my hennalucent trial...good, bad, and the ugly

[Kaela]

This is gonna be kind of long, so I apologize in advance...

Ok, how did I even get to the point of using hennalucent?
Here's how it all began...I have been using Sebastian colourshines in Mahoghany and Black Cherry to get a nice reddish brown shine to my hair. Well I think the last time I did it I got a little carried away and my hair was too reddish and faded to this nasty pinkish color, not to mention my ends are very faded, so they were light brownish. It looked kinda bad y'all.

Any I PM'd our local color guru Tracy and one of her suggestions was for me to try Metalex to strip out some of the color. I tried this last night...and it worked like a charm and got out a whole lot of the pinkish shade (thank you Tracy

Stupid me should have just left it alone at that. I haven't seen my regular hair color in so long it kind of shocked me, especially since my ends are so light. So this morning I'm asking my boyfriend if he can still see the red in it, and he's said "not really" but then asked me how come I'm always coloring my hair and why not leave it natural? (he assumed I still had did something to it because how much lighter the ends were). This is what did it...he says "Why don't you dye it black so it will look more natural? I think that would look nice".

*sigh*. Now I know I'd look a hot mess with all black hair, but I can get away with really dark hair. And I remembered someone posting that they used hennalucent in Bark Brown and it came out Bark Black so and i just happened to have that in my beauty junkbin and had never tried it...

Ok...I had no idea hennalucent is that MESSY

!!! I think right now I'm just traumatized from all the little bits everywhere. My hair is still damp right now, but it certainly looks darker.

I'm not sure how I feel about this treatment folks...I hear the raves...but this seemed like a lot of effort for the outcome....

(if you made it through this whole whine session I applaud you

)

 

[Allandra]

The second time that I did a hennalucent treatment, I mixed it up with a hand mixer. By doing this, I was able to apply it like a conditioner, and it didn't leave any little bits in my hair. The first time I did a hennalucent treatment, it wasn't even messy. I used a hair 'paint' brush to apply it (since I used sunset glo). Since I used neutral the second time, I just used my hands and worked it like conditioner. I remember someone mentioning that the Bark Brown made their hair look black (which is why I tried sunset glo the first time). Now I just stick to neutral (because like SweetCocoa, I like my natural hair color).

Well, I hope you have better luck next time if you decide to try it again. Or do you plan on sticking to the Sebastian Colourshines?

 

[Cindy70]

I also tried the Hennalucent in Bark Brown a few months ago and didn't really care for it. I really didn't see much difference in terms of color since my hair is already a darkish brown. I just couldn't get past those little pieces of stuff in it that just wouldn't dissolve. Does anyone know exactly what those little pieces are? Are they actually TREE bark?

 

[CurlyCrly]

I wonder if the little pieces are only in the color form? I never saw anything like that when I used the neutral. I mixed it with very hot/boiling water and it was the consistency of honey. It rinsed out well with warm water alone.

 

[Cindy70]

I used hot water too, like in the instructions and then I stirred and stirred and the pieces never dissolved. Maybe I should have tried the neutral first.

 

[Kaela]

Thanx ladies...yeah, Bark Brown really did come out close to black. I don't mind so much because now my hair is the same color as my eyebrows but if I were to do color again, I'd probably go a shade up.

I'm not sure if I'll stick to colourshines or not...I'll have to see how this fades over a few washings. I would love to go neutral, but I'm trying to cover those faded ends up....



But ladies...those little bits....

@ Cindy--Tree Bark is right.

 

[Kaela]

Re: my hennalucent trial...revisited.

I thought I would update how this ended up turning out for me....

The positive effect of my treatment was that I really did get a good dark color, that hasn't faded much at all. I'm so used to all sorts of dye going down the drain with colourshines, but I don't see too much at all with hennalucent. The places where it is fading slightly I think are due to uneven application of the product. Thats pretty good for a coloring product, that is nondamaging. Also, my hair has a thicker appearance, and is easier to detangle while wet, which is nice too.

The downside I have to report is that my hair is a little bit drier though. Its stronger, but drier, as if I had a super protein treatment. I didn't expect this, so initially I saw a few broken hairs in the sink. I've finding that I have to modify my regimen a little to compensate, and I have to be a little more heavy handed with my oils and moisturizing products, and spritz water more often. Also, my hair isn't as shiny as before. It has sheen, but not shine, if that makes sense. So I'm modifying my regimen accordingly...fortunately since my hair is 'thicker' I have successfully been using a serum, where before it would weigh it down too much.

For me, the color coverage outweighs the negatives. I think for my next treatment, I may use a lighter shade OR mix the same shade partially with neutral. I'm hoping this will give me a glossier look. Also, I'll use the mixing tips from above to hopeful cut down on the messiness....