Henna or box dye to easily cover greys?

Just to add another question:

If I wanted to try both box dye and henna, would it be best to box dye first then change to henna (how long would I have to wait between the two?)

Or would it be better to try henna first, then cover with a box dye if I find it’s too messy* or whatever? (And, again, how long would I have to wait between the two?)

*I keep mentioning “mess” with the henna because I’ve come across a number of posts saying how messy it is and that worries me a lot. How messy is “messy”? Are we talking stained bathrooms? Unremoveable stains on walls/tiles and floors? 

I've done henna a couple of times.  I used the henna blocks from Lush, can't remember which one though.

Mixing it up can be messy.  Applying it can be messy.  BUT I don't remember any terrible instant stains like I've experienced with box dye in the past.

It was also a bit messy in that bits of the mixture kept escaping my hair and falling on the floor but it's not liquid, it's a sort of gritty paste so easy to pick up.  If you have a decent shower cap to wrap it up well you'll be fine - I have a very low hairline at the back so I've always got some hair escaping.

Henna's one of these things where you slap it on and leave it as long as you can - just like direct dyes.  I left it on all day while I was pottering about indoors then soaked it off in the bath.  It left an impressive tide mark but washed off fine.

I didn't have greys at the time but I remember reading that while henna might adhere to grey hairs, it won't darken them to match the rest of your hair so instead of having shiny silver hairs showing you'll have shiny copper hairs instead.

The trouble with box dyes is they damage your hair, they fade, you do it again, you damage your hair more, it fades quicker ... etc etc.
It's better to use semi-permanent direct dyes, just bleaching the regrowth.

Don't bleach or box dye over henna, it can have scary hair-melting reactions (something to do with metal salts) or maybe just go an unexpected colour.

You could try a strand test of each.

Hi 🙂 Henna shouldn't bleed like direct dyes, though it is messy to apply. I've used it before, and am planning on moving back to it in the future because of the benefits and the colour. In prep, someone recommended me this set of (free) resources: http://www.mehandi.com/Articles.asp?ID=257 They're worth a read, and should help arm you with info about henna and how to get the colour you're after.

If you're going to try a box dye, you'd need to try it first. Henna is absolutely and completely (except in a few very very rare cases) permanent, and really hard to budge once it's in. You can colour over it easily with highly pigmented direct dyes, but it's not as easy to swap out colours as with box dyes.

Whichever you choose, best of luck, I hope you get the colour that you're looking for 🙂

I've done henna a couple of times.  I used the henna blocks from Lush, can't remember which one though.

Mixing it up can be messy.  Applying it can be messy.  BUT I don't remember any terrible instant stains like I've experienced with box dye in the past.

It was also a bit messy in that bits of the mixture kept escaping my hair and falling on the floor but it's not liquid, it's a sort of gritty paste so easy to pick up.  If you have a decent shower cap to wrap it up well you'll be fine - I have a very low hairline at the back so I've always got some hair escaping.

Henna's one of these things where you slap it on and leave it as long as you can - just like direct dyes.  I left it on all day while I was pottering about indoors then soaked it off in the bath.  It left an impressive tide mark but washed off fine.

I didn't have greys at the time but I remember reading that while henna might adhere to grey hairs, it won't darken them to match the rest of your hair so instead of having shiny silver hairs showing you'll have shiny copper hairs instead.

The trouble with box dyes is they damage your hair, they fade, you do it again, you damage your hair more, it fades quicker ... etc etc.
It's better to use semi-permanent direct dyes, just bleaching the regrowth.

Don't bleach or box dye over henna, it can have scary hair-melting reactions (something to do with metal salts) or maybe just go an unexpected colour.

You could try a strand test of each.

Thank you for all that detail - particularly about the mess and staining angle. That was very reassuring.

Yes, it’s the damage from box dyes I worry about. I haven’t used them for years but I do remember them starting off looking great then fading and going dull. I don’t suppose that would matter because I could refresh them with a direct dye or similar, but I also remember how my hair gradually lost condition over the months of using box dyes. It wasn’t as damaging as bleach, but my hair did feel different and I didn’t like the feel or look of it.

Thanks too for the warning about potential horror effects from henna! That’s the last thing I want!

Hi 🙂 Henna shouldn't bleed like direct dyes, though it is messy to apply. I've used it before, and am planning on moving back to it in the future because of the benefits and the colour. In prep, someone recommended me this set of (free) resources: http://www.mehandi.com/Articles.asp?ID=257 They're worth a read, and should help arm you with info about henna and how to get the colour you're after.

If you're going to try a box dye, you'd need to try it first. Henna is absolutely and completely (except in a few very very rare cases) permanent, and really hard to budge once it's in. You can colour over it easily with highly pigmented direct dyes, but it's not as easy to swap out colours as with box dyes.

Whichever you choose, best of luck, I hope you get the colour that you're looking for 🙂

Ooh, thanks for that link! I’ve got that bookmarked to read through.

I’m interested that you’re thinking of going back to henna. I’ve found it hard to find many positive stories about using henna. It doesn’t seem to be that popular now.

Thank you too for the advice about which to try first. That helps me get a plan of action. It looks like I’m going to be doing a fair few strand tests!

Make sure if you choose henna, that its a color you want till it grows out! I have over 30 years experience with it. Letting yourself go silver in the future will mean getting a pixie.