Henna

Henna is the dried, powdered leaf of Lawsonia inermis, a shrub whose leaves hold a natural orange-red dye called lawsone. Mixed with warm water and left to rest, the powder becomes a paste that colours hair in the copper-to-red family. The shade depends on the colour you start with: bright copper on grey and blonde hair, auburn on brown, and a warm red glint on black.

Where does henna come from?

Henna grows as a shrub or small tree in hot, dry regions from North Africa to South Asia, and people have coloured their hair with its leaves for centuries. The same plant gives mehndi, the paste used for designs at weddings and festivals, but hair henna is prepared and used differently. Spierb Henna Powder is for hair only.

It has one ingredient: Lawsonia inermis leaves from Pali, in Rajasthan, India, a region known for high-lawsone henna, dried, finely ground and triple sifted. In the pouch the powder is green to olive-brown and smells earthy, a bit like hay. The copper-red only shows once the paste is on your hair.

What colour will henna dye my hair?

Henna adds a see-through layer of copper-red over the colour you already have. It doesn't lighten hair or cover it with one flat shade, so the same paste looks very different on different starting colours. Judge it after 24–48 hours: fresh henna looks brightest just after rinsing, then usually settles and deepens.

Bleached, highlighted or dyed hair can take henna unevenly, so strand test a hidden lock first.

What colour is true henna?

Orange-red. Pure henna comes in one colour family only: there is no natural black, brown or blonde henna leaf. A product sold as "brown" or "burgundy" henna owes its shade to other plants or dyes.

What colour henna is best?

Since pure henna is one colour, choose your shade by method. Henna alone gives copper to red, henna mixed with indigo in one step gives brown, and henna followed by an indigo-rich second step gives black.

Can henna cover black hair?

Not by turning it red. Henna can't lift a dark base, so on black hair it shows as shine and a warm glint in sunlight. It does colour any greys, which turn copper and stand out against the dark strands unless you follow with indigo.

How does henna colour hair?

Water and time release the dye. Once the powder is mixed with warm water and rested for 3–4 hours (ideally 8), lawsone becomes available in the paste. On your hair it binds to keratin, the protein hair is made of, which is why henna grows out rather than washing out. The fresh colour usually deepens over the next 24–48 hours.

Henna also builds up: each full application adds colour over the last. Once your lengths are where you want them, colour the roots only.

Is all henna the same?

No. Spierb Henna Powder is pure henna, one plant with no PPD, no ammonia and no peroxide. Plenty of products sold as "henna" are something else:

• "Black henna" is a marketing name, not a kind of henna. Some contain PPD (p-phenylenediamine), a synthetic dye that can cause severe allergic reactions, especially in pastes for skin. If you've ever reacted to a "black henna" temporary tattoo, you may react strongly to hair dyes that contain PPD, so check labels and tell your hairdresser.
• Compound henna is henna blended with other plants, dyes or metallic salts. It behaves differently, especially if you colour or bleach over it later.
• Body-art cones are ready-made skin pastes, often with sugar, oils or added dyes, and aren't for hair.

The ingredient list tells you which one you're holding. Wondering whether black or brown henna is better? Neither is a type of henna; our article on whether henna is bad for your hair lists what to look out for.

What will henna do for my hair?

• Long-lasting warm colour, copper to auburn, from a single plant ingredient.
• Colour on greys. Grey strands usually take henna strongly and turn copper; with indigo they can go brown or black.
• A fuller feel. Many people find their strands feel more substantial and look shinier. That's the coated hair fibre, not more hair.

What henna won't do

It won't lighten your hair, turn grey hair brown or black on its own, or make hair grow. Dry, porous or bleached hair can feel stiff afterwards; a softer paste and your usual conditioner usually help. And because it lasts, going back to a pale or ash shade later is hard, so tell your colourist you've used henna.

How is henna used?

Mix it fresh with warm water or warm strained tea, let it rest, apply it to clean hair and rinse it out with water. Pick the route by the shade you want:

• Copper to red: henna on its own, left on for at least 2 hours. Yes, you can colour your hair with henna alone: start with our beginner henna method.
• Brown: rested henna mixed with fresh indigo, at 70:30, 50:50 or 30:70 henna to indigo. See how to mix henna and indigo for brown hair.
• Black: henna first, then a fresh indigo-rich second step. See our indigo page.

Want to cover grey hair without a box dye? Henna and indigo are plant dyes; our guide to covering grey hair with henna and indigo helps you choose. For add-ins such as Amla or Aloe Vera Powder, see what to mix with henna. When you're ready, Spierb Henna Powder is pure henna leaf, ready to mix.

Before you use henna: patch test, and who should skip it

Patch test 24–48 hours before first use, with a little of the mix you plan to use, on a small patch of skin. Don't go ahead if the skin burns, swells, blisters or turns red, or if it itches and the itch doesn't settle. A strand test on a hidden lock shows you the colour first.

Henna is for hair only: not for eyebrows, eyelashes or near your eyes, and not on a cut, broken or irritated scalp. Skip it if you're allergic to henna or your patch test reacts. For who should avoid henna, and what to do if your scalp itches, see itchy scalp after henna.