Removing henna and herbal dyes from your hair 

By Kaniz F. Shah

Below are a few different ways we tested our henna and herbal hair dyes to see what worked best in removing dyes from the hair.  Every person’s hair is different so the results will not be the same from person to person.  You will have to play with different ideas to see what works best for you.

Henna Only:

Once the hair has been colored with henna, it is virtually impossible to remove the dye from hair.  The dye is permanent and may fade very slightly through washes but generally has to be grown out.  The hair, however, can be lightened and brightened.  There are a number of ways that can be used to help fade the henna color.

Henna Used with Indigo:

If you have used henna and indigo mixture in your hair and you feel the color is far darker than you want, there is good news. Although the Silk & Stone brand of indigo is pretty permanent, indigo generally fades much faster than henna. The more you wash the lighter it gets.  But adding certain ingredients/products will make it fade even faster.

Below are some samples we tested to show you how the different ways can help fade the henna and herbal hair colors.

TEST #1 

	Hair left in coconut oil for 12 hours	Hair left in lemon juice for 12 hours	Original Color

Use of Lemon Juice:

You can see how much lighter the second strand is from the third (original) one.  Lemon juice will fade the hair drastically.  I always tell people not to use lemon juice even though it can lighten the henna hair dyes quite a bit.  It is very acidic and can make the hair dry, brittle and straw-like.  If you want healthy hair, lemon juice is not a good idea.

Use of coconut oil:

In the first strand, we used only coconut oil and left it in the hair for 12 hours and washed it out with shampoo.  The color is not as light as the lemon juice one but it is still more faded than the original color.  A few more applications will make it much lighter. 

TEST #2

 

	Grapeseed oil left in hair for 12 hours	Olive oil left in hair for 12 hours	Original Color

Use of grapeseed oil faded the original a bit and the olive oil faded it but it seems to have made the hair a little browner.  Quite interesting.  We continued to do more testing with these oils to see what we discover.

TEST #3

 

Olive oil with grapeseed oil left in hair for 12 hours

Olive oil with coconut oil left in hair for 12 hours

Original Color

When olive oil is mixed with coconut oil or grapeseed oil, the color became significantly lighter.  The lightest result is from the mixture of olive oil and coconut oil left in the hair for 12 hours and then washed out with shampoo.  This result is from just one wash and it is a bright, vibrant color.  The more you do it, the lighter the hair will become. 

TEST #4

 

	Whitening toothpaste left in hair for 12 hours	Original Color

Using whitening toothpaste will also lighten the hair!  It will feel very strange to have toothpaste in your hair but it is another option.

CONCLUSION:

The results vary depending on what is used in the hair.  Some mixes will make the hair brighter and more vibrant while others will give you a subtle change in hair color.  The more you leave in the oils, etc. in your hair the lighter the hair will become.  Try playing with different ideas and see what works best for you.