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Want Red Hair Colour or Red Lowlights on Dark hair?
Simply use henna ! The
Renaissance Henna Hair Colour Kit comes with full instructions. Look through the hair colour galleries to give yourself an idea how it's likely to turn out. Bear in mind that you'll only get shocking red / orange tones or highlights on grey or white hair ( which you can easily mute to brown or black with indigo). If you have dark hair, the henna will add deep reddish tones and make your hair look like it has natural red lowlights; any odd greys will look like reddish highlights. The difference between lowlights and highlights? Highlights brighten your hair ( and can be shocking !) , whilst lowlights deepen your hair and are more subtle.
Want black hair colour ? Or black hair with red or burgundy highlights ? Want blue black hair colour?
Use henna followed by indigo in 2 stages if you want a dark hair colour with red lowlights or purple blue lowlights. Full mixing and application instructions come with the Renaissance Henna Hair Colour Kit.
Want brown hair colour? Or brown with red or burgundy lowlights?
Use henna + indigo. Full mixing and application instructions come with the Renaissance
Henna Hair Colour Kit.
Want burgundy hair colour?
Use henna + indigo. Full mixing and application instructions come with the Renaissance Henna Hair Colour Kit.
The Renaissance
Henna Hair Kit gives you a myriad of colours - pick one ! I can't guarantee your end result hair colour, but I can tell you that I'm certain you'll love it, that you'll be impressed, and that you'll be hooked ! Try it and you won't look back. Go on - because you're worth it !
Let's Work Together
Part of my aim in promoting the awareness and use of natural henna and indigo is to build up as extensive a hair colour photo gallery as possible to demonstrate the incredible range of hair colours that can be achieved with these natural herbal hair colours. I urge everyone to contribute to the Hair Colour Gallery by sending in photos of your before and after henna hair colour before and after henna / henna+indigo. Please send me your photos and I will display them here. Remember to tell me whether you had previously used any hair dyes or bleached your hair, if so how long ago, and how you mixed your henna/indigo; also give me a name that you don't mind being identified by. Feedback is always welcome, particularly as it inspires so much confidence in people new to henna and indigo for hair. Again, please do take the trouble to provide feedback if you can, and confirm that you don't mind me adding it to the Testimonials page; also remember to tell me what name and town to use for you.
Want to Test your Hair for Free?
Want to test henna / indigo hair colour on your hair for free? Send me a small sample of your hair. The best way to do this is either to collect enough hair from your hairbrush, or [preferably] ask your hairdresser to keep back a sufficient sample for you on your next visit. Put it into a small polythene bag and pop it into the post. When I receive it I will photograph it in three stages and display it right here in the hair Colour Gallery - you'll see your original hair colour, your henna hair colour , and finally, your indigo hair colour [applied after henna]. Give me a name so you'll be able to identify your hair sample and colours - a made up nickname will do if you prefer not to use your real name. I don't need your address, but an e mail address would be handy in case of any queries.
Henna Hair Colour Strand Tests
I must remind you that hair colour strand tests don't always
give you an accurate prediction of your end result hair colour and
they don't always take on colour with the same passion as a full head
of hair would. Many people are disappointed with the hair colour strand test
result but amazed with the full hair colour application. Maybe it's
the body temperature that makes the difference; it's hard to say. Also,
do remember that your strand test hair may not necessarily be a true
indicator of final all over hair colour due to the fact that the strand
test hair may have uneven colour saturation, especially if you've previously
used hair dyes. And hennaed & indigoed hair looks like different
hair colour depending on where you're standing - it'll look like a
different hair colour indoors compared to how it looks outdoors. It's
a beautiful coat of many colours. In my opinion, henna / indigo should
be used by every person on the planet at least once in a lifetime.
It's too incredible to miss out on and if you never try it, you'll
never know.
A Reminder about Previous use of Chemical Hair Dyes and Henna
If you've previously used chemical hair dyes, although you can go straight ahead and use henna / indigo, I'd recommend you wait as long as possible. My minimum recommended waiting time is 2 weeks, especially if you've just permed your hair. But my advice is to aim for 2 - 3 months before using henna after a hair dye if you can. The only reason why I advise people to wait as long as possible is simply to give your hair the opportunity of getting rid of chemical hair dye build up, and also to ensure the best hair colour take from henna/indigo. It's the compound (“metallic salt mix”) hennas which hairdressers moan about and say you can't use before or after hair dyes. My henna and indigo are not mixed with metallic salts - they are pure. They are not the same stuff your hairdresser is talking about ! My henna and indigo are safe to use both before and after chemical hair dye, but my advice to you is to wait as long as you can before using hair dyes either side of henna, because it's in your best interests to wait.
Strand Test Hair Colour Pictures
Below are photographs of natural hair strands showing how they colour with henna, and how they intensify to darker shades after the indigo application. I'm afraid the photos don't do justice at all to the final end result colour - scroll down to the real life photos see what I mean. Also, please bear in mind that the henna used for these strand tests was mixed with part lemon juice and part water and therefore the henna colour is lighter than it would have been with a straight hot water mix.
Strand Test Hair Colour Picture File : Brunette Hair Colours
Light Brown
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Light brown natural hair |
Light brown straight after henna |
Light brown henna hair on day 2 |
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Light brown after indigo |
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Medium Brown
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Medium brown natural hair |
Medium brown straight after henna |
Medium brown henna hair on day 2 |
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Medium brown after indigo |
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Dark Brown Hair
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Dark brown natural hair |
Dark brown straight after henna |
Dark brown henna hair on day 2 |
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Dark brown after indigo |
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Khadijah
Jacky
Jacky wrote on 15.2.06 : “My hair colour is medium/dark brown. My last permanent colour was mid December with loads of bleached copper highlights; however I had to colour semi permanent over it 2 weeks ago as holiday sun faded it. The colour I would like to achieve is medium brown/red.” Sabrina, 21.2.06: “Hi Jacky; it was difficult doing the strand test as I found it hard to separate half of it so I could send you both the actual henna result and indigo result (guess I should have requested 2 hair samples). But you can see here that I've photographed it at both stages. I applied henna first and left that in just slightly over 2 hours; rinsed through, and then applied indigo for about 15 minutes; I would say when you do this yourself to apply the henna for 2 -3 hours, followed by indigo for literally 10 minutes - that should get you to medium brown with red highlights; I'm afraid the strand test isn't always an accurate prediction of your end colour, but I think you'll be pleasantly surprised if you go ahead with the full hair application - try it ! Sorry about the awful photos - they just don't do justice to the real colour. ”
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Jacky's starting colour |
Jacky's hair after henna |
Jacky's hair after indigo |
Jacky, 27.2.06 : “Hello Sabrina, Just to let you know that I put the henna on my hair yesterday (3 hours). The colour is so lovely that I don't intend to use the indigo. It's absolutely gorgeous. Thanks so much for your valued advice over the last week. I'm definitely going to use henna from now on. Best regards, Jacky.”
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This is Jacky's hair after using Renaissance Henna - compare the colour now with her starting colour in the strand test hair photos above. Jacky had used permanent hair colour and had remnants of bleached streaks in her hair; she was also going grey.
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Carly
All photos here have been submitted by Carly Wilson, www.andantehennadesign.com
Carly says : I actually have naturally light-medium brown hair as you can see in my beforepic .. it's been a long time, lol). My dad and a *lot* of my relatives have naturally red hair so I have the right complexion. Photo 3 is me after I had hennae'd it twice but had used chemical dyes many times. It's a good example of how using natural henna after chemicals can work out lovely. A lot of hair stylists say you can't henna after chemicals (or vice versa, as I'm sure you know), but if you're using pure henna, then you're good to go. The henna has made it softer and fuller than it has in years (ie. in the years I was using chemicals). For my mix, I used pure henna, lemon juice, olive oil, and paprika.
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Carly 1
My natural hair colour before henna
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Carly 2
My hair dyed hair |
Carly 3
My hair after henna
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Patricia
Photos here have been submitted by Patricia of http://arcahenna.fr.fm
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This is how my hair looks after henna
see http://www.hennatribe.com
where I have explained how I mixed
my henna. |
My natural hair colour - before I used henna |
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Barbee - Scrappy Doo's Photoshoot !
Submitted by : Barbee of www.barbeecain.com
Barbee's Natural Hair Colour : Dark Brown
Barbee's Previous use of Hair Dyes : bleached her hair all white
Barbee's Henna Mix : Mixed ancient age old henna with boiling hot chamomile tea
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Barbee's natural dark brown hair colour (pre -bleach) with just henna 1
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Barbee's natural dark brown hair colour (pre bleach) with henna 2 |
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Barbee's bleached white hair |
Barbee's dark brown hair colour re-growth in between bleached hair |
Barbee's hennaed hair 1 - the bleached white hair turns
red orange and the natural dark brown hair colour
deepens to a slightly reddish brown
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Barbee's hennaed hair 2
Red hair colour contrasting with deep orangy/red brown |
Barbee's hennaed hair 3 |
Barbee's ponytail : hennaed hair 4
Contrasting the hennaed bleached hair
and the hennaed natural hair colour
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Joan - ( sort of a strawberry blonde which, from the before photo, could pass as lightish blonde brown hair )
Photos submitted by Joan of www.theartisansambrosia.com
Joan's Natural Hair Colour : Dirty blonde/golden blonde, with natural highlights
Hair Dye History : She had never used any chemical hair dyes before henna
Joan's Henna Mix : “a mix of leftover paste and some cheap
powder I bought from a local Indian grocery store. I mixed the henna with
lemon juice and a bit of rosemary, mostly for scent. After I applied the
paste I wrapped with plastic and a towel and left it covered for one hour.”Joan's comments on henna : I've never been one to put chemicals or manufactured
product into my hair beyond the basic shampoo and conditioner, so hearing
about henna (a Natural alternative!) was too tempting to pass up. As it
turned out, the red color suited me well and I've now hennaed my hair
three times. Using henna in my hair leaves it amazingly soft and silky,
well conditioned, and a bit thicker than before. Even when using stale
or leftover mixtures I get great color that blends in well with my natural
tones and highlights
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Photo 1 Joan's natural hair colour |
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Photo 2 Joan's hair immediately after her first henna in March 2005 |
Photo 3
Joan's hair one week later |
Photo 4
Joan's hair in January 2006 after she cut it and hennaed it |
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Photo 5
Joan's hair in January 2006 after she cut it and hennaed it
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Photo 6
Joan's hair in January 2006 after she cut it and hennaed it
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Photo 7
Joan's hair in January 2006 after she cut it and hennaed it
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Joan's friend- photos submitted by Joan of www.theartisansambrosia.com
27.2. 06 : i hennaed my girlfriend's hair today! she had been dying it red for a while, but her roots had grown out about five or six inches, so we tested the other day with henna and did the full dye job this afternoon. it turned out beautifully, her head smells tasty =)
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Joan's friend before henna
The before picture is her dodging the camera - turned out well when needed a picture of the back of her head!
Here are all the after pictures - flash and no flash. the color's much more consistent than the dye job was :
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Joan's friend after henna, 1
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Joan's friend after henna, 2 |
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Joan's friend after henna, 3 |
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Joan's friend after henna, 4 |
Katie
photos submitted by Katie of www.hennafairy.com
2.3.06 : i wanted to get photos in the sun after the henna, but it's winter and i work during most of the daylight hours, just hasn't happened yet. so here's what i do have!
before - in sun - most of the hair was permanently colored lighter and redder,
and covered with permanent as close to my own hair color, dark brown,
but was still lighter and a little red.
after - inside - the flash photo is actually accurate for what it looks like
in the sun, the nonflash photo is a little redder than it really is!
Dee
Photos submitted by Dee, Hampshire, on 18.12.05 : -
God - how hard it is to photograph your own head, you will see I didn't do too good a job but you are welcome to these. I opted not to use the indigo in the end. I used 150 grams of henna mixed with the advised volume of lemon juice and water and which I left standing overnight. My hair has been previously chemically coloured. Black ages ago and still visible on the bottom 2 inches or so and a burgundy brown in September which had faded somewhat and my roots were showing through (and the dreaded greys!). Henna was applied to dry hair (washed night before) and cling filmed and shower capped for 6 1/2 hours before rinsing. The grey ones are a shade of red but I like this and there aren't what people would consider a lot (although I do!)
Thank you, I will be ordering again soon. Kind regards, Dee x
18.12.05
Note from Sabrina : I Just wanted to say that I experimented with henna and indigo at the weekend to cover signs of new growth - grey roots - and decided to try something a little different. Defrosted some frozen henna, applied it and left it in a couple of hours under cling film and a scarf; then mixed up indigo. I left it about 30 mins. Then applied the paste straight on top of the henna paste ! I didn't bother to wash out the henna paste first. Put the indigo in/on my hair and covered it with fresh cling film and a scarf on top to keep it all warm. Left it about 45 mins to an hour, and washed it all out. Got beautifully covered black brown hair on top with interesting glints of red at the roots - this is a new look and I'd definitely recommend it ! For first timers, still follow the instructions as set out in the Kit - at least the first time/or first couple of times; but once you're colour has built up, and your confidence, you're free to experiment and adjust the colours whichever way you want to try.
Claire
My hair is naturally dull brown. It has been chemically coloured countless times and I've recently bleached it as well, but I hated the end result ! I'm attaching 2 photos - taken last weekend (new year's eve, 2005) of how my hair looked after my last lot of colour and bleach, and how it now looks after henna and indigo. While I'm a tiny bit disappointed that I couldn't get the bleached highlights to deepen completely to brown, I absolutely love the overall result ! I was a little scared as I'd only used my last colour and bleach about a month ago, but I was so fed up with my colour that I was prepared to try so I jumped right in and I love henna and indigo ! I'm definitely going to stick with it. I love how it feels, smells, and colours - it's fantastic ! I'm so grateful to you sabrina for introducing me to your product and for persuading me to give up on that chemical trash. It was amazing how the colour changed within a single day - initally the henna looked too red/orange but within hours it deepened to deep auburn and I actually started to like it, but thought I'd jump in and try out the indigo ! The bleached bits went a bit yellowy with the henna, but then got tonded down somewhat with indigo and as for the rest of my hair I love the shine, the gloss, and the deep brown with red bits underneath. This is an amazing product and I would recommend it to anyone even if you've just used chemical hair dyes or bleached your hair recently. Eternally grateful, Claire.
Jessica- a stunning example of how pure henna colours beautifully over chemically dyed hair.
Photos submitted by Jessica of : http://www.geocities.com/henna_by_jessica/index.html?1108436309546
Jessica's natural hair colour : brown
Jessica's Hair Dye History : i dyed my hair before-once a month since i was 16 -now 21
Thoughts on henna : would i go back to hair dye after henna?-maybe, but after discovering how nice henna is on hair it'll be a while. My Henna Mix - mixed my henna with hot chai (tea), olive oil, and some henna cones to get some tea tree oil into it.
it's a very nice cherry color and i love how shiny my hair is. and the flyaways are gone.
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Before Henna - Jessica's fluorescent pink dyed hair |
Fluorescent pink turns to a cool funky red hair colour after henna ! |
Vanessa
I've just purchased my second lot of henna from you. Just to say that after a long time using commercial products my return to henna has been amazing, and I'm really grateful for the time you took in responding to my email a month or two back to allay my concerns.
I've attached three photo's for you - a 'before' shot; a shot immediately after the first henna, which I hope you'll agree looks fantastic!! - and a slightly lower quality picture of my second application, in which I used Paprika with the henna to achieve a redder look. Please feel free to use the images if you wish.
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Vanessa 1 “Before Picture” - light brown
hair ( strawberry blonde hair colour
? )
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Vanessa 2 - immediately after Renaissance Henna application : just henna |
Vanessa 3 - henna mixed with paprika |
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Maja
My story
My natural hair color is light brown. I previously dyed with a black demipermanent dye (Loreal's I think) that lasted for about a month. Then it was suppose to rinse out but it just got a little lighter, probably because it was meant for darker hair, like dark brown. I colored my hair for about a year. Before I switched to henna and indigo I didn't dye it for about two or three months because I heard that you can damage your hair if you previously used chemical dyes (but I did a test on my mom's hair, who's been perming and coloring her hair since I can remember, and her hair were fine).
I use Sabrina's method 1 - applying first henna and then indigo in two separate stages. I use about 110 grams of henna and 90 grams of indigo and I've only tried it twice till now. The first time I used henna and indigo I also put about 20 drops of tea tree essential oil (I'd read on the internet that people use them in their mixes) and the second time I also added the same amount of cocoa essential oil because cocoa really smells nice. I leave henna on for about two and a half hours. When mixing indigo I don't use an egg white and the first time I put 1 teaspoon of sugar and 2 teaspoons of salt for a blue shade in my indigo mix. The second time I used about half the salt I used before and I have to say they're quite less blue now (I can take photos of my hair now). Next time I'll use 3 teaspoons. I leave indigo on for about two hours. And after I rinse it out I use coconut oil and leave it through the night and wash it in the morning. I thought I could only use water the next day, but the oil really doesn't get out without some shampoo.
I love the color of my hair and how the way they shine changes depending on how strong the light is. If the light is weak my hair get a red tone, if it's a little stronger they have a purple tone, and if it's strong a blue one. I also noticed my hair aren't falling out as much as they used to.
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Maja “Before Picture” no. 1 |
Maja “Before Picture” no. 2 |
Maja's henna application |
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Maja ’s hair straight after henna |
Maja’s indigo paste application |
Maja’s (Renaissance Henna indigo) indigo hair result
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Maja’s (Renaissance Henna indigo)
indigo hair result |
Maja’s (Renaissance Henna indigo) indigo hair colour result |
Maja’s (Renaissance Henna indigo) indigo hair colour result |
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What happens if you indigo grey hair or white hair without
using henna first ?
This is what happens, as demonstrated by Maryam :
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Maryams' Grey Hair ( roots are showing through after previous henna / indigo applications) |
Indigo straight on to grey hair / white hair turns it a blue green |
Henna on top of the indigo blue green hair turns it back to henna orange brown |
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Now the indigo result after henna ! |
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DON’T try using indigo alone on any light hair colour (blonde hair colour / ash hair colour ), including grey hair, as it has the potential to produce blue or green and it may not be a shade you like ! But if you’re interested in blue or green, then go ahead and strand test. On dark hair colour it is generally considered safe to use indigo alone and it will darken the hair even more towards black hair colour, but it may leave the hair dull and dry and it will lack the glossy effect that comes when it's used with henna.
On grey hair, make sure the hair is orange from your henna before using indigo. And if the grey hair looks bluish after using indigo ( rare, but it could happen if henna didn’t cover it properly), then just repeat the henna application followed by indigo again.
Always do a strand test and even if you like the idea of using indigo on its own, do experiment by using it after henna hair colour as well. I personally find indigo is best used with henna for optimum results and spectacular hair colour.
Finally, if you've used hair dyes and especially bleaches on your hair, do not use indigo for at least 6 - 8 weeks since the last dye / bleach, as indigo over bleached and dyed hair can be unpredictable, not to mention green ! In many cases indigo ( used with or after henna ) works perfectly well straight after dyes and bleaches, but none the less I urge caution and would prefer that you waited.... get rid of the chemical build up and then go for it ! In the event of green hair, apply tomato sauce / ketchup in the hair, cover, leave in for up to an hour and shampoo out ; repeat applications may be necessary but the tomato sauce should get rid of the green !
The Renaissance Henna Hair Colour Kit is recommended for all of you who are new to henna and indigo : 
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