How to Dye Your Hair Red with Henna 

I've been dying my hair with henna for 6 years and have learned a lot through trial and error. A relatively typical henna prep mix is water, lemon juice and henna powder. I learned that using cranberry juice instead of lemon juice will keep your hair from getting too dark (henna continues to oxidize *get darker* for several days after the application). Also using just hot water will keep it lighter. Henna is like a varnish on wood. every time you dye your hair with it the color becomes richer and darker so if you you like the shade you're at don't dye that section of hair any more. I like to supplement about half of my water with rose water or orange blossom water as I find it helps camouflage the smell (yes henna smells very earthy and usually for several days specially when wet). Plus rose water and orange blossom water are great for your hair too as they are anti-bacterial, anti-fungal and moisturizers. I personally only buy pure henna and create my own mixed using the henna with indigo (black) or cassia (blond: but only on already blond ppl otherwise it's just clear). Most henna you buy that come in different colors can contain mineral mixes that react disastrously with other hair dyes and bleach. for example bleach+indigo or alma powder+ henna=sludge green. (i did not do this to myself but i've seen it happen to people) I am a henna convert and have managed to turn my whole family onto it. I dye my mother's greys using a mix of 50/50 indigo and henna for a medium brown color, my father's with 25/75 henna and indigo for dark brown, my step mother is just henna for auburn. And i dye with just henna and i do a bit of bleaching to get an omber style Anyhow, that's my 2 cents, hope someone finds it helpful. :)

My mama has jet black hair and uses henna to help her grays... added bonus? It's black in indoors but BEAUTIFUL RED in the sunlight. I suggest it!

Former hairstylist here. You did a GREAT job with this video- terrifically informative. Well done!

Hey!I just wanted to say that you can use the excess hair on your hair brush to see how your hair reacts with it and if you can get the colour you want😊

My hair was brown naturally but it had kinda a redish feel to it..When I dyed it with henna it got this color ...So if you have brown hair it might work..It worked out for my hair so good luck

I love your hair colour 😍 and you really look like sansa stark 😍😍

My mom used to dye my hair with henna when I was little whenever there was a lice attack (lol) at school, because it kills them

I have been using henna to dye my hair for over 2 years now and I love the results. I use body-art quality pure henna because I want the truest red over my dark brown/gray hair. My grays come out orangey at first but after about 2-3 days blend in with the rest of my hair. I usually mix the henna the night before to let it cure overnight. After I apply it I leave it on for 4 hours or so (the shortest time I have left it was 3 hrs but 4 or more is better). My hair is now a dark auburn and I only touch up the roots/new growth with henna about every 6-8 weeks. I hope that helps anyone who is thinking of trying henna.

I love your hair. I'm naturally a blonde but I've always wished I had natural red hair, it's absolutely gorgeous xx

Very helpful. I’m a natural redhead but my hair has faded as I’ve become older. Have thought about using henna.

sansa stark

I used to have the exact same colour of your hair, naturally. Everyone told me "never dye your hair" and I did. Turns out I can most definetly get it back with henna.

I’ve been dying my hair with indigo powder for years. My natural color is light brown and the pure indigo turns it an intense blue-black. Adding conditioner to the mixture makes it easier to rinse and it makes your hair super smooth and shiny for days afterward. I put avocado oil in it, too. It’s really good for your hair. 🙂

Your hair colour is so beautiful that I can't stop staring at it, you go girl

I have a really bad allergy to hair dye and I’ve been using henna on my dark brown hair for years it gets rid of the grey at my roots brilliantly and means that I don’t have to worry about a reaction. I use lemon juice and instant coffee in my henna and I get a great colour I have waist length hair.

My hair used to be strawberry, but became ash brown in my late 20's. (I'm 48 now--it's ash and gray!) Let me just say out loud, that there is almost nothing worse for a redhead, than for her haircolor to fade! I discovered henna 3 years ago and have never looked back. I did whole head hennas a couple of times, and now henna gloss every 2 or 3 weeks on roots only. My color is similiar to yours. (Except on my gray temples. Those are lighter! lol!) I'd prefer it lighter overall, but am thrilled that it's red. Red hair makes me feel settled and happy in my skin. :)

I’m a natural redhead and I can almost always tell when redheads are dyed but I thought you were natural!

Part of me would LOOOVE to go strawberry blonde....but I'm tired of coloring my hair. I'm an old bleach user and haven't bleached in a little over a year (and I have 10 inches of new growth!), but with my hair at midthigh, I'd hate to screw up or get tired of the color and upkeep....I whet auburn several years ago and actually really loved the color on me...I just hated the upkeep, and getting rid of it was nightmarish! I do so love your color, though. Truly a stunning head of hair you've got there!

Hi there, had to say I enjoyed your "how-to" on henna. I'm a 60 yr. old with silver gray streaks. My hair used to be very dark brown with lots of red tones, almost auburn, but when the dreaded menopause hit, the color began to fade out. I colored my hair for years, all I wanted was my natural color back, but store often didn't have the right shade or my brand, etc. Now my hair is beginning to thin a little (it was so thick I had headaches!) and I don't want to damage it with chemical colorants, so am considering henna. From your comment section, it seems henna is a bit more involved but doesn't damage the hair. Thank you for this, I'd love to get back to my old natural hair color again.

Your hair is the same colour as my sister's, and the second hair extension you dyed is the same colour as mine was before I started going grey - such natural colours!

Henna is part of our cultural tradition. It has many benefits as strengthening your hair. For application on real hair, we let the mixture set at least over night, but not more that 2 hours on hair since it drys the hair. Recently, people came up with some alteration on the mixture for color variations and health benefits. Various oils could be mixed with it such as olive coconut oil, and for color, some uses tea, coffee, beetroot brew. Henna has a distinct smell that might not be pleasant for some people, so you might also want to apply hair perfume or nice smelling essential oil on your hair after you wash the henna off.

I've been dying my hair with body art quality henna (mixed with hibiscus tea and EOs) for about 10 years now and I LOVE it! I went from medium brown to a deep auburn. My hair also always feels amazing after I use it! :D It also promotes healthy hair, from what I understand. I'm told my great grandma dyed her hair with henna up until she decided to let her grey hair grow out and she had a full head of thick healthy hair until her death.

I find your video one of the most informative video I could find on RU-vid. Really helpful! ♡ I'm definitely gonna try henna when I get back to my blond hair (now blue).

Hey! So my hair is naturally strawberry blonde but more of a copper tone to it. I'm trying to get a deeper red hair color, I've tried box colors before but it turned my hair bright orange lol. Any tips that I can use? This stuff sounds like it will work for me

Henna dye is a tradition/teaching we Muslims learned from prophet Muhammad. He’d dye both his hair and beard, especially for greeting hair ☺️❤️ I always prefer natural ingredients in whatever I use whether skin care or beauty products and when I use things passed by tradition with an intention I get bonus rewards for it which feels extra good. Hope you’re all having a good day and hope you give yourself the love you deserve 🌻

Sooo helpful! Exactly the info I was looking for. I just bought a blonde Human Hair wig and am going to dye it red with henna. Thanks to you I'll be careful with the metal areas too. By the way your res hair is so gorgeous! New subbie here! 🌸

Please do an updated hair dying video.

Awesome video girly! Love your hair colour, I am mixing a batch of black henna at the moment and can’t wait to see the outcome! ❤️❤️🙏🏼🙏🏼

Thank you for making this video! I realize it's a bit old now, but I really appreciate that you showed exactly how to use henna on hair extensions. :)

I am a natural redhead and I used to use henna when I was a teenager and I would just mix it with really hot water. It would darken my red and leave it really thick and shiny. I just recently bought some henna online and am getting ready to try it again. This henna is called Chestnut and it looked closest to my natural color and am looking forward to brightening up my red. Thank you for the tutorial!

Hi! This has been the most informative henna hair dye tutorial I've found, thank you!!! I'm a natural blonde, about the color of those extensions and I'm on my second bout of henna and its still a little more orange than I'd like but was unsure if another layer would help. I have an answer! Also..what kind of shampoo/conditioner would you recommend?

Great video! Thanks for sharing your Henna knowledge. I wonder what your natural color is. Mine is red and I am wanting to make it pop to copper. I put Brown Henna on yesterday but didn't wrap in plastic and left it on for a few hours. I feel like my hair looks a darker red which is not what I wanted but I know it may change a bit in a few days. So we'll see. I am thinking about getting one specific to more of a copper tone and trying that next week. Let me know your thoughts.

In love Henna!!!

hello i switched into henna few months ago , and i Really really love it i have quiet dark hair and i have a cute red result i love :)

Your hair is beautiful. Is it naturally red, and you just use henna for your extensions? Or do you somehow get that gorgeous color from henna?

I dyed my hair with henna once about a year and a half ago. I immensely enjoyed the process and the smell and the texture of the mixture and all that sort of thing, but the red I got was too orangey for me (I have a cool skin tone... it just didn't look right). Is there a way to get a truer/cooler red with henna??

I've used henna! I loved it. my hair was so healthy shiney and loved the color..need to get some more

If you already have red hair (a little lighter than yours) and want to use this to enhance/darken it some, how long would you let it sit before you start to use it, and how long would you leave it on your hair?

This is such an articulate video! Thank you! :)

I did this on my hair! And it went darker, I loved it! But then when I washed it the first time it faded which was pretty bizarre never experienced that with henna before! Can you give me any advice on you keep yours staying dark?

Im having trouble knowing which color to use, for how long, and if after using on my dyed hair i should switch to grey coverage color or not. There arent selections for light mountain grey coverage. I keep hearing conflicting messages from reading and videos. Someone please help. Also, the longer you leave on, does it get darker not redder?

Great video! Your hair colour is gorgeous and it's exactly what I've been wanting! Quick question: how much henna do you use? My hair is almost to my mid-back and I have a lot of it. I just want to make sure I get full coverage. Thanks!

Do you now only colour your roots or do you still colour the hair down the lenghts?

Thank you for all the information you helped me so much!!

Thanks for all of the information do you have beautiful hair

Really great video! You should do another one with extentions of different colours to see how it turns out !

I have been using henna for around 5 years and can confidently say it is 100% worth the mess and time!!

I never considered Henna as a hair dye, loved this video thank you.

I did henna the first time (No strand testing too impatient) and didn't leave it on NEARLY long enough. Hoping to get a richer red by leaving it on for much longer this go ^_^

I have been using henna for a year now and I usually just mix it with boiling water and citric acid. I apply it as hot as I can manage and leave it on all day (6-8 hours) under a plastic cap and beanie to keep warm. I also tried a method using red wine, but honestly it just made me dizzy all day and I did not see any difference. Black tea is supposed to help release colour as well, but again, it did change the colour very much.

Thank you SO much. I really wanted to see someone dying extensions with henna because I shaved my head in January and only have 4 inches of hair. I'm hoping that I can get some extensions in a year and then dye them to match my hair color.

do you have to redye your roots? love the video!!

Can we do it if we dyed our hair in the past?

Amazing information!!! thank you so much!!! you have beautiful hair by the way!!!! :)

If my hair is a sandy brown how can I get the red copper color with my neutral hair

I have been dyeing my hair with henna for quite some years now. I have tried different products and since I only want my dark blonde hair to become a nice red shade I ended up with using pure henna by Khadi. During the summer I prefer the fast method, which means I add hot water and that´s it(1,5-2h waiting). The sun does bleach and brighten the colour anyway. But during autumn and winter I prefer to use cold water and vinegar. The longer you leave that mix on the hair the stronger the colour will become(I mix this in the evening and then put it on my hair in the morning, leaving it for 3h). I also heard of adding applejuice for a brighter shade or red wine for a darker shade.

If I wanted my hair to be as light (brightness) and as red (hue) as possible using henna, is there a way to achieve this? Basically a way to achieve the red hue from henna, without actually darkening the brightness of my hair prior to using the henna? I have medium blonde hair, and would like to achieve a medium (in darkness), very saturated red hair colour!

Which brand do u use ? I never get such a great colour without sodium picramate :(

Every time i watch your videos i wish i had red hair >_< You are so cute !

I love henna! the only thing is that i have dark hair, so i blached the ends and then put henna on. AMAZING! no damage at all! It's even better than before! so now i have some cute red ends :)

Hi, I was wondering if you could condition your hair with jojoba oil after washing the henna out of you hair. Do you know if there is a list of chemicals to avoid while using henna? I am afraid of getting a bad chemical reaction while using henna. Also, do you have any ideas about an allergy test with henna? Thank you much for the video.

I am a brunette, is there anyway I could use Hannah to put red highlights in my hair? I've never used it and I don't even know what brand to buy. What it even work on my hair color? Any recommendations?

great explanation and important detail!

Thanks, I learnt some very useful info from this video :)

i brewed mine in chamomile tea when i was colouring my extensions. my hair is a kind of very reddish dark blonde/light brown rather than fully red hair so dyeing extensions was a nightmare but henna worked great for me! The chamomile made it smell amazing without any impact on the colouring ability in either direction. It came out really beautiful. i used Lush's caca rouge

I used pure Yemeni henna on my hair a few years ago. And Oh my that was the healthiest my hair had ever been aside from virgin hair. I loved it! The only reason I don't use it now is because I found it didn't color my white hairs very well :(

I use brewed tea & coconut cream in my mix (light mountain). Let it sit for 1hr then leave on for 4 hours. So much better than box dyes!

I have a burning question, I'd be grateful if somebody answers this. I have dyed my hair from dark brown to dark auburn. So, what color I might get if I applied henna?

I just found this video, and as a fellow redhead (very close to that first batch example), I've been wondering how you get the extra hair extensions!! I've never seen good red extensions anywhere! Thanks so much for posting!!

If we went the first level (lighter), THEN what does it fade into?????

Your colour is so so beautiful what u use exactly???🧡

I LOVE dying my hair with henna. I bleached the ever loving crap out of my hair last year and after that I didn't want to go back to damaging chemical dyes. My hair was such a mess i figured I should give henna and try and I adore it. The henna takes a little more time and effort, but my hair is much healthier now. It looks a more natural shade and you don't have to re-dye as often.

Would it be possible to mix the Light Mountain henna powder with cocoa butter? I normally use the Lush brick hennas (I find them far less messy and annoying than powder hennas because the ones I used to get were poor-quality, plus the cocoa butter in the Lush bricks does very, very nice things to my hair) but people have said they're not very good. The cocoa butter seems to be the only thing that forms the bricks (they add powdered herbs and some oils, but it doesn't seem to be too much.) I've had my best results keeping out of the sun for at least 48-72 hours after dyeing, and not washing with any shampoo or conditioner for at least 1 week (just rinsing out with hot water, and I usually have to do a second rinse around the 4 day mark to get rid of any excess cocoa butter that hasn't absorbed in). I leave mine in for 6-8 hours. It's not quite as dark as I wanted, but I think I'll have to track down the brand you mentioned to get something as dark as I want.

I like henna. In addition to the nice coppery colour, it makes my hair feel really smooth and silky.

I was wondering if this particular color turns more into a real red or more of a ginger color? :) I want to try this brand next time I have to dye my hair, thank you xxx

I have been dying my hair with henna for like 5 years, and I get a LOT of compliments about it But in the last year it started to really fall out and I have really little hair left. I don't know if it's the henna or any other reason but I think I am going to stop using it 😢

For those who are wanting to try henna, but not want to do a full-on mud application, you can use a Tablespoon (or less, or more) in a cup (or more) of conditioner, and do a henna gloss. It will colour the hair, but not as intensely. But if your hair is light, PLEASE do a strand test on hair from your brush and be sure the colour is what you want. If your a natural redhead, and your hair is lightening against your will, this is a great way to perk your colour back up. And also the smell. You need to know if you like the smell, b/c it will be in your hair for a long while. I love the smell, but some (I think only a few - it isn't very common, to my knowledge) people hate it.

You can still get a pretty good red color if you have dark hair and henna it frequently.

i am going to try this Henna. Appreciated for sharing this video

Is it work in pure black hair

Hello...thank you for sharing your video. I have been using Henna, Colora Henna, for many years now to cover grey and keep my natural color. I am a light/strawberry shade redhead. I use a shade called, Apricot Gold from Colora Henna, and lately been using Gold Brown for the underneath layers and ends, as I have long hair, and the ends have not been absorbing the apricot gold very well. This henna comes in a box, as a powder. Is all natural. I mix with warm water to a thick pancake batter consistency. It smells like wet alfalfa hay... I like it...for those who knows what hay smells like, I apply it on clean wet hair...section it, then spray it with spray bottle or right out shower, which ever is easiest. I have very, long, straight, fine , but thick hair,,, so combing wet hair without conditioner is hard. so, I dry it first, then section it, spray with water bottle warm water,, then apply thick creamy henna all the way from roots to ends. Put plastic shower cap or plastic bag over head. Then wrap in towel to keep head warm. For my greys I need to leave on a good hour with the Apricot Gold...For underneath layers to the ends with the Gold Brown, only 20 to 30 minutes... I then shampoo twice with a good shampoo that doesn't have parabens or chemicals, and then condition..... rince... then dry... and WhaaaLaaa! Pretty, healthy, Shiny Hair. Have not experienced it fading like dye hair color does. It stays forever...I just do my roots with apricot gold every few weeks to cover grey. It is AWESOME!!!!! the cost for a box of Colora Henna, about $6 - $8 on amazon. The darker colors come in a cream... the lighter colors are only available in powder. Again, thanks for showing how cool Henna can be..... Maggy

I dyed my hair with henna and at first it was great. But after 3 washes it kept loosing color and now after barely a week it is almost completely gone... Why did this happen? (when I dyed it I left tge dye on for 2 hours, and then rinsed it with conditioner, then shampoo and after that I washed them again after 2 days, it's also 100%natural henna ).

Which shade did you use ?thanks

Light Mountain henna in RED. THANK YOU!!!!!!

Does it go off your hands

I have weird hair color. It look so dark in shadow but very light in the sun. If you see my hair really close it looks kind of blondish brown red. I would like to know if I can get a deep coopery red such as Amy Pond.... help please....

I naturally have auburn hair, and I want something to match it or brighten, it. wonder what color of henna I should use.

Will this work with Black hair???

Great video! Your hair is a really pretty shade of red for you. I was born a natural redhead (not exactly the shade of your 1st dye attempt on the extensions but close). With age, I've lost most of my copper locks to brown/auburn. I can't help but wonder if henna would get me close to my natural color red or a dark red like yours. Based on your skin tone, I'm assuming you're a natural redhead but is it henna enhanced?

Very good info and refreshingly intelligent!!

I've been using henna for about ten years now. Recently, I started to experiment with natural ingredients. Especially olive oil and the leftover coffee in the filter works really well! I'm a dark blond, so I normally leave the henna in for one and a half hour to get the deep color I want. The olive oil helps to spread the henna, takes in the color and is a moisturizer at the same time :) thanks for the video!

If my hair is brown not blond?

Totally dying my extensions now 😚

I henna'd my hair for several years and loved it, but I grew to really dislike the process of mixing, waiting, applying, waiting, rinsing...it got to be a little much after a while so I let it grow out. I had to dye the roots to match it while it did this, because nothing lifts it, but it eventually worked. But now that I haven't henna'd in a few years, I'm noticing a lot more breakage and less shine. I'm thinking of going back! I may not leave it on for as long this time, and have a lighter red (I'm strawberry blonde naturally).

yay so now i know how to get extensions my shade of hair 😁

great advice thanks

Very knowledgeable. Thank u for sharing.

Haha I love your video description 😂

OMG!! Sansa Stark 😱

I'm a natural blonde and am going to dye my hair with henna and cassia tomorrow, aiming for a strawberry blonde/light auburn color. I'm so excited! Thanks for the informational (and articulate) video. P.S. I get a kick out of the fact that your username is situated above the subscribe button, it's a fitting place for it. :)