NightBlooming offers five herbal hair colors in the gold to red range, and while one of the amazing things about herbal hair colors is how they work  with your own hair color to produce a color unique to you, many people want a little more security. (Very wise given the insane permanency of henna!) A generous customer donated some of her virgin ash-blonde hair (also called ‘the color everyone dyes over’) and I’m happy to show these herbal hair color strand tests.

 

Control and Methodology

Each lock of hair was sectioned to be approximately the same length and thickness. Each of the herbal hair colors were mixed up with steaming distilled water, left to dye release for two hours, and the locks left to soak in the dye for 3 hours (as per the included instructions). After that, they were all rinsed and were allowed to oxidize for 3 days before these pictures were taken.

The Play of Light

I then photographed each lock in different types of light. As this image, taken from Coloring Hair Naturally with Henna & Other Herbs, shows, herbal colors, but especially those containing henna, vary wildly just depending in on the type of light that they’re in. The same head of hair can go from burgundy in the shade, to brownish under fluorescent light, to fiery copper in the sun. This is an important consideration when looking at pictures of hennaed hair. It’s very tempting to say, “I want this color in this photo. What mix do I need?” That same head of hair might look very different in another photo taken just a few seconds later because a cloud passed overhead.

All Color Swatches

Moving left to right is Control, Eilistraee Colorless Herbal Conditioner, Sarenrae Blonde / Colorless, Rusalki Strawberry Blonde, Fire Genasi Copper, Kitsune Fox Fire Red, and Enyo War Goddess Ruby Red.

Eilistree Colorless Herbal Conditioner

Eilistraee is a blend of sedr and other herbs that gives conditioning and volume without coloring even the palest of hair colors. In these photos you can see the control lock and Eilistraee lock: there’s no difference.

Ingredients: Certified Organic Zizyphus Spina Christi (Sedr) , Organic Aloe Vera Powder, Nettle, Wheatgrass.

Control and Eilistraee:

Sarenrae Blonde Herbal Hair Color & Conditioner

Sarenrae is a blend of herbs that gives rich golden tones and deep, long-lasting conditioning well beyond what cassia obovata manages on its own.

Ingredients: Cassia (Senna italica), Senna (Senna alexandrea), Chamomile flowers (Matricaria recutita), Ginger Root (Zingiber officinale), Horsetail (Shavegrass, Equisetum arvense), Yellow Dock (Rumex crispus), Burdock Root (Arctium lappa), Marshmallow Root (Althaea officinalis), Aloe Leaf (Aloe Vera), Hibiscus Flowers (Hibiscus Rosa Sinensis), and Stinging Nettle Leaf (Urtica dioica)

Sarenrae indirect sunlight

Rusalki Strawberry Blonde Herbal Hair Color

Rusalki uses a blend of senna, henna, and other herbs to give a stunning, natural strawberry-blonde color to light hair and a smidge of warmth and a lot of conditioning to dark hair.

Ingredients: Cassia (Senna italica), Henna (Lawsonia Inermis), Chamomile flowers (Matricaria recutita), Ginger Root (Zingiber officinale), Horsetail (Shavegrass, Equisetum arvense), Yellow Dock (Rumex crispus), Burdock Root (Arctium lappa), Marshmallow Root (Althaea officinalis), Aloe Leaf (Aloe Vera), Hibiscus Flowers (Hibiscus Rosa Sinensis), and Stinging Nettle Leaf (Urtica dioica)

Fire Gensai Copper Herbal Hair Color

A vibrant blend of henna, senna, and other herbs, Genasi mimics naturally ginger hair, making it not only convincing, but a great refresher for natural redheads whose color has faded.

 Ingredients: Henna (Lawsonia Inermis), Cassia (Senna italica), Chamomile flowers (Matricaria recutita), Ginger Root (Zingiber officinale), Horsetail (Shavegrass, Equisetum arvense), Yellow Dock (Rumex crispus), Burdock Root (Arctium lappa), Marshmallow Root (Althaea officinalis), Aloe Leaf (Aloe Vera), Hibiscus Flowers (Hibiscus Rosa Sinensis), and Stinging Nettle Leaf (Urtica dioica)

Kitsune Fox Fire Red Herbal Hair Color

Kitsune is a rich red that flares orange in the sun. The addition of conditioning herbs both help cut the grassy henna smell that some dislike, and also add additional softness and shine.

Ingredients: Henna (Lawsonia Inermis), Chamomile flowers (Matricaria recutita), Ginger Root (Zingiber officinale), Horsetail (Shavegrass, Equisetum arvense), Yellow Dock (Rumex crispus), Burdock Root (Arctium lappa), Marshmallow Root (Althaea officinalis), Aloe Leaf (Aloe Vera), Hibiscus Flowers (Hibiscus Rosa Sinensis), and Stinging Nettle Leaf (Urtica dioica)

Enyo War Goddess Ruby Red Herbal Hair Color

Enyo is a deep red that ranges from ruby to auburn on even light hair. It uses a unique blend of henna, indigo, and red-staining herbs to achieve this elusive and brilliant shade.

Ingredients: Henna- Rajastani (Lawsonia Inermis), Indigo (Indigofera tinctoria), Elder Berry (Sambucus canadensis), Beet Root (Beta vulgaris), Triphala powder (amalaki, bibhitaki and haritaki)

Enyo indoors

Comparison Photos

Control, Eilistraee, Sarenrae

Sarenrae, Rusalki, Genasi

Left to right: Sarenrae, Rusalki, Genasi indirect sunlight

Genasi, Kitsune, Enyo

 

 

 

Rualki, Genasi, Enyo

 

 

 

Want even more swatches?

One of our customers did her own strand tests with all of our red herbal hair colors. Her results are amazing!