Henna & Gray Hair & Semi-Permanent Dyes

I'm back! We'll see. With my gray hairs becoming much more abundant (probably genes + my history of chemically straightening my hair), I have to henna much more often. I only henna my roots, but my henna-ed orange highlights are much more visible.

So, I've taken to using semi-permanent dye over my henna as opposed to indigo. Semi-permanent dye does not (in theory) damage hair; it coats hair strands i.e. wraps around the henna. While henna has an affinity for keratin and permanently remains on the hair, semi-permanent hair color eventually washes out (in theory). I embarked on this test blindly; I could not find any instances of anyone else trying this. For that reason alone, I share this with you :)

Here are my reasons for using semi-permanent dye as opposed to indigo:

- Indigo smells bad
- I hate inhaling the powder
- It is a bitch to rinse out
- It has no benefit to hair
- It costs just as much as most of the semi-permanent dyes I have tried
- There is no interaction with BAQ henna

This is an introduction to a series of posts on semi-permanent dyes I have used over henna. I will be grading based on:

- Final color
- Conditioning/damage
- Cost
- Ease of use
- Staining everything else
- Scent
- How long the effect lasts

Here is a list of products (including color boosting conditioners) that I have tried:

- Lime Crime Unicorn Hair (shades: Sea Witch, Gargoyle, Blue Smoke)
- Punky Colour (Black)
- Clairol Colorista (Midnight Blue)
- Sephora (Tenacious Teal)
- Christophe Robin Temporary Color Gel (Dark Chestnut)
- DPHue Gloss+ Deep Conditioner (shades: Black, Dark Brown)
- Cristophe Robin Shade Variation Mask (shades: Ash Brown, Baby Blonde)

I have also used a handful of anti-brass conditioners, but those aren't very useful, so I won't be reviewing them. I also won't be reviewing the last two products listed, as they are masks and not intended to do too much for color. The rest of the products listed are described as providing medium to full coverage color for a certain amount of time.

You may ask why I chose the colors I chose (other than black). Most temporary black dyes have blue undertones. We all know that red + blue = purple. If you look at the color wheel, you will find that green is directly across from red:



Likewise, you will find orange directly across from aqua. So rather than adding blue to the orange/red henna, I like to add a very dark teal. My hair is naturally a very dark ash brown (my eyebrows are black - so dark black that I can't use most eyebrow products, as they all show up warm and brown on me). My goal is getting my hair closest to its natural color. Adding bright teal may mute the reddish orange henna, but it doesn't darken it much.

Okay, so without further ado, on to the reviews!