The simplest way to avoid making a mistake is to visit a wig shop and try on red wigs before making a drastic hair color change. You'll get an idea pretty quickly whether or not red hair is right for you.

How About Henna?

Once you've established you want to change your hair color to red, you need to decide if you want subtle highlights or a more dramatic red color. If you want red hair with high impact, henna may be the best option. Henna is a flowering plant that that contains a burgundy-red dye known as lawsone.

Henna has been used safely as a red hair since the times of the Roman empire. Although henna is a natural product, when it's combined with other ingredients, it can form compounds that may be harmful. For this reason, it's important to buy henna from a reputable supplier and read the label carefully to make sure it contains only pure henna. In its purified form, the cosmetic safety data base gives henna extract a low health hazard rating. You can find henna products at many health food stores.

When shopping for henna hair coloring, beware of henna formulations that list various shades on the box such as burgundy, auburn etc. Natural henna only comes in a single red-orange shade that will give varying degrees of red depending upon your natural hair color.

The best way to determine whether the color is right for you is to do a strand test before putting it to your entire head. Henna can be very difficult to remove once it's applied and is as permanent as most synthetic hair dyes. It's also important to do a skin patch test to make sure you're not sensitive to henna before using it.

More Subtle Ways to Change Your Hair Color to Red

If you want to change your hair color to red, but only want subtle red highlights, there are a variety of other natural options.

One way to get red highlights is to brew a strong solution of rose hips tea. Once it's cool, rinse it through your hair several times and leave the last rinse on for thirty minutes before removing. Applying heat from a hair dryer will help to enhance the red highlights.

You can also use fresh beet juice or cranberry juice as a subtle, natural red hair dye. Simply place the juice in a spray bottle and spray it on your hair. Apply heat from a hair dryer for twenty minutes before rinsing. This can be repeated several times to enhance the effect. Keep in mind that these juices will give a more dramatic effect on lighter hair than on dark hair.

Are You Ready to Be a Redhead?

If you want to change your hair color to red, these are safer alternatives to using store bought red hair dyes. If you're ready to be a redhead and want to do it naturally, give these methods a try.