Röd henna
Wine Red Henna Hair Dye. Wine red is the darkest red in our collection: even a shade or two darker than straight henna, few to no brown undertones, it’s pure deep red. Similar to red wine or a maraschino cherry. A deep intense color. Henna is a reddish dye prepared from the dried and powdered leaves of the henna tree. After henna stains reach their peak colour, they hold for a few days, then gradually wear off by way of exfoliation , typically within one to three weeks.
Henna has been used in ancient Egypt, ancient Near East and then the Indian subcontinent to dye skin, hair and fingernails, as well as fabrics including silk , wool , and leather. The name henna is used in other skin and hair dyes, such as black henna and neutral henna , neither of which is derived from the henna plant. The origins of the initial human uses of henna are uncertain; however, there are records that the plant was marketed in Babylonia , [ 5 ] and was used in Ancient Egypt on some mummies to dye their hair, skin, nails, or funeral wrappings.
Whole, unbroken henna leaves will not stain the skin because the active chemical agent, lawsone , is bound within the plant. However, dried henna leaves will stain the skin if they are mashed into a paste. The lawsone will gradually migrate from the henna paste into the outer layer of the skin and bind to the proteins in it, creating a stain. Since it is difficult to form intricate patterns from coarsely crushed leaves, henna is commonly traded as a powder [ 9 ] made by drying, milling and sifting the leaves.
The dry powder is mixed with one of a number of liquids, including water, lemon juice, strong tea, and other ingredients, depending on the tradition. Many artists use sugar or molasses in the paste to improve consistency to keep it stuck to the skin better. The henna mix must rest between one and 48 hours before use in order to release the lawsone from the leaf matter. The timing depends on the crop of henna being used.
Essential oils with high levels of monoterpene alcohols, such as tea tree , cajuput , or lavender , will improve skin stain characteristics. Other essential oils, such as eucalyptus and clove, are not used because they are too irritating to the skin. The paste can be applied with many traditional and innovative tools, starting with a basic stick or twig.
Wine Red Henna Hair Dye
In Morocco, a syringe is common. A plastic cone similar to those used to pipe icing onto cakes is used in India. A light stain may be achieved within minutes, but the longer the paste is left on the skin, the darker and longer lasting the stain will be, so it needs to be left on as long as possible.
After some time the dry paste is simply brushed or scraped away. The paste should be kept on the skin for a minimum of four to six hours, but longer times and even wearing the paste overnight is a common practice. Removal should not be done with water, as water interferes with the oxidation process of stain development. Cooking oil may be used to loosen dry paste. Henna stains are orange when the paste is first removed, but darken over the following three days to a deep reddish brown due to oxidation.
Soles and palms have the thickest layer of skin and so take up the most lawsone, and take it to the greatest depth, so that hands and feet will have the darkest and most long-lasting stains.
An incredibly detailed guide to dying your hair red with henna
Some also believe that steaming or warming the henna pattern will darken the stain, either during the time the paste is still on the skin, or after the paste has been removed. It is debatable whether this adds to the color of the result as well. After the stain reaches its peak color, it holds for a few days, then gradually wears off by way of exfoliation , typically within one to three weeks. Natural henna pastes containing only henna powder, a liquid water, lemon juice, etc.
The leaf of the henna plant contains a finite amount of lawsone. As a result, once the powder has been mixed into a paste, this leaching of dye molecule into the mixture will only occur for an average of two to six days. If a paste will not be used within the first few days after mixing, it can be frozen for up to four months to halt the dye release, for thawing and use at a later time. Commercially packaged pastes that remain able to stain the skin longer than seven days without refrigeration or freezing contain other chemicals besides henna that may be dangerous to the skin.
After the initial seven-day release of lawsone dye, the henna leaf is spent, therefore any dye created by these commercial cones on the skin after this time period is actually the result of other compounds in the product. These chemicals are often undisclosed on packaging, and have a wide range of colors including what appears to be a natural looking color stain produced by dyes such as sodium picramate.
These products often do not contain any henna. There are many adulterated henna pastes such as these, and others, for sale today that are erroneously marketed as "natural", "pure", or "organic", all containing potentially dangerous undisclosed additives. The length of time a pre-manufactured paste takes to arrive in the hands of consumers is typically longer than the seven-day dye release window of henna, therefore one can reasonably expect that any pre-made mass-produced cone that is not shipped frozen is a potentially harmful adulterated chemical variety.
Henna only stains the skin one color, a variation of reddish brown, at full maturity three days after application. Powdered fresh henna, unlike pre-mixed paste, can be easily shipped all over the world and stored for many years in a well-sealed package. Smith reports that the mummy of Henuttamehu's own hair had been dyed a bright red at the sides, probably with henna. In Europe, henna was popular among women connected to the aesthetic movement and the Pre-Raphaelite artists of England in the s.
Dante Gabriel Rossetti 's wife and muse, Elizabeth Siddal , had naturally bright red hair. Contrary to the cultural tradition in Britain that considered red hair unattractive, the Pre-Raphaelites fetishized red hair. Siddal was portrayed by Rossetti in many paintings that emphasized her flowing red hair.