I did my hair up with the Henna again and again am very pleased with the results:
It's really rich and deep and over the week it has darkened to a more auburn like color. Definitely the change I was looking for.
For my henna I ordered from This lovely place, I got the Ancient Sunrise Red. I ordered two packages with come with two 100mg bags each. Because my hair is so thick I ended up using all of it with a little leftover to make pretty henna designs on my mum's arm :) I poured all the packets out and mixed a medium bottle of lemon juice into it along with warm water until it was mashed potatoes consistency. I let it sit over night and then added some more warm water to it until it was yogurt consistency. Then we slopped in on my head and I let it sit for 10-12 hours. When I rinsed I tried to get my hair out of the little buns we formed it into with the Henna on and then slathered a ton of cheap conditioner over it and let my head sit under the running bathtub faucet for a good ten minutes or so. (I had bruises on my knees lol). After that I combed it out gently with more conditioner and rinsed with cold water and was all done!
I think that Henna is super awesome, but going through all the trouble I think that this will be my last application. My hair is just too thick and too long to deal with it on a regular basis so I'm going to try Manic Panic Vampire Red next time to see what happens.
Pros of Henna:
Plant dye, no chemicals
Gives a lovely rich color that compliments your natural color and darkens to look more natural
Good for your hair
Lasts forever
Natural
Permanent
Cons:
Smells. Bad.
Is very permanent
Difficult to work with and to get out
If you get something other than body art quality henna you could be in for a bad chemical reaction surprise
All in all, I've enjoyed my experience, and I love the color, but it's also expensive for me to get the henna shipped from my preferred vendor. I had fun while it lasted though!