Understanding Henna Hair Dye

For those of you that use henna hair dye because you believe it is all natural and will not harm your hair, you may be in for a huge surprise.

In order to understand henna hair dye you must begin with the henna plant. Henna grows in southern Asia and Africa in tropical and subtropical regions. The leaves of the Henna plant are normally created into a powder, which can then be used, create henna hair dye and henna tattoos.

The leaves of the henna plant are dried and then ground into a fine powder. The powder is a green color but when turned into a paste the colors created are deep red or various shades of red.

As far as anyone can tell from research is that henna has been traced to the Bronze Age. Many people the body art and hair coloring that was seen during this time period were created by the use of the henna plant. Some also believe that during ancient Egyptian time, the henna plant was used as a hair dye. Other stories centered on the henna plant include creating a paste from the leaves to use to keep cool by applying on the hands and feet. It is believed using the henna plant in powder form for body painting, tattoo designs, and more began in the Middle East and then spread to Europe.

If you have blonde hair and desire black, or vice versa, you can forget henna without other ingredients. Henna can only produce red or shades of red period. If you want to use henna hair dye because it is all natural, but desire another color besides red, then you are out of luck. Henna hair color cannot produce blonde, black, brown, or anything in between beside colors or highlights of red. If a henna hair color product states it will produce blonde hair then it has to have a chemical such as ammonia or peroxide for it to be able to strip the color from your hair.

You can use henna hair color if you have auburn hair or any shade of red and have a beautiful head of hair. However, you can also achieve this with a product that is created with 100% plant dyes, no chemicals whatsoever, and will not cause any allergic reactions. The product is created by Advanced Cosmetic Technologies, which provides hair-coloring products that a Vegan could use without any problems.