Pumpkin Spice: The Orange Henna Hair Look Everyone Wants

This year, hues of orange from perfect peach to brightest tangerine are huge, but none are more popular than pumpkin spice.  Bright, with rich undertones, it’s a perfect shade to try and achieve with organic Henna.

How to Get the Perfect Shade of Orange:

There are a couple of factors in making sure you get the orange Henna result you dream of:

1.       The Mix:

Citric acid powders are the key to the ‘Pinterest perfect’ orange results everyone wants.  Lemon juice is fantastic for an auburn shade, lime is great for a dark red (but may irritate sensitive scalps) and citric acid powders are the choice for rich copper tones that hold for up to six weeks.

Start with around 6gm of citric acid powder and mix with tea. 

2.       Your Base Hair Colour:

If your hair is grey or very light, you may need to apply your colour twice, and possibly add a little more of an acid into your mix to get a brighter result. Cassia can help for some golden sunshine tones.

If your hair is darker, remember it cannot be lightened by Henna and it isn’t wise to use Henna over bleached hair for at least six weeks, so you might need to reapply a few times to get a bright stain.  This look works best on a colour that is light to mid-brown.  Darker than that and you are unlikely to get true pumpkin, but you can get a lovely, bright shade, nonetheless.

3. Your Hair Type:

If your hair is very grey and a little coarse, or 3c/4c you will need to consider adding some additional cassia for shine and make sure you keep the Henna moist.

Don’t soak the henna too long for this colour – overnight acid soaks tend to be great for more red tones, but not so much for a true orange.

4. Your Application Time:

This application depends on your hair type, but at least 40-mins to get the brightness will be required for most.

ALWAYS STRAND TEST:

Getting this colour spot on is specific to you, so do not skip the strand test. With henna, your final hair colour will always be influenced by your original hair colour and the porosity of your hair. Remember that your hair will oxidise over 48-hours and if it isn’t as bright as you’d like, then try and repeat the test.

If you’re not sure about mixing your colour yourself, try our It’s Pure Herbal Hair Colours, made with organic Henna for a great auburn result.