What happens if you bleach Henna hair?



Today I did an experiment involving bleach! I have gotten so many questions from all of you asking me, what would happen if you bleach your henna hair, so today I'm going to show you! 

First let me start by saying this is not recommended! Bleach is very damaging, and it could cause you some serious problems with your hair if you're not careful. I had a beautician give me directions on what my hair could handle, and how to bleach correctly without causing sores in my scalp or damaging it too much. 

I started off with unwashed hair. My hair color was Wine Red by Henna Maiden sold by Henna King. It has been about 3 months since my last Henna treatment so I'm not bleaching over fresh henna. 


 I used Splat bleaching kit. I did some research before choosing my bleach. Splat had the best reviews for being more gentle on hair! I will agree that it did not burn, or cause any irritation while on my head. So over all this was a good bleach in my opinion.
I left Splat Bleach on for 40 minutes. I covered it with a plastic bag to heat it up, as well as keep it from dripping on anything. 
Then I washed it with warm water using the shampoo provided in the Splat box. I blow dried it, and here is the first result!
It's really orange. I look like a pumpkin! Because of how orange this turned out I waited about an hour then dyed it again with another application of Splat Bleach! Remember I had a beautician tell me what my hair could handle, and I expected I'd need 2 bleach treatments, but if you do not have healthy hair DO NOT bleach again! Your hair could fall out, or even burn, so this is not a joke! Only bleach once unless you know your hair can handle another treatment!

Here is the results from the 2nd bleaching. It is lighter but still very orange. I left bleach on for another 40 minutes, shampooed and conditioned with the products in the Splat box. I will say that my hair felt damaged and brittle and the bleach smell was horrid! It caused my eyes to water and I needed a fan on to help clear the fumes. I found it much easier to leave the bleach in the bottle to apply. The 1st time I mixed it in a color bowl and used a color brush to apply, but the 2nd time I used it right from the bottle. It was less messy and seemed to go farther that way. Plus the fumes were not as bad when using the bottle.



After seeing how orange my hair still was, I decided to put a toner on it. However I waited a good 2 hours before jumping into dying again! This is Garnier Nutrisse in White Chocolate. Before I started using Henna, this is the brand of chemical dye I used. I love the smell of the conditioner, and the fact that it goes on like a cream. I put Vaseline on my hairline to avoid stains or bad reactions with my skin.







This is the final result! As you can see the Henna is not completely out of my hair. However it is much lighter and almost a strawberry blonde instead of the bright orange.  Getting Henna out of your hair is not easy and I'd have to do this a few more times to get blonde hair. I'm not going to damage my hair anymore so this will be the end result until I redo it with Henna in Strawberry Blonde color.




Chemicals are the worst thing to put in your hair. I did this experiment for all of you, and I hope this will show you why Henna is better for your hair. Henna coats your hair, conditions it, and even treats dandruff. Already with using chemicals, my scalp is irritated and itching, my hair is falling out, the ends are brittle, and my hair feels like straw. I will be putting Henna back in my hair to let it heal the damage I just did.

This is what happens if you bleach your hair after using henna! Let me know what you think about this experiment!


13 comments:

  • Anonymous | January 16, 2015 at 2:02 PM

    Thank you for doing this! I have to say, the strawberry blonde is lovely on you. It's good to know you can still lighten your hennaed hair and achieve a nice colour. Thanks again. Great article!

  • Anonymous | July 2, 2015 at 12:30 PM

    For blondes who have not bleached their hair within 6months, will you get worthy color if you go wine red with Henna? My roots are covering over my hair except the middle to end of the tips of my hair. It is difficult to not appreciate the red tones but it seems as if most people that go directly to this color receive amazing results because their hair is already close to the color brown. I have tried a store version of Henna and Light Mountain and it just made a mess of orange spots exploding on my hair very..uneven. I recently watched a YouTube video of a gal that had bleached blonde hair and used the red wine Henna Maiden and it looked fantastic. It seems as if there would be a catch..right? Do I go for that same brand or what brand should I trust for my hair condition from what I described. If you could offer any support of truth I would greatly appreciate your help towards my concerns. Thank you again for your post!

  • Anonymous | July 28, 2015 at 5:48 PM

    Thank you for sharing this! My hair did the exact same thing! I used the same colors dyes and henna...ugh! Its terrible looking, just like a pumpkin. I'm just gonna go dye it really dark now to try and cover it :/

  • Unknown | November 9, 2016 at 12:01 PM

    Hi. I see this is an old post but I need your advice! My hair is naturally a dark brown with stubborn grays. Decided to use henna (and indigo) to cover the grays while saving money too over a year ago. I use 100% powder henna and indigo. My hair presently looks more black with dark red highlights mostly in the crown area. What I would like to do is just lighten some in it either the front only or just the ends not my entire head. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

  • S.Turi | December 2, 2016 at 11:51 PM

    Hi,i have a similar situation with perhaps 10% grey,medium brown.I alternate between applications of red henna and commercial semi permanents. In the summer i tried a few henna indigo applications. Ive been trying to add some blond highlights in the front using bleach and 30% vol developer,using a cap. It is going very slowly. U can hardly see any difference. I have tried 5 applications with a month interval.Im ready for the salon now to do it,as the nleach cant penetrate the henna. The salon uses up to 70% developer which may do it.good luck

    I

  • Simply Mrs.Quin | January 20, 2017 at 3:47 AM

    I know this is an old thread but the indigo will
    turn green when bleached!

  • Unknown | August 28, 2017 at 5:33 PM

    This is so old this thread. But i had burgundy henna in my hair. That a month later did a demi dark brown dye over it. My hair color is awesome now. I did two sets on highlights with bleach obviously within the past month. My hair picked up red and orange so i toned it with wella 7aa its a green based medium ash blonde and deposits A Lot of color. If youre hair is more orange 7a is a blue base and will absolutely cover it. But i have ash blonde highlights in caramel hair. Gonna leave it for a month

  • Unknown | June 5, 2018 at 2:16 PM

    Hi! I was wondering what would happen if i bleach my hair when i coloured it with black henna last year? The black henna turned my dark brown hair black

  • Unknown | December 14, 2018 at 1:14 PM

    As a qualified colour technician I am shocked and actually a bit taken aback by this “experiment”.... the products you used were not professional.... the beautician who even suggested you bleach over Henna could not possibly be allowed to call herself professionally in my opinion to give an unlicensed persom advisemon howmtoncolour their own hair.... let alone TELL them to bleach over HENNA.... you actually drive the Henna into curl legs with bleach.::: and your “toner” was a permanent tint from a supermarket.... not a Demi or semi permanent. And to counteract the colour you have YOURSELF destroyed your hair too, not only did you choose the wrong product but also the wrong reflect....

  • Kelly natan | June 3, 2020 at 3:20 PM

    What is curl legs? Drive the henna into curl legs? What???

  • Anonymous | December 31, 2022 at 1:01 PM

    Lol curl legs 🦵 🤣

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