Disney best captured the ‘spirit’ of auburn best with its character ‘Merida’ from the movie Brave. Fiery, independent, and untamed. Those who choose brighter auburn as their hair shade of choice certainly aren’t looking to fit in. You’re likely to find that just about all hairdressers are “anti-henna”. Their concern is how to colour hair safely. You’ve got to remember that if your hairdresser is anti-henna, this is because the hennas which your hair dresser has come across in the past are “compound henna” – henna powder mixed with dyes and metallic salts such as lead acetate which act as fixatives to “fix” the so called henna shade which the manufacturer is marketing. Remember that pure henna does not come in “shades” – it’s always going to be red orange/auburn. Any henna hair colour which contains anything other than just 100% pure lawsonia inermis is likely to be a compound henna dye mix, unless it’s only other ingredient is 100% pure indigofera tinctoria.

I love henna. I have always wanted this shade of red, but I could never achieve it with chemical dyes. I usually just do my roots; I have re-dyed it all maybe two or three times in two years (because it’s really messy, and sometimes it’s just easier to do it all), and my hair still looks amazing. It’s shiny and soft. I get compliments all the time.Don’t be confused by some “organic and mineral “hairdressing natural hair colours which claim to be free from hydrogen peroxide and ammonia and yet contain PPD or other potentially harmful synthetic chemical ingredients. Would anyone really consider these to the safest hair dye brand ? Do not shampoo immediately after. Let the color settle in for a day, and shampoo your hair after 24 hours.

Apply mix generously to clean, slightly damp/dry hair. Dye takes better if you don’t condition your hair before application.

The wonderful thing about this is that henna dyes can look completely natural, with each hair taking on the colour individually, unlike chemical dyes, which create a uniform colour that can look more artificial.

It comes as a henna powder, to which you add hot water to make a paste. Once you have done a patch test for allergies and smeared your hairline with something protective, such as a rich skin cream to prevent the colour from getting on your skin, you are good to go and work the cream into your hair.tip- If the mix dries out on your hair and becomes brittle, it can cause some breakage, particularly with fragile hair. If this is an issue, and the cowpat starts drying out before you’re ready to rinse off, lift the cling-film, spray with a little water, replace cling film & briefly massage the water into dry area*