Why did Henna make my hair hard?

[**SaSSy**]

I was reading all of the old threads and member's fotkis about how great henna is for the hair, so I brought me a henna treatment called Colora natural color. I mixed it with olive oil, and some sebastian's cellophane (i hate this cellophane with a passion!) It looked like mud once I was all done with mixing and appling to my hair. Left it on over night and my head was itching like crazy! It was a mother washing out that I had to wash three times, and it was still hard as (beep!). This was Saturday, and my hair hasn't been the same, it's so hard and wont stop shedding/breaking! I co-washed today, and DC with some nexus humectress, and my hair is still hard!

Can my hair be save before it all breaks off??

(I'm gonna bump this until someone response cuz I'm so piss right now!

 

[Lucky's Mom]

I was reading all of the old threads and member's fotkis about how great henna is for the hair, so I brought me a henna treatment called Colora natural color. I mixed it with olive oil, and some sebastian's cellophane (i hate this cellophane with a passion!) It looked like mud once I was all done with mixing and appling to my hair. Left it on over night and my head was itching like crazy! It was a mother washing out that I had to wash three times, and it was still hard as (beep!). This was Saturday, and my hair hasn't been the same, it's so hard and wont stop shedding/breaking! I co-washed today, and DC with some nexus humectress, and my hair is still hard!

Can my hair be save before it all breaks off??

(I'm gonna bump this until someone response cuz I'm so piss right now!

It sounds like you did not use the body art quality Henna that many ladies are using. The cellophane may have also been a bad idea.


I am no expert, but I think you might want to research this site:

www.hennaforhair.com

This may answer your questions. In addition to that - looking at some of the henna threads here may help.

 

[JustKiya]

Firstly, I really don't think you should have mixed it with cellophane. The first time you use anything, for future reference, you should use the simplest mix possible, so that you'll see how it works on your hair, pure, first without adding in other potential complications.

I honestly have no CLUE how the interaction between those two products would end up in a head of hair - so all I can suggest is to DC, DC, DC. Sleep with your hair soaked in conditioner a few nights. Keep giving it moisture until it gets softer, again.

 

[TsAngel]

I agree with the quality of the henna, must be body art quality. One must make certain to rinse well. There was no need to mix a cellophane with it. Henna's conditioning properties will nurture your hair to provide a natural sheen.

 

[**SaSSy**]

thanks ladies!

I know I shouldn't have use the cellophane, I been having major problems with that damn cellophane for months but was just too damn stubborn to throw it away...until now! ohwell: I wasted $26 dollars!)

THis is the henna I used:

 

[JustKiya]

Black henna? Oh dear. Does it have a list of ingredients? I'm not sure if that's one of the 'pure henna' brands...... I hope it just has indigo in it, otherwise you might have basically used a hair dye..... *does a quick search*

Okay, not the best of hennas, but not the worst, either.

I'd say you might be lucky that your hair only got hard....lots of DC's, and it should recover - might be a minor setback, though.....

 

[january noir]

Just a question OP. Did you research how to henna before you did?

 

[Aggie]

Oh my word Sassy, I'm so sorry to hear this. I don't even know what cellophane is. As far as the henna you used, I'm not familiar with that one either. Like Jk said, keep your henna regimen simple. I noticed that you only washed 3 times in your attempt to get the henna out of your hair - that is no way near enough times to wash henna out. And I hope you didn't use shampoo to wash it out.

When I henna my hair, I allow the water under the shower to run on my hair for a few minutes to soften the henna up a bit. Then I use quite a bit of cheapie conditioner to wash it out at least 7 or 8 times, sometimes more. Then I would deep condition my hair for at least 4-5 hours, then rinse it for a few minutes under running water.

But follow JustKiya's advice, DC, DC, DC until the softness comes back okay?

 

[Pheonixx]

I'm sorry to hear of this.

I've been henna-in happily for 4 months with no issue.

While reading your post a few things that jumped out to me.
1. Cellophane? ...the hell's that?
2. Colora Henna? ....the hell is that? Why not just go with the recommended Henna manufacturers that everyone on LHCF uses: Henna for Hair or HennaSooq. I buy from Henna for Hair because I don't know how to distinguish bad from good henna and these ppl receive good reviews. Maybe there is cheaper henna source out there but henna can be disastrous to hair if performed incorrectly.
I can't risk broken strands to save a few bucks...
3. Did you do a strand test?
4. You left it on OVERnight....? This was your first time, right? Now some folks do this but they've henna'd enough to know what to expect.
But---e'rybody ain't able, girl.
It's kind of like DCin overnight. I can do overnight DC's. Others can't.
My hair can take a 24 hr DC with Elucence moisturizing condish. Others can't because it turns their hair to mush...
5. Did you use BAQ Henna?

I'm stiull experimenting but here's what I do.
-Wash before hand with a Neutralizer. Although once when I didn't wash my hair it was definitely harder but it came out incredibly soft when I rinsed it out. May have to try this again.
-I mix 100% henna, 50% amla with water and lemon juice. You don't need juice to get color. but I was trying to see if I could get MORE color release.
-I left it on for 3 hours with a plastic bag on my head. USually leave it in for 1 but wanted to see how much more my hair could be 'conditioned'.
-Rinsed with Elucence, CON, etc... some moisturizing condish. I usually let it sit on my head..

That's it.

 

[Aggie]

I'm sorry to hear of this.

I've been henna-in happily for 4 months with no issue.

While reading your post a few things that jumped out to me.
1. Cellophane? ...the hell's that?
2. Colora Henna? ....the hell is that? Why not just go with the recommended Henna manufacturers that everyone on LHCF uses: Henna for Hair or HennaSooq. I buy from Henna for Hair because I don't know how to distinguish bad from good henna and these ppl receive good reviews. Maybe there is cheaper henna source out there but henna can be disastrous to hair if performed incorrectly.
I can't risk broken strands to save a few bucks...
3. Did you do a strand test?
4. You left it on OVERnight....? This was your first time, right? Now some folks do this but they've henna'd enough to know what to expect.
But---e'rybody ain't able, girl.
It's kind of like DCin overnight. I can do overnight DC's. Others can't.
My hair can take a 24 hr DC with Elucence moisturizing condish. Others can't because it turns their hair to mush...
5. Did you use BAQ Henna?

I'm stiull experimenting but here's what I do.
-Wash before hand with a Neutralizer. Although once when I didn't wash my hair it was definitely harder but it came out incredibly soft when I rinsed it out. May have to try this again.
-I mix 100% henna, 50% amla with water and lemon juice. You don't need juice to get color. but I was trying to see if I could get MORE color release.
-I left it on for 3 hours with a plastic bag on my head. USually leave it in for 1 but wanted to see how much more my hair could be 'conditioned'.
-Rinsed with Elucence, CON, etc... some moisturizing condish. I usually let it sit on my head..

That's it.

ITA with this post, all with the exception of the lemon juice. Please don't add any lemon juice or ACV or any kind of terps for that matter - they are wayyyy too drying for African hair. Please DO NOT add terps. Many of the ladies got greatly discouraged from using henna because they add these terps and ended up with SUPER DRY hair. This was my very first experience with henna and from that day to this, I have never added any type of terp to my henna mix and I have been having excellent results since. Terps are only needed for color release in a much shorter time frame. I let my henna sit and release overnight for about 10-12 hours and henna my hair the following morning.

 

[**SaSSy**]

update: while doing a research online i discoved that the henna I used is called compound henna which means that it's not pure and natural, but on the box it says it natural color which means it has no dyes in it. (the example I posted before says black, but I didn't use black, that's just an example of the product I use!). What should I do now cause now my hair still feels hard when wet, it feels like it has gel in after I co-wash, very fried looking when wet, and is starting to break a little erplexed.

 

[january noir]

update: while doing a research online i discoved that the henna I used is called compound henna which means that it's not pure and natural, but on the box it says it natural color which means it has no dyes in it. (the example I posted before says black, but I didn't use black, that's just an example of the product I use!). What should I do now cause now my hair still feels hard when wet, it feels like it has gel in after I co-wash, very fried looking when wet, and is starting to break a little erplexed.

Only thing I can think of is to keep DCing with a moisturizing conditioner.
Don't use any products with protein. What are u using for cowashing? What you are using may be adding to the problem.

It will take a while but your hair will come back. It's a hard lesson to learn...

 

[**SaSSy**]

Only thing I can think of is to keep DCing with a moisturizing conditioner.
Don't use any products with protein. What are u using for cowashing? What you are using may be adding to the problem.

It will take a while but your hair will come back. It's a hard lesson to learn...

Lady Fior rinse balsam aguacate, and DCing with a mix of kerecare humento, honey, olive oil. and switching up with elasta QP DPR-11

 

[january noir]

Lady Fior rinse balsam aguacate, and DCing with a mix of kerecare humento, honey, olive oil. and switching up with elasta QP DPR-11

What are the ingredient in Lady Fior? What about QP DPR? I don't use is so I don't know. Please check.

 

[january noir]

I think balsam is protein...I am going to check.
ETA: I did a quick search and most balsam products have protein. OK?

 

[Aggie]

Lady Fior rinse balsam aguacate, and DCing with a mix of kerecare humento, honey, olive oil. and switching up with elasta QP DPR-11

QP DPR-11 has petrolatum in it so I don't know if you should be using this. Many ladies say that this tend to coat the hair and doesn't provide the slip your hair need right now. As far as the Balsam, I read an article sometime last year that said balsams are not good for our hair either, I can't remember why but I do know that I avoid balsams like the plague.

If you need something totally protein free then the only deep conditioner I can think of is Pantene Relaxed and Natural Breakage Defense Hair Conditioning Mask which you could find in any BSS store or even Walmart, okay? I would recommend that you try saturating your hair with this, put on a plastic cap, DC with heat for about 30 minutes and go to bed with it still in your hair and wash out the next morning. You should repeat this a few nights in a row to get the moisture back deep in your hair cuticles.

 

[*closer*2*my*dreams*]

First, I'm sooooo sorry this happened to you... Well you already know the second part (one, it's a big no no to leave it on overnight, and two, if you're going to add products, only add moisturizing ones)...

Now the third thing is to continue dc'ing....a great deep conditioner is organics hair mayo mixed with olive oil & honey! leave on overnight, rinse out in the morning, and apply a little bit more as a leave in; if you have a wig, baggy your hair underneath; if not then just wear out or style as usual; keep doing this for about a week. stay away from brushing and combing as much as possible...try to only fingercomb..

Don't feel bad either, I was full-throttle too when I first joined and I wanted to do everything under the sun, now I have a cabinet full of products I don't need or don't work and I'm still working on a regimine.

Don't feel discouraged; get your hair back in shape, take this as a lesson learned and don't repeat the same mistakes. HTH!

 

[january noir]

Now the third thing is to continue dc'ing....a great deep conditioner is organics hair mayo mixed with olive oil & honey!

Does the Organics Hair Mayo have protein?

 

[Aggie]

Does the Organics Hair Mayo have protein?

Yes I think it does have a mild protein in it, I have it but I'll have to check it later to confirm, but I'm almost certain that it does.

Okay I got up to check it and it has egg protein in it and it has mineral oil (third ingredient on the list) in it and this is really not the product for Sassyb4Classy to use right now, she is in need of some serious moisture recovery. I recommended the Pantene R/N hair mask that has no protein and loaded in some nice moisturizing oils like Jojoba and coconut oils. I can't think of any other conditioner that she can use as a moisturizing deep conditioner without proteins in it.

 

[PassionFruit]

Colora brand Henna is perfectly fine to use...

here is the ingredient list:

http://www.hennaforhair.com/messages/859.html

the ingredients vary a bit from color to color, but
here is what they list:
Water, Natural Henna Extract, Alcohol, Cocoamphopropionate,
Polysorbate 20, Propylene Glycol, Hydroxyethylcellulose.

May also contain: Solvent Black 5, Disperse Blue 1, Basic Violet 14,
Basic Yellow 15.



: Besides botanical plants such as centaurea, rhubarb, lichten,
litmus,
: indigo and of course henna, does COLORA HENNA POWDER contain any
: chemicals or metals or other not plant derived stuff? Thank you.

 

[PassionFruit]

Cellophanes is a temp color rinse, sorta like Clairol Beautiful browns or jazzing...

DOnt know why anyone would have mixed it with Henna

 

[january noir]

Colora brand Henna is perfectly fine to use...

here is the ingredient list:

http://www.hennaforhair.com/messages/859.html

the ingredients vary a bit from color to color, but
here is what they list:
Water, Natural Henna Extract, Alcohol, Cocoamphopropionate,
Polysorbate 20, Propylene Glycol, Hydroxyethylcellulose.

May also contain: Solvent Black 5, Disperse Blue 1, Basic Violet 14,
Basic Yellow 15.



: Besides botanical plants such as centaurea, rhubarb, lichten,
litmus,
: indigo and of course henna, does COLORA HENNA POWDER contain any
: chemicals or metals or other not plant derived stuff? Thank you.

I wouldn't use it . Compound henna is not recommended.
The OP obviously didn't do enough research to make educated decisions.
I would be upset like a **** if my hair came out like that. Hard hair ain't no joke.

 

[january noir]

Cellophanes is a temp color rinse, sorta like Clairol Beautiful browns or jazzing...

DOnt know why anyone would have mixed it with Henna

Ya know? When I read this, I shuddered.
All my hair would be on the ground if I did this.

 

[PassionFruit]

I wouldn't use it . Compound henna is not recommended.
The OP obviously didn't do enough research to make educated decisions.
I would be upset like a **** if my hair came out like that. Hard hair ain't no joke.

as long as i doesnt have metallic salts or lead acetate, Im perfectly fine with it

 

[Neroli]

ITA with January Noir -- why risk a potential problem with anything but the pure BAQ which is fairly easy to find, reasonable price and poses lowest risk of damage to hair and allergic reaction?

For first time users and folks with chemicals already in hair, it should be a MUST . . . JMHO.

 

[PassionFruit]

ITA with January Noir -- why risk a potential problem with anything but the pure BAQ which is fairly easy to find, reasonable price and poses lowest risk of damage to hair and allergic reaction?

For first time users and folks with chemicals already in hair, it should be a MUST . . . JMHO.

not really a debate I wanna have right now but because some BAQ cane be dangerous too..

as I said, as long as it doesnt contain metallic salts, lead acetate and I need to add PPD (Phenylenediamine)

here is an interesting link

http://www.snopes.com/horrors/vanities/henna.asp



basically one should be careful regardless...

 

[BostonMaria]

OP you are lucky that all you got was "hard hair" because buying that type of henna and mixing it with a cellophane could've been worse. I think you can still repair the damage. Moisturize like crazy! But like the others said, try using a conditioner that has no protein and I would also do a olive oil and honey hot oil treatment. I would get some kind of deep conditioner, I use Dominican conditioners but I'm sure you can get a recommendation from someone else here.

When I henna I only buy the 100% pure henna. I can see why you were deceived, even Rainbow Henna says they are 100% natural. But natural and pure henna are not the same thing, but they market it that way.

I don't know if you'll ever Henna again, but if you do here is a free book with step by step instructions on how to apply it:

http://www.hennaforhair.com/freebooks/hennaforhair.pdf

Hey you live and learn, don't beat yourself up for this *hugz*

 

[JustKiya]

not really a debate I wanna have right now but because some BAQ cane be dangerous too..

as I said, as long as it doesnt contain metallic salts, lead acetate and I need to add PPD (Phenylenediamine)

here is an interesting link

http://www.snopes.com/horrors/vanities/henna.asp



basically one should be careful regardless...

That's BLACK henna, which contains PPD's, and which would NEVER be found in pure, 100%, BAQ henna.

If it claims to make any color besides red/reddish orange, there is something in it besides henna, which means it is no longer PURE BAQ Henna - which means you are running the risk of having some crazy stuff mixed in with the henna - which is why there is always a push/encouragement to skip the colored stuff, and buy pure henna - esp. if it's your first time henna'ing. *sigh*
Obviously, more experienced henna users have the knowledge and wisdom to navigate the minefield of 'mixed' henna's (personally, I don't even bother trying - I stick to 100% henna at allllllllll times) - but the pure Body Art Quality Henna is 99.9% the safest.

 

[PassionFruit]

That's BLACK henna, which contains PPD's, and which would NEVER be found in pure, 100%, BAQ henna.

If it claims to make any color besides red/reddish orange, there is something in it besides henna, which means it is no longer PURE BAQ Henna - which means you are running the risk of having some crazy stuff mixed in with the henna - which is why there is always a push/encouragement to skip the colored stuff, and buy pure henna - esp. if it's your first time henna'ing. *sigh*
Obviously, more experienced henna users have the knowledge and wisdom to navigate the minefield of 'mixed' henna's (personally, I don't even bother trying - I stick to 100% henna at allllllllll times) - but the pure Body Art Quality Henna is 99.9% the safest.

I dont disagree with what you are saying.... but Ive seen some BAQ henna on the shelves looking in pretty bad condition ( Amla & Shikakai powder too for that matter) which leads me to think this BAQ isnt monitored by the USA/FDA... its imported stuff that can have any & everything it in... thus in it self can be dangerous...

 

[**SaSSy**]

update: I just finish shampooing with suave clarify and dc for about 5 hours with karecare humento, honey, olive oil (work pretty good), and condition with moisturfuse, and my hair is starting to FINALLY soften up a bit (still not before the henna mess), and not break so worst as before (still breaking though).

So someone posted earlier and said the balsams co-wash is not good to soften my hair, and that I shouldn't use DPR-11 anymore. so someone please tell me what I should buy instead to co-wash that's pure moisture?