Do ya'll henna?

[Mestiza]

Henna #2 pics...

Not that ya'll were holding your breath or anything.

I just uploaded some photos of the color of my hair now, depending on the lighting. Believe it or not, this the same hair, photos taken at different times of the day which resulted in different lighting (but natural lighting in both photos).

Both of you have great looking, shiny hair! I

the color, too!

 

[deborah11]

I don't want to color my hair. I just want to use henna to condition my hair. Is there a neutral or noncoloring henna that I can use. Please advise. Thanks.

 

[LaNecia]

I don't want to color my hair. I just want to use henna to condition my hair. Is there a neutral or noncoloring henna that I can use. Please advise. Thanks.

What you're interested in is the Cassia Obovata, also knon as Senna or Neutral Henna. There is no such plant as neutral henna! Henna is Lawsonia inermis, and has a red-orange dye molecule. The green "neutral henna" powder is most likely to be Cassia obovata leaf!

Cassia obovata powder looks very much like henna powder, but generally does not stain hair or hands. It is an excellent conditioner which makes hair glossy and thick, with a healthy scalp. When you mix this green leaf powder with warm water, it has a strong smell similar to a heap of warm mowed grass. If your powder stains your hair or hands yellow, it probably has some rhubarb root mixed into it.

An excellent source to order from is Henna For Hair. They even offer samples so you're not committed to buying large quantities of something you may not like.

 

[zora]

I have neutral henna in my hair as we speak. I'm about to rinse it out now. I'll give you a report tomorrow.

 

[Shawnee66]

I used henna in my hair today for conditioning. I mixed a small amount of henna with ACV and Neem, Alma & Aritha and Jojoba oil. My scalp feels so good. I didn't get any color because I let the mixture set for only 1 hour. Next time I'm going to let the it set longer. I kept it on my hair for 1 hour with a conditioning cap.

 

[sareca]

I just uploaded some photos of the color of my hair now, depending on the lighting. Believe it or not, this the same hair, photos taken at different times of the day which resulted in different lighting (but natural lighting in both photos).

Awesome! And it looks amazing with your complexion.

I just got my indigo. So I'm going to give it a shot. Probably shouldn't be foolin' around w/ my hair color days before my wedding, but I've always been hard-headed. Here's what's sittin' on my head (under the bonnet dryer).
container #1
25 g of my old henna mix
50 g of new, not released henna (I didn't have enough time to release it and didn't want anymore red)
enough ACV to make a paste
enough lemon essential oil to make it smell nice
amla powder (one sample from hennaforhair)
amla oil ('cause I love it!)

container #2
30 g of indigo (released)
enough hot water to make a paste

container #1
added indigo
mixed thoroughly


process
applied with a color applicator brush
wrapped w/ plastic wrap
sittin' under the dryer watchin' "What the Ancients Knew"


It wasn't enough. I should have mixed more. I used every single drop and all of my hair is coated, but it's not a very thick coating. If nothing else it will have another nice deep conditioning session.

ETA photo

 

[sareca]

I used henna in my hair today for conditioning. I mixed a small amount of henna with ACV and Neem, Alma & Aritha and Jojoba oil. My scalp feels so good. I didn't get any color because I let the mixture set for only 1 hour. Next time I'm going to let the it set longer. I kept it on my hair for 1 hour with a conditioning cap.

Congrats! Did you notice any hair conditioning?

 

[sareca]

Ooooooh! Pretty! My hair wants to be like yours when it grows up!

Who me? Pleaze! I was thinking the same about you!

 

[sareca]

Ok, I'm all done with my henna/indigo application and I love it! It was about 1/3 indigo and it didn't turn "blue" black. It's just a nice reddish brown. I'm extremely pleased! I don't have pics yet cause it's still wet. I probably won't have pics until mid-next week. I still want it a bit darker. Vixxen, you were so right about it taking a couple of applications to get it black. I don't want it too dark, but a little more would be awesome.

My album has "before" pics. pw: Phyto

 

[LaNecia]

Ok, I'm all done with my henna/indigo application and I love it! It was about 1/3 indigo and it didn't turn "blue" black. It's just a nice reddish brown. I'm extremely pleased! I don't have pics yet cause it's still wet. I probably won't have pics until mid-next week. I still want it a bit darker. Vixxen, you were so right about it taking a couple of applications to get it black. I don't want it too dark, but a little more would be awesome.

My album has "before" pics. pw: Phyto

I'm so glad it worked well for you! I can't wait to order some now! I'm on it tomorrow!

Now, I do have a question for you on the order of application: did you apply the on TOP of the henna or immediately after the henna treatment? From what I've read on the HFH website, it seems mostly everyone applied the Indigo AFTER their henna treatment. Maybe that would have made your hair turn out a little darker? I bet it'll be really pretty after the color oxidizes in your hair! I can't wait to see the pictures of the finished product!

One more thing too, if you're not using the henna to color your hair, you don't have ot use the lemon juice/acv or other terp that helps with color release. This way you can save those things for when you WANT color and not use them up just doing the conditioning aspect.

Thank you for the compliments on my hair, it's got a long way to go before I'll be totally happy with it but right now, today, it's in the best shape/health and has the longest length I've seen EVER. I have you wonderful ladies (and this forum) to thank for that.

Oh and one more thing, CONGRATULATIONS!! I don't know where I've been but I didn't know you were getting married this weekend! I'm so happy for you!!

 

[zora]

I have neutral henna in my hair as we speak. I'm about to rinse it out now. I'll give you a report tomorrow.

I'm pleased with my neutral henna results. My hair come out strong and shiny. This is a keeper.

 

[goldensensation]

For coloring, do I have to use BOTH ACV and Lemon juice or can I just use one or the other?

 

[sareca]

I'm so glad it worked well for you! I can't wait to order some now! I'm on it tomorrow!

Now, I do have a question for you on the order of application: did you apply the on TOP of the henna or immediately after the henna treatment? From what I've read on the HFH website, it seems mostly everyone applied the Indigo AFTER their henna treatment. Maybe that would have made your hair turn out a little darker? I bet it'll be really pretty after the color oxidizes in your hair! I can't wait to see the pictures of the finished product!

I mixed my henna and indigo separately. When each was ready I mixed them in one container and applied.

One more thing too, if you're not using the henna to color your hair, you don't have ot use the lemon juice/acv or other terp that helps with color release. This way you can save those things for when you WANT color and not use them up just doing the conditioning aspect.

Oooh, that makes sense. Yeah, I wasted about 1/2 c of ACV. Darn.

Thank you for the compliments on my hair, it's got a long way to go before I'll be totally happy with it but right now, today, it's in the best shape/health and has the longest length I've seen EVER. I have you wonderful ladies (and this forum) to thank for that.

Oh and one more thing, CONGRATULATIONS!! I don't know where I've been but I didn't know you were getting married this weekend! I'm so happy for you!!

Thanks, we're pretty excited.

 

[LaNecia]

For coloring, do I have to use BOTH ACV and Lemon juice or can I just use one or the other?

I think you can use them together or separately. One lady on the HFH site complained of her hair turning a brassy color initially because of the lemon juice but I don't remember her original color.

 

[sareca]

For coloring, do I have to use BOTH ACV and Lemon juice or can I just use one or the other?

Use one or the other. Lemon smells better, but some people think it's too drying. If you're worried about that you can add a little of your favorite oil to the mix or just use ACV. I've used both. I perfer ACV despite the smell. It's less expensive than lemon concentrate.

 

[grnidmonster]

ok, my henna arrived yesterday. I mixed it this afternoon w/ coffee, a little EVOO, fresh lemon from my backyard, jasmin and lavender EO and water. The smell is awful and it looks like...ewww. Covered it and placed it in my very warm garage until tomorrow.

I am a little worried about the red. I hope the coffee helps to brown the result a little. I have dark brown hair and I would like to keep it that way w/a little red highlight.

I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[grnidmonster]

I applied this STUFF today and I have to tell you, it is the nastiest thing I have ever done in the name of growing hair . It smells so bad that it insults my senses . I had to put a clothes pin on my nose to get the stuff in my hair . It is so slimey that I couldn't stand touching it, even through gloves. I am typically not like this, most things don't bother me. I do not have a week stomach, blood and guts don't gross me out but, apparently hair henna does.

The results are going to have to be the Bomb for me to do this again. I did a test on some strands and the color was really nice . I hope this works as well for me as it seems to be for everyone else. I have another hour before I can rinse this mess out. Ewww!

 

[LaNecia]

I applied this STUFF today and I have to tell you, it is the nastiest thing I have ever done in the name of growing hair . It smells so bad that it insults my senses . I had to put a clothes pin on my nose to get the stuff in my hair . It is so slimey that I couldn't stand touching it, even through gloves. I am typically not like this, most things don't bother me. I do not have a week stomach, blood and guts don't gross me out but, apparently hair henna does.

The results are going to have to be the Bomb for me to do this again. I did a test on some strands and the color was really nice . I hope this works as well for me as it seems to be for everyone else. I have another hour before I can rinse this mess out. Ewww!

I'm really sorry to hear that you aren't having a good henna experience. One thing about it, the more you use it, the better the results, esxpecially with the coloring. One application may not yield the optimal results; if you stop there, you may end up missing out on the benefits but I do understand. It was messy to me at first but now, looking at the results; and through trial and error, I can keep the mess down AND get great looking hair.

On the Redness, you can use Coffee (I'm going to try Expresso next time to see if I can go just a little darker but since my color has oxidized, it's really pretty now), cloves, walnut shells (you'll need to boil them to get the color out; and a patch test is HIGHLY recommended just in case you have allergies to them). I'm sure there's more, If I think of some, I'll come back and post.

Maybe we can brain storm some other EO's you can add to mask the scent, there are a lot of options so try not to give up too quickly if you can stand it. My BF doesn't like the smell either. He'll adjust.

 

[LaNecia]

Happy Wedding Day Sareca!!!

 

[Nanyanika]

serica which henna should i buy to redden my hair? and how often should i apply it? i'm not sure if i could be bothered with the mess, but i don't want to damage my hair with permanent dye colour. thanks

 

[grnidmonster]

It has been a couple days and the color is very nice. I have thin hair and the henna made it feel really thick and strong. My hair is very soft and the smell has begun to fade.

I will henna again, perhaps with some indigo-my husband doesn't like the red very much but, I think it is sexy. I ordered the indigo, alma and lavendar samples so I can try the indigo and alma and rinse w/ the lavendar to see if it work on the scent.

Thank you for all of your hints and supportm my hair and I both appreciate it.

 

[LaNecia]

I'm very happy to hear that you are happy with your results! Congrats on a successful henna job!

 

[sareca]

serica which henna should i buy to redden my hair?

I'd use hennaforhair.com's body art quality henna. Apparently compound henna (the kind sold for hair) is not always compatible with other hair treatments (perms, relaxers, dyes) but body art quality henna is. Lawsonia inermis (or red henna) will leave red tones on black hair. Make sure you strand test first and make sure you check out different mixes. I like adding parika or turmeric for a little more fire red color. Henna by itself makes sort of a black cherry kind red tone. My skin has more warm than cool tones so I add warm colored spices to my mixes.

and how often should i apply it?

I've henna'd four times now. Three times with red (once was on my bestfriend's hair) and once w/ an indigo/henna mix in the last 21 days. So basically I'm doing my hair once a week. The conditioning and color effects are cumulative unlike dyes which tend to become more muddy and damaging the more you apply them. I'm going to continue with my once per week applications for another three (totaling 6) weeks then I'll let my hair decided when it's time. So far I've only deep conditioned with my regular products (Keracare, Humectress) once. Henna seems to be doing just as good of a job at deep conditioning as coloring.

i'm not sure if i could be bothered with the mess, but i don't want to damage my hair with permanent dye colour. thanks

Ummm, try making a slightly thicker paste. My mixes are about as messy (and as thick) as a relaxer. There's no dripping or running at all. I also wrap my head pretty tightly with plastic wrap instead of using a plastic cap, again no dripping. I'm not sure if I'd get better conditioning or color if I had a thinner paste, but I can't stand big messes so it's a risk I'm willing to take. Give it a shot.

 

[sareca]

Happy Wedding Day Sareca!!!





http://www.smileycentral.com/sig.jsp?pc=ZSzeb068&pp=ZSYYYYYYYYUS

Awww, you remembered! That's so sweet. It was perfect. I don't know if I'll ever get used to calling anyone my husband. But I love having "family" in town again.

 

[LaNecia]

I've henna'd four times now. Three times with red (once was on my bestfriend's hair) and once w/ an indigo/henna mix in the last 21 days. So basically I'm doing my hair once a week. The conditioning and color effects are cumulative unlike dyes which tend to become more muddy and damaging the more you apply them. I'm going to continue with my once per week applications for another three (totaling 6) weeks then I'll let my hair decided when it's time. So far I've only deep conditioned with my regular products (Keracare, Humectress) once. Henna seems to be doing just as good of a job at deep conditioning as coloring.

ITA!!! Once you Henna, you may not go back! =)

 

[sareca]

ITA!!! Once you Henna, you may not go back! =)

Yeah, I'm not even sure you can. Den, I should add that henna isn't temporary. The color will fade a bit, but it will need to grow out just like any other dye and I'm not sure what will happen if you decide to change (i.e., lighten) your hair. You can relax it, but going back to regular coloring is probably a no-no. You've henna'd before right?

 

[sareca]

Alright. Two of ya'll said you wouldn't henna again. Do tell. What happened? Was it just the messiness?

 

[sareca]

I'm very happy to hear that you are happy with your results! Congrats on a successful henna job!

Likewise.

 

[RainbowCurls]

I haven't henna'd and I wouldn't because it's permanent and I get bored of hair colours and have to be able to change them whenever I want. I get bored of reds especially quickly, so henna is a definite no-no for me.
I would hate growing it out. I'm not transitioning from anything ever again!

I think it looks good on other people though and is a good option if you know you won't be changing your mind about it.

 

[LaNecia]

I haven't henna'd and I wouldn't because it's permanent and I get bored of hair colours and have to be able to change them whenever I want. I get bored of reds especially quickly, so henna is a definite no-no for me.
I would hate growing it out. I'm not transitioning from anything ever again!

I think it looks good on other people though and is a good option if you know you won't be changing your mind about it.

One thing you might consider to get the conditioning effects without the color is the Cassia, it's 'neutral' henna. It will NOT deposit into the hair but does the same great job of conditioning.

Just a thought!