The Conundrum of Coloring Henna'd Hair

I wanted to let dear hair enthusiasts know how my salon trip went yesterday. As I mentioned before, I have never been to a salon unless SP was there using my hair for an assignment or doing some sort of project. So there I was at Natural Looks, an Aveda salon with my hair stretched from a bantu-knot out. The colorist touched my hair and brought my some color swatches of brownish reds and shades of brown. I picked a much lighter brown then I had originally intended. I also only wanted half a head of hi-lights (#notmadeofmoney) She thought my hair never had been colored, but I informed her that I had hi-lights before that grew out and that I use henna. Oh, I'm going to have to use bleach, she said. Because henna is a plant that binds itself to the hair. This was something I already knew but I was hoping she wouldn't have to bleach it because I'm horrified of messing up my hair. But with proper care, I knew my hair would be fine and Aveda's color is for the most part non-damaging, so I was like ok, bleach me!

The Colorist (we'll call her N) decided to wash my hair because she had to use bleach. The shampoo lady used Aveda's Dry Remedy shampoo and conditioner which I used before and didn't really like. I'm not a fan of the smell or the way it makes my hair feel. But anyway they massaged the scalp as they shampoo'd which was good for me. Then N asked me if I always parted my hair down the middle and I told her yes. She informed me that she would do thicker lines in the front and then thinner lines of color on top, and not add color to the very front because hair is so baby fine there. She also said she was basically strand-testing the top of my hair because of the henna. Which was good because low and behold when she rinsed just the back out my hair was a very bright orange which was NOT what I was going for, as funky as it may have looked. She said she would correct it and not to worry and she most certainly did.

I was looking for a reponse on the CurlyNikki forum to find out how henna would be with hi-lights or color and a forum member told me this:

I have done henna three times and I just got highlights last week. My stylist told me that since henna is a vegetable product it coats the hair and as a result it may change the outcome. She told me that either (1) it would not color the strands evenly, (2) it may turn it some crazy color other than what is desired or (3) it will be just fine. Because of this she would not do my whole head that day and opted to do a strand test in two sections of my hair. Those two tests came out just the way I wanted them so I rescheduled and got the rest done and they turned out great!! I haven't henna'd since so I dont know what it will do from here. I would definitey ask again to make sure she actually knew what henna was before she colors your hair though! HTH!

In my case I think it worked out pretty well. I know this is like a teaser post because I didn't put any pics up of my hair, but I want everyone to see the finished look that I was going for. SP straightened and shaped/trimmed my hair which pulled my whole look together =) Stay tuned for the pics!