Henna has many good qualities, but also certain bad ones. Henna was used at Jean Louis David for a long time as a pre-colouring product, but advances in the hairdressing industry have meant that henna has been replaced by other products. But there’s no need to banish it all together. Here’s a bit about it.
 
Henna is a natural dye, so it can be used at home to dye hair red or auburn shades. “At Jean Louis David we use it to pre-colour hair. A lot of our clients who had blonde hair and wanted to go brown, or go back to brown, would buy a simple hair dye product and do it themselves at home. After a few washes though, hair can actually go green. To stop this from happening we use henna with a red or orange base, which acts as a sort of base layer to stop this problem arising!”
This is an effective solution but it can’t really be undone… Henna stays in hair very well, perhaps a little too well! “Henna sticks firmly to hair, which is not something we want in modern hairdressing. We need to be able to provide easy changes. This is not possible with henna because it’s so long-lasting.” Although it fades over time, it still stays in the hair.
 
However, its staying power can be an advantage for fine hair. Henna coats the hair, making it heavier and thicker- a godsend for hair that lacks volume. “The problem is that it creates a sort of covering around the hair. So if you want to have a perm or another technical service done, you might cause your hair to break…”
 
You should also know that henna causes hair to dry out if used for a long period of time, so make sure you use products for dry hair with strong hydrating properties.
 
“In any case, henna doesn’t necessarily need to be banished altogether; it’s just that a lot of other products have been found to be more effective and less damaging to hair.”
 
Our tip: To use henna, simply mix henna powder with water. The more you dilute it, the more subtle the effect and the more limited its staying power will be, and vice versa.