Some Blonde, Brown, Auburn, Mahogany, and other “shades” of henna are mixes of amla, indigo, walnut, rhubarb, and Lawsonia, with other plant or synthetic dyes added, and may have metallic salts added. Many of these products have no henna whatsoever and are chemical dyes.

Absolutely not. A “boxed” hair color will lighten your hair about 2 shades depending on the brand and strength. Those of you brunettes out there that have tried to go blonde with a boxed drugstore hair color are probably familiar with the brassy orange it will give you when the developer does not have the strength to lighten properly! In order to lighten hair’s natural color more than 2 shades or so, it must first be bleached, which cannot be done with pure plant products.

Only henna leaves have dye, and the highest content is in the leaf petiole. There is no dye in the bark, twigs, or rootstock of Lawsonia inermis, and certainly not different colors such as black. The roots of henna are never harvested for dye, as henna is a small tree that is kept in production for many years. Though henna is grown in many different countries, the henna dye molecule is always the same red orange.

Depending on your body chemistry and skin color, the designs can appear as orange, red, brown, burgundy, or khaki green. The color of henna is also based on the strength of the henna paste, the length of time it is left on the skin and the after care given. The best place to get the really red shades are palms of hands and soles of feet. Most other areas won't show the reds nearly as well.

Neutral henna, a green powder that smells like freshly cut grass, is neither henna nor neutral. It is Cassia obovata. Cassia obovata contains anthraquinones, particuarly Chrysophanic acid, a remarkable anti-fungal, anti-microbial and anti-bacterial. Cassia obovata doesn't color hair. It will help damaged hair, make hair full, glossy, healthy.

Red henna, a green powder that smells like hay, is Lawsonia inermis, commonly known as henna. The leaves of the henna plant have a red-orange dye molecule, Lawsone, a napthaquinone. Henna will stain your hair red-orange; but this stain is translucent and will combine with your natural color. Body art quality henna has a much higher dye content than the henna usually sold for hair.

Black henna, a green powder that smells like frozen peas, is neither black nor henna. It is indigo, Indigofera tinctoria.

Lustrous Henna cannot lighten your hair. The red shade will not make your hair completely red, instead it will add a reddish ting to your hair. This reddish tint reflects very well against the light, making your hair look very attractive.

The green in the henna paste is chlorophyll. The hennotannic acid stains your skin some color in the range of maple leaves in the fall. Maple leaves are green in the summer, when you see the chlorophyll. In the fall the green is gone, showing the other colors. When the green leaf paste is removed from your skin, you see the stain color.

Some people do experiment by mixing colors to come up a shade of their choice, which is ok. We can not guarantee any specific results.

Para-phenylendiamine based black hair dye should never be put straight on your skin, plain, or mixed with other material. Synthetic Black Hair Dye is illegal to put on skin, because that is not an approved use. Even when this dye is applied to hair, people must wear gloves, and they try to not get it on the scalp! PPD, Para-phenylendiamine can seriously injure people. Para-phenylenediamine is a strong sensitizer, transdermal toxin and potential carcinogen.

Henna is the dried leaf and tem powder of the plant Lawsonia inermis, a small bush 3-4 feet tall, which can grow to 2 1/2 to 3 meters in height. The flowers of this plant are used in the preparation of cosmetics. Henna Plant grows in the regions of Middle East and North Africa. This actually grows in hot climate like India, Sudan, Egypt etc. But Indian Henna is known as the best coloring henna in the world.

Even the most “Permanent” hair products are not truly permanent. Once the henna’s dye has oxidized and reached its final shades, the color is permanently impregnated into the strand. Shampooing, chlorine, blow-drying, will all cause some type of degradation.

In the US, this is just refined sugar with some molasses added back in. The US food law says that only refined sugar (no raw components) can be sold with this name. This law may actually have more to do with enforcing a similar taste for both sugar beets and sugar cane, since the beets, when unrefined, have a poorer taste than cane sugar. Another type of brown sugar is called "Piloncillo," a Mexican brown sugar which is semi-refined granulated sugar.

Redheads always look great with green tones, so try a khaki green with a lime green such as Sahara from Colos? Cosmetics. If your red hair has a copper tone to it, copper, bronze, champagne and browns will look very good. First, I think you need to avoid really dark mascara colors such as dark brown, black, dark blue and the like. Find a mascara that is light brown, white or even a blond shade. Curl your eyelashes before you apply the mascara using an eyelash curler.

The best colors for hazel eyes are browns, apricots, purples, plums, khakis or forest greens. Check out these color duets from Colos? Cosmetics: Marron (light brown and brown), Sahara (khaki and lime), and Lagune (plum and lavender).

I recommend you try to go with purple or plums, or charcoal or smoke, or even a cocoa or dark brown as the color in the crease of your eye. You will need a shade lighter for the upper lid to the eyebrow and a medium shade for the lower lid near the eyelashes. Pick three shades in the same color family and blend them for a smooth, sultry look. Use your favorite base shadow for all over and then try Onyx, Orient or Lagune from Colos? Cosmetics.

Absolutely not. If you previously had light blonde hair, and then hennaed it to a richer, darker color, you will definitely notice shedding hairs, but only because of the darker color and not because of any change stemming from the henna. Everyone sheds approx. 150 hairs per day. And you may loosen many more hairs while completing the process. These are just hairs that would have loosened into your hairbrush or shower drain. But henna cannot cause additional healthy hair to fall out.