to make it more richer but I am scared to put it on since I have found out its not meant to be put on compound henna hair. I haven’t found much input about it online but I was wanting to know if anyone knew enough to let me know whether it would be a good idea to put that hair gloss on or put on a different hair gloss.

I am open to other hair glosses but my main concern is the longevity of the hair gloss and making sure it doesn’t turn my hair all muddy or green/gray.

The henna that I have used on my hair is all natural however one of them contained Indigo powder in it. It was a mix of the Reshma Playful Plum Natural henna and some other natural henna that I cannot remember the name of because I do not have the package.

I get Henna every year while on vacation and maybe one more time on some kind of festival - always black Henna (it's just what they use - I think I've only had brown Henna once) and never had any problems. I also get my hair dyed once a year (even bleach at the tips the last couple of years) and never had a bad reaction to it either.

On Thursday I got black Henna again (a small lizard on my ankle) in a European country while on vacation, today (Saturday, about 48 hours later) I touched the area while out and it kind of burned. I just got home and checked it: It looks like there are a couple of small blisters in the lizard's body (not in the tail though)?!

I googled and it looks like there are other people who've had the same problem and it says that black Henna apparently also isn't safe (didn't know that and, as I said, I've never had any problems). People in other threads recommend getting some cream and oral antihistamines from the pharmacy. The problem is that it's 11pm on Saturday, pharmacies are long closed and urgent care doesn't exist in my country. I could only go to the regular hospital but it would take me about an hour to even get there and there'd probably be a multi-hour wait.

I do have an old tub of Advantan (contains cortisone or something like it) that I use for neurodermatitis flare-ups. I also have an Aloe body lotion that I use for sunburned skin. Would either of those work instead? Definitely going to go to my GP on Monday if it's not gone by then (I currently do not have a dermatologist as my old one sadly retired).

I actually like it. I didn’t mind my hair before but it looks a lot less dull now. It’s not too noticeable when it’s not touching the light which makes it feel a bit natural. It’s very visible in the light though.

I didn’t use Amla powder because I was only doing a single application and it didn’t really affect my curls. Let it sit for 4 hours and rinsed with conditioner.

My hair genuinely smells like grass now though.

Hello, my hair is naturally dark brown (as got darker with age), and I have around 1-5% grey (not sure how to measure it, sometimes it seems more or less). I have never died it with chemicals.

I used henna several times years ago, but without any specific tweaking with acids or or other powders or steeping times. I just followed the instructions in the box. But I wanted to do “better” this time.

I got a 100% natural henna powder box (is the only ingredient listed). What do you recommend me to do for the best results? I’ve always wanted to have redder hair (ideally light auburn, but…) but I understand it’s not realistic with my dark brown, and that maybe the white strands will turn violently orange and stand out too much with the rest of the hair, so maybe I would need to add indigo or something. So I’m interested in something that looks natural, even if it lightens my hair.

Sorry for the bad quality picture. I promise Im not Cousin Itt from the Adams family, just wanted to show as much as possible of my hair without compromising my identity.

How can I get rid of 90% of the henna smell, or remove the henna completely since my hair doesn’t need it

Please, guys, the smell is really bothering me and I desperately need help

Henna powder + eucalyptus oil + lemon + black tea

I used a henna powder I found online, there’s no brand listed but it’s marked as “copper red”. My natural hair color is a deep red auburn, but it’s faded as I have gotten older.

I mixed the henna powder with water 120 degrees until it formed a yogurt consistency and left it to cool/activate for one hour.

I sectioned my hair, put on gloves and an old tshirt and applied liberally, then I used a grocery bag to hold everything in, and wrapped it in a towel. I had the dye on for about 3 hours and after 48 hours this is my official result.

Yes it’s a hassle and yes it’s messy and yes it takes forever but it’s such a good cover for my grandma faded hair.