Sunshine Light Blonde Henna Hair Dye

This was my first time using Henna Maiden, and I would like to preface this review by saying I am absolutely delighted with this product! It's wonderful. First I'll give a brief background, and then I'll outline what needs to be done to have a successful go at using this product. I've also uploaded pictures.I'm a natural redhead, but now that I'm older I have a fair bit of grey, and need some help. Trying to maintain my natural red color that I grew up with has been expensive, as my hair is long, and my hair was paying for it as well because it grows quickly and the processing dried it out horribly. After a year my hair had the look and texture of hay, which was horrible and beyond remedy. After googling 'red hair' I stumbled upon this product. Now, why I had not heard of this before, I'll never know because I swear it's God's gift to redheads! It's affordable, beautiful, nourishing, it does not fade as other products (from what I've heard), and you can do it right at home - and it's ORGANIC! How can you beat that, right? So I did some research and gave it a go. Here is some pointers for you if you're a first timer like me. After doing this once, I realized very quickly exactly what needed to be done for a "better" or "easier" experience. So here goes...#1. AMOUNT: I have long hair down to my waist, but it's not as thick as it used to be. After reading reviews from others with long hair I decided to mix three packages of Henna Maiden Natural Radiant Red. I followed the directions explicitly. I will tell you that I had far more than needed and actually ended up wasting one third of it. So next time, I'll know better. For those of you with thicker hair, I would suggest the three packages.#2. MIXING: I did not add egg or oil. But I did use tea, which I have heard helps "set" the color or intensify it. I chose Earl Grey because it has a beautiful bergamot scent and a lovely color as well. Henna is an herb which smells very "green". It was not offensive to me at all! I actually found it quite therapeutic. But for those of you who want to cover that, then I suggest using the Earl Grey tea or essential oils. For the three packages I used FOUR CUPS of hot tea. This created a thick paste which resembled something you'd see in your infant's diaper. :)#3. PREP: Here's the key - you need to prep. I purchased the following before I applied the product:- a large inexpensive towel for wrapping my hair afterward - because the color does bleed immediately after.- petroleum jelly to line my hairline and cover my ears- a thick pair of rubber dish gloves (playtex). I do not suggest using the ones in the package as they split easily and are not form fitting.- celophane wrap or cling wrap to wrap your head. Again, I do not suggest using the shower cap in the package as it is quite thin and unstable.- an old t-shirt or two- small hair clips- large combNow that you have your items assembled, remove everything in your bathroom that would possibly be exposed to any potential dripping. Henna will stain on contact. I removed my bathroom rugs and towels, and items from my vanity as well.I began by separating my hair into segments. I know now that is an extremely imporant part of preparation. Because once your gloves are slathered in henna, separating and combing your hair for the next application will be virtually impossible. Therefore, as part of your prep, take the time to separate your hair into small segments all over your head with a small clip. I had washed my hair prior to application, and my hair was damp when I applied the product, which made it much more manageable.Take the petroleum jelly and go around your hairline with a good amount, including lathering your ears.#4. APPLICATION: Now that you have your hair prepped, begin applying the paste at the root working it in like you would a shampoo, and then draw it out gradually through the strands. The strands must be completely covered! Wrap that segment of hair to your head into a 'bun'. Apply a topcoat of paste to that bun. I suggest working at the front first so that hair is removed and you can clearly see what you're doing. Continue this process over the entire area of your head, wrapping the hair around that central 'bun'. When you're finished you should have all your hair secured to the top of your head. Then coat the entire head in henna paste. Once you've coated your head, begin wrapping your head in celophane. Leave no gaps.#5. PROCESSING: I allowed 2.5 hours for my hair. I found that to be more than enough time for the color I wanted. I washed my gloves carefully, donned them again, and began to unwrap my head. I made to sure to have a small trash bag at my side so I could safely discard the used celophane - because it can be a mess. Once my head was unwrapped I rinsed out the product with warm water by kneeling over the rim of my bathtub and dipping my head beneath the spigot. This worked perfectly, keeping all the runoff away from my face and other parts of my body. I allowed a good rinse for about 20 minutes. You'll find that there is a lot of bleeding and it took a long while before the water ran clear. Once it did, I washed my hair of any possible residue and applied a light conditioner. I used the special towel to wrap my hair and as expected, there was a significant amount of 'bleed'. Then I dried my hair.#6. RESULTS: The immediate results were shocking at first, I must say. For a bold personality such as mine, they had the ability to make me shy. :) The color was a bright orange (I used Radiant Natural Red). The color was extraordinarily intense and bright. Yet I held to hope that it would continue to do it's magic and IT DID. The next day I shampooed my hair again and I did not see a lot of color change until the SECOND FULL DAY. I will tell you that henna behaves much differently than conventional chemical dyes. The color turned a beautiful auburn that was absolutely stunning. I will tell you that I've received compliment after compliment from jealous women who were dying to know if that was my natural color. When I told them my secret they were stunned. (See photos) So if you use this product, please know that initially, the color can be extraordinarily bright and look a bit garish and gaudy. But by the second day it was absolutely GORGEOUS - precisely what I wanted. For those of you who are able - do it on a weekend. Process on Friday night and by Monday morning at the office, you'll be a knockout!#7. TEXTURE | MANAGABILITY: As for the texture of my hair, I am AMAZED. I've found that henna actually "healed" my hair. It no longer feels or looks like hay at all. It feels silky soft and it SHINES. Henna does make your hair feel thicker, because it does something to the shaft that is very therapeutic. So if you have fine hair (I have moderate - it is neither coarse or fine) you'll probably be thrilled with this benefit as well. My hair responded very well to a curling iron, and I am tickled pink at the results. Every one of my friends who have seen me since the process give an eye-popping "Wow!!!" with a huge smile. They've said, "I LOVE your hair!!!" And they're amazed when I tell them what I've done.I hope this post if helpful to all of you who intend to use this product. As for me, dipping my head into chemicals every 6-8 weeks for a price tag of $100 + for the rest of my life was no longer an option for me for numerous reasons (cost, chemical exposure, etc.). This procuct is a God-send and I will NEVER go back. I will have you know that I'm well stocked. :) I hope you try it and find the results to be just as GLORIOUS as I did!DON'T FORGET TO VIEW MY PHOTOS! Cheers!

I did so much research before trying henna. I was confident in Henna King. I picked Copper to go over my Terra Cotta red (first picture). I did everything exactly as the videos for them said. I didn't add anything extra, either. I don't know if I was a victim of mislabeling as I am seeing in other Amazon reviews or if this isn't a clean henna as they say, but after my journey I am coming back to give a review.1. I originally used a dark deep box red2. upon getting bored with the dark color, I did a bleach bath and fell in love with the ginger look.3. I started using Wella Terra Cotta which was a bit darker than my bleach bath but still had a more natural shade than the previous boxed color.4. I was growing weary of the dulled ends chemicals left behind, so I started looking into henna.5. I thought Henna King would be great to move on to, try and get my shine back, etc.6. I did exactly what the instructions said to, and I should have followed the alarm bells when the instructions said no dye release period was necessary but I did as it said anyway.7. my immediate results were so dark brown with ends and more porous areas BLACK. no joke. good thing it was Halloween time? (pic #2 is 3 days after my attempt to strip it >>) And yes, I did do a clarifying hair treatment prior because water is particularly hard in my area.8. I spent the next 2 days attempting to remove as much dark color as possible with tips on Dr Google. Looking back, I recall green tints coming out in the coconut oil and lemon juice I put my hair through so I do wonder if there was bad indigo in the mix they sent me (should have never contained indigo for COPPER anyway!). I was able to get enough out over the next week to avoid cutting my hair and live with it.9. 2 months later, after finding another henna via Dr Google by typing in "why did my red henna turn black" and that had much more of a cautious approach to their products (no premixed items, lots of wonderful reading on plant details and science of henna and hair and the dangers that lurk in the henna world) I decided to try again. This time just over my hair as is, no lightening first. It was day and night. the color was amazing. I spent months using their products and being part of an online community with real results from real people, even those continuing to do lightening, perming, etc etc things to their hair with no hiccup!10. Well ... I wanted to go back to my more ginger days. I had an ombre thing in mind to keep my dark roots... I attempted to bleach my length at 20 and 30 vol with a temple chunk at 30 vol longer for a fun semi perm color. My hair suddenly became extremely hot and I started to see smoke or something, and I jumped in the shower just 10-15 minutes into the process. Sure, I should have done a test section for longer than 5 minutes, but who is thinking the are bad things in Henna King?? My hair didnt fall out or melt or catch fire, luckily, but I did get a very distinct green cast on my length of hair (now a strange light brownish ginger) and my light streak had so much green in it, you can see braided in the 3rd picture. The parts of my growth that hady new henna company on it bleached fine but the older length with HK? ugh. Luckily I had picked magenta for my fun color so the color wheel told me it should cover the green, but my length?? Henna attaches to the keratin in your hair (learning science things!) so I knew I couldn't just henna over the green.11. I ended up having to use a bottle I had left over from my Terra Cotta days and soak my length in it to cover the green cast. I am sad I cannot lighten the parts of my hair I wanted to but I'm glad I didn't lose my hair. I will just have to wait 2-3 years before my hair grows enough to cut all the HK out and at that time I can consider lightening again. In the mean time I am adjusting my henna to a deeper red dye release and copperverry fruit acid to put (FX!) a bright auburn over my new length color, I cant wait for my AS package to show up and make my length look naturally red again! Hopefully it can cover up some of this mess any way, because I def can't strip the color out knowing there's ugly green under there! But hey, if u want to go magenta with AF's Wrath, it'll cover any residual green nicely (last pic).BEST OF LUCK TO YOU!!